Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #2 (Read 774837 times)

Steph · « **Reply #3240 on:** June 10, 2012, 09:23:46 AM »

This is the place to talk about the works of fiction you are reading, whether they are new or old, and share your own opinions and reviews with interested readers.

Every week the new bestseller lists come out brimming with enticing looking books and rave reviews. How to choose?

Discussion Leader: Judy Laird

I live two different places and neither has any sort of public transportation.Both have a van service. You reserve a week in advance and it only goes to targetted areas, so not even a tiny bit convenient. Before my eyes go, will have to figure out a convenient place to live that has buses or trains ( I love trains)

bellemere · « **Reply #3241 on:** June 10, 2012, 11:32:34 AM »

that's exactly where I am, Steph. We want to sell the house and rent somewhere convenient to fstores and services. We do have a van service but I must find outmore about it.
Another thing: like us, our doctors are getting old and retiring. Trying to find a new primary care doctor is daunting. "not accepting new patients " is often the answer. meanwhile the hospitals continue to build expensive new pribvate suites and millions of dollars on tecnology and we can't fine a doctor. My friend ffinally signed with a group tht employs nurse practitioners and primary care givers, and was lucky to fine a great one.
A new shoping center is going up less than a half mile from mile house on the other side of an intersection that c;urrently sees unbelievable traffic. You would be dead before you got th tohe market walking across that intersection! and no sidewalks.

JoanK · « **Reply #3242 on:** June 10, 2012, 05:15:28 PM »

I've had to give up driving. My son and my caretaker take me places, but there are times (like today) when I'd like to take off somewhere.

An idea: there are a lot of women out there looking to make a few extra dollars. I'll bet if you advertise, you could find someone willing to come and drive you one day a week. you could make that your "day out".

bellemere · « **Reply #3243 on:** June 10, 2012, 06:26:02 PM »

Having a driver for a day would be nice, and give my husband a break. I know that some working mothers whose kids get involved in a myread of sports, , ballet lessons, community activities, ...have hired drivers for the day so that they do not have to spend their entire non-wrking hours in the car.

JeanneP · « **Reply #3244 on:** June 10, 2012, 09:11:24 PM »

When we add up what having a car cost us now per mile it is unbelievable. When we were putting miles on each year is was worth the expense be as we get older is is costing. I only put about 4000 miles a year on mine. Insurance has doubled. lets figure $700 then license is $99. Upkeep aprox $ 400 year. Gas is $3.79 gal. I was thinking of getting a new one but can't see it now. We have fantastic Public Transportation in my area. Just that we are so use to having a car parked at out door.

Babi · « **Reply #3245 on:** June 11, 2012, 08:23:01 AM »

No public transportation in my small town. It's either drive or walk and I can't walk
very far. I once suggested the possibility of a motorbike, and my son freaked out.
He was sure I'd get myself killed on one of those,...and he could be right. I've
been know to bump into things driving one of those motorized shopping carts.

Steph · « **Reply #3246 on:** June 11, 2012, 08:38:42 AM »

Oh Babi, such a mental picture of you in the cart racing around.. Florida really does not have good public transportation except in the cities and I am not sure I want to live downtown..

jane · « **Reply #3247 on:** June 11, 2012, 09:51:33 AM »

No public transportation, no taxis here either. You either have a car or wait for a bus ride on some regional transport that you have to schedule. It seems to be used mostly to take handicapped from their shelter home to their sheltered workshop.

If you don't have a car, you'd better be ready to be in assisted living here. A mile to the doctor isn't bad walking when you're well, but when you're ill and need to see the doctor, a mile might as well be 10 miles.

So, we keep two cars and love the independence it gives both of us.

nlhome · « **Reply #3248 on:** June 11, 2012, 10:12:54 AM »

Our community has a bus that serves seniors and disabled, although others can ride on a space available basis by paying full fare instead of the suggested donation. It spends most days within our county, but also goes to larger cities an hour or two away - shopping opportunities are limited in most of the communities here. Depending on the trip, people need to sign up a couple of days in advance, earlier for special trips. Our city has a taxi that runs two days a week. (we have a population of around 5,000). Otherwise, transportation is not available unless people drive or have friends who drive yet.

