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148.87.23.12
I'm wondering how the 'greatest country on earth' can have such a problem - I mean literally, I really wonder why I can't get a doctor's appointment in a timely fashion EVEN while being charged clearly exorbitant rates?Actually, I am somewhat at peace as I don't believe in the system to begin with, but just saying :-)
Edits: 04/18/23Follow Ups:
They don't have one...
But in 1950 your average American looked somewhat different
.
He's retiring end of June.
Huge crisis in Eldorado at Santa Fe (and the surrounding area).
One single-physician family practice guy decides to retire and close up shop, whole section of the county is in crisis.
Exceptional guy, and here in physician poor northern New Mexico we can ill afford it.
"Reality cannot exist because it cannot keep up with the lies on the Internet."
He'll likely sell his business and patient roster to another doctor.
In any case, I seriously doubt that the closing of a single-physician GP practice will matter. Sure, his patients will be upset, but they'll find another doctor.
It'll all work out just fine.
*********
We are inclusive and diverse, but dissent will not be tolerated.
Aren't the republicans introducing legislation to repeal Obamacare?
The work is not Done and We're all going to die in front of those Death Panels!!
That ain't no effing bargain considering the US healthcare delivers no more health for much more money than anywhere else. SEE LINK.
The US system is for-profit: where are those profits actually coming from?
Dmitri Shostakovich
This from an American
Does America have the "best" healthcare in the world? Yes, but only if you're Rich or have hyper-expensive "Cadillac" insurance.
Viewed rationally the salient aspect of US health care is that it is very, very expensive . But is not expensive because it is commensurately better but because it is "for-profit" .
As it stands, American health insurance -- including public programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and "Obamacare" -- must fund the exorbitant profits of healthcare industry including healthcare delivery, (doctors, hospitals, etc.), drug companies, and insurance companies themselves.
In American where democracy means every dollar a vote, the healthcare lobby ensures that their profits remain intact regardless of whether they're paid buy individuals or governments.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Back in the 1990s my friend's dad was in Vegas and had to get two heart injections from some heart trouble. He made the mistake, as many Canadians do, of not buying BCAA when travelling to the US.
The bill was $25,000 - the tongue depressor was $30. I hear they go for $80 now.
And while Americans can buy rock-star health insurance - I have seen millionaires penniless if and when they need to "go back" a few years later as they have a pre-existing condition.
It sure as f**k ought to have ...
Dmitri Shostakovich
Edits: 04/19/23
a VERY misleading bit of pseudo-data.
What's missing?
Well.....I'd like to see doctors WAGES computed as well....For a GP and a few selected specialties.
In addition? What is the Per Capita INCOME of the charted countries?
And since I DO believe the 'trend' of the chart, I just must say that we get the best medicine that the AMA can compel the governement to make us buy.....While financianing a good percentage of all new pills / medicines....
Too much is never enough
My wife had access to some treatments that were either still considered only experimental, or outright rejected due to their cost (UK) many years later elsewhere.
Some of them are expensive, yes. What price your life?
Cost me zero: private insurance paid C$800, Ontario Health paid the other $99,200 or more that comparable care, (diagnosis, procedure, counselling, and follow up), would have cost in the USA.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Edits: 04/19/23
I had back surgery awhile back. Total cost was around $25K. My $1200/month insurance kicks in zero until I hit my annual deductible of $15K.
Thankfully the insurance company negotiated the bill down to $9K, of which I was responsible for all.
A bit over $14K a year buys me what is essentially a catastrophic policy.
Health insurance in the US is insane. I turn 65 next year and look forward to the savings.
Dean.
reelsmith's axiom: Its going to be used equipment when I sell it, so it may as well be used equipment when I buy it.
Insurance rates skyrocketed when ObamaCare went into effect. If I remember correctly, not a single Republican Senator voted for it. Please correct me if I'm wrong. (With citations.)
AFAIK, it's all on Obama, Pelosi and the rest of the Dems. Again, correct me if I'm wrong. (With citations.)
*********
We are inclusive and diverse, but dissent will not be tolerated.
McConnel and Trump said they would overturn Obamacare. They had their own replacement plan.
For Trump's first 2 years, he had the Congress AND Senate AND the majority of the Supreme Court.
Can you explain why with 100% complete and total power on day one they could have overturned the Affordable Care Act they did not?
I mean this was something Trump PROMISED to do and did NOTHING.
But I guess you conveniently forgot that didn't you you little crybaby snowflake. It's great you live in Dallas - my friends in MS13 tell me it's nice.
Too much MONEY.
Too much POWER.
Too much INFLUENCE.
I don't see the problem. We got what we got because we got the best politicians money can buy.
Too much is never enough
Before the idiot broke our system no one heard of $15K deductibles.Did you vote for him?
Before Obama I had a very nice plan with low deductibles for which I paid less than $6K a year.
Edits: 04/19/23
Just make sure you blame Obama for getting millions of people insured and getting rid of pre existing condition rules which IMO were diabolical, along with the flaws in the system which even I could probably write a book on.
