More opinion masquerading as news from ABC/WTNH. :eyejack:

From politics to public safety, gun violence cost us all
http://wtnh.com/2017/03/21/from-politics-to-public-safety-gun-violence-cost-us-all/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TnkJ8_BmSI




There's no comments section on that commie propaganda web page.

Why are you surprised by this?

I'll double down on this.

What's the cost from an insurance standpoint for treating these?    Meaning, I'll bet that a large majority of these folks getting shot (gangs, inter-city, low (legal) income people that don't pay for their own health insurance.  

How much does that cost us folks paying for their care?


I'll bet that vast majority of these shootings are not done by folks with a valid permit or are legally aloud to own a firearm.  



So, instead of lumping us LEGAL gun owners in with all those costs, how about we use the laws we have to stop some of those folks?

FATHERLESS CHILDREN.

basically, my GF and many friends are EMS workers and like 90% of the people they treat or what ever are on state.  none of them pay their bills and many think the amber-lamps is their personal taxi to the hospital for anything, from chapped lips to toe pain, they call 911 because they never pay for it.  unlike most of us who'd never call 911 because we'll have to pay for it.

lol too true
I've walked into the ER bleeding, more than once, and been scolded for not using 911

I needz my car to get back to work, once you're done with me

I've driven myself to an ER during a heart attack.  I've walked myself in during 2 heart attacks (including the one I just mentioned).  However, the first one my wife had to have someone drive my car home because I ended up being sent in a meat wagon to Hartford.

Once a few years ago I drove for "day surgery" on my fuck you finger.  After the surgery I was able to convince them someone was coming to pick me up, so I was able to get out of the recovery department and drive myself home.

Another heart attack I asked the meat wagon crew to turn off the fucking siren which was pissing me off, but they wouldn't do it.

I know you....you are Dick Cheney!

Scaring the shit out of goat fuckers every day.

My Daughter is the Vice President of Hartford Health Care but before that worked at Backus Hospital.  Some of the first-hand stories she brought to the dinner table were almost unbelievable due to the money being throne at some of the patients (on in particular over $1 m dollars!!) due to some of the restrictions placed on the hospital by the state and fed government.  This issue is a whole lot deeper than the typical informed American can imagine.  Believe me.

Rome

No offense to your daughter, but I HATE Hartford Healthcare.  They have sucked up a ton of doctors and hospitals where I live.  Awful!!!

No offence taken.  While I will not offer any excuses or defense to those in charge of the health industry,  rest assured that a lot of what they are doing it trying to preserve the core of good health care here under the duress of a state that will not negotiate with them on a level playing field.  The costs of doing business with the state is almost insurmountable.  

Just so you know where my wife and I stand, we are in those golden years where we are on the cusp of medicare.  She still works and we have an HSA that funds an extremely high deductible plan.  We've both had to have some minor medical attention (minor in that it wasn't anything chronic).  We, as consumers, began to shop different practices to have one procedure done.  You'd think that getting the price for something straight forward would be easy but it is not.  We had to literally beg for the numbers in order to see how one practice would affect our HSA as opposed to another.  To make a long frustrating story shorter, after many months of working the phones and taking names, my wife had her minor eyelid issue repaired.  The bills came soon after and surprise surprise, they were all wrong by almost double.  I wrote a three page letter to the practice with names and dates and it was only then did they reissue bills to the numbers we were quoted.  How, as consumers, are we supposed to deal with this?  We have better things to do with our time.  I even owned an insurance brokerage back in the 80s.  I sold TONS of health  insurance as a licensed broker for years and know it backwards and forwards.  When the government gets involved, however, ostensibly to make a program 'better', hold your breath because all they are going to do is complicate matters and destroy markets.  

So, as you might imagine my daughter and I have had many interesting conversations.  She is a Dartmouth masters grad and has multiple degrees including a UCONN MBA so she's smarter than me.  I'm not slouch, however, and like politics, we sometimes have to step back.  She is a down and dirty republican/conservative, btw, for which I'm extremely proud.  

Rome

The medical industry is a complete joke. I had something happen to me in Nov 2015. A ride and overnight stay in the hospital. I was getting bills for 6 months. I am fighting one last bill, still! This bill arrived 6 months after I was in the hospital. The name on it was nobody I saw or talked to while at the hospital. I asked the hospital, in writing, to explain who this Dr. is, what test or service he provided and what were the results of this test or service. The sent a printout from accounts receivable. No test results, no information just a copy of an account statement. They then sent it to collections. I have been battling this for almost 1 year. I may have to sue the hospital, collection agents and the Dr's practice.

Why is it with the medical business you get bills with no readable description, from Drs. you never heard of and nobody can tell you the actual price for anything?

I have been in the automotive service business for over 30 years. I have been a technician, shop foreman, service manager, owned my own place and now work for a manufacturer as a Field Engineer. If the final bill is more than the quote people blow a gasket. With medical it is ok not to have a price structure, and to get a readable bill with your signature on it?

My bill is for less than $400 and I want to know why I have to pay a bill 6 months after the fact and WTF did this guy do? Who is he? My wife works at the hospital and she asked around, nobody knows who he is or what his specialty is. How is this possible?

I had open heart surgery 16 years ago and subsequent stents.  I don't remember the exact numbers, but the open heart was about 100k if I had to pay.  However Anthem BC/BS only had to pay 50 or 60k.  I remember seeing 1 - ONE - UNO aspirin in Hartford Hospital was fucking $5.00!!!

Two years ago I was cath'd for the 4th or 5th time, but they couldn't stent anything.  Another 50k.  50k for fixing nothing?  If I had done that to a automotive customer I would have ended up in court being sued or charged with a criminal offense.

The whole system is a fucking scam.

Does anyone else think kieth Koontz looks like a bitter old man?

The doc needed brakes for his Porsche

I'm okay with that.  I used to race a Porsche 911.

Porsche - there is no substitute.

Got in under my own power (barely) in 2015 with pancreatitis and a infected gallbladder. 4 days in, 140k.

Next year I had a TIA, meatwagon came for that one, 3 days 95k.

I dont remember what insurance paid but it was a lot. I was out about 5 grand each time.

The system is broken.