I am sure there's a feeling of vulnerability when people can no longer control where or when they can do basic shopping - some of our villages have nothing but bars, maybe a restaurant, and a gas convenience store, no other grocery or other stores. And no inter-village transportation. I can't imagine living in any of those villages - at least here we have stores within walking distance and the taxi.

I suppose a book based on a senior who can't drive would be boring - but I don't think Miss Marple drove, did she? I guess things are different in other countries.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3249 on:** June 11, 2012, 01:24:40 PM »

Miss Marple didn't drive - but things aren't different in other countries, it's just that Miss Marple lived in the 1950s! In those days every village had a shop (or shops), a post office, chemist, doctor, blacksmith, dairy, etc. Nowadays most small villages in the UK (at least outside the Home Counties around London) have nothing. Our village has a train station and nothing else - no shops, no doctor, etc. The next village, Athelstaneford, has no shop and no train station either. There are numerous villages like ours in this area - we are only 20 miles east of Edinburgh, in a very popular commuter county, but the services are still centred on two or three towns - North Berwick, Haddington, Dunbar. Some of the larger villages like Gullane (which has a massive golfing fraternity) have some smaller shops and services.

We can get groceries delivered by the major supermarkets (for a fee) but I am still old-fashioned enough to want to see what I am buying. We can, of course, use internet shopping - Amazon, etc - and I do appreciate these things, but they are not a social event like shopping used to be for my mother. Also, many internet-based companies are now starting to charge huge premiums for delivering to parts of Scotland - not here in the Central Belt (yet) but just before I moved, one company doubled its delivery charges to Aberdeen city, which was ridiculous, as it's hardly 'remote'. People living in the real highlands, and on the islands, are hit with huge charges for these things.

Our doctors will only do home visits if they are convinced you are on your deathbed, and they use out of hours services at night - whereas 20 years ago when my son was a baby and we lived in a remote Aberdeenshire village, our local GP would drive out from his home 8 miles away if your child was ill in the night.

Incidentally Jeanne, our petrol now costs almost £1.40 a litre - I think that makes it about £5.60 a gallon, which I think is about $9 (may have the exchange rate a bit wrong, but still). Yes I do mean $9. People are really having to think about using their cars these days.

Rosemary

JeanneP · « **Reply #3250 on:** June 11, 2012, 02:41:37 PM »

Rosemary.

Growing up in Greater Manchester. I was use to big towns and good transportation
Then in the US I thought would like to live on a few acres by a lake. Glad I didn't do it now. Have to be were everything is convenient. My town is. Everything within 4 miles even though my house on half a acre on city line. Big state University just starts a mile away. We are Twin Cities with mine not allowing anything other than University building
anymore. Other city has 154 thousand pop. now and growing everyday

Steph · « **Reply #3251 on:** June 12, 2012, 08:22:27 AM »

The US has always been car crazy and that has not changed and probably wont. I adore trains and love it in Europe when I can train pretty much everywhere.
Small towns in the US depend on the proximity of a large city somewhere close. People here routinely drive about an hour and a half to Asheville for shopping , etc. This town has WalMart, and supermarkets, a move, etc. but no public transportation to get to them.

Babi · « **Reply #3252 on:** June 12, 2012, 09:13:51 AM »

Oh, I definitely want to see what I'm buying, ROSEMARY. I want to be sure I'm getting
fruit that will actually finish ripening. If I'm going to buy bacon, I don't want it to
be 80% fat! And so on...
I don't think there is such a thing as a home visit by a doctor here anymore. You can
be referred for home nursing care with a registered agency, but that's pretty much the
limit for home calls.
When it comes to gas prices, I guess we're not as bad off as I thought. I had no idea
they were so steep in the U.K. Everything I need is fairly close, but still not a distance
I can walk. Library, post office, grocery stores..all within a 5-minute drive. It's my
daughter with her far-flung friends that eat up the gas, but I can't begrudge the dear
support of my days her social life.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3253 on:** June 12, 2012, 10:36:45 AM »

Babi - By home visits, what I meant was when you call the doctor out outside surgery hours and he/she comes to your house. In years gone by, you would call the doctor's home, he would answer himself - or if he was out on a call, his long-suffering wife would answer. In the pre-mobile phone days, she would have to work out where he might be, or he would call her between each call (using the house phone of whomever he was visiting) to see if any more calls had come in. Then he would come to your house, whatever the time of night was.