Speak out, you got to speak out against the madness
You got to speak your mind, if you dare - David Crosby
Hard working people like a friend of mine, who owns a small business.
Before, he used to have a manageably expensive insurance with a reasonable deductible.
Now he simply can't afford the premium, especially considering its HUGE deductibles.
He is not alone, there are millions like him.
$100/yr. deductible for prescription drugs.
I just had vascular ultrasounds today for neck, legs, abdomen, an hour-long procedure : no fee, no deductible. It did require a referral by my cardiologist. I did have to pay a $4 fee for parking.
Dmitri Shostakovich
... you didn't even have to pay taxes to get it for free !!How cool is that?!
I love it when doctors and their entire staff work for FREE!
*********
We are inclusive and diverse, but dissent will not be tolerated.
Edits: 04/20/23
Of course doctors and their staffs don't work for nothing ... duh!!
In Ontario "free" healthcare is mostly funded from general tax revenues, either provincial or, indirectly, the federal governments. I do pay a specific Ontario Health premium of $600/yr collected thru provincial income tax.
Dmitri Shostakovich
nt
Usually suits here are settled out of court when a trial would be more costly or damaging than the settlement.
Dropping the damage request in half also suggests there may have been some risk in the original suit aka not a clear slam, dunk.
Lets see if the "dominion" issue goes away.
Smartmatic: Another election technology company, Smartmatic, filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox in February 2021, accusing the news network of falsely implicating the company in a bogus narrative about vote rigging in the 2020 election.
The Bleeding is not even close to being stopped.
"The Bleeding is not even close to being stopped."
That's my guess too, FAR from over.
I'm much less concerned about a voting machine company cooking the tallies than I am about election "officials" and staff monkeying around with them. Seriously, when they count/re-count ballots three times and come up with three different numbers, something isn't right. After all, it's BASIC ARITHMETIC!And the whole absentee ballot and mail-in ballot thing is an excellent opportunity for fraud. And let's not forget about "forgotten" ballots suddenly being found in the trunk of someone's car.
WTH?!!!
There are "international observers". We should have them in the United States.
And the "chain of custody" short be very short and very secure.
*********
We are inclusive and diverse, but dissent will not be tolerated.
Edits: 04/20/23
The state department invites them every election. look it up
I'm wondering why you were driving around with forgotten ballots in your trunk?
He's just following the plan to a t. Project, Project Project. Endless, mindless projection. Let's just hope the lissome morons don't destroy the country.
Speak out, you got to speak out against the madness
You got to speak your mind, if you dare - David Crosby
you have taken a careful look at the political leanings of most of those officials found to have been engaged in improper activities.
Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
...and I'd do it again.
Romneycare was going to happen regardless of which party was in the oval office.
If you prefer to blame Obama, have at it.
Dean.
reelsmith's axiom: Its going to be used equipment when I sell it, so it may as well be used equipment when I buy it.
Do you know, without looking?
Drug companies jacked up their prices just because they could.
Do you know, BTW, that most of them have the Hardship programs, that provide expensive medicine for free?
Pharma prices is a very complicated issue. I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs, just some.
...it went up.
I'm sure you put sole blame on Obama, but my guess is there is plenty of blame to go around.
Did you know the average cost of one night in the hospital has increased 98% in 20 years?
I wonder if that has anything to do with rising premiums?
Dean.
reelsmith's axiom: Its going to be used equipment when I sell it, so it may as well be used equipment when I buy it.
The sad reality of the situation is as follows: if we simply gave the uninsured some basic coverage, our total expense would be much, much lower, people would indeed be able to keep the coverage they liked and we would not fuck up the whole system, would not force thousands of doctors into retirement.
Things would be much better if we simply kept the socialist social engineers in cages and on chains... not in the offices.
Seems you have the mistaken impression I think the ACA is wonderful.
I much prefer Bernie's plan.
You love your Medicare, but hate socialism.
Pick a lane.
Dean.
reelsmith's axiom: Its going to be used equipment when I sell it, so it may as well be used equipment when I buy it.
You are born, you begin receiving SS.
Same for everyone.
I sometimes look at our statements, they read like some sick comedy.
I don't even know why the providers even bother putting those on paper, because they often get paid 10% or so of it.
I guess it is all done in a hope they catch some schmuck with no insurance, but tons of cash, who will willingly pay those made up numbers.
No one is disputing that the single-payer rationed system will pay full for the procedures it approves and has available. But I know many Brits express frustration over their system not approving many modern treatments.
It must be frustrating to know it is readily available in the "imperfect" US, while your "perfect" system says NO.
I know which system I would have chosen given free choice. I am not saying my choice should be followed by everyone else.
I am totally opposed to any rationing, and in that regard the US system is superior.
But at least everyone gets basic coverage and the national health outcomes are equivalent to the USA.
