(btw, I thought “he got rooked” would get at least a snicker. harumph!)

I know plenty of people in their fifties with terrible medical conditions, many exacerbated by youthful life style choices centered on booze and drugs. And it is no surprise that they STILL suck on those ciggies too. I’m not Nurse Bloomberg but it only makes sense to admit that a two or three pack a day nicotine habit is killing you. I have no clue what tobacco costs now, but add it up and I wonder if the cost might not buy some health insurance.
Funny, my cousin in Pa. is on SSI and has no primary care physican. Instead she has one of those nurse practioner. So the other day she takes ill and heads for the ER. And we know that will cost someone an arm and a leg, but not her. It was a comedy of errors as the one tending to senility doctor tripped over her IV line, pulling it halfway out. It might help in her case if she would watch her diet and stop the smoking. And I’m sure another cousin pushing 400 pounds might fare a bit better medically if she lost some weight and didn’t spend much of her existence in bed with the Home Shopping Network for companionship, but then she always has that oxycontin and morphine for succor. I guess it is hard for some people to consider that having your blood circulate a bit is good for the body too.
I have not seen fat fecker Moore’s propaganda film Sicko but I do know enough Euroweenies and Canadians who come to good old USA for medical woe treatments.

Dammit, all. Just pay for Gene’s health insurance that he chose not to provide for himself over the years. Heartless capitalists.
Comment by JD — 8/27/2008 @ 4:47 am

But…. but… he had a job with a “glamorous” company… low-paying and without benefits… but it was “glamorous“!!! You didn’t expect him to give up the “glamorous” job for one that actually paid a decent wage, provided health insurance and retirement benefits, and wasn’t “glamorous“, do you? Besides, how would he have gotten such expansive expertise in economics and healthcare anywhere else but The Internet Chess Club?

(he got rooked)

And the reason you should have seen Sicko would have been so you could have explained its lies, evasions and misconceptions to idiots like me.
Comment by Gene Venable — 8/27/2008 @ 2:56 am

You assume I didn’t see it.

You assume it’s credible enough to cite as authoritative.

You assume that nobody here might know what they’re talking about when it comes to healthcare (like a nurse maybe?)

You assume that any nurse who saw Sicko should spend time debunking its propaganda for the benefit of every idiot (your word, not mine) who believes it.

You assume you know 50 times more about editing than others here.

You assume that your anecdotal experiences reflect the state of our healthcare system.

You assume other countries have a better system, both in healthcare and economics, without any evidence other than your “hunch”.

You make a lot of arrogant assumptions. I’m sorry you have health issues, I have more than a few myself. But it might benefit you to comment less about things you are ignorant of and just read for a while, get to know a site and the folks who comment regularly (or even use the search function here to plug in the name… you might have known I was a nurse from that even if it hadn’t come up in a thread. Try it… I bet you find some interesting stuff.), and benefit from those with expertise in different areas. If that doesn’t work for you, coming back and acting like an arrogant ass again is always an available option.

Comment by Pablo — 8/27/2008 @ 4:40 am

Absent more information from the poster in question, it does seem that he would rather pay nothing himself, and cost the taxpayers $1000 (or whatever it costs at the ED), than pay $50 or so himself and save the taxpayers that large amount of money. Would be happy to hear that the situation is different than it looks.

I did, by the way, achieve an appointment at the hospital I mentioned. A few weeks ago, I received an appointment for — Nov. 3! For a simple exam. So we see that delays are not unknown here in the US. In the meantime, it looks like I will require several $1,000+ visits to that emergency room to get medicine refill prescriptions, paid for at taxpayer expense.

Why don’t you just go to a ready care/Urgent Care/Community Clinic? That would cost you far less than $1000, and you wouldn’t be wasting the ER’s time. And at the first two, you don’t need an appointment, you just show up and get in line.