This has now all but vanished. Most GP practices use contracted out of hours services staffed by doctors who often come from non-English speaking countries. Even to get one of them to call is like pulling teeth - usually you are referred to NHS24, which is then supposed to refer you to a GP who will be running an out of hours surgery at some central point in the city - you have to get yourself there. The only time I ever used it (when Madeleine was 3 years old and had a stiff neck and fever) I asked where the surgery was (we had just moved to the city) and was told by the NHS operator that she "hadn't a clue" (they are often in another part of the country and just answering all the calls from everywhere.) However, despite all the fanfares when this service was started, it soon became far too popular for the NHS's liking, and they then told us to call another service, staffed by nurses, not doctors, to ask for advice. This was, of course, pretty pointless, as the nurses could hardly diagnose over the phone when they're not even allowed to do so face to face. All they would say was 'take paracetamol'. This led to some real disasters - a girl in Aberdeen died of meningitis after her family were repeatedly told (on the phone) that she just had flu.

The NHS's attitude now is that we shouldn't bother any doctors at all unless we are 99% dead. They now tell us to 'ask your pharmacist' - again completely ridiculous, as pharmacists are not doctors, cannot prescribe drugs, and do not want to take any repsonsibility (and who can blame them?) On the rare occasions that I have asked their advice for children's ailments, they have always said 'you need to see your doctor'.

Our GPs are constantly complaining about overwork, but to be honest my sympathy for them is limited. They are paid huge salaries, get more holidays than anyone else except teachers, and have guaranteed pensions that they can take at an earlier age than anyone else because their work is deemed 'stressful'.

I appreciate that we have the NHS and the USA does not, but it is definitely not the institution it once was. This is partly, of course, because of a mushrooming, ageing population making more and more demands on it, but also IMO owing to the many many years of mismanagement and waste that have drained the NHS of resources. We now pay for BUPA - something I never thought I would do - because it is quite scary to think that one of us might be at the whim of the NHS if we were seriously ill.

Off soapbox now

Rosemary

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #3254 on:** June 12, 2012, 11:16:32 AM »

Rosemary, I don't want a National Health Service here in the U.S. and Generally speaking, I don't believe a whole lot of other folks do either. I know that people have been brain-washed into thinking a NHS is a panacaea (sp), but our medical systems here, although outrageously expensive, are the best in the world. No, no house calls. However your Primary Care Physician will, indeed call you back, if you leave an emergency message on their phone. They usually know you pretty well, and if it is something outside your usual health condition, they will tell you to go to the E.R. E.R.'s are the function of medical care that are suffering right now, and have been for a long while. People with NO Health Insurance, go to the ER with any minor complaint causing backups in being seen and long, long waits.

off my soapbox now, too!

bellemere · « **Reply #3255 on:** June 12, 2012, 12:25:51 PM »

More over Tomereader and let me climb up there on your soapbox. I am in favor of National health insurance.
And our health system is not the best in the world; we have a lower life expectancy than many countries and a higher rate of child mortality. It is just the most expensive system in the world. Sure we have some amazing surgeosn my town ns in our big metropolitan hospitals, but yu can't get an appointment with a specialist for weeks. And not enough doctors "accepting new patients" Lots to fix but we are making a start and we will eventually have the best health system in the world.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3256 on:** June 12, 2012, 12:32:30 PM »

Tome - we also have this issue with the ER (A & E as it is called here - Accident and Emergency) but not because people don't have insurance - it's partly because so many GPs surgeries simply say "no appointments, you will have to go up to A & E "- so you end up taking your child there for something you know the GP could have dealt with, and also because many people seem to think that every single thing they have is an emergency. Sometimes I do think that if they had to pay for it, of even for a bit of it, they wouldn't rush up there quite so often - some of them almost seem to treat it like a social club. It is at its absolute worst on Friday and Saturday nights (I would only go there then if I was desperate) because A & E also has to deal with the fall-out from our appalling binge drinking culture. The poor staff spend most of the night pumping teenagers' (and it's not only teenagers) stomachs and treating them for alcohol poisoning.

