I'm back, at least for a while

[kthx]

You mean it isn't for the smart intelligent conversation and witty banter?

[FACEPUNCHER]

Saying a prayer for you right now! Continue to be tough.

[hellmouth]

I hope to be playing Subspace on my deathbed, hopefully a long time from now.

[NaiLed]

can you update us please, eph? hope all is well!

[Funky Hobo]

Hope all is well Eph! It's been good seeing you back in your Shark in Pub

[Ephemeral]

Hi Nailed,
Thanks for asking, still alive and kicking…immunotherapy appears to be working and not allowing the cancer to continue to spread; my current oncologist is pleased. The medical procedures are grueling, between the chemo and the dialysis I go to over 200 of them per year. Making things worse is the socialize medical system here in the US (for dialysis patients only), my wife is convinced that the dialysis company will kill me before the cancer does.


She is probably right, even if they only make a life threatening mistake 1% of the time, it means that twice a year I am facing a unnecessary medical fatal crisis. I am trying to make improvements in the dialysis care system and have been asked to become a patient advocate to represent patient interests with the $12 billion medical sweat shop (my dialysis facility). I had been away from corporate America for a few years and forgotten how much fun it is to go to meetings and make people cry. LOL
Eph

[kthx]

You guys don't have private dialysis centers where you live? We do here in Houston. Really nice ones with personal rooms, tv's wifi, and lazy boys.

[paradise!]

You guys don't have private dialysis centers where you live? We do here in Houston. Really nice ones with personal rooms, tv's wifi, and lazy boys.

how would a public dialysis center work

all about 'competition in the marketplace' until your only local dialysis center is ran by untrained staff

[kthx]

It works very well, I live near the Medical Center, and we have several colleges nearby that train medical students and nurses, so that isn't really ever a problem. Because you know I live in the third largest city in the world, with the worlds largest medical center. Where did you live again paradise? Probably not very many people go there to work you know. Yawn.

[paradise!]

It works very well, I live near the Medical Center, and we have several colleges nearby that train medical students and nurses, so that isn't really ever a problem. Because you know I live in the third largest city in the world, with the worlds largest medical center. Where did you live again paradise? Probably not very many people go there to work you know. Yawn.

relax buddy, i spent a month working at methodist. i got stories for days bruh. and also largest med center? thought that was pitt....

im just saying davita, etc don't have great reputations in the medical community

[kthx]

I mean.. thats like saying that blockbuster management is going to tell you how good redbox is. I have heard some horror stories from both to be honest though, mostly good though with my family and friends who had to do it. Also Houston's is the largest. Methodist is a nice place though, grats on getting that cake gig and not getting sent to Ben Taub

[Ephemeral]

In the US, anyone who is diagnosed with ESRD (kidney failure) is fully covered under Medicare (this was passed in the 1970s under Nixon). So 98% of all the dialysis is done by a few companies, DaVita and Fresenius own the vast majority of the business. (These are companies which get around $12 BILLION each.) Since all US taxpayers foot the bill for all the dialysis patients like myself (450,000 of us) and there is no competition between the companies, it is perfect examples of what happens to healthcare in a socialized system. Without competition, with rates dictated by the Feds, the only way to be profitable is to lower the quality of the health care.


We have roaches running across us during treatments, they allow techs with no formal medical education draw and push IV drugs, the people who I put my life in their hands every day are started at $11 an hour (less than Walmart). They have the employee turnover rate (25%) of a McDonalds.


A bit long to watch but this nighttime commentary sums it up pretty well

Eph

[kthx]

I would watch it if it wasn't that faggot John Oliver, but I will take your word for it.

[Jerome Scuggs]

yo eph, your assessment of the situation is 100% spot-on, but i guess where we disagree is i don't see a system where private companies used their wealth to lobby for political favors in the form of legislation securing their monopoly as "socialism". it's actually, in my eyes, exactly what's wrong with free markets: if you allow the "winners" to "win" unchecked, they attain so much wealth that they can begin "investing" some of it in the form of lobbying. with lobbying, they can literally buy legislation securing their market status, like these companies did, like insurance companies did with obamacare. when you think this through the only (libertarian) solution is ultimately: get rid of the government entirely and then it won't be there for people to abuse. i don't think that's realistic. i think we need to look at limits on the 1% in the same way we look at limits on politicians and political power, because both inevitably reduce liberty for the masses.

[Jerome Scuggs]

also ive never seen this clip and holy shit

also what's your opinion on what kentucky just did with medicaid