Dmitri Shostakovich
I would say they are generally close, but for instance, cancer surviving rates in the US tend to be noticeably higher.
nt
Dmitri Shostakovich
Best Cancer Survival Rates by Country
1. Australia - 1,849.8 survivors per 100k people
2. New Zealand - 1,686.8 survivors per 100k people
3. Ireland - 1,240.5 survivors per 100k people
4. United States of America - 1,195.7 survivors per 100k people
5. Canada - 1,148.3 survivors per 100k people
6. Norway - 1,120.3 survivors per 100k people
7. Netherlands - 1,103.4 survivors per 100k people
8. Switzerland - 1,102.9 survivors per 100k people
9. Belgium - 1,076 survivors per 100k people
10. Denmark - 1,068.9 survivors per 100k people
Cancer largely is determined by when you are diagnosed - if you are diagnosed early then you have a better chance of being treated.
One thing to consider here about the US numbers is that it only considers people who "get tested."
It is free for an Aussie and a Canuck or a Brit or a New Zealander etc to go to a doctor to get a check-up and testing for cancer. That is not the case in the US. Because the cost is so high, people do not go and get tested and as a result, they die not knowing they had cancer or can't afford the treatments even if they did know. Those people are not on this "treatment of cancer survivor list" statistic when they are left to die untreated.
So the numbers for the USA are skewed to "the people with money" versus the other countries where the stats are made up of "everyone with or without money"
They do this in Education in BC for decades ranking the schools from top to bottom. Private schools can cherry-pick the students they like versus public schools which have to take everyone in the catchment area. The idea is to try to push private schools because they're better and get parents to pay. Make the public schools look bad to generate fear and more profits for the politicians and their buddies.
Of course, the schools are all given various exams and the public schools who have to take all the special needs students, non-English speaking students, kids from unsafe homes all shoved in with 35 to a class (back in the day) versus the private schools where parents hire 4 tutors in a class of 9 students - gee I wonder who does better. (Ahem the best public school students still ranked higher!)
It's easy to prop up the numbers for success if you make one class have 30 students with 12 special needs and the other class of 9 wealthy kids who you get to interview and make "pass" before you allow them.
Man, I would be such an awesome teacher if I could just choose the students I wanted in the classroom. Holy Cow - it would make my job easy!
I remember that kid in Port McNeil who would go to the back of the class and shit on the floor because that was how he lived at home - his "parents" were animals. He isn't the kid making it into Southpointe Academy in BC or the Collegiate School in New York that's for sure.
The new word is "autocrat" for people who don't believe in our system of government.
"Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. "
― W.C. Fields
"he new word is "autocrat" for people who don't believe in our system of government."
It is the tendency to grow budgets without actual need that L VonMisses wrote about in the 1940's that makes people wonder if their taxes are wisely spent and so become "conservative, small government minded, not all powerful, all consuming.
This by itself contradicts the gov can do everything for you approach that many now seem to want. As M Thatcher once coined about that path, eventually "they" run out of other peoples money.
We are both conservatives in Reagan tradition.
That name has been soiled recently by attacks from both sides, and we are in minority, but I hope this is temporary crisis.
... are "moderate" or "centrist". Everyone seems to be "extremist" these days. There is lots of noise from the far-left and far-right, but very little discussion of the merely left-leaning or right-leaning. Most of those folks (if/where they still exist) appear to be keeping their heads down and out of the lines of fire.
Middle-ground is getting about as hard to find as a middle-class.
"And today is for sale and it's all you can afford. Buy your own admission. The whole things got you bored. Well the Lord chooses the good ones, and the bad ones use the Lord"--a very dear friend for decades Michael Stanley (Gee)--RIP
"Middle-ground is getting about as hard to find as a middle-class."
That's because there is so much $spent$ marketing two far polar opposites, each by the opposing side. What one see's is more polar than the pubic is.
As long as each side thinks the other side are clueless hopeless morons (as seen occasionally here) , there is no need to talk and accidentally discover there are a lot of things people on both sides agree on, things which do not support the status quo.
"Middle-ground is getting about as hard to find as a middle-class."
I think you pointed out the reason why right here.
Fewer persons, is of course a solution.....IF you can maintain the rate of graduation / training of new doctors.
Another possible solution?
EXPERT programs. Highly trained nurses (another issue, to be sure) do workups and feed data to expert programs.....Which spit out possible causes and requests for additional tests and information..
Doctor might evaluate / vet but stays out of the patient loop unless computer is 'stumped'....which will happen less and less often as the database of cause / effect enlarges.
Highest quality medical care for EVERYONE is as much an 'impossible dream' as real equality or if you believe in the myth of 'fairness'....
Too much is never enough
No u believe in the system, the us vs them mentality, while in reality you're ALL getting the short end
Fortunately, that "Big fucking deal" did not touch Medicare.
Edits: 04/18/23
Far too many concessions to private insurance and drug companies.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Two of our biggest lobbies are big Pharma and big Insurance, hence the very high costs of each, those costs are protected.Have any doubt?
https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/industries
Here lobbies have had a higher return on investment than nearly anything else
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/01/06/144737864/forget-stocks-or-bonds-invest-in-a-lobbyist
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2019/05/14/how-the-fortune-100-turned-2-billion-in-lobbying-spend-into-400-billion-of-taxpayer-cash/?sh=6ea81c8954ff
https://represent.us/action/is-lobbying-good-or-bad/
Edits: 04/19/23
I'm speaking even WITHOUT medicare as I have private insurance still (supposedly, good private insurance) and I haven't yet transferred to medicare, yet.So, I would like to know how those of you on medicare fare because in three months, it may be worth my while (if I understand all the repercussions, which I, obviously, don't think I do :-)
If I lived in France, I know it would not be a life or death situation I was facing, but I don't. Next country I live in may not have health insurance commonly available as well, but I suspect that 'bankruptcy' and 'getting medical attention' are not so closely tired together there, I hope, at least.
