Archive for August 20, 2024

The Democrats and medical smoke and mirrors

Posted: August 20, 2024 by chrisharper in Uncategorized

By Christopher Harper

I just joined a growing group of millions in the United States who owe more than $200 billion in medical debt.

Last month, I underwent emergency surgery, which cost nearly $200,000. My cut is somewhere between $6,000 and $11,000. That’s likely to grow as the bills roll in.

Obama care didn’t help me a lick. Neither do the Democrats’ plans to “reduce” costs for drugs. In fact, the medications used during and after the surgery ran about $2,500. The new series of drugs cost another $2,000.

But at what cost? The hospital room alone ran more than $20,000!

Although I live mainly on Social Security, I do not qualify for any of the state and federal “plans” to pay for some of the costs of the surgery. I am also not eligible for health services, such as home support, which my wife and daughter provide.

Also, I don’t qualify for subsidized aftercare, such as a long-term facility, if that becomes necessary. Fortunately, I took out a specific insurance policy for such possibilities.

One in seven people with outstanding medical debt has faced lawsuits to recover the money, according to the Kaiser Foundation, which has no affiliation with Kaiser Permanente.

My case is typical. The Democrats propose a plan to give money from the federal budget to those with debt—a giveaway for mostly seniors like forgiving college debt.

The plan is mostly smoke and mirrors, but, of course, the Democrats blame the GOP rather than the abomination that Obamacare created.

Any of the Democrats’ plans shouldn’t fool older Americans. You might get lower costs for some medications, but the big-ticket items will likely cost more.

The Kaiser Foundation provides more information at https://www.kff.org/health-costs/report/kff-health-care-debt-survey/

How DARE GA Decide to Verify Totals

Posted: August 20, 2024 by datechguy in election 2024, elections, politics
Tags: , , ,

Back in the days before Obama and in those halcyon years of the 20th century when someone stated something that was considered a “conspiracy theory” those who wished to debunk it simply broke out actual evidence that could clearly demonstrate that someone was talking nonsense.

It was the standard way of silencing people who were talking nonsense, you’d show the math, you’d display your work and thus easily show that the various worries and fears of impossible things were, in fact baseless and thus belonged in the category of “conspiracy theory”.

But over the last 10 years this has changed. Our friends on the left when confronted by questions they did not want to deal with have basically shouted “conspiracy theory” without bothering with the pesky business of disproving various claims, the accusation itself was enough.

Thus the reaction by the left to this story out of Georgia:

The Georgia State Election Board passed a rule Monday giving local election officials additional power to investigate ballot counts before certifying the results, a move critics say could inject chaos into the 2024 election and delay the state’s official vote count.

The “Rule for Reconciliation Prior to Certification” will allow for a hand recount of votes to ensure “the total number of ballots cast” does not exceed “the total number of persons who voted,” according to the language of the rule.

County election officials will now be allowed to investigate any possible discrepancies.

The NY Times describes this as a “right wing takeover” and the CNN story is full of, as Citizen Free Press calls it “Democrat Tears” but the bottom line is this.

If the cries of “stolen elections” are simply a “conspiracy theory” then a hand recount should be welcomed by our friends on the left as a simple way to verify what they already claim is the case.

Because you don’t need “massive turnout” to counteract verification if actual votes are there do you?