At the moment we have a very good documentary series on TV - '24 Hours in A & E' - it is filmed at King's College Hospital, one of the major central London hospitals. Some of the cases are very touching - elderly people who have lived in the area all their lives, for example - but most of the work for the staff is alcohol and/or gang culture-related. Last week there was a 40 year old woman who had serious brain injuries from falling down the stairs in a wine bar after drinking all day with her step-sister. When they spoke much later on (as in months - and the woman still wasn't right) they were both sensible-sounding, average people, both had proper jobs, homes, etc - but they had seen fit to start drinking at lunchtime and continue till late at night. There was also a young black boy who died of stab wounds - the doctors said it was the 3rd one that week, and that they know that once they have one, they will have more - revenge killings. The security outside the hospital has to be rachetted up, and they showed you their CCTV, - at the main entrance there were groups of hooded youths hanging about, waiting to slip into the hospital and finish off the job for their 'brothers'. In this case they didn't have to, as the boy died on the table. Horrible.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3257 on:** June 12, 2012, 01:55:48 PM »

One of the nicer things I saw years ago while living near Allentown, PA, was that they had a number of 24/7care clinics for minor emergencies, etc. to relieve the pressure on emergency rooms so that the hospital ERs could concentrate on life-threatening or more critical emergencies. They only just started opening several here in the Harrisburg area several years ago in areas not very close to the hospitals.

Now I hear that Pinnacle Health wants to build a new 100 private room hospital near where I live. We already have two hospitals in Harrisburg, one in Hershey, and one in Camp Hill. It's placement and the fact that it will have all private rooms leads me to believe that they are going to cater to the more affluent on the West Shore and for the convenience of those who don't like to travel in Harrisburg or try to find parking over there. They argue that it will provide more convenient access to a hospital for accident victims on Interstate 81. That may be true, but many of the major accidents on 81 in this area are closer to Carlisle, and therefore, closer to the Carlisle Hospital. In the meantime, I don't think there is anything down Route 15 towards Gettysburg or up 15, for that matter for quite a piece. If they really want to make it convenient for people farther out, then why not place one in either of those directions? Pinnacle, has been pretty aggressive in buying up outpatient imaging and other small or regional services.

Holy Spirit has been expanding, but not nearly as aggressively. Hershey Med is our big research hospital which is affiliated with Penn State. It includes a children's hospital which is helpful. Sick children don't have to endure a long trip to Philadelphia any more.

How did I get set off onto this tangent?

One more thing, my Dr. let me know years ago that he does house calls (don't know if that is still true). And he will call back if you leave a message with his answering service.

JeanneP · « **Reply #3258 on:** June 12, 2012, 06:42:27 PM »

I still think the the Health System in UK is good. I have seen it working still in the Past 8 years. Now this with the Elders. It has to be were you live I think. Lost 2 Aunts and A brother in the last 4 years. I saw doctors stopping at one aunts on his way home just to check out how her home help was doing. She just passed 2 years ago.Age 94.

A aunt got the best of care right up to passing at 91. My friends are now 84 and this year alone they have taken care of Knee replacement. Teeth, Heart problem and today he is having Catera ch surgery. True was on a list but only for about 5 weeks
.
I have use them the last 2 times over and got a appointment same day at the local clinic. Now family live in a village. Close to the town.
They have the same system in Canada and seems to work O.k for them according to my Canadian Friends.

Just seems to be that the USA cannot do anything right that does not show a profit. First thing we need to do is get drug prices down so that they are not making millions and some doctors making money by writing prescription. I have now lost the five doctors here in town that I started out with 35 years ago. Along with my Dentist. The ones that have now replaced them. their thinking nothing the same. Think a pill will take care of everything.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3259 on:** June 13, 2012, 01:53:44 AM »

Jeanne, I certainly agree with you about prescriptions and drugs. I think it is much less likely for us to come out of the doctor's surgery with a prescription (if we ever get in, that is

, and I do think that is a good thing. There are quite a lot of controls on how many perks doctors can legitimately take from drug companies.

Appointments seem to be a lottery. When we lived in Aberdeen, some people could get appointments with their GPs immediately, whereas our particular GP practice was like Fort Knox. If we had been staying, I think I would have changed doctors. Dentists are a huge problem here because successive cuts to training schools mean that there simply aren't enough of them, and especially not enough of them willing to work within the NHS when they can make huge profits by working privately. I have been lucky enough to find a lovely NHS dentist here, but that is why I am having to wait over a month for the second stage of root canal treatment - she is simply overwhelmed.