Edits: 04/18/23 04/18/23
I have been on Medicare for 6 years now. I pay for a supplemental policy that picks up the 20% Medicare doesn't cover. $257/month, and $153 for Medicare part B. Also a prescription drug program,(Silver Script), that costs $33/month. My total monthly cost for Medical insurance is therefore about $444/month. I have never received a medical bill. I have had knee replacement surgery, several emergency room visits, physical therapy, home nurse visit for both knee rehab, and a bad infection that required IV antibiotics, a few trips to a Med fast unit for some lacerations. Several others that I can't recall, and have not paid a dime, (other than my monthly premium of course).Before turning 65 and getting Medicare, I was turned down for Medical insurance due to pre-existing conditions, until Obamacare outlawed that. Medicare cannot do that thankfully. Supplemental insurance was a different story, but I found a company finally,(Mutual of Omaha) , that covers the 20% for $257/month.
Suffice to say, I love Medicare.
mg16
Edits: 04/18/23
Medicare - welcome to the Canadian Single Payer healthcare system. Medicare for all - the thing Bernie Sanders has been saying for the last 40 years.
It takes a ton of work off of doctors. No need to put someone on a drug they need only to find out the HMO doesn't cover - then look for an alternative. Also, the exact same US drugs made in the US are sold in Canada for 1/10th the price because the government negotiates with the drug companies. It is not socialised medicine the morons at Fox News like to Lie about. It is single payer - the government has NO SAY in medical care - all it does is pay the bill - you and your doctor decide 100% of how you are treated and the government gets the bill.
So next time when you watch Fox around election time and one of those retards starts scaring you about socialism you will know they are LYING to you as they have proven in the past to be LYING to you. And yet some of the morons here still believe everything they're told by Tucker and crew.
Canadian system is most definitely NOT Medicare for All. I know it takes a bit of mental strain to understand that.
Most importantly it is a rationed system, while Medicare is not.
As result our Medicate patients don't go to Canada for treatment, it is the other way around.
Just show me one conservative/republican healthcare solution. Although long promised and never delivered they have conceded that people have come to like Obamacare. It beat their ass in 2020 and now not a peep out any of them.
Edits: 04/19/23
We have a special system here driven by lobbyists they are bi-partisan.
Two of our biggest lobbies are big Pharma and big Insurance, hence the very high costs of each, those costs are protected.
Have any doubt, do look?
https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/industries
Here lobbies have had a higher return on investment than nearly anything else to grow buisness
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/01/06/144737864/forget-stocks-or-bonds-invest-in-a-lobbyist
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2019/05/14/how-the-fortune-100-turned-2-billion-in-lobbying-spend-into-400-billion-of-taxpayer-cash/?sh=6ea81c8954ff
https://represent.us/action/is-lobbying-good-or-bad/
How does that effect our food and what is considered good according to the gov recommendations (also influenced by lobbies)?
Most kids are overweight, many children, especially in poor areas have pre-diabetes, many have a fatty liver and most face a life of prescription medications and expensive medical care. Who profits from that?
But how about the poor??
WE have Medicare for the retired and unable to work AND we have the rarely mention Medicaid for the poor.
A program who's budget actually exceeded the defense budget. It's a quiet gold mine for the medical and food industry
https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/medicaid-enrollment-spending-growth-fy-2021-2022
https://www.cbo.gov/topics/defense-and-national-security/defense-budget
Can you name one US senator that is the biggest enabler of big pharma and insurance? Hint..... he isn't an ophthalmologist and represents Kentucky.
Edits: 04/21/23
Yes it is true that Canada is not a perfect system - geography and a limited population make certain procedures a strain.
Canada like the USA has a need for doctors and nurses. The system is two-tiered in Canada and goes on a need basis. Rich or poor - first come first serve. Although the top 1% can simply go to the US, Thailand, Japan etc if they don't want to wait for their MRI or Boob Job etc.
Still, if I am shot by a lunatic and I go to the hospital and have to stay in bed for 3 months - it's all free. I don't need a go fund me page begging for help or an insurance company telling me I had a pre-existing condition therefore even though I have paid $100,000 over the last 30 years for their medical coverage I won't be covered and have to come up with $500k.
No one goes bankrupt in Canada for medical.
Medicare for all would be superior to the Canadian system - which is why Bernie calls for it - after all America Ra Ra Ra Sis Boom Ba SHOULD have a better system than Canada. The USA should have the best healthcare system in the ENTIRE World where everyone is covered from birth. It is laughable it is so shitty.
