Medical Insurance and You

I have been hearing lots about a push again for Federal Medical Insurance, you know kind of like the ones they have in Europe and Canada. Please, Please do not be fooled into believing this is even close to a good idea. Does the insurance industry in the U.S. need to be revamped? It sure does, but not by letting the Feds control what does and doesn't get paid for. The best way to insure that you the American citizen gets qaulity medical care and benefits is by keeping competition in the insurance industry. Competition fuels qaulity. No competition means people can care even less.

I think the first rule is for people to understand the role medical insurance plays in our life. There is prevailing attitude out there that 1. If I have insurance, I shouldn't have to pay for anything and 2. Doctors and the insurance companies are out to screw me.

Lets look at # 1. For starters do you know of any insurance that pays completely for a service?
How about car insurance, you have to pay a deductible and then depending on your policy you may have other costs or you may not. Your deductible is totally dependent on how much you decide you want to pay monthly. Want to pay more, less deductible, want to pay less, higher deductible. Next, how about homeowners insurance? You pay a yearly fee, which covers or doesn;t cover everything from destruction by fire to flood, force of nature etc... You pay more, for more coverage. How about if you buy a house in January insure it for 250,000. By May property values have doubled and your house burns down. If you choose to rebuild your same house, it will now cost $500,000. Your insurance will only cover $250,000. Get the point.
Medical works much the same, they will cover the small things, but once big ticket items appear, you better make sure you were paying for that possiblity ahead of time, or it won't get covered.

Lets look at #2. The first thing you need to remember is YOU are the customer. The second is the doctor IS NOT in kahoots with the ins. co. The doctor is just someone the insurance company needs to send money to on your behalf. As far as the insurance company is concerned, the doctor is a thorn in their side. Without YOU (or your employer) the insurance company has no income. Ultimately the people have control (in the big picture) of how the insurance company acts. Too often, people don't understand that relationship.

How can YOU help change things. You could start by creating a group at work (co-workers) to really examine your companies policy. Often you are given the "summary of benefits" but that tells you sqaut. As an employee, by law, you have a right to a copy of the full nuts and bolts policy. What is covered what isn't, what's excluded etc. In big companies, most are self funded even though the administration is through a company like Blue Cross or Aetna. In those, its possible to craft your own actual policies, coverage vs. exclusions.

We do need to change things but not by letting the Feds control it. If they do, there will come a point in everyone's life where a loved one will be forced to suffer in some way because the government says so. Didn't think Big Brother could happen, think again. Digest this for a little, I'll have more in the near future.

Where Have The Good Sportscasters Gone?

Long before cable TV, each network used to have it's own colorful sportscaster. I believe the sports actually got more time than it does now. The days of ESPN and local team cable coverage have put an end to networks actually needing a good personality to give us the sports coverage we both need and desire. Even when ESPN started, and up to a few years ago, those guys had personalities, they all seemed unique in their own way. Now, you can't tell the ESPN guys apart. They all seem like clones of each other spewing out the same jokes, nothing unique about a single one of them. Its too bad.

Gone are the days of seeing Warner Wolf cover "Wrestling at the Garden last night" or hearing him say, "And Tom, if you took Pitt +10 1/2..... you lost!!!"

I guess, if I ever want to see a sportscaster like that anymore I'll need to do this... "Let's go to the videotape!"

I assume women will not understand this post.

Awesome Video Found

So, I have been trying to partially clean up all the crap in my house I don't need. Find all the stuff that has been pack-ratted away for years, never to see the light of day again.... AND GET RID OF IT. So, i'm going thorugh stuff and I find this old concert video I forgot I had. D.R.I. Live at the Ritz in NYC. I popped it in and couldn't believe it. The concert was from June of 87, I was 20 years old and in the prime of my Metal/ Hardcore faze. D.R.I. was one of first bands to create what was considered crossover music. The sound and style that attracted both Metal heads and Skin heads. It was a great time in Hardcore music. They created a sound that brought together to different "cliques" of kids. There was one thing they never took into consideration. What happens when those two get together? Two words, fist fights. I was at a bunch of these shows and even as big as I was, you spent about half the show looking over your shoulder to make sure no one was taking aim at you. I was a metal guy with my mullet look, and those skins never did anything alone, if you fought one, you fought 20. You always kept you friends by your side. All that said, it never took away from the excitement and craziness of any of these shows, the D.R.I. video showed it all. Mosh Pits, tons of stage diving, and tons of fists being thrown!!! They had an interview with the band in video and I laughed at how young they looked. The singer was definitely the oldest, he looked about 25, the guitar and bass player both looked around 20 and the drummer looked like he was no older than 17 or 18. I figure after this, I'll see if they have a website and see what they are up to today.

