Obamacare in action

America deserves this president.  Maybe we will learn and make a informed decision next time instead of voting for who the media tells us to vote for.

I'm sorry, but I cannot get myself to read more about O'Bamacare.  Not only is this administration going to destroy the medical community, but he's also going to destroy the insurance industry which has been in a fine balance for many years.

 

I'd just hate to be a 50 year old physician knowing that I'd have to put up with O'Bamacare for the next 10-15 years because I still have not repaid all my student loans.  That's what I call slave labor.

"I'd just hate to be a 50 year old physician knowing that I'd have to put up with O'Bamacare for the next 10-15 years because I still have not repaid all my student loans.  That's what I call slave labor."

 

Ding...Ding...Ding...Welcome to my world!!!

Sounds like a fabricated story by some dumbazz son who let his mother sign up with the wrong company. I've never heard of any Blue Cross plan that didn't meet ACA requirements.

Quaildog, I have a BCBS of GA policy that does not meet Obamacare mandates.  It will go out in Oct. 2014,  it has a $3,500. deductible and cost over $700.00 per month.  (in Alabama, I had Blue Cross with a 750 deductible and cost me only  428. a month.)  The closest I have seen on the government website to mine is a 7,500.00 deductible and will cost close to $1,200 per month.  I of course will qualify for  a subsidy, but I have never asked anyone to help pay my way, nor do I plan to.  It is not your or anyone elses responsiblity to help pay my insurance. (And please don't come back with school, roads, etc. that we all pay into to keep running.) So I am looking at alternatives.  So just because you have never heard of  a BCBS policy that doesn't meet the mandates, doesn't mean it isn't true.

The only ones running on Obamacare this year will be the Republicans. The Democrats will be running from it! 

If you are 50 and still have not paid back your loans then I hardly think Obamacare is the problem not that I have any love for obamacare.

__________________

 

ding, ding, ding... we have a winner!

 sez somebody up there: "I of course will qualify for  a subsidy, but I have never asked anyone to help pay my way, nor do I plan to"

Wul quitchurebichen. you actually deserve yourself.

Yeah, well if you knew the truth you might be surprised. How long does it take to pay back $300K at 8% that can flucuate based on the market? Of course I am not living at home in my momma's basement, but that would be easier I guess. Not everyone graduates medical school before they are 30, and few finsih residency before that.

You union scholars might think it is easy to do so, but I had friends who were 40 when we entered residency.  You don't get to pay back the loans during that time, and probably half of the people who go to medical school are not wealthy enough to have that kind of money laying around.

It would probably surprise you to know just how many docs are still paying off these loans.

BTW, they are immune from Chapter solvency, so claiming bankruptcy won't help you either.

No one gave me a silver spoon, nor provides benefits since I am self employed.

Ironically I had a fellow classmate who entered medical school at the age of 45.  She must have really wanted to be a doctor, since she would have been close to 53 when she finished her residency.  No she works in a small family practice clinic in WV.

 

 

Paid my way thru college and with flight training cost was not much south of MD costs.  If someone went to med school at 43 and is complaining about having loans at 50 then its still bad planning.

Sorry HF, but again you don't have much of a clue as to what you are talking about.  I applaud your flight training and being able to pay it back, but again like I said medical school loans are a bit different than typical school loans.  And like I said earlier physicians who are self employed pay their own benefits and taxes and retirement like any other small business. And if you paid as much to be a pilot as it costs to go to medical school you defintely over invested in you education.

And what difference does it make if someone wanted to go to medical school at 43?  I started when I was 25, but I spent 5 years after medical school in a speciality residency before i could sit for the board exams.  It takes time to go thru the system.

You are the one who thru the 300k out.  Go to Embry Riddle get a degree and flight raitings will cost you 250k.  Like i said close

Typo on iphone 150-200k

No difference what age you just any sane person would do a cost benifit study before borrowing money.   If you have to work to 70 to pay it back bad decision making.

HF, I guess it is all in what you want to do.  I got my flying license for about $5000.  I see all the time where I could go become an ATP for $50K.  Again it is what you want to do.  Did not say it was a good investment, is what you are taught at Embry Riddle that much different than any other flight shcool?.  My complaint is that a person can spend $300K going to medical school and have to work 60 hours a week to make ends meet and maintain their office staff.  They have to build a practice, did you buy the airliner and pay the flight attendents?.  Meanwhile, the federal government and the insurance industry dictates to them (physicians) what they will charge and what the comapnies will pay. In the mean time the government passes laws that tells you how you must see a patient and what hoops you have to jump thru to do it.  you on the other hand have a union to back you up, negotiate your payments and secure your benefits.  i beleive in another thread you commented onhow necessary they were for you profession.  Guess what, the government says doctors cannot have a union, that way it would be illegal for them to negotiate collectively.