Bernie asks high and hopes to get something close. Makes sense - if America is so powerful it should protect the people not spend it all on Trump's golf trips, rallies, and the military-industrial complex. It's weird you care about protecting Ukraine but not your fellow Americans - what did Ukraine give to America? You're happy to help give them trillions of dollars and they did NOTHING for you or America. But man oh man if some 30 year old gets Cancer - fuck him - get a job and pay for it yourself.
...but there's a lot more wrong with the US healthcare system than just providing free medical care for all.
My mother and sister are both nurses (Mom is retired now). My late wife was an oncologist, and my BIL, younger daughter and her husband are all doctors. A typical medical student will end-up several hundred thousands of dollars in debt and not enter the work-force (in their field) until their late 20's. For a specialty, that number for debt can be in excess of half a million and they won't enter the workforce until after they've turned 30. And then there's the huge expense of liability/malpractice insurance (thanks to our litigators). Interns/residents don't get paid shit, until you become an attending physician or go into private practice. Then you are faced with the choice of earning half your "value" working for a managed-care organization/hospital (covered under their liability umbrella), or gambling on going on your own and paying your own liability insurance.
Meanwhile, your undergrad friends started trading on Wall St. by the time they turned 21-22, and have made millions before you even got your first real job.
People don't graduate medical school and immediately buy a multi-million dollar home, 3 new luxury cars, and join the local country club. Most are digging out of a financial hole and trying to "catch-up". In many cases, their barista where they get their morning coffee, probably has a more favorable debt to income ratio for the first few years.
Start by "fixing" the situation from the start...
"And today is for sale and it's all you can afford. Buy your own admission. The whole things got you bored. Well the Lord chooses the good ones, and the bad ones use the Lord"--a very dear friend for decades Michael Stanley (Gee)--RIP
Dave - I think the issue here from the right wing is that people who go to university to get a degree should know what they're getting into.
In other words, they should say - 8 years of university times $65,000 a year means I have to pay $520,000 back plus interest.
It would help if academic advisors in the high schools really laid it out for people in terms of internship years, lack of pay, interest, and the job market.
When I decided to leave the business for teaching the government was actively recruiting people to become teachers. They said there would be a shortage - laid out the salaries online etc.
So I changed my majors and went into teaching. Incurred debt but the starting salary was pretty good so I could offset that.
Problem. In the 4th or 5th year, the new government decided not to hire teachers. Instead, they opened private schools for their rich friends and hired "teachers" at 2/3 the rate of pay. No teacher pension plan etc.
The public schools they gutted - closed the special needs schools and put them in the regular class without limits. The teachers union went on strike and took it to the supreme court of Canada - the teachers won. But it took years and the damage was done.
So like your doctor friends, I was on a substitute list. The problem with being a substitute is that you work 2-3 days a week - some weeks 5 but others 1. You don't get paid over any holiday. You can't take a second job because if the school calls you to sub you MUST say yes. If you say no 3 times in a month you are fired.
So you can't take a job at Starbucks or Subway during the weekdays. Well, you could I suppose for a 6 pm to 11 pm shift but being a substitute teacher all day and then working 6-11 pm - I couldn't do that in my 20s let alone now.
So you fast forward a decade or so and people moved on from teaching as they have moved on from medicine to do something else.
For what teachers get paid in the US and Canada - I would not recommend anyone become a teacher. In British Columbia - you can become a bus driver with a class 5 license and a little training - you don't need any degree and willincur no debt. Your salary will be around $60,000 a year - a starting teacher will be around $47,000. But remember you will likely be a sub for 5 years at $25,000 a year before you get the full time job.
So you have $120,000 in debt - 5 years at $25,000, 4 years to get to $60,000.
-$120,000
5 years 25,000 = 125,000 but you can's use it all to pay off the loan because you still need a car to get to the different schools, eat, live somewhere to sleep - so you maybe pay $5000 off the loan and have no money saved.
So five years of school no savings
The next five years as a substitute
(10 years later)
-$115,000 in debt
no money in the bank.
You land your job - $47k a year (do this for 4 years making $60k)
If lucky - you have paid half your debt (remember it is prime +2% and that interest doesn't stop whether you pay it or not)
20 years after graduation - you have paid off your debt - $10,000 in the bank - maybe.
Bus Driver $60k a year * the five years you were in school = $300,000
$60,000 a year with no debt while the other guy was a substitute = $300,000
This guy has money to buy a house and has an appreciating asset - maybe some investments too. Add $100,000 minimum.
10 more years - $600,000 more. Has made $1.2 million + appreciating assets.
Or be a broke teacher! Ooops.
Maybe you can do the same for people wanting to be doctors - sure their salaries might be a bit higher than my teacher's example but their debt is also much higher. Long Live Bus drivers!
I only remained a teacher because Hong Kong pays new teachers better than a principal in Canada.
The only way the US will do something is when there is a major shortage - so free education if you are willing to do 3 years of military service or free university if you are willing to work for 3 years in a rural community.
Canada did this to attract people up to live in the Northwest Territories.
In the US one day you might have to do that to get someone to move to a right-wing shithole like Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Texas, or Florida. Not too many educated people would want their backward religious views foisted upon them I shouldn't think.
