TN Senate Preference

[n0rlf]

2 hours ago, owejia said:

I kind of like Trump's agenda myself !!!!!

I like most of the ideas. The executionof them is a little flawed however. 

If they could get the items moving and keep trump from tweeting or talking it would be so much better. After all it triggers some folks whenhe does not speak likethree stuffed shirt elite they complain zealot all the time. I am still scratchingmy head over that but of ironic hypocrisy.

[Grayfox54]

I actually owe Blackburn one. Back when my wife got too sick to work, she was having fits trying to file for Social Security Disability. The system is actually set up to frustrate you to the point of giving up. Filling out the same forms over and over again. And then they lose your file! 

She called Blackburn's office and explained the situation to a nice young man there who said they would look into it. 30 minutes later the SS office called my wife. They had miraculously found her file and from that point on her disability claim was processed without any further problems. Blackburn may not be the greatest legislator in Washington, but she does care about her constituents. 

BTW: one of the problems we face is that too many  conservative people have given up on the system and don't vote. Liberals not only vote, they bus people to the polls. This is how we lose. Your vote does matter! USE IT!

[E4 No More]

31 minutes ago, Grayfox54 said:

I actually owe Blackburn one. Back when my wife got too sick to work, she was having fits trying to file for Social Security Disability. The system is actually set up to frustrate you to the point of giving up. Filling out the same forms over and over again. And then they lose your file! 

They do the same thing at the VA.

[bersaguy]

26 minutes ago, Grayfox54 said:

I actually owe Blackburn one. Back when my wife got too sick to work, she was having fits trying to file for Social Security Disability. The system is actually set up to frustrate you to the point of giving up. Filling out the same forms over and over again. And then they lose your file! 

She called Blackburn's office and explained the situation to a nice young man there who said they would look into it. 30 minutes later the SS office called my wife. They had miraculously found her file and from that point on her disability claim was processed without any further problems. Blackburn may not be the greatest legislator in Washington, but she does care about her constituents. 

BTW: one of the problems we face is that too many  conservative people have given up on the system and don't vote. Liberals not only vote, they bus people to the polls. This is how we lose. Your vote does matter! USE IT!

Believe me Grayfox. I went through very much the same issues back when I was filing for my disability. I fought them for 5 years and kept getting denied on every appeal. I will tell you just a little on how desperate it was for them to say no that they decided to send me to 2 of their own doctors since they refused to believe mine.

I went to 2 of their doctors at Vanderbilt Hospital and they gave me a complete examination and when they filed their reports both said I should be approved and they should begin my disability imediately and they denied me even when their own doctors said I should be approved.

I finally turned to my representative back then which was a man named Bart Gordon. I actually got to meet with him and he said he would look into it. The Social Security office contacted me and offered me a deal. They said if I would accept 1 year of back pay and drop 4 they would begin my check the month coming. I was tired of fighting them and my savings was about depleted and I thought some was better than another denial so I took the deal. They did do me 1 favor and I don't know if they realized it or not but they put me on SSI for the first 6 months which got me Tenn-Care insurance cause I didn't have any any for 1st 6 months my check came through SSI and not Social Security but I got my first check that month. Took a beating on my back pay but at least I got 1 year and my check started and had an income. 

[gregintenn]

23 minutes ago, SWJewellTN said:

They do the same thing at the VA.

...and the DMV.

[gregintenn]

4 hours ago, Erik88 said:

I'm going to have to sit this one out or throw my vote on a 3rd party candidate again. I can't help but notice that no one in this thread listed a single accomplishment of Blackburn. I went to her website and it looks like a copy/paste from Trump's agenda. 

You hate Trump. We got that loud and clear. That being said, what part of his agenda do you disagree with?

[digger]

On 7/17/2018 at 8:00 PM, Garufa said:

Neither.  

It’s a shame these are the options. 

Please enlighten me on the negatives of each!! Having been in TN for 19 yrs I thought Marsha would be thumbs up.

[Whisper]

Negatives:  Both are professional politicians whose main interests are 1) enriching themselves at your expense, 2) enriching their family and supporters at your expense, 3) gaining power to enable them to do 1 and 2 more effectively.

Positives:  Blackburn is not a gun-grabbing leftist authoritarian.  As far as I can tell, she has no other attributes.

[gregintenn]

56 minutes ago, Whisper said:

Negatives:  Both are professional politicians whose main interests are 1) enriching themselves at your expense, 2) enriching their family and supporters at your expense, 3) gaining power to enable them to do 1 and 2 more effectively.

Positives:  Blackburn is not a gun-grabbing leftist authoritarian.  As far as I can tell, she has no other attributes.

She votes like I would on every single bill I am aware of. That's what I'm looking for.

[MacGyver]

21 hours ago, SWJewellTN said:

They do the same thing at the VA.

And, that should be a criminal offense.

