The National Barack Channel.........

[Buckrub]

.........has dumped the Donald.

Five of their nineteen viewers registered a comment.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/nbc-fires-trump-over-insults-to-mexicans/ar-AAcirjp

[Fido]

Noticed on Fox news last nite he was 2nd. in the polls. Not tooo bad for just throwing his hat in the ring. I'm believeing that people like what he's saying!

[Thumper]

I think he's a pompous ass, but I do like a lot of what he says. That does NOT mean I think he'd make a good President. I'd love to have a crystal ball and see how things would go, but I'd be afraid to actually go through the process. I think I actually like thinking we have a bussinessman in the White House instead of a politician. Heck, I was leaning heavily toward Ross Perot years ago for the same reason, then he eventually fell apart and crumbled, then I realized he was not and never would be the man for the job. Just wishful thinking I suppose.

[Buckrub]

Thump has one single positive, and not another. He is "not an insider". After that, he's got nothing and would be a terrible President, unless you just like chaos and upheaval.......and there is something to be said for that.

But he has zero chance.

Only one GOP candidate can beat Hillary, period. Marco Rubio. If it's not him running, the rest are just running now to lose later.

[Thumper]

At this point, I have to agree with you Bucky. That may change, not sure. I voted for him back when he decided to run for State Senator after Charlie Crist started flip-flopping, then decided to run as an independent. I'm not positive he has what it takes to be President, but hey, he has a heck of a lot more going for him than the present POS we have in office.

Heck, we've tried a black President and it's been a dismal failure IMHO. It may boil down to Hispanic or female this go-round.

[BarryBobPosthole]

If the election were today, Rubio would likely get my vote. My issue with
Rubio right now though is the same as it is with any of the candidates. Its hard to know what they really believe and would do when they spend all their time politicking on shit that in the big scheme don't mean shit.

And I hate to be a single issue guy, but health care is really my biggest concern. We hear about Obamacare like its responsible for these huge increases in health care insurance. I guess those double digit increases in all those dozens of years preceding that law were just figments of my imagination? You bring up the master pricing guide used by hospitals to charge for treatment to Republicans and they say 'Nobody charges those prices'. Only fuck yes they do, WE do if we don't buy them through insurance. Health cost is the number fucking one reason for personal bankruptcy in this country. Rubio's plan for Medicare is so stupid I'm not sure he has the balls to even bring it up. Instead of insuring people, lets give them the money and let them buy the services. At those prices in the master guide by the way. The master guide that is a collusion of what hospitals charge for services. Isn't that anti trust territory? His policy on health care is nonexistent.

Anyway, since this election might determine if I have to go to work to pay for health care in retirement its a big issue for me.

BKB

[Chicken Dinner]

I don't believe for a second that the Donald truly wants to be President. This is all about building the value of his "brand". And, if my choice was him or Hilary, I'd probably sit it out. As for the ever growing GOP field, I have no idea at this point other than Trump, Paul and Cruz don't impress me much. At the risk of you Tea Party tyrants calling me a RINO, I'll admit to admiring Christie's willingness to speak his mind. That alone isn't enough to make me want to vote for him though.

The good news here in VA is that the GOP Central Committee just voted to have a primary instead of a closed caucus. So, at least us Littles will be able to have a say in the nominee.

[Thumper]