21% increase not enough for 'ya?
The myth of the poor teacher kind of gets to me.
Certainly, in some counties, teachers don't make squat. But years ago I went thru every teachers contract in San Diego and they do rather well......With premiums after attaining tenure.
College expenses rose FASTER than inflation and many other measures......Why? Because of guaranteed loans......FREE MONEY. Imagine that! Costs rose with the availbility of free money.
Federal Student Loans were FIRST offered in '58 and have morphed and expanded ever since.
Now? with what amounts to 10 BILLION of debt relief, as a taxpayer I'M now on the hook....
Too much is never enough
Well, remember that is technically over a 4 year span out to 2022(retroactive), 2023, 2024, and 2025.
The average is 5.25% a year. That seems good but it depends on how much has inflation increased and will increase out to 2025.
All jobs should have a yearly pay increase that covers the inflation rate - otherwise, you are getting a pay cut. If the cost of living goes up 8% and you only get a 5% pay increase - then congratulations - you got a 3% pay cut.
Again my point was a bit muddled - it was not so much the salary but the number of years it takes to become a teacher and the number of years you have to substitute before landing a full-time job. The pay itself, once you have a full-time job, is okay to quite good depending on where you live.
I was speaking more in total earnings over a 20-year span - and you'll do better as a bus driver in British Columbia Canada and other places financially than you will by becoming a teacher (and maybe other degree holders). Nurses in Canada are in high demand so there is a good chance you will get a full-time job right after graduation.
According to your article it says that "the salary for teachers would range from about $69,000 to $122,000" in the Los Angeles School District.
The number doesn't really help without knowing what the cost of living is in L.A. The average Los Angeles home value is $901,291 according to Google.
The average San Francisco home value is $1,277,409.
Looking at other costs of living prices and salaries - I personally care more about how much money I have left in the bank after all my monthly expenses than the salary. In other words, you may be able to save more actual money by making $45,000 a year in Idaho than making $100,000 a year in San Francisco.
For example, I can save more in one month in Hong Kong than I can save in an entire year if I worked in Canada. That is partly attributable to a higher salary but largely due to lower expenses. (I don't need a car, the government gives me a living allowance for rent) I would save far more here even if the salary were identical.
I get the sense that LA is expensive. I haven't been there in years but I do remember being stuck in 7 lanes of traffic and thinking gas alone would kills you and that was in the mid-1990s when it was cheap.
So I guess what I would ask you, if you know, would be if $69k-$122k be a salary you would like in an LA? Obviously, that is a big spread - $122k is a pretty nice number but how many years do you have to teach to get to that number?
$69k in LA? I dunno.
...that are not well-represented by simple annual salary estimates/statistics. My wife and I spent a number of years on the East Coast (Washington, DC) to bolster our resumees and experience, but spent the bulk of our careers here in OH. Sure, in absolute dollars of annual salary, we made more in the DC area, but not enough to offset the cost of living.
We both had job opportunities on both the East and West Coasts, but chose to return to OH to start and raise a family--where we could afford nice single-family homes, in good neighborhoods within an above-average school district (even on lesser salaries)--and we still had enough money left-over to build for the future of ourselves, our daughters, and our retirements.
Sure--Evelyn and I (both retired/kids gone), could afford to retire to LA, SF, NYC, DC, or any other brutally expensive coastal location, but we wouldn't have anywhere near the quality of life that we have here. The main house is ~6,000 sq/ft, and the yard is ~15 acres--not a 600-1,200 sq/ft apartment, and a 1,500 sq/ft patio/deck/garden. Taxes, and the cost of everyday goods and services aren't eating-up our retirement savings, and insurance and utilities are at or below national averages.
My point, though, is that the US should provide greater educational support to people entering critical fields--like teaching and medicine--rather than handing-out "scholarships" for "student athletes" that have no intention of ever completing a useful degree.
"And today is for sale and it's all you can afford. Buy your own admission. The whole things got you bored. Well the Lord chooses the good ones, and the bad ones use the Lord"--a very dear friend for decades Michael Stanley (Gee)--RIP
The Ohio State University football program.
...so what's your point? It's not like it's a "cash-cow" for the university.
Now that collegiate athletes can be paid for NIL/sponsorship, their first check should be to re-pay their "scholarship". Even before then, I was adamant that if a scholarship athlete failed to complete a degree because they chose to go "pro", their signing bonus check should have gone to a scholarship fund for a "real student".
"And today is for sale and it's all you can afford. Buy your own admission. The whole things got you bored. Well the Lord chooses the good ones, and the bad ones use the Lord"--a very dear friend for decades Michael Stanley (Gee)--RIP
Did I miss where the society owes them all this?
...then maybe they'll subsidize them, rather than "student athletes".
"And today is for sale and it's all you can afford. Buy your own admission. The whole things got you bored. Well the Lord chooses the good ones, and the bad ones use the Lord"--a very dear friend for decades Michael Stanley (Gee)--RIP
Your system is fine until you really need it.
nt
Well, it's easy to create a strawman or focus on any weakness in the Canadian system - zero in on that weakness - blow it out of proportion and then say "See it's bad."