[mikegideon]

1 hour ago, MacGyver said:

And, that should be a criminal offense.

You agree with the Orange man on one thing  

[MacGyver]

21 minutes ago, mikegideon said:

You agree with the Orange man on one thing  

Truthfully, we might agree on several things.

I just don't trust incompetent people with hard stuff.

[E4 No More]

2 hours ago, MacGyver said:

And, that should be a criminal offense.

No argument there. I've been going through the fight process for over 8.5 years!

[mikegideon]

22 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Truthfully, we might agree on several things.

I just don't trust incompetent people with hard stuff.

Apparently, firing incompetent people at the VA is hard stuff. Took Trump to get it done. I actually have a dog in that fight. They made my dad's death a whole lot worse than it needed to be.

[n0rlf]

1 hour ago, mikegideon said:

Apparently, firing incompetent people at the VA is hard stuff. Took Trump to get it done. I actually have a dog in that fight. They made my dad's death a whole lot worse than it needed to be.

Even after all these stories people still want government involved in healthcare. I have been dealing with the VA system for near 25 years. 

Anyone that wants to consider government health Care should come along with me to my Dr visits. They would run screaming they have changed their minds

 

 

[Garufa]

4 hours ago, n0rlf said:

Even after all these stories people still want government involved in healthcare. I have been dealing with the VA system for near 25 years. 

Anyone that wants to consider government health Care should come along with me to my Dr visits. They would run screaming they have changed their minds

 

 

People want government involved in healthcare because between the industry and insurance companies it is an unaffordable, unsustainable system.  

Unfortuntatly, the government can’t do anything worthwhile to control he madness without making it worse.

[Oh Shoot]

10 minutes ago, Garufa said:

People want government involved in healthcare because between the industry and insurance companies it is an unaffordable, unsustainable system.  

Unfortuntatly, the government can’t do anything worthwhile to control he madness without making it worse.

Medicare has been as good or better than years ago when I had the best insurance there was under Blue Cross/Shield. Period.

Has saved both my and my Mom's life several times over between us. At quite minimal cost to either of us.

So I've certainly changed my view on "gummit health care".

Of course, this doesn't mean that a universal system could function as well, but I wonder. It's probably ultimately the only realistic way to go, as no country in the world has ever been able to accomplish purely private insurance  for healthcare with any degree of success.

- OS

[gregintenn]

18 minutes ago, Garufa said:

People want government involved in healthcare because between the industry and insurance companies it is an unaffordable, unsustainable system.  

Unfortuntatly, the government can’t do anything worthwhile to control he madness without making it worse.

People want free stuff.

[Garufa]

17 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

People want free stuff.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume you have employer-provided health insurance as I do.  It’s fine until you retire, although the costs increase every year, benefits decrease, and absurd requirements increase.

Have you made plans for your future?

When you become eligible for Medicare they only pay 80%.  You’ll have to pick up the remaining 20% via another insurance policy that you pay for.  BTW,  prescriptions are another policy.  

Are you financially prepared for assisted living?  Medicare and Medigap insurance plans do not pay for that.  You’ll need to pick up some kind of long-term care insurance plan for that...now.

Edited July 19, 2018 by Garufa

[Oh Shoot]

36 minutes ago, Garufa said:

....

When you become eligible for Medicare they only pay 80%.  You’ll have to pick up the remaining 20% via another insurance policy that you pay for.  BTW,  prescriptions are another policy. 

 

All a bit misleading there.

With the most basic of "add on", like my Blue Cross Advantage plan (which is free btw), hospital stuff is essentially 100% paid for, and most of the rest of actual direct health services is either that or with a very reasonable co-pay.  My mom rang up close to mil with a string of treatments over about 2.5 years, her total cost maybe 2 grand. My heart stuff cost over 300K, about 1600 clams my end. Heck, 12 weeks of optional rehab cost me almost that.

Now, if you have to constantly see primary doc and specialists, (like 20 bucks and 40 bucks respectively) or get regular imaging type tests (75 bucks) and the like,  and IF you must take a non-generic high dollar drug or two, and hit the "doughnut hole" each year, that can all add up to a significant financial burden, but again this is based on my otherwise FREE Advantage Plan -- but  you can indeed pick up a paid add on policy that still brings it down to a fairly reasonable cost, and less than you're paying for your group plan now.

Quote

Are you financially prepared for assisted living?  Medicare and Medigap insurance plans do not pay for that.  You’ll need to pick up some kind of long-term care insurance plan for that...now.

Yeah, that's a whole area of health care that's never been really addressed. If you have no other assets, you will get thrown into some not very pleasant place which will take the fall back MedicAid. So far at least,  they won't let you waste away and die on the steps outside.

But Garufa is right on, except for employee group plans (and no all of those are all that anymore), getting your own private individual or family insurance is simply affordable for much of the rank and file these days, and certainly nothing so far even hinted at by the GOP is going to change that.

