No fucking wonder...

[Cruel2BKind]

...There are so many people with STDs in the US.

I recently went to my doctor to get tested for STDs (all clean, whoop) and I'm young enough that I'm still on my parents' insurance. My mom just got a new job so we switched insurance. There was a mix-up and they didn't bill my insurance. The price for an uninsured person to get the full battery of STD testing was literally $1,000.

... That's just fucking insane. That's two paychecks for me. We're gonna call them, and we wont have to pay that amount, but Jesus fucking Christ. If you're uninsured or badly insured in the US and you need an STD test... I think you should just go and give blood. They test you for at least a few of the diseases there. They tell you not to come to them for HIV testing, but it's the only way to tell without taking out a goddamn second mortgage.

 

[LadyVer]

The American healthcare system sucks, with or without insurance. Unfortunately, the GOP can't get beyond their main goal: to dismantle both Obamacare and Planned Parenthood. And they don't seem too fond of sex ed or birth control either. Meanwhile, taxpayers are paying the salaries of legislators who promote "family values" who wouldn't know what that means if it bit them in the ass.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The American healthcare system sucks, with or without insurance. Unfortunately, the GOP can't get beyond their main goal: to dismantle both Obamacare and Planned Parenthood. And they don't seem too fond of sex ed or birth control either. Meanwhile, taxpayers are paying the salaries of legislators who promote "family values" who wouldn't know what that means if it bit them in the ass.

Dear Cow,

Planned Parentlhood packs more meat than Hormel. Around here the schools are fulla pedophiles. You must get Medicaid cuz ObamaCare raised premiums for all but illegals, criminals, and old cows.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

If you're uninsured or badly insured in the US and you need an STD test... I think you should just go and give blood. They test you for at least a few of the diseases there. They tell you not to come to them for HIV testing, but it's the only way to tell without taking out a goddamn second mortgage.

Let me just suggest that that's the most fucking immoral suggestion I've heard this week. Medical tests for STDs are never 100% accurate. If you think you might be infected, you do NOT give blood. You can get them to throw away your blood after you give it, but in that case they aren't obligated to test it. But if you let them keep it, you're infected, and they miss the infection in the tests, you could easily have sentenced one or more medically-impacted people to death. And why? because you're too irresponsible to keep yourself safe in the first place, too incapable to find a job with the benefits you need, and too unethical to worry about the risks to others?

You think you might be infected? Congratulations, next time maybe you'll use a condom like a responsible adult, and maybe you'll know your partner's sexual history before you take the plunge. In the meantime you aren't having sex, even with a condom, and you aren't giving blood. Your responsibility to society is more important than anything between your legs.

No government, no insurance company, and no charity is responsible for you and your habits. Ever, period. If you can't afford the consequences of your actions, you shouldn't be taking those actions. Consequence-free sex is a feature of the fantasy people write here. It doesn't exist in the real world.

 

[SamScribble]

Dear Cow,

Planned Parentlhood packs more meat than Hormel. Around here the schools are fulla pedophiles. You must get Medicaid cuz ObamaCare raised premiums for all but illegals, criminals, and old cows.

James, your opinion is more than valid. And you are entitled to state it. But addressing Lady Ver as 'Cow' does not not contribute to the discourse. Just my opinion of course.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

James, your opinion is more than valid. And you are entitled to state it. But addressing Lady Ver as 'Cow' does not not contribute to the discourse. Just my opinion of course.

Youre right. I meant liberal parasite unable to support herself.

 

[Handley_Page]

The American healthcare system sucks, with or without insurance. Unfortunately, the GOP can't get beyond their main goal: to dismantle both Obamacare and Planned Parenthood. And they don't seem too fond of sex ed or birth control either. Meanwhile, taxpayers are paying the salaries of legislators who promote "family values" who wouldn't know what that means if it bit them in the ass.

From what I hear, you're quite right.

Let me just suggest that that's the most fucking immoral suggestion I've heard this week. Medical tests for STDs are never 100% accurate. If you think you might be infected, you do NOT give blood.

. . . because you're too irresponsible to keep yourself safe in the first place, too incapable to find a job with the benefits you need, and too unethical to worry about the risks to others?

No government, no insurance company, and no charity is responsible for you and your habits. Ever, period. If you can't afford the consequences of your actions, you shouldn't be taking those actions. Consequence-free sex is a feature of the fantasy people write here. It doesn't exist in the real world.

1] I think that Lit AH is not the place to discuss morals in this fashion.
2] Let me take "too incapable" for a moment.
We have similar problems in parts of the UK.

But what is a person to do when the BIG engineering firm, for whom generations of the family have worked all their lives, decides to close down and "out-source" much of it's 'operation'. So the skilled worker, with years of experience in doing this or that operation now finds himself on the scrap heap.
And the only jobs around are menial and low-paid.
Moving to another place is Very expensive (and with all the chaos that gets).
But a man owes it to his family to do the best he can under the circumstances.

He's hardly "too incapable", is he ? He's a skilled and competent Engineer, not a damned button presser. He was on a good wage, with a nice house; he managed to look after his wife & kids properly, maybe had a position in the community.
It's hardly his fault if there are no other "engineering-related" jobs within reach, is it ?

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt [now used to clean the windows]:
And watched the reports that the head honcho gets an egregious fat bonus . . .

But I urge you to have a really good Think before making such silly statements next time.
.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

From what I hear, you're quite right.





1] I think that Lit AH is not the place to discuss morals in this fashion.
2] Let me take "too incapable" for a moment.
We have similar problems in parts of the UK.

But what is a person to do when the BIG engineering firm, for whom generations of the family have worked all their lives, decides to close down and "out-source" much of it's operation. So the skilled worked, with years of experience in doing this or that operation or that finds himself on the scrap heap.
And the only jobs around are menial and low-paid.
Moving to another place is Very expensive (and with all the chaos that gets).
But a man owes it to his family to do the best he can under the circumstances.

He's hardly "too incapable", is he ? He's a skilled and competent Engineer, not a damned button presser. It's hardly his fault if there are no other "engineering-related" jobs within reach, is it ?
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt [now used to clean the windows].
But I urge you to have a really good Think before making such silly statements next time.
.

Youre an idiot.

You remind me of a teacher I had back in the 70s. The guy was upset that someone invented a machine to make and position concrete curbs using many fewer masons and carpenters and laborers than the work usually required. The machine did all the work.

I went thru a 4 year sheet metal school and was replaced by a machine that made fittings in seconds. It took me several minutes to do the same work.

Machines do better work, quicker, and they don't stay home on the rag.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Lady Ver is a race hustler and poverty pimp.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Personally, I think the US as the best healthcare in the world...paying for its high price is what sucks. And now that the courts have struck down the subsidy for those state not hosting their own sites, it's about to get more expensive. Not to mention the premium hikes next year. 40% from what I read. Almost double what you paid this year.

I was once with out insurance and my doctor's office had rates for self pay patients based on their take home pay. For each visit I paid $7. For each test I paid $0. And it wasn't the county hospital.

I wouldn't go to Cook County hospital unless I was dying from gunshots. I hear they are good at saving people who have been shot.

 

[Tasha7]

Let me just suggest that that's the most fucking immoral suggestion I've heard this week. Medical tests for STDs are never 100% accurate. If you think you might be infected, you do NOT give blood. You can get them to throw away your blood after you give it, but in that case they aren't obligated to test it. But if you let them keep it, you're infected, and they miss the infection in the tests, you could easily have sentenced one or more medically-impacted people to death. And why? because you're too irresponsible to keep yourself safe in the first place, too incapable to find a job with the benefits you need, and too unethical to worry about the risks to others?

You think you might be infected? Congratulations, next time maybe you'll use a condom like a responsible adult, and maybe you'll know your partner's sexual history before you take the plunge. In the meantime you aren't having sex, even with a condom, and you aren't giving blood. Your responsibility to society is more important than anything between your legs.

No government, no insurance company, and no charity is responsible for you and your habits. Ever, period. If you can't afford the consequences of your actions, you shouldn't be taking those actions. Consequence-free sex is a feature of the fantasy people write here. It doesn't exist in the real world.

Yeah, insurance I think is one of the biggest scams out of. You pay every month just in case something happens and when it does you have to pay out the ass! I'm sure there's clinics that would test for STDs for free in some areas. Uninsured people usually don't pay the bill. That's the way it goes.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

CRUELLA could go to the health department for free. But she wants to whine.

 

[redzinger]

I think I read this here a while ago?

http://uk.businessinsider.com/an-american-uses-britain-nhs-2015-1

Now, my experience of Guy's & St Thomas isn't as rosy as his (I've spent some time there having five operations), but they do impress me sometimes.

 

[Swilly]

The best way to reduce the cost of insurance is for people to take better care of themselves. What we call "health care" is more often really "sick care". If everyone actually treated their bodies as if they gave a shit about their health, the cost of insurance would drop dramatically. Don't intentionally crash your car into a brick wall at sixty miles an hour and then complain about the cost of repairs, and further whining that your premiums went up.

 

[lovecraft68]

The pharmaceutical companies and hospitals are behind the outrageous prices. When they are allowed to bill Blue cross or other insurance $25 for a Tylenol this is what happens.