See you might borrow $100K to become a ATC/ATP but in return you get to determine how you practice that craft. A phsycian who spends 12-15 years in training and spends $25$-$300K is told to take 60% of what they will pay and shut the hell up. And you wonder why it takes them 20 years to pay it back?

And as far as making a mistake, I don't know too many doctors that will tell you if they had an opportunity to do something else they would not do it.  The paperwork and regulations make it a PITA, not so much the people you get to take care of.

Teyates,

 

You seem to understand that a union is a good thing for their members. Otherwise you wouldn't be upset that you can't take part in one. Yet in the other thread you said they are not needed. Which is it?

 

Were you not aware of all the things you said in your last post before you became a Dr? If not, why not? If so, then it was the choice you made. We all wish we could charge whatever amount we wanted for our services. We all wish we could get paid more and be able to easily pay off our debts. What makes you anymore special than the rest of the citizens in this country? 

 

The guy working on a construction crew that owes 100k for a mortgage, has 2 kids that he is trying to save money to send to college, has a car payment or two, being an American he probably owes quite a bit in medical bills too. Especially since he has a couple of kids. So he might say its not fair either that he is not making enough to pay off all that before he is 50. He works really hard, everyday, out in the elements doing back breaking work at that. He also has overhead cost that he will pay regardless of his loans or debts. He will always have to pay for utilities, taxes and food. Guess what?....he makes a tiny fraction of what you do. Its not right that the company he works for makes millions of dollars in profit each year and his wages have barely gone up in the last 10 years. Its not right that the market dictates that he make so little all while he is destroying his physical health working a job that will more than likely disable him by the time he is in his 50's. Right? 

 

I am really trying to work up some sympathy for you, I really am. 

 

 

Jank, that construction worker's low salary is NOT a fair issue, it's a CHOICE issue. You know that word lefties use day in and day about everything they want to be right in the world. Well,  what you and other Dems fail to see in this is that construction worker made the CHOICE early in his career to be just that, a construction worker. He knew well before going into the career what the market salary range was for that job, union or non-union. Let's also go back to why would he be sending his kids to college. Most blue collar workers do this because they want their kids to have a better life financially than their own lives have been. My biggest beef with the progressive ideaology is that someone else should pay for their poor judgement, mistakes, etc. in their life. And for that, I call B.S.! Sleep in the bed you've made!

So Practical, you apparently think teyates has some kind of special right to ***** and complain that his job doesn't pay enough to pay his debts off, but a blue collar worker does not. Is that right?

 

I didn't bring up that line of argument. One of your conservative fellows did. A Dr. no less. Life is just so unfair to him. Even though he made the choice to become a Dr. Even though he knew the cost of becoming a Dr. Even though he knew the income he could expect. Yet, you don't see a thing wrong with his rant on the subject. 

 

Gotcha. 

 

Not everyone can be a Dr. Not everyone is college material either. If you are not someone that does well academically then you have little choice in what kind of work you do. I have never met a blue collar worker that chose hard labor over a professional career. Have you?

Listen I agree you MDs are getting a raw deal with Obamacare I was commenting on not having loans paid by 50.  I agree that Riddle is probably not a wise investment especially for someone who starts later in life, you will be hard pressed to recoup the investment.  The same goes for a MD it would be unwise to put yourself in that position "bad decision making"  I work with a guy who put two kids thru Dartmouth University both got liberal arts degrees one in Literature and the other in Philosophy probably not a good investment. 

I am at the pinnacle of my chosen profession and it took me over 15 years to get here.  Sure you can get your ATP rating on the cheap. That might get into the right seat of a commuter airline where you can expect to stay for 5 to 10 yrs making a salary that in many cases qualify for food stamps. 

Listen I do not love Unions they are good ones and bad ones.  Like I said I believe they are needed in my profession but that is a opinion. 

Perhaps you should look at doing what my friend is doing he is going a Valet MD service where you pay a yearly fee to see him and no Insurance involved. 

 

I have another buddy who is using our "pilots" decision making process to try and reduce MD/Hospital errors in treatment.

http://medcitynews.com/2013/02...uce-surgical-errors/

 

Also do not buy a Bonanza!

Did not ask nor do I want your sympathy.  I chose my career.  The problem I have is that the rules change all too frequently, and it is done not by my employer, but by the government which is supposed to represent me.  To this day, and it has been so for the past thrity years, the Congress must vote each year whether or not to cut what is paid from Medicare. Each year the threat comes for 3% or more.  Since I started activep ractice the reimbursement for procedures has decreased, in some areas up to 20%. There is no such thing as a COLA nor increase that has been implemented in an effort to retain physicians who want to accept and care for Medicare / Medicaid patients.

All you hear is that the "rich doctors" are taking our money, don't pay their taxes, getting rich off the sick and indigent.  And yes, there are some unscruptulous thieves out there in this profession, as there is in any profession.  Most however, work hard, much more than 50-60 hours a week, and are on call most holidays, and pay their taxes.  The interest on their loans and theirs kids' college loans are not tax deductible because they "don't fit the criteria".  But I am not bitter about my profession, what I hate most is the misconception.

If you work for a living you know how important it is to be paid for your labor, because if you are self employed you have costs and responsibilities to your employees. when the government says "we will pay you 60% and you can wait 6-7 weeks to get it", it sometimes akes you leery that they have your best interest at heart.

I do not begrudge the unions, but I would find it hard to pay my hard earned money to an organization if there was no need for them in my place of employment. If I was happy, paid on time, had good benefits and a compfortable place to work, without the union, then why would I want to pay them extra each month? That was my contention on the VW thread.  The employees were happy and the majority said they did not need it, and I can see where they were coming from.  In my profession, the federal government has said that physicians cannot be part of colective bargaining, yet they decide what you will be paid and when you will be paid, and how may hoops you must jump thru to qualify for that payment.  the AHA adds hundreds of pages of regulations to what is already a very stressful job, on top of adding more costs to that doctor to implement. Now however the charge cannot be passed onto the patient if you accept their insurance, you just have to eat it.  The newest numbers show that the EMR recommendations in the AHA will cost the average physican office about $75K to implement.  That is money he or she cannot recover.

He probably got some of my money.  I went to one of those classes years ago.  It was interesting and the Crew Management philosophy they introduced is used all the time in medicine.

Sorry, not a Bonanza guy, although I did own a Sundowner once....haha.  Bonanazas are nice and fast, but if I gotta be somewhere in a hurry I had rather a professional fly me there, like you. And if I need a cardiac cath, I don't want a plumber to do it....haha

You are a smart man.  Trust me I always defend your guys pay like I said if it was easy everyone would do it.   I agree the government is selling you MDs down the river and it scares me me I want good MDs in the future.  My daughter is planning medical school so I am spooling up on schools and options.  I bet if you do cardiac stuff no one ever argues money when they need your services.

Well good luck to her.  My son changed his mind in college and in a way I am happy he did.  I think he will be much happier.  My daughter is toying with the idea, and I will not discourage her, but I am afraid of what the future holds for these younger guys.  No one except the rich can go to medical school and not come out in debt.

I do not do cardiac stuff, but have friends who do.  It is a tough demanding profession, and when I hear what they are paid I am just astounded.  Insurance alone can cost them $45-50K, OB is even worse.

As far as flying I love it, but know the difference in a hobby and a profession.  I had much rather be on the ground wishing I was in the air, than in the air wishing I was on the ground....haha

Have a good one, and take take offense at what I said.  It is just that I know lots of people who think it is easy to pay back medical school loans, but it can be hard according to the place where yu practice and the speciality.  This is one reason it is so hard to recruit physicians to a rural area.

No offense taken sometimes the written word "for me at least does not accurately relay my thoughts".  I have friends who were living the high life when we were younger and I was putting everything into flying and school now say the same thing.

Check how this restaurant chain is handling the health care change. I'm betting most will follow suit.

From the “You Knew it Was Bound to Happen” department: Restaurants in a Florida chain are passing along the costs of ObamaCare to their customers, via a one percent “ACA surcharge.”

Signs on the doors of eight Gator’s Dockside casual eateries and at tables alert diners to the fee, which is also listed separately on the bill.

Although Gator Group’s full-time hourly employees won’t actually receive health insurance until December, the company said it’s implementing the surcharge now because of the compliance costs it’s facing ahead of ObamaCare’s employer mandate, which kicks in in 2015.

While this particular charge is a mere 20-cents, something tells me this isn’t the last “ACA surcharge” we’ll see, because – as we all know – someone has to foot the bill, and I can’t imagine businesses are going to want to make less money.

let me get this straight.. a company is charging a "aha" surcharge and complaining about the cost of the AHA... and they haven't even had to participate , yet? yep, that's 'practical'. another 'blame it on obamacare' way to make some extra cash. this is getting ridiculous.