But nevertheless, at one time I had the best health insurance a guy could get (Blue Cross group insurance at UTK), and my Medicare Advantage (also Blue Cross btw) rivals that with bennies, and with no monthly payment other than the standard federal deduction from SS (112/month).

- OS

Edited July 19, 2018 by Oh Shoot

[Garufa]

1 hour ago, Oh Shoot said:

All a bit misleading there.

No doubt I’m sure.  

Just speaking from experience dealing with a parent who had no clue how to deal with the cobweb of absolutely ridiculous options and regulations offered, refused, and charged for by the government and insurance companies.  It’s absurd.

 

[gregintenn]

13 hours ago, Garufa said:

I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume you have employer-provided health insurance as I do.  It’s fine until you retire, although the costs increase every year, benefits decrease, and absurd requirements increase.

Have you made plans for your future?

When you become eligible for Medicare they only pay 80%.  You’ll have to pick up the remaining 20% via another insurance policy that you pay for.  BTW,  prescriptions are another policy.  

Are you financially prepared for assisted living?  Medicare and Medigap insurance plans do not pay for that.  You’ll need to pick up some kind of long-term care insurance plan for that...now.

My answer to all of the above is yes. I thought all that was just part of basic financial planning. Bad things can and do happen however. One can only plan for so many variables. It doesn't seem wise to just say screw it; the government will handle it all for me.

[mikegideon]

13 hours ago, Oh Shoot said:

 

All a bit misleading there.

With the most basic of "add on", like my Blue Cross Advantage plan (which is free btw), hospital stuff is essentially 100% paid for, and most of the rest of actual direct health services is either that or with a very reasonable co-pay.  My mom rang up close to mil with a string of treatments over about 2.5 years, her total cost maybe 2 grand. My heart stuff cost over 300K, about 1600 clams my end. Heck, 12 weeks of optional rehab cost me almost that.

This is some of the best news I have heard. I may call for a few pointers.

[peejman]

14 hours ago, Oh Shoot said:

 

All a bit misleading there.

With the most basic of "add on", like my Blue Cross Advantage plan (which is free btw), hospital stuff is essentially 100% paid for, and most of the rest of actual direct health services is either that or with a very reasonable co-pay.  My mom rang up close to mil with a string of treatments over about 2.5 years, her total cost maybe 2 grand. My heart stuff cost over 300K, about 1600 clams my end. Heck, 12 weeks of optional rehab cost me almost that.

Now, if you have to constantly see primary doc and specialists, (like 20 bucks and 40 bucks respectively) or get regular imaging type tests (75 bucks) and the like,  and IF you must take a non-generic high dollar drug or two, and hit the "doughnut hole" each year, that can all add up to a significant financial burden, but again this is based on my otherwise FREE Advantage Plan -- but  you can indeed pick up a paid add on policy that still brings it down to a fairly reasonable cost, and less than you're paying for your group plan now.

Yeah, that's a whole area of health care that's never been really addressed. If you have no other assets, you will get thrown into some not very pleasant place which will take the fall back MedicAid. So far at least,  they won't let you waste away and die on the steps outside.

But Garufa is right on, except for employee group plans (and no all of those are all that anymore), getting your own private individual or family insurance is simply affordable for much of the rank and file these days, and certainly nothing so far even hinted at by the GOP is going to change that.

But nevertheless, at one time I had the best health insurance a guy could get (Blue Cross group insurance at UTK), and my Medicare Advantage (also Blue Cross btw) rivals that with bennies, and with no monthly payment other than the standard federal deduction from SS (112/month).

- OS

Based on my limited understanding and my parents and in-laws experience, Medicare is pretty good as OS says.  The problem is that its not sustainable.  The baby boomer generation (which my parents are part of) will likely bankrupt it or drive costs up beyond that of other private insurance. 

My parents and in-laws both delayed some necessary procedures because they were MUCH less expensive using Medicare than their employer provided insurance. My parents insurance was mom's public school teacher plan and my F-I-L worked at Alcoa for 40 years. 

I pay $5000/yr for my employer plan with a $4200 deductible and $10,000 max out of pocket.  And the customer service sucks. While i still don't necessarily like the idea of a national healthcare system, its a bit hard to believe it could be much worse. 

[Grunt67]

20 hours ago, n0rlf said:

Even after all these stories people still want government involved in healthcare. I have been dealing with the VA system for near 25 years. 

Anyone that wants to consider government health Care should come along with me to my Dr visits. They would run screaming they have changed their minds

I said that very same thing when ACA was first discussed. If you want to see what gov. involved/run is like, drop by the local VA hospital & watch a while, talk to the vets. You won't like what you see & hear.

I've been doing it for 51 years. A national disgrace.

20 hours ago, n0rlf said: