The country is doomed. its completely socialist. a personal tale

[Spock]

"Socialism THRIVES on lack of personal RESPONSIBILITY. "

i lifted that another thread.

i injured my left eye 2 weeks. basically i slept 8 hours with my knucle jammed in it. to make a long story short I've seen 5 doctors in the last two weeks. today I am at a follow up at my opimologists office.

I DO NOT HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE.

at this point i'm at $440 in bills and paid an additional $85 today.

so i'm sitting there in the waiting room and I nearly lost it. Some old bat comes in and the girl at the counter is telling her she has to pay......drum roll please.....$35 for the refraction portion of her exam. The refraction has to be done for her to get her perscription. The patient has to pay it because......drum roll..... Medicare doesn't pay it. and this old bat is raising holy hell about it.

I have spent over $500 in 10 days and I haven't even gotten the ER bill yet paying my own health bills AND this old bat doesn't want to pay $35 for her eye exam.

the entitlement mentality is so strong now the welfareites are wanting to spend your money on junk food and the ederly won't spend $35 , thats not even 10 gallons of gas, for their eye exams!

[eviltwin]

The sad part is that this country has been headed down this hole for a long time. Hope your issues are over.


Had a family member two months ago get something in his eye. Instead of going to the doc off the bat he waited, partially because he has no insurance. A few weeks later he ends up having to go to the E.R. and has to have eye surgery. Two surgeries later and 7500 bucks out of his pocket it is fixed for a wile. In a few weeks he has to go back to have a third round of surgery. It sucks but he sold off some things and paid for it. He could have lied and cheated, but he isn't a bumb and pays his way.

[protus]

700$+ outta mine the last 30+ days due tomy issue. untill alfak ..kicks in..im pay checkless and still have to fork out $$ due to my doc. not being in my "group".
but i know he has my best intrest in mind vs..going under the knife for some extra $$$

[goatlady]

Not a fair criticism, Spock. Us little old ladies on Social Security don't HAVE that $35 for an eye exam! I have to limit my gas buying to $25 a MONTH as it is. $702 a month income really does not stretch very far these days as a total monthly income and we must watch every penny. Most of us little old ladies now on SS do NOT have any supplemental insurance and many cannot even afford the cost of the Medicare Part B plus we have to pay a yearly deductible of around $400 before Medicare even starts to kick in and pay 80% of medical costs. I'm sorry you are in a financial bind, guy, but have a thought that many of us are in the same situation.

[monkeybird]

The use of the term "Old Bat" is disrespectful and offensive. Remember, you to will be an "Old" someday.

Pause, stranger, when you pass me by,
For as you are, so once was I.
As I am now, so will you be.
Then prepare unto death, and follow me.

Goatlady's response is right on.

[bountyhunter69]

i agree 110% with both goatlady and monkeybird..all you youngsters better think..if u live,one day you will be our age,but if you dont live,well getting old is one less worry u have!!!

[MustangGal]

I can see both sides. But, I do think the baby boomer generation and the one before it have some culpability when it comes to the destruction of social security. They voted for and kept voting for politicians who raided social security and continued to raid it. I'm in my early 40s, and as long as I can remember, I have always heard that you shouldn't depend on social security for your retirement. Now it my case, it is highly likely that it won't exsist anyway.

I think social programs rob people of their dignity, because it absolves us of personal responsibilty. The government automatically takes out social secuity - so I don't have to worry about it anymore. Yes, you/we have paid in, but we don't have anymore say in the matter. KWIM?

[protus]

Pause, stranger, when you pass me by,
For as you are, so once was I.
As I am now, so will you be.

this sits on a plaque/sign at a small 1800's grave site/cemetery entrance where i backpack alot off the beat path.


Also.
While i do enjoy bashing the entitlement class....we do need to think that many are not the ABUSER's of the system,some are just those who really are in need of "temporary" help. So lets keep that in mind....

[Spock]

Not a fair criticism, Spock. Us little old ladies on Social Security don't HAVE that $35 for an eye exam! I have to limit my gas buying to $25 a MONTH as it is. $702 a month income really does not stretch very far these days as a total monthly income and we must watch every penny. Most of us little old ladies now on SS do NOT have any supplemental insurance and many cannot even afford the cost of the Medicare Part B plus we have to pay a yearly deductible of around $400 before Medicare even starts to kick in and pay 80% of medical costs. I'm sorry you are in a financial bind, guy, but have a thought that many of us are in the same situation.

my optomitrest is one of the most expensive in the county. she could go some place cheaper.