In turn it is also on our wonderful politicians who line their pockets with the pharmaceutical manufacturers money.

As always its greed and corruption and as long as the most greedy and corrupt people(anyone in the house/senate etc) are in charge it will continue.

Best solution is to strip them of any healthcare and let them pay full price for everything.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The pharmaceutical companies and hospitals are behind the outrageous prices. When they are allowed to bill Blue cross or other insurance $25 for a Tylenol this is what happens.

In turn it is also on our wonderful politicians who line their pockets with the pharmaceutical manufacturers money.

As always its greed and corruption and as long as the most greedy and corrupt people(anyone in the house/senate etc) are in charge it will continue.

Best solution is to strip them of any healthcare and let them pay full price for everything.

I pay $50 for 7 meds. All are generic. No one gets rich off me. My Medicare copay costs me about $1300, and that just covers my 3 office visits and 3 blood labs. So far I aint costing taxpayers a dime.

 

[sr71plt]

It's interesting how quickly this changed from the point of an immoral and totally irresponsible suggestion to get an STD test by donating blood that can then potentially infect someone else to discussions of health insurance.

 

[lovecraft68]

It's interesting how quickly this changed from the point of an immoral and totally irresponsible suggestion to get an STD test by donating blood that can then potentially infect someone else to discussions of health insurance.

Well if the blood is found to have diseases they dispose of it, they don't put it out in circulation, so to speak.

 

[sr71plt]

Well if the blood is found to have diseases they dispose of it, they don't put it out in circulation, so to speak.

That's if they don't make a mistake. If the donor isn't totally selfish and irresponsible to begin with, then there will be no risk of that mistake happening. Just another case of a generation being raised to be totally self-centered and not to take responsibility for their own decisions. I think HandsInTheDark nailed this one.

 

[lovecraft68]

That's if they don't make a mistake. If the donor isn't totally selfish and irresponsible to begin with, then there will be no risk of that mistake happening. Just another case of a generation being raised to be totally self-centered and not to take responsibility for their own decisions. I think HandsInTheDark nailed this one.

I suppose the response would be they did this because they weren't sure if they have something.

Be responsible, wear a condom, be a little choosy(gasp) with who you sleep with and it won't be a constant worry.

And you forgot entitled. No one can ever tell them they are wrong or discipline them so they are coming up with no sense of consequences for their actions.

Christ, the 'experts' are now saying its wrong to even give a kid time out in a corner. You'll damage them and hurt their feeling....

 

[HandsInTheDark]

And you forgot entitled. No one can ever tell them they are wrong or discipline them so they are coming up with no sense of consequences for their actions.

Christ, the 'experts' are now saying its wrong to even give a kid time out in a corner. You'll damage them and hurt their feeling....

Parental instinct trumps "experts" every time; this is why society hasn't collapsed. Spare the rod and spoil the child still has considerable merit...

 

[HandsInTheDark]

1] I think that Lit AH is not the place to discuss morals in this fashion.
.

I find this to be a really odd statement. I'm sorry, are ethics too disturbing a topic for you? We discuss incest, non consent and unicorn-buggery on this site; but ethics is too squicky for you?

Most of us propose unprotected sex in our stories, which in the real world is about as unethical as it gets if you aren't prepared to support children or otherwise care for the outcomes. I'd like to think that as authors we don't have a problem discussing the actual real world as it relates to sexuality, and certainly the ethics of sexuality is more germane as a topic here than a discussion of economics would be.

If you're offended, Ignore is easy. I'll certainly not stop discussing topics on your behalf so it's probably your best move.

 

[sr71plt]

My wife and I spared the rod, but that doesn't mean our children were raised to think that it was all about them.

And there was no coming home after college (although they could have if they needed to). When they reached college age--getting into college because of what they themselves accomplished, college that we paid for--we rented each an apartment, gave them a car, and moved to Europe.

 

[MatthewVett]

Parental instinct trumps "experts" every time; this is why society hasn't collapsed.

Does that apply to anti-vaxxers, as well?

 

[SikFuk]

Personally, I think the US as the best healthcare in the world......

Thinking it doesn't make it so. Among the top 11 industrialized nations, US ranks last in most aspects of healthcare.

In the big scheme of things, including STD testing as a part of Obamacare covered services would be beneficial to the common good, and would probably save money in the long run, but, as we well know, the long run is not a consideration in today's political landscape.

I agree that there is a personal responsibility angle, but how many of the holier-than-thou crowd preaching safe sex or abstinence are overweight or obese or have high blood pressure caused by their crappy American diet? For these people, "irony" is what their wives do with the laundry.