The prices are inflated to net the requirement.


Libs don't like responsible spending. Maybe not being responsible in general.

Oh, yeah. $27 box of facial tissues, $80 aspirin...

As you noted, Hospitals also get stiffed on the bill, a lot. According to this source, 65% of all patient billing never gets paid. (That's patient billing, not insurance billing.) And according to this source, 43 million Americans in 2021 had unpaid medical bills on their credit report. That's about 9% of the adult population of the US.

Hospitals are also crazy expensive to run. Sure, that EKG stress test only cost the hospital about $50 in terms of the nurses' time, but there is a massive amount of overhead which often goes unseen. Accountants, lawyers, compliance officers, bribes to public officials... and can you even imagine what sort of insurance bills they must pay? Both for general liability and also for malpractice. The total amount of monetary damages paid in malpractice suits is in the billions of dollars per year.

Plus, of course, the amortized cost of all of that fancy equipment that goes "whrr" and "beep." Have you gone shopping for an MRI machine lately? The nice ones run about $3 million upfront, and they burn through super-cooled helium to the tune of about $30k a tank, and get lavished with very frequent (and costly) inspection and maintenance. The same goes for pretty much every single piece of fancy gear in the place.

And it's only getting worse.

Each and every time Congress passes another bill to ensure patient privacy, or protect patients' rights, or anything along those lines, it adds yet more overhead cost to the hospital. (And also probably contains a rider which increases police power to perform warrantless surveillance of citizens, and also provides for some kickbacks to themselves.) Hospitals have whole departments which do nothing but constantly self-audit to ensure that they are complying with all of the bureaucratic requirements heaped upon them. It's not even consistent across the country, as every state also has their own set of regulations.

And when was the last time that Congress voted to eliminate a regulation?

Every time Dems get in control.

One of Biden's very first acts was to deregulate the border and remove the cost cap on insulin.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6773cdf4ec.png

Also, Jesus, some of the helpdesk tickets which we get...

This is from one of the anchors of NewsNation. She is also someone whose social media posts contain more #hashtags than actual content.

The ticket: "My office tv remote is no longer working. I was out for a week. Not sure if the batteries are dead or if there’s a connectivity issue. "

Really? The TV remote in your office might have a dead battery? How about you, oh, I dunno... replace the fucking battery? I have a pretty good idea of how much you get paid, and it's enough that a single pack of AAAs every year or two isn't gonna bankrupt you. What, do you think I just stock batteries in the parts room? Why the fuck would I do that? None of my shit is battery operated. Except for the TVs in MY fucking office, and you wanna know how I deal with shit when one of the four remotes I have on my side desk has a dead battery? I buy a fucking new battery.

(deep breath...)

Yes, I know that the anchors in NYC are just as bratty... But, c'mon, lady! This is fucking Chicago! We're made of stronger stuff than those sissies who get chauffeured by limo from their palace in Long Island every day. You drive your own fucking self to work every day. I know this, because you almost hit me with your fucking Tesla in the parking lot the other day.

Tesla... Tesla... Oh, right, that's the car which has fucking >BATTERIES< in it. You want me to change those too?

My company provides batteries for everything from the Fluke amp meters to wireless mice to digital calipers. If I use it at work, I expect the company to maintain it, including batteries. Just sayin'.

You should have asked her to try re-booting the remote to make sure it wasn’t a connectivity issue.
Or maybe suggest that the network is no longer supporting remotes, to encourage more physical activity.

:bowrofl:



Also, the conspiracy theories have already begun:

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...10fe5b1099.png

That’s worrying over nothing. Look at the moderators for the first debate -
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d420e7f03e.png

I'm a bit saddened (and slightly surprised) that the June debate is going to be on a cable-only channel. I need to figure out how I'm going to get that signal streamed to my house...

I do hope that RFKj qualifies and gets to participate. Not that I'm particularly stoked on him as a President, but having a third-party candidate standing there on equal terms with the Dem and Rep candidates, during what promises to be one of the most-watched and most-analyzed debates in the history of television, will go a long way towards shaping public perception of the viability of breaking the two-party system which has monopolized the Executive branch ever since Millard Fillmore left office.


EDIT:

I hadn't really been paying too much attention to The Donald recently, but I just watched the YouTube clip where he's calling out Biden directly, taunting him.

It reminds me of last year, when Elon Musk was challenging Zuckernutter to "a literal dick measuring contest."

Shit like that makes politics fun.

Hell, we need to construct an MMA / UFC-style fighting cage right out there on the lawn in between the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial and the Capitol Building. Who is willing to write to their US Representative and encourage them to fund that? That's one place I'd actually enjoy seeing my tax dollars squandered.

You wanna bust this filibuster? How about I bust your ass? TO THE OCTAGON!

Oopsie, I committed wrongthink.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...72591765ec.png


I was pretty pleased with myself about that little monologue advocating for a Congressional Deathmatch Arena, so I decided to share it in a place where lefties can see it, too.

A few seconds after I hit "Post," this popped up.

I hit "Post anyway," of course. Curious to see whether FB actually has the ovaries to follow up on that auto-generated threat about "potential account restrictions."

There's no room for your political extremism on Facebook, dude.

when a liar is your key witness:

It would appear, in all seriousness, that there is not.

I do not know any of FB's higher level execs personally. They occupy a totally different space from me and my own cohorts in the mainstream (aka: legacy) media. We do not attend the same parties.

This will be like the third or fourth personal experience I have had with the FB thought police, though. No surprises here.

This actually made me lol.

Fucking facebook kicked me off for not using my full name and wanted a copy of my photo ID to get access back. I checked out when they did that.

MAGA apologists: "Climate change is bullshit!"

Florida residents on the gulf coast:" Yeah, it's only 107° today, which is May 18 2024, not even into summer yet. Totally cool with this. Let's go, Brandon."

Was only 94*F here yesterday.

Weather :ne: climate


Joe must be in FTM. How long are you in town?

1: That is hilarious.

2 No, I am not in FTM.

3: WTF is FTM?

4: Jeebus, has per-capita butter consumption in the US really increased by 50% over the past 25 years?

5:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a7f725e13d.png





6: Oh, Fort Myers. No, also not there.

I guess some people abbreviate it as FMY.