P-hole, I'm sure you have a fat pension and that may hurt you as far as co-pay is concerned, but why don't you start working on laying the groundwork to get into the VA system? Now, once you get back up off the floor after laughing uncontrollably, hear me out. Everyone has heard the nightmares about the VA, but I hear the same nightmares about private hospitals. My dad died from a simple, routine, elective surgery ... he bled (internally) to death and died two days after his surgery, although he was essentially "healthy" when he checked in. He was in a major hospital in San Antonio. We have a highly rated hospital here in town. One night Lynn was having (what we thought was) a major problem and I rushed her to the Emergency Room around midnight. They immediately took her in and asked me to wait in the lobby. Through the night, whenever I asked what was happening, I was told to relax and they'd let me know as soon as they knew something. Once the sun came up and shift change came in, I demanded to know what was going on. (NO clue why I waited so long) They had no idea who Lynn was or WHERE she was. Two nurses and myself went back and started checking examination rooms one at a time until we found her ... sound asleep. She said they put her in the room, told her a doctor would be right with her, and left. She eventually dozed off and had been asleep in there all night! Luckily, it was not serious (life threatening). My Texas buddy was extremely ill and went to the hospital where he was "diagnosed" with the flu. They sent him home with some antibiotics or something. That night he became worse and worse and even went blind! He was rushed to the ER and died several times on the way, but the paramedics revived him. At the ER, they discovered he had menengitis. It went from viral to spinal and you would not believe what he went through. He lost most of his fingers, both his feet and looks like he's been severely burned due to being TOTALLY covered with scar tissue. (he swelled up so big, he literally "exploded" ... seriously) He's been on disbility ever since. I only bring this up because all were major, private hospitals, so the nightmares are NOT confined to the VA system.

I don't expect you to get excited about entering the system, I'm saying it simply wouldn't be a bad idea to go through the motions, get into the system, then, if you want, simply keep it in your back pocket as "insurance" in case you ever need it. I hear about delays, etc. but with all my experience, I've learned ways around any hurdles or stumbling blocks. If I wanted to be seen by a doctor right now, I guarandamntee you, I could be sitting with one within the hour. It's like anything else, you learn the system and how it flows. I even got sick on a trip to LA a couple years ago. We were visiting Lynn's mom and she got extremely ill. We took her to her regular doctor and spent almost 5 hours waiting to be "squeezed in". Then a couple days later, I got sick, same symptoms as mom and dreaded the thought of going to the VA hospital in downtown Los Angeles with elebenty-sebenteen bazillion other people! Lynn and her mom drove me and we were in and out in 2 1/2 hours ... with the exact same diagnosis as Lynn's mom. Didn't cost me a penny.

I only say all of that to make the point it's not all bad. What's on the news is typical news ... worse case scenario. It's like when I lived in LA. I'd occassionally get a call from a family member asking if I was ok. I'd say, "Yeah, why?" There would have been some earthquake and they'd have pictures of some 100 year building that cracked in half plastered all over the news and as far as they knew, all of LA had been leveled! I'd usually tell them I hadn't seen the news lately and wasn't aware we'd had an earthquake.

You earned it ... take advantage of it. If not now, hold it in the wings in case you ever need to fall back on it. It just takes a little bit of leg-work at first.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Jim, I am in the process of enrolling in VA medical as we speak and I plan to use it until I'm eligible or decide I can afford something else or go on Medicare. I may purchase a supplemental but I honestly don't know much about how that all works. I go off Cobra close to the end of this year so I only have a few months left to decide and get educated on it.

BKB

[Thumper]

Good for you! I'm on Medicare myself (it's automatic after 2 years on disability). Now, what the VA does is charge Medicare for whatever expenses they will cover and VA absorbs the rest. Basically, VA is now my "supplemental".

[BarryBobPosthole]

So basically you don't have to go to a VA doctor?

Somebody, and I forget who but I think it was Tom Coburn before he retired, put forth the notion that we should put all veterans on Medicare and essentially close down almost all government owned/ran medical facilities. The cost savings would be substantial and I think private medicine is much more able to adapt to veteran specific treatments than they were at the time it was initiated.

BKB

[Thumper]

Also, after all this hoopla about long wait times for an appointment, the VA has a new program. If you can't get an appointment within 30 days, you can go to a private doctor and the VA will pick up the tab. Of course it's always been that way with emergencies. Say a car wreck, heart attack, whatever. You do not pass "GO", you do not collect $200, you simply go to the nearest hospital. The VA will pick up the tab and/or transport you (IF you are released to be transported) to the nearest VA once you're stabilized.

