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Do any of you file quarterly taxes, complete W-2s, W-3s and other federal forms? I do. Tried to file for last quarter and year end over the weekend. The website was "down for maintenance" and would be back up Jan. 6. Okay, tried filing today, Jan. 6. The website is "down for maintenance" until Jan. 9. Yeah, I have great faith that it will be up and working on the 9th. Wonder if the folks doing the maintenance are the same ones who brought us the Obamacare debacle.

And there are budget cuts at the IRS with all the Obamacare rules they need to implement...

crocmommy wrote:And there are budget cuts at the IRS with all the Obamacare rules they need to implement...

I just listened to a "Fresh Aire" (NPR program my dear liberal sister loves - she sent me the link) in which the interviewee speaks the truth about Obamacare..............Yes, I said it was an NPR program! He calls it unsustainable and calls Obama an incompetent for the way he dealt with and is dealing with it. Said non profit hospitals are now making more profit than for profit hospitals thanks to Obamacare.

millergrovesue wrote:

crocmommy wrote:And there are budget cuts at the IRS with all the Obamacare rules they need to implement...

I just listened to a "Fresh Aire" (NPR program my dear liberal sister loves - she sent me the link) in which the interviewee speaks the truth about Obamacare..............Yes, I said it was an NPR program! He calls it unsustainable and calls Obama an incompetent for the way he dealt with and is dealing with it. Said non profit hospitals are now making more profit than for profit hospitals thanks to Obamacare.

Wonder what that person's solution is?

crocmommy wrote:

millergrovesue wrote:

crocmommy wrote:And there are budget cuts at the IRS with all the Obamacare rules they need to implement...

I just listened to a "Fresh Aire" (NPR program my dear liberal sister loves - she sent me the link) in which the interviewee speaks the truth about Obamacare..............Yes, I said it was an NPR program! He calls it unsustainable and calls Obama an incompetent for the way he dealt with and is dealing with it. Said non profit hospitals are now making more profit than for profit hospitals thanks to Obamacare.

Wonder what that person's solution is?

Price controls on pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, and hospitals. Yeah, like that will ever happen with a corrupt Congress.

I'm all for price controls provided we decide for our elected officials in DC what they get and how much it costs as the experiment for medical devices/drugs/medical procedures if it works roll it out nationwide starting with the east coast and work west.

Or, start on both coasts and work towards the middle.

And this is where this capitalist finds herself in a quandry. After all, capitalism is everyone making as much money as they want/can. Setting income limits is sliding into Socialism. BUT how else do we handle the cursed big pharma?

The only solution is to get the government completely out of the health care business and the health care markets. This means no Obamacare, no Medicare, and no Medicaid.

No price controls..on anything!

Mark wrote:The only solution is to get the government completely out of the health care business and the health care markets. This means no Obamacare, no Medicare, and no Medicaid.

Simplistic answer to a very complex problem.......and it's the answer I used to give, though I don't have a clue how it could be implemented so I decided it's really a non answer in reality. How ya gonna care for the truly ill and needy in your world? A society with a heart, which I would hope ours still is, must provide for the downtrodden who have real needs.

Examples of real people I know who would be seriously up a creek without government help:
1. A brother who, at 57 years old, is truly completely disabled and has been for 15 years. He needs and deserves help though he has a hard time accepting it.
2. My 88 year old Mom living, in Austin, on barely more than $1,000 per month. Her life is a constant struggle. She gets help from us to pay her taxes but we can't afford to support her.
3. My sister who for many years was self employed, working her butt off, and barely making ends meet. She had no health care because she couldn't afford the $1,000 per month premiums required.

None of these people were/are deadbeats. How do we help them and the thousands and thousands of folks like them?

I suggest a reverse income tax, every person under 18 gets 15K a year; everyone over 18 gets 20K a year.

Then completely abolish SS, SSI, Medicare, Medicaid, WIC, etc. etc. etc.

millergrovesue wrote:

Mark wrote:The only solution is to get the government completely out of the health care business and the health care markets. This means no Obamacare, no Medicare, and no Medicaid.