Oh, and Tom, in the video there is a roadie at the side of the stage moshing around, wearing a Token Entry shirt!!!

What's Bugging Me Now?

Maybe the question should be, What isn't bugging me now? How the Human Race has gotten as far as it has is beyond me. Look, I am by far a perfect person, but I do like to think that I have a lot of good traits about me that make me an overall nice guy. I try to live by the philosphy of treat someone how you would like to be treated. Again, I'm not perfect, but I do have manners, I hold doors for people, I say Hi to people when eye contact is made, If I make mistake like bumping into someone or blocking their way in a store aisle, I apologize. Not sure how all that actually leads into the next paragraph, but here goes.

Why is it so damn hard for people for follow the rules? Any rules. Our "me" society has decided that most of the the the rules do not apply to them. For example, the other morning I was driving by a school near our house. There is a HUGE flasing light saying 25MPH when lights are flashing, there is also a Radar there that blinks when you are over the limit. I drop my speed to 25MPH, and in the total distance of about 70 yards in which you need to maintain this speed I had three cars pass me in the adjacent lane. Do you know how many should have passed me? Try ZERO, those assholes should have been doing 25MPH as well. The other one that gets me are the impatient assholes that fume when they actually have to stop because a school bus is either letting kids on or off. You know, these are the same ones that will be screaming lawsuit if their child ever gets turned into road kill. For those people that passed me, probably doing about 30 -35 MPH. Did you actually get any farther that much sooner? Did those extra 10MPH's have that big of an impact on your day. I'm guessing no.

This bitch can basically be appplied anywhere there is a sign or a rule asking that someone do something out of respect for others. Lets see there are Stop signs which people fail to actually come to full Stop for. Turn off your phone in theatre or stop talking for others trying to watch the movie, this one is always violated.

Oh, I just remember another bitch about people. How about those dumb asses in Costco, Sams, or whichever bulk store you shop at. You know, they put out those free samples to try on every aisle. Most people will, in general, run right over you to get a free swab of cheese on a half a cracker!!!!! Holy Shit, don't you have food at your house, It's unreal. Tara was at more than one booth with Mary, she couldn't even get a chance to move Mary's wheelchair out of the way and people are smacking into them, it looked like the classic film Soylent Green. Could you imagine if they were actually starving.

In conclusion, many people are so nasty now, and we have everything we could ever want. My advice to all nice people. If any bombs ever go off (Like in that show Jericho) you had better run right out and buy a gun, you'll need it to protect all the canned goods you'll retrieve next!!

Have a nice day :)

Get Rid of College !!!!

Recently, I have been in a lot of situations where I am around young working "professionals". I am amazed at how clueless these kids are. ( I know, 40 years probably said the same thing about me out of college). Here's what's bugging me. For some reason most graduates feel that a piece of paper ie... masters, doctrate, etc, entitle them to some large salary when they have absolutely no experience. Just recently I heard two young women speaking. The first mentioned an Uncle of hers who was an electrician who made around $60 per hour. The response from the second was, " Yeah, and I have a Masters" She definitely implied that 1. She should make more $$$ because she has a masters and that 2. Because he was ONLY an electrician he should not make that kind of money. This dimwitted broad never took into account that 1. This guy has probably been in the working world for about 20 more years than her. 2. He provides a much needed service, without guys like him she would have no lights, stereo, tv, ac, heat, the list goes on and on. 3. He gets paid a good amount because he has a skill that not many do (even though he didn't go to college to get it)

I have decided that not insurance, but college is the biggest scam in America. Americans pay exhorbanent amounts of money to get a degree. Kids come out of college with a whole bunch of book theory and large amounts of debt. You need to spend the next year or two knocking book theory out of their heads until they realize how the real world works. Take any job, even a doctor, figure out how much schooling it takes to receive the degree(s) needed. Now take the prospective student and have them apprentice those amount of years instead of "going to school" Our course it would need to be more detailed than that. There would be tests that need to be passed, both to start and finish an apprenticeship. It would save Americans tons of $$$ and get all those lazy ass professors who make tons of dough back into real world to see if they can really hack it or not.

I am convinced, their is not a single job that can't be learned on the job. This would help to begin the elimination of the seperation of classes. The rich kid is no longer gauranteed a high end spot somewhere just because they have a degree from Havard. Connections will always be important, but it would be a start to leveling the playing field and getting only the best Americans doing the jobs they actually want to work hard for. This is not a socialist attitude, this is more of true "American" view in that hard work will always pay off, and the slackers can take a back seat!!!!