The VA also has Outpatient Clinics in many cities. I have one right here in town, That's where I go to see my Primary Care Physician who now knows me on a personal basis as she's been my doctor for many years. (she's the one who actually saved my life!) The only time I go to the VA Hospital in Tampa is for highly specialized work ... like an MRI for example.

I also get a free eye check-up and two pairs of glasses every year (a pair of "cheaters" and another for driving). Luckily, Lynn and I have the same persact prescriptions, so sometimes I let her pick out the frames. :D

[Thumper]

So basically you don't have to go to a VA doctor?

Somebody, and I forget who but I think it was Tom Coburn before he retired, put forth the notion that we should put all veterans on Medicare and essentially close down almost all government owned/ran medical facilities. The cost savings would be substantial and I think private medicine is much more able to adapt to veteran specific treatments than they were at the time it was initiated.

BKB

Not persactly, IF you can't get into the VA within 30 days, you have the option. Just notify them and they set up payment etc. I'm rusty on how it works as I've only used it once, but I had nothing to do with it persoanlly. I was due for a colonoscopy and the VA was pretty much jammed (the snowbirds were down here which buries them!). They simply gave me an appointment at a clinic 5 mins. from my house and I had my colonoscopy done there. VA handled all the paperwork and payment, etc, all I had to do was show up. Coincidentally, it was the same clinic where Lynn has her colonoscopies through her company insurance. Extremely convenient for me.

[Thumper]

One point you may want to consider. When I first got into the system, the first thing I scheduled was a full ... I mean COMPLETE physical. Treadmill, the works. That gave me a "base line" in my records to work from. I was totally healthy at that time, so any future variance would stick out like a sore thumb.

[Buckrub]

Jim helped me get my son in it. He is sitting in a VA hospital in SC right now awaiting surgery at 11:30. Subsequently, he got private insurance, but this is there for him.

You should qualify, you ARE a veteran. You will be Group 8. Means you pay more, but you get care.

[Thumper]

You should qualify, you ARE a veteran. You will be Group 8. Means you pay more, but you get care.

It all depends on income actually. I make very little on just Social Security, so I qualify in a lower income group. I'm above the minimum threshold for prescriptions, but below the medical threshold, so I am not in a group with the higher co-pays. I pay $8.00/month for my prescriptions and that's it. ALL medical care ... Primary Care, Hospital, Eye Clinic, etc. etc. is free. If I don't have transportation to and from the clinic or hospital, they'll send a van to take me to my appointments and then bring me back home. I'm sure P-hole has SSI as well as a pension, 401K, IRA, etc. etc. that will probably throw him into a higher income group with higher co-pays ... but it's still cheaper than private insurance.

ALL care was free for ALL vets until Congress decided to change the rules a few years back and come up with the co-pay system. It's fair I suppose .... I simply didn't like the fact they promised me something when they wanted me to go to war, then once the dust settled, they took part of it way from me. If you change the rules, fine ... but "grandfather in" the old guys and start the new deal with those just coming on-board. They'll know what their bennies will be before they obligate themselves and can make their own decision as to whether or not they want to move forward.

[Buckrub]

Jim, I may be wrong, but I think the 8.00 prescription cost is universal. The other costs, deductibles, etc.........very according to Groups. Group 8 is the guys who make the most (and the threshhold isn't much). And you don't even have to list your income, they go check IRS automatically. Or they did for my son. Also, they say if you do have private insurance, to let them know and they will file that TOO and see if they can get some costs offset.

[DeputyDog]

My father-in-law is still working but got into the VA system a few years ago. I think he only uses them once a year now just to keep current with them, but he's been happy with them for what they've done so far.

[Thumper]

You're right Bucky. There used to be an annual "means test" you had to fill out, but they just recently changed that and get the info directly from the IRS and Social Security. (that's why I have to be careful with my eBay thing and stay under the radar) I'm not positive about the drug thing, it's been so long ago I dealt with that, I don't remember the criteria. They were free for me at one point ... I just don't remember when the $8 kicked in. I do believe it was based on income, but I may be mistaken.