Tokogirl

In several other blogs and reports the couple were called climbers!

How many lbs. of sorrow??

Have an airpot to keep the coffee warm.

I have a projection screen and glad to bring it. Perhaps a few growlers with Rattlesnake IPA in them!

Bonanza Peak or alot of good eating in the tent! Enjoy the zoo, kid's really change the way you look at things.

Okay.........before the weekend - 135lbs this a.m. After the weekend of climbing in the North Cascades - if it is rainy we maybe tent bound with lots of great food to eat ?? Anyone else?

And pharmaceuticals too? And hospitals? And Doctors in private practice? I think the first step is just to lower insurance costs. Health insurance industry makes billions in profits. That's a good place to start. Should Dr's be non-profit? Of course not. I know some Dr's. They don't make all that much. I think the first place to start is the insurance companies HUGE profits. They're raking it in while denying claims? Fuck that. Everyone has to buy insurance if their employer doesn't cover it. Say as a fixed rate payroll deduction. For those unemployed, it's covered for a time, just like unemployment. Everyone has some copay for each visit and some deductible. That sounds like a good start. With the profit ripped out of the insurance industry, perhaps cheap insurance would be more realistic. Medicaid exists for the truly impoverished. But, how would we cover those who have jobs and don't qualify for medicaid, but don't have enough for even cheap insurance? I'm thinking of my friend who works at Starbucks for 8 bucks an hour and lives paycheck to paycheck. The cost of insurance would have to come WAY down. Wow, Rob my sentiments exactly! A bill, attatched to a recent farm bill, would have cut any Medicare patients from being reinbursed for care provided by all clinics and hospitals that are more than 50% owned by the doctors. In some rural settings, Wenatchee, Omak, etc., that would have ment many folks would have to drive to Spokane or Seattle to recieve some of their care. I surely don't have an answer to providing healthcare for everyone in need of it and as 5K brings up to much gov't regulation reduces freedoms. Interesting to note that alot of the exchanges about random searches and healthcare costs gives the flavor of an us vs. them mentality. We elect them or don't elect them that vote.

Bummer to hear! I hope you find one soon. Any leads from co-workers?

Sounds like what China has been doing in Tibet for the past 35 years! Increasing the Chinese population, teaching only Chinese in schools, and now there are more ethnic Chinese in Tibet than Tibetans.

You can drink one handed?!

It can in conjunction with other symptoms. Hypertensive Retinopathy can happen in folks with HBP who have had it undiagnosed, untreated, and/or have very elevated HBP for sometime. Most often it occurs with diabetics and involves elevated bloodsugars.

FW, True about destitute docs but overweight RNs. The RNs go to college and have to attend so many hours of continuing eduacation and obtain recertification. More gov't regulation to insure the best healthcare. 5K whether you like it or not the gov't has its hand in the healthcare industry! For better or worse. I don't have anything against government regulation and oversight. But if the government runs the entire system--like Matt wants--who will oversee the government? And you've gotta admit that an inordinate number of RN's are overweight. Okay, yes to the comment about the RNs but the population as a whole seems to be heading that way. I wouldn't want the gov't to run the entire system: insurance, healthcare facilities, etc.. Think that is called a monoply?! As with anything checks and balances are good.

What the socialists are proposing is to eliminate an industry (health insurance companies) and replace them with a state-run agency. this is far more than "having a hand" in the industry. It's nationalization and a move towards communism. Well, my take on some of the ideas whipping around in WA DC is not replacing the private insurance companies but revamping the controls surrounding what the insurance companies do and how they go about it.

What kind of states do you have for malpractice in WA or other staes? The whole insurance, healthcare system, prescription drug thing is complicated but something we will have to deal with sooner rather than later.

FW, True about destitute docs but overweight RNs. The RNs go to college and have to attend so many hours of continuing eduacation and obtain recertification. More gov't regulation to insure the best healthcare. 5K whether you like it or not the gov't has its hand in the healthcare industry! For better or worse.

I was responding to 5Ks point about the left not addressing some issues. I think the malpractice issue has driven up healthcare costs but I know in WA state it has also caused a shortage in some medical disciplines. I would think ultimately it relates to the bottom line of $$ for a universal system.

FW, Sorry to hear that! She may qualify for other assistance and most facilities have someone in the patient service department who can assist with that.

We are getting the best health care in the world. The best care is expensive - no surprises there. There are other things driving up costs - things the left deny repeatedly as factors: costs of malpractice insurance and litigation, costs for expensive procedures to prevent the latter, costs of prolong the lives of people in poor health, and the costs of an unhealthy population. They also refuse to accept the fact that many of the uninsured are uninsured by choice - they'd just rather spend their money on something else. My insurance premiums are high. But I'll be damned if I let the government step in and fuck them up even worse. They will. Shittier care for more money. You have a few valid points(though I don't think it is just the left) Our healthcare is a bit more expensive - true - but I wouldn't necessarily agree it is the best, but one of the best. Cost of malpractice insurance is high, especially for some specialties in WA state. Because of malpractice issues there are a number of surgerys that are done in other countries on a regular basis that are deemed experimental by most insurance companies in the US. As mentioned previously if more emphasis was put on overall health...this topic is a huge issue and costs you and I many more $$ than we realize!

To much time on your hands!

There will always be "issues" with any system or institution created and run by human beings. Nothing is perfect. So that's not a legitimate argument. 5K, Yea, we are only human and there will always be something but.... Wouldn't you agree that one of the big issues is how much we as a nation pay for health care and how much we are getting from those $$ we spend. I must confess if our health care system would put more emphasis on healthly lifestyles, health maintenance, etc. that would go far in reducing the overall cost of healthcare.

Dmuja, HBP will not effect your eyesight. Is she a diabetic?

FW - Did you read my previous post?? Seems like there are some issues, big ones, with our current healthcare system. It isn't any easy fix but seems like something needs to happen to improve this situation.

Agree that it is a very good thing to have and run by the state of WA. I think that it may help to instill a sense of responsibility for safety in the workplace.

I've acknowledged it many times if you and Matt have been paying attention. What I'm saying is that I'm willing to keep doing that as opposed to the socialist model the two of you seem to crave. Matt; re read your exchange with JayB. You clearly expressed a desire to see a government paid and government run health care system. Please explain how that is not socialist. It clearly is. FW, Gov't paid health care system - DSHS, L & I insurance, VA benefits, Indian Health Services, Medicare, and Medicaid all $$ come from our taxes. Something to think about: The U.S. spends more on health care, both as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) and on a per-capita basis, than any other nation in the world. Current estimates put U.S. health care spending at approximately 16% of GDP. The health share of GDP is expected to continue its historical upward trend, reaching 19.5 percent of GDP by 2017. In 2007, the U.S. spent a projected $2.26 trillion on health care, or $7,439 per person. According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not have a universal health care system. In the United States, around 84% of citizens have some form of health insurance; either through their employer (60%), purchased individually (9%), or provided by government programs (27%; there is some overlap in these figures). Certain publicly-funded health care programs help to provide for the elderly, disabled, children, veterans, and the poor, and federal law mandates public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. U.S. government programs accounted for over 45% of health care expenditures, making the U.S. government the largest insurer in the nation. Per capita spending on health care by the U.S. government placed it among the top ten highest spenders among United Nations member countries in 2004. Americans without health insurance coverage at some time during 2006 totaled about 16% of the population, or 47 million people. Health insurance costs are rising faster than wages or inflation, and "medical causes" were cited by about half of bankruptcy filers in the United States in 2001.

If it's your razor blade we'll all need a tetnous shot!