Every election cycle the Canadian Medical Care system gets brought up. Usually, they will target the MRI. The MRI machines are limited, and the wait list for non-emergency procedures is higher than in the US.
But it should be pointed out that if you are in America and you are not rich - there is no waitlist because you will never get one!
Money makes you free in the US. If you are rich the US medical system is better than in Canada. I don't think Canadians can argue that. If you are Jeff Bezos and you get Cancer - you will have a team of 20 of the highest-graded Harvard Grads with 20 years of experience all over you. You will have the most cutting-edge technology round-the-clock treatment and on and on - sure it might cost $2,000,000,0000 But you can't get that sort of treatment in Canada - Canadian Billionaires will also head to the US!
That's why I say - Canada has a two-tier system - if you are rich you can go and get your operation anywhere on the planet. Canadian hockey players aren't waiting 6 months for their MRI on their knee - they are getting it done privately.
But then basing your healthcare system on the experience of the top 2% is sort of an American thing. I am not quite sure why the bottom 80% don't care about what happens to them and seem to worry and care only for the top 2% and how they are treated. If all Amazon employees tomorrow stayed home that would affect Amazon more than if Jeff Bezos were decapitated and never returned to Amazon ever again - or for that matter if the top 30 executives there disappeared. Not one iota - they could all be replaced the next day. The American fascination with CEOs being some sort of chosen by God elites is weird to me.
The guy making $50k a year in Canada gets cancer and needs six months of treatment - all free. No increased insurance rates if he should get second cancer 3 years later.
Remember the TV Series Breaking Bad? The Canadian version was one episode - Walter White gets cancer and goes to hospital - the bill is Zero. End of the series. And if you watched that series and saw the hundreds of people who died as a result of Walter trying to get money to pay for his Cancer - well that was indeed some dark humour.
I love all the people who rail against various socialized medicine but then immediately jump on it when it serves them. Victor is happy to take Medicare, the GOP in Congress and the Senate vote against any Medicare for the voters but all get FREE UNIVERSAL healthcare in the Congress/Senate and for the President.
Funny all the people paying taxes to give the millionaires like Victor free healthcare but screw all those people.
The old saying was "Never feel sorry for someone who owns a boat" - the reason is if you have enough money to support a money pit then you don't have real problems. Sort of like guys who spend $10k on interconnects.
If Victor was any sort of a man of convictions he would opt out of Medicare because it's socialism - and he would pay the medical bills himself. And why isn't he suiting up and fighting against the Russians? He has lots of guns - why not donate them to Ukraine soldiers? Oh sure let taxpayers socialize the military-industrial complex - always use the middle class to pay for guns but never to help American citizens. What a maroon.
But all valid as I see it.
I'd rather have Canada's for-people healthcare system than the USA's for-profit healthcare system. (Capitalism works best for the Rich ... well duh .)
What comes to mind for me was by by-pass, (CABG), surgery 17 years ago as of now. My course of diagnosis, treatment, counselling, and follow-up would have cost me, (or my better than average private/employer insurance), $200,000 in the USA. I was charged $800 for my semi-private hospital room, (5 days).
Interestingly my private , employer provided insurance covered the $800 ... thank goodness for private insurance, eh?
Dmitri Shostakovich
We have been on it for years and so far no issues. Every doctor we want takes it, we have not yet met one who didn't.
The only question you would be facing is whether to buy the supplemental insurance. There is no simple answer, we decided to buy it. Some people claim it is not good deal... and they have a point if you use medical help sporadically. So I would advise to investigate that aspect.
With Medicare and supplemental you are totally covered... practically speaking, we have not seen any bills, and we both had some real use, especially my wife.
nt
"Trying is the first step towards failure."
Homer Simpson
It is great, it's so great that they pay several times more than an individual.
My Mom had a stroke and had to go into rehab (worked great) but the admin fellow mentioned the fee if she had to say past the 90 days medicare coverage and it was 1/5 of what the gov was paying the facility.
I know paperwork is a pain but that much to justify 5x greater payout no i don't think so.
The economy would boom, Everyone would save money. That was the original "Hillary Care". The GOP response to Hillary Care was basically Obamacare -- Or the Original 'Romney Care' in Massachusetts.
But, We'd all like to see the GOP Alternative Plan to Obamacare, that we were promised years ago.
over 15 years or so. This would be a way of transitioning to a single-payer system while allowing the system to adapt without sudden shocks. Of course, the private insurance corporate pirates would fight this tooth and nail through their Congressional henchmen, which is an excellent indication that it needs to be done.
Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
the reason is here
Two of our biggest lobbies are big Pharma and big Insurance, hence the very high costs of each, those costs are protected.
Have any doubt?
https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/industries
Here lobbies have had a higher return on investment than nearly anything else
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/01/06/144737864/forget-stocks-or-bonds-invest-in-a-lobbyist
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2019/05/14/how-the-fortune-100-turned-2-billion-in-lobbying-spend-into-400-billion-of-taxpayer-cash/?sh=6ea81c8954ff
https://represent.us/action/is-lobbying-good-or-bad/
.
ObamaCare fixed our healthcare payment/provider system YEARS ago. It took a 3,000 page law to do it, but it's done! Didn't you get the memo?
*********
We are inclusive and diverse, but dissent will not be tolerated.
nt
And make us all forget it.Just look at them now crying over lack of affordability and shortage of services.
Maybe this will tech them to think before applauding?
Naah..... don't think so.
I wonder what the next "Big Fucking Deal" is going to be.
And look below... just control your laugh... it turns out it was the conservatives' idea all along! :)
No, Einsteins, it is YOU hot potato!
Edits: 04/19/23
With two cars in the garage.
How about the old idea of earning things in your life?
Actually, Sanders and other governments have illustrated that medical for all would lower your cost since you would no longer pay for Private insurance. The average American would not only get full coverage but would save thousands of dollars - their taxes would go up but the overall net cost would go down (as they would no longer pay useless leeches called HMOs).
It would also lessen the burden on hospitals and doctors constantly on the phone with HMOs begging and pleading to get the HMO to cover the damn operations they should be covering but are trying not to so they can save money. The HMO is actively looking NOT TO COVER you. The ONLY thing they want is your money. And if you die so they can make a buck the choice is the $. You know this correct? The Insurance company exists 100% to make a profit and that means denying service as much as they can. Every payout is profit lost. It is THE DUMBEST SYSTEM IN THE WORLD.
Whereas if you pay into single-payer - it's about saving your life - so yes at least if you pay your money - they are trying to save you.
Oh no that means some of your money also goes to save little Joey down the street - that 12-year-old with cancer - damn freeloader. But then that makes you like the HMO - it's good that others pay in to save your wife - but damnit your money might go to save Johnny - If it's good for you it's a good system but by god, if it helps someone else - fuck them.
What a douchebag.
The city can't even manage the cost of basic, safe homeless shelters.
Dmitri Shostakovich
You seem to overlook the outrageous insurance premiums that everyone in the U.S. is paying.
We have a special system here driven by lobbyists.
Two of our biggest lobbies are big Pharma and big Insurance, hence the very high costs of each, those costs are protected.
Have any doubt, do look?
https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/industries
Here lobbies have had a higher return on investment than nearly anything else to grow buisness
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/01/06/144737864/forget-stocks-or-bonds-invest-in-a-lobbyist
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2019/05/14/how-the-fortune-100-turned-2-billion-in-lobbying-spend-into-400-billion-of-taxpayer-cash/?sh=6ea81c8954ff
https://represent.us/action/is-lobbying-good-or-bad/
How does that effect our food and what is considered good according to the gov recommendations (also influenced by lobbies)?
Most kids are overweight, many children, especially in poor areas have pre-diabetes, many have a fatty liver and most face a life of prescription medications and expensive medical care. Who profits from that?
But how about the poor??
WE have Medicare for the retired and unable to work AND we have the rarely mention Medicaid for the poor.
A program who's budget actually exceeded the defense budget. It's a quiet gold mine for the medical and food industry
https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/medicaid-enrollment-spending-growth-fy-2021-2022
https://www.cbo.gov/topics/defense-and-national-security/defense-budget
My home is here and I would not exchange this country for any other. I am not interested in looking at someone else's wife thinking "Gee, she does have better ears!"
That's not being a Good citizen.
Do you know who has the absolutely best coverage in the US?The poor on Medicaid.
The affordability problem, affecting some group of working poor, was created by Obamacare. They are facing premiums and astronomical deductibles that were unheard of before that idiot broke our system.
Edits: 04/18/23 04/18/23
Obamacare was a GOP Idea... He was trying to compromise the 'Bigger Idiots'... It was fashioned off of 'Romney Care'... But unlike your Fox News Sources, it has helped somewhat.... It was a complete disaster before Obama came into office.
But, you listen to Marge Traitor Green and other Idiots, so you have a problem with Facts..... You just repeat 'Talking Points'.
You like Medicare - Thank LBJ - The biggest Liberal since FDR....
nt
I'm now on Medicare and Tricare for Life (retired military medical insurance) and compared to most medical insurance, it's a Cadillac plan. So far no problems, but nothing major has yet come up for my wife or me.
BUT, sign up in the 3 months preceding your 65th birthday or you'll get to pay more for the rest of your life.
My understanding:
Part A; Hospitalization. Free (just sign up).
Part B: Medical coverage (doctors, tests, etc.). Pay quarterly or they can deduct from Social Security.
Part C; Medical supplement plans. Optional, provided by insurance companies. Tricare for Life fills that gap for me.
Part D: Also optional. Drug coverage. Can't speak to it, as our prescriptions are pretty cheap through Tricare.
I think for most Medicare is well worth it. But I'm no expert.
Our UHC Part C, which is FAR more feature rich than our old coverage through my employer, costs us (wife an me) exactly half per month what my employer withheld from my pay check for fewer/less benefits.
Medicare is a great fecking deal!
Only problem is I had to work for over forty years to be in this position.
What heart?
Speak out, you got to speak out against the madness
You got to speak your mind, if you dare - David Crosby
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