I think the premise of the NHS is a very good thing. Unfortunately, as we have discussed before, wealth in this country is becoming polarised, with a small % of the population now rich beyond anything we could have ever imagined even 20 years ago, and the rest of UK society left with insufficient funds to cover the needs of people who are living longer and longer. Our current government is also determined to follow the profit model for everything. I find it all quite scary, and I do wonder what life will be like for my children when they are my age.

Sorry, I know this isn't about fiction, so I will now shut up!

R

bellemere · « **Reply #3260 on:** June 13, 2012, 08:04:08 AM »

This a really complex subject, and involves philosophical as well as technical issuesl IIn our country there is a strong suspicion that a system of National Health Insurance would be giving "something for nothing" to lazy undeserving people. " Then the whole "Am I my brogher's keeper> " argument comes up. Strong emotions can prevail on either side, but statistics show that the current system of runaway costs is unsustainable. Something has to give. We need insurance for all people and cost controls for all providers. And more primary care doctors!
we should leave this subject for a different forum, don't you think?

Babi · « **Reply #3261 on:** June 13, 2012, 08:42:50 AM »

Actually, the pharmacists may be better informed about the medicines than the doctors.
The doctors often cannot keep up with all the new meds, and the pharmacists can certainly
check their computers and tell us of any contraindications to taking the med., or any
unwanted interaction with other meds. One of Valerie's doctors sent her home with a new
med and on reading the label she found the warning that on rare occasions it could cause
death,...even with the first dose.
She took this Rx. back to the doctor, asking him pathetically why he gave her a med.
that could kill her! He hadn't read up on the med., was horrified, and immediately told
the nurse to remove all the samples from their shelves.

Quote

Sometimes I do think that if they had to pay for it, of even for a bit of it, they
wouldn't rush up there quite so often.

You're so right about that, ROSEMARY.

We're getting more and more of those 24/7 emergency care clinics here, too, FRYBABE.
They really to fill a major need and are much more speedy and convenient. If your
emergency requires transfer to a hospital, the expense becomes part of your insurance
coverage.

Steph · « **Reply #3262 on:** June 13, 2012, 08:53:46 AM »

The 24/7 clinics around where I live ( in Florida) are wonderful. They are smart enough to refer for genuine emergencys and handle the day to day stuff very nicely. I must also put in a good word for the nurses.. I have a 800 number for nursesfrom my insurance. I have callled, you always get an RN after the initial triage and they have been helpful.. To either reassure me or send me directly to a doctor or once to the emergency room.. So I like them. I get my prescriptions by mail, so never talk to a pharmacist, but anything new always arrived with a whole sheet of what it should do, things to look for , etc.
But it would be nice to even be in the top 10 for medical care. The US does a horrid job unless you are rich rich rich..

bellemere · « **Reply #3263 on:** June 13, 2012, 11:16:13 AM »

Does it seem to you that our whole society is being transformed by money/ Not just hour health care system, but our elections. It is really scary. Presidents are not elected anymore; they ore sold by expensive TV advertising. Colleges are becoming more and more for rich kids . Public education sufers cuts and the private schools become more expensive. Even the airlines; you now pay for "early boarding; families with children used to get that privilege. Do you think there is anything that money can't buy? Maybe love, just mauybe.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3264 on:** June 13, 2012, 12:21:56 PM »

Yep, I agree, you are even encouraged to make money from your hobbies and if you do not you loose respect - volunteerism is built around making money for the cause - it goes on and on - I am a hold out for one of my mother's sayings when she described people as either "being rich from having money" or "being poor for not having money."

ursamajor · « **Reply #3265 on:** June 13, 2012, 12:58:42 PM »

The congress has been threatening to cut reimbursement for primary care doctors by nearly 30 per cent. This has almost happened about three times and canceled at the last minute. New physicians are avoiding primary care, and who can blame them? My daughter (a family medicine doc) has stopped accepting new Medicare patients because the amount paid is so low. This is going to destroy the whole Medicare system if congress doesn' put a stop to it.

MaryPage · « **Reply #3266 on:** June 13, 2012, 01:40:12 PM »

I believe in the capitalistic system, but with strong government guidance. Men get addicted to riches and are innately lawless, so there simply must be laws and regulations.

Remember the "Robber Barons?" Well, they are alive and well today; it is just hedge funds and mortgages and investments they are in a feeding frenzy over, and not the railroads and coal mines and early industries of old.

I firmly believe society was correct back when it felt utilities such as water and electricity were necessities for all and everyone deserved police protection, firehouse protection, and a free education through public schools, as well as armed service protection. I do feel they made a mistake way back though; medical care should also be an innate right for every soul born. Doctors should be on salaries (good ones, mind, to make up for all that education) and hospitals and nursing homes should be non-profit. For profit institutions do not care for our loved ones as well as the non-profits do, unless, of course, our loved ones are fortunate enough to have scads of money.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3267 on:** June 13, 2012, 04:46:34 PM »

Has anybody read Henry and Clara by Thomas Mallon? They were the couple in the president's box at Ford Theatr the night Lincoln was assassinated. I'm more then halfway thru it. The first seven chapters - short ones- were about their family backgrounds and rather dull. I kept reading thinking it had the potential to be an interesting story and it got better, but the author has a strange style of writing, imo. Some of his sentences are oddly worded and altho it is fiction, he has some historical facts misstated. I would be curious of the opinions of other readers.

Jean

bellemere · « **Reply #3268 on:** June 13, 2012, 08:34:08 PM »

I d Nevero remember that historical accounts of Lincoln's assassination mention that Mrs. Lincoln invited a young couple to join them that evening. They are hardly mentioned, though in subsequent accounts.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3269 on:** June 13, 2012, 11:30:19 PM »

According to the "prologue", Henry is also shot. I don't know yet if he survived.

Steph · « **Reply #3270 on:** June 14, 2012, 08:48:03 AM »

Interesting thing. I knew there was a young couple with them, but for some reason I thought it was a young aide of the presidents and his wife..

Babi · « **Reply #3271 on:** June 14, 2012, 08:53:36 AM »

Let's state it simply, shall we? Greed has been with us from the beginning and will
undoubtedly be with us to the end. We do need protection from those whose greed knows no
bounds, the type who see disaster and tragedy only as a chance to make even more profit.
Unfortunately, MARYPAGE, we tend to forget that 'non-profit' institutions still must
have money to operate. It's just that those costs have to be paid by the taxpayer instead
of the person using the service. So, would you rather pay those costs continuously, or
just when you need them? We do need some non-profit, citizen supported services for the
jobless, ill, poor, etc., but for the most part I believe everyone should pay their own
way as far as possible.

ursamajor · « **Reply #3272 on:** June 14, 2012, 06:12:06 PM »

So, would you rather pay those costs continuously, or
just when you need them?

The problem is, somebody always needs health care costs paid for. If we are only willing to pay for our individual needs, what happens when we come to having no more individual money? The whole purpose of Medicare and Medicaid is to enable seniors to have health care without absolutely exhausting their resources.

"If living is a thing that money can buy
The rich will live and the poor will die."

In today's world living often becomes a thing that only money can buy.

MaryPage · « **Reply #3273 on:** June 14, 2012, 08:14:30 PM »

I started working at age 17 and have worked all my life. I retired from full time paid work at age 69 and went to part time paid work. I retired from part time paid work at age 75 and was retired until age 79, at which time I went to half time unpaid work, the same type, bookkeeping, I have done for years.

I worked hard and was frugal all of my life. I paid my own way in life and saved what I could. That being said, even my decent retirement income is not decent when you take into account my medical expenses. If I did not have Medicare and my federal employee Blue Cross/Blue Shield, I would not be able to pay all of my medical bills. I would have to give up my apartment and go to live with a child or be homeless out in the woods or under an overpass. This is real. I am not making up one word of this.

Yes, non-profits DO have expenses in order to run. Having worked for non-profits during my many years, no one knows that more than I. But if they are truly NON profit, they take into account their expenses and charge accordingly. Everyone gets taken care of and everyone gets what they need to address their issues.

For profits do everything they can to cut benefits, refuse procedures and medications, and charge like over ONE THOUSAND PER CENT for handing out an aspirin! Truly!

I have one granddaughter who works hard and earns well. She is a college grad, as is her husband, who also works hard and earns well. They had medical expenses that came, in just one year, to a six figure amount that was actually MORE than the six figure amount they together earn in one year. And this was ongoing, so they had no choice but legal bankruptcy.

MaryPage · « **Reply #3274 on:** June 14, 2012, 08:21:06 PM »

My point is not a political one. It is a reality one.

Medical costs AS CHARGED by for profit organizations in the United States today are hugely and extravagantly out of proportion to the rest of our economy. They desperately need to be forced to restructure their financial set up.

I have not as yet read a single survey by an organization or a single report by an economist who does not point this out as the avalanche over our heads.

bellemere · « **Reply #3275 on:** June 14, 2012, 08:40:23 PM »

any isurance plan requires a pool of both healthy (low claims) people and elderly and sick(high claims__ people. With time the healthy becomethe elderly and sick. Only the very very rich can afford to pay their own way for their MRI's,heart bypasses, or rehabilitation from drugs and alcohol!
the mpending supreme court decision will, I believe, declare the mandate to have insurance as unconstitutional. Here in Massachusetts, where we have had universal health care for four years now, we hope states will be allowed to set their own rules. We have 90 something coverage annd finally begun working on costs. the state recently made several insurance companies refund money to their members because they failed to show that they spent at least 80 percent of their premium revenue on direct patient care and only 20 percent or less on advertising, marketing, executive salaries, lobbying or other administrative costs. . It is hoped that the next step will be to change from fee-for-service to giving primary care physicians a set amount upfront to provide appropriate patient care. this spares the doctor the enormous costs of constant billing for every service performed. they will not have to employ a huge back office staff of clerical workers filing claims. It is hped that this will provide the patient with better quality of care from having one physician who knows the patients history well. Also, all medical records of all doctors are going be ing computerized and available to any specialisy or hospital with the touch of a computer key. one of the best things is that nurse practitioners and physician assistants , working under a doctor's supervision, are becoming primary care providers. They are great! They talk to you, they listen, they teach, they give you resouces to find your own information, all the things the doctors were too rushed to do. These are some of the things that will give the USA the best helth care system in the world some day.

Steph · « **Reply #3276 on:** June 15, 2012, 08:42:52 AM »

That sounds like great plan, but thus far,none of it is happening. As a senior with Medicare, prescription plan and medigappolicy, all is well, but I worry about my sons and their wives and grandchildren.. In Florida, we now have a governor, who is filthy rich, but seems to want to keep himself rich, but the state employes poor.. Amazing.

Babi · « **Reply #3277 on:** June 15, 2012, 08:48:24 AM »

I do agree, MARYPAGE, that those institutions that overcharge so outragiously need to
be sharply curbed. I also am dependent on Medicare for my medical needs and would be in
dire straits without it. Even when I had private insurance, I would insist on not being
billed for nonsense I didn't need or want. Like housekeeping putting out 'personal care
kits' daily when one was enough for the entire stay...and charging five times what they
were worth.
Medical costs can be disastrous, no question of that. The hard part still, I fear, is
finding a balance in meeting the needs of all our citizens while not being victimized by
either greed or selfishness.
[How many of you discovered Mr. Skimpole in Dickens' Bleak House?
How would you like to support him all his carefree life?]
I am hoping we do have a national health insurance plan, but one that is not forced on
every individual whether they want it or not. I have hopes that the new amended version
will meet our needs.

JoanP · « **Reply #3278 on:** June 15, 2012, 09:40:56 AM »

A quick little note to remind you that our June Bookclub Online discussion of Ann Patchett's Run begins today. The unusual late start date is due to the length of Charles Dickens' Bleak House - which ran on longer than we had expected. You can't rush Dickens!

You can find Run here: http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=3291.40
This will be a two week discussion as it is not a long book and the action takes place within a twenty-four hour period.

We'll finish in time to begin the July-August Bookclub Online discussion of Great Expectations - on July 1.
Folks are already gathering and claiming seats on the porch. We'd love to have you join us Here: http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?board=137.0

Steph · « **Reply #3279 on:** June 16, 2012, 08:30:58 AM »

Actually forcing everyone to become part of a medical plan is important.Young, healthy and rich wont join.. and they are needed to balance the expenses of the older,ill, etc. Not nice, but true.

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