Simplistic answer to a very complex problem.......and it's the answer I used to give, though I don't have a clue how it could be implemented so I decided it's really a non answer in reality. How ya gonna care for the truly ill and needy in your world? A society with a heart, which I would hope ours still is, must provide for the downtrodden who have real needs.

Examples of real people I know who would be seriously up a creek without government help:
1. A brother who, at 57 years old, is truly completely disabled and has been for 15 years. He needs and deserves help though he has a hard time accepting it.
2. My 88 year old Mom living, in Austin, on barely more than $1,000 per month. Her life is a constant struggle. She gets help from us to pay her taxes but we can't afford to support her.
3. My sister who for many years was self employed, working her butt off, and barely making ends meet. She had no health care because she couldn't afford the $1,000 per month premiums required.

None of these people were/are deadbeats. How do we help them and the thousands and thousands of folks like them?

I don't think we need to "go there" with all the "have a heart stuff."

Although I am a believer that people must be responsible for their own health and well being...and families have to "step up" when necessary..then church/synagogue..then community..lastly state and then Federal government..

..I am also realistic that Medicare and Medicaid are not going away, so it is folly to even consider their demise as an option.

millergrovesue wrote:
Price controls on pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, and hospitals. Yeah, like that will ever happen with a corrupt Congress.

The twist is that there are price controls, of sorts. And that's what drives the prices up.

Big pharma and medical device companies play ball with the big providers. They sell their wares to the hospitals with the provision that the hospitals can buy only from them. If they start buying this device or that drug from someone else, they'll drive up the prices on items that can't be bought elsewhere... patented stuff.

So, let's say you're a device company and have developed a new and better widget. It's smaller, safer, disposable - produces better patient outcomes and the surgeons all like working with the new widget. But the purchasing manager at the hospital won't buy it because he knows that he needs Big Device Company for 75 other gizmos they use and if he starts buying widgets from Small Company, Big Device will jack up their rates on everything else. It's how the big players stay in control. They buy out little guys and drive up the prices. The hospitals end up with no choice but to pay $500 for a disposable widget that costs only $1.00 to make.

That is the ugly side of free enterprise. But I am in no way in favor of the government engaging in price controls because Big Device will then take shortcuts on producing those items in order to keep as large of a profit as possible and then the patient is the one to suffer the consequences.

This is the same thing that's happening with insurance. Now that everyone must be covered, those who were previously covered have less coverage and it costs them more. The patient is the one to suffer the consequence of insurance mandates.

I'll never understand the hostility towards pharmaceutical companies.

We'll all, at some point, be relying on their innovations and incredible life saving products.

I've got stock in Merck and it's helping put my kid through college. Maybe I should have had him take out a student loan instead?

"I don't think we need to 'go there' with all the 'have a heart stuff.'"

Really? It's very easy to make blanket statements when none of your loved ones are impacted. When they are the situation becomes more complicated and blanket statements become naivete.

GFB wrote:I'll never understand the hostility towards pharmaceutical companies.

We'll all, at some point, be relying on their innovations and incredible life saving products.

Ultimately the problem isn't big pharma. The problem is a Congress that is for sale to the highest bidder and voters who stupidly keep voting the crooks into office.

Do we blame......... Obama........Bushs ..... demographics ?

from todays Dallas Morning News


The average Texas worker spent 12.3 percent of income on health insurance in 2013, a larger share for coverage than almost anyone else in the nation, according to a report released Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund, a health policy think tank in New York.

Florida, where 12.4 percent of income went for health insurance and deductibles, was the only state where workers spent more.

GFB wrote:I'll never understand the hostility towards pharmaceutical companies.

We'll all, at some point, be relying on their innovations and incredible life saving products.

Who's angry at Big Pharma?

There are three issues with drug prices: lots purchasing managers who insist on major perks (a cost passed on to the consumer), the FDA tying up trials FOREVER making the initial cost to market very expensive, and the amount of time drug patents are allowed to remain in place.

To beat that, lessen the controls the FDA has on Big Pharma, make purchasing kick-backs illegal (hey, we're talking about DRUGS here), and lessen drug patents by half.