[Spock]

Not a fair criticism, Spock. Us little old ladies on Social Security don't HAVE that $35 for an eye exam! I have to limit my gas buying to $25 a MONTH as it is. $702 a month income really does not stretch very far these days as a total monthly income and we must watch every penny. Most of us little old ladies now on SS do NOT have any supplemental insurance and many cannot even afford the cost of the Medicare Part B plus we have to pay a yearly deductible of around $400 before Medicare even starts to kick in and pay 80% of medical costs. I'm sorry you are in a financial bind, guy, but have a thought that many of us are in the same situation.

i'm not in a finiancial bind. My point was people have become so entitled white,black, young, old, male, female, that no one wants to pay their share. You have to understand I'm ahead here financially not paying for insurance. I've spent about the same money this month as I would have spent for 1 month of coverage. i'm not complaining at ALL about the amount of money I've spent. its MY EYE for Petes sake I'm actually happy the whole ordeal has been as cheap as it is so far.

[Klayton]

OK I am lost, maybe from lack of sleep, tired from my 12 hour shift of free labor (clinicals) or distracted watching HOUSE. But whatever the reason, are we talking about one of our own in a bad situation? If so, my prayers go out to you. If we are talking about a fictational character well thats another story.

I for one, from a very young age (17 to be exact) realized and I made a life decision about healthcare (even though what I was promised is not what I was given) and joined the military not to become a big power head, nor for the college money, but rather to serve my country, to defend the constitution that my high school counselor said (and I quote) "why would you risk your life for people who not only wouldn't do it for you but wouldn't give you the time of day if you saw them on the street?" and the secondary reason was for life long healthcare (granted i was promised FREE life long healthcare at the end of my 20 but Clinton and the democrats screwed me out of that).

My point, yes im all screwed up in my logic and putting it on paper right now, so tired, is that I have never in my life "not had" some form of health insurance. Granted for the past 25+ years the money I put in hasn't even come close to being spent in my healthcare, but I am no fool and with age will come failing liver, weakened lungs, arthritis, and God forbid a weakened heart. So I gladly pay my monthly bill to the insruance man, knowing some day, he will have to pay the piper because I want to liver FOREVER!!! hehe

[goatlady]

Around here the WalMart eye exam costs $35. My concern is that you seem to strongly feel Social Security benefits, which include MediCare, is an "entitlement"/government subsidy program. Not so, guy - "they" have been taking MY hard earned dollars for over 55 years without my consent on the promise it would be returned if I lived long enough and it's finally time I have a chance to get a bit of it back. They have used MY $$ all those years to generate interest income for theyselves, so don't give me a bunch of blather about how I will get back so much more than I paid in - buncha hooey.

[1Admin]

I've never had health insurance but I've always been amazed how inexpensive some things are. Our dentist charges just $65. for a filling. Heck I've done them and I'd charge more- and I know he does a better job LOL.

Asked him about the metal fillings deal - the "it will leech into your brain and make you a zombie" type stuff. He said that was the $65. ones but the ones without were $20. more. But "most people don't want to pay the $20. more" For not having something even potentially bad for you in your body? Yeah right, here's my extra $20. no prob Doc!

In college EVERY doc save one hadji apu "dot not feather" type I went to, discounted my "I'm paying cash" bill once they heard I was in college. One doc I had to see a couple times did some labs and a whole bunch of misc. stuff, then the gal said "$75." I figured it should have been AT LEAST 3 bills. I said to the doc- "I appreciate you hooking me up but come on, you did a lot of stuff for this.." He refused to take any more. I told him "you exemplify the word doctor, thank you very much."

[Klayton]

Oh goatlady, by no means was I addressing anybody here, I was just stating how I as an individual realized at a very early age the cost of healthcare and I made a plan.

As for SS and Medicare, you would be surprised how much money the average recipient exceeds the amount they put in over their lifetime. Been working medical field for awhile now and I will just say the average Joe gets 10x back what they put in, it is the second biggest reason SS and MediCare is going broke. The main reason now is, way more people on the program taking out then on the program putting in (this includes Public School Teachers who for some reason in almost every state have been exempted from paying in)...

So once again, definitely not talking about anybody here, just wanted to relay that I identified this life hazard at a very young age and made life choices that were partially based on that fact, that is all. :cool:

[Klayton]

Ack I just realized I may not have told you guys (told somebody-forget who) I am in school for Nursing right now. The fact that Democrats are now saying that retirees (military) have to pay for their once promised healthcare is not enough, the Democrats now want to double the amount we have to pay for Tricare, as we don't pay enough according to them. Funny how politicians who pay nothing can so easily say someone else doesn't pay enough. Anyways, so Nursing School I enrolled, once again, to help counter the cost of my family's insurance. Because it sure isnt for the pay or the enjoyment of wiping senior citizen's butts all day...