Author Topic: The Biden Presidency  (Read 31641 times)

Offline JayUtah

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #15 on: November 09, 2020, 04:40:18 PM »
...really just about dodgy plumbers and pushing deals from sponsors.

Why would you think this doesn't also accurately describe the American healthcare system?
"Facts are stubborn things." --John Adams

Offline gillianren

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #16 on: November 10, 2020, 10:59:10 AM »
ACA? To me that is A Current Affair, an Australian "current affairs" programme (which is really just about dodgy plumbers and pushing deals from sponsors).

To Americans, that's the Affordable Care Act, what the Republicans have painted as "Obamacare."

I'm just going to assume that you (Gillianren) have far more horror stories to tell than I ever could possibly come up with.  And because this is the kind of money that fuels politics, politicians have no incentive to eliminate their friends' (questionable) livelihoods.

Oh, my, yes.  I'm going to limit it to two for now.

1.  I cannot get my flu shot at the pharmacy.  I have to go in to my doctor's office.  This is despite the fact that my doctor is in an overworked clinic where it takes literally weeks, most of the time, to get an appointment because they're about the only place in my area that takes people with my insurance.  You know, people on disability?

2.  When Irene was in the NICU, some of her care was provided by my insurance company and some of it was provided by Graham's.  Because we aren't married, we don't have the same coverage, though he had the same low-cost care I did on the grounds of also being poor.  There's one bill that got charged to the wrong insurance company.  We are still trying to deal with that, and right now, they are telling us to fax in an image of her insurance card, because of course everyone has access to a fax machine during a pandemic, and we can't just scan it like real people, or send in a photo, because they gave us a fax number and can't accept it by e-mail.
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Offline molesworth

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #17 on: November 10, 2020, 05:07:22 PM »
ACA? To me that is A Current Affair, an Australian "current affairs" programme (which is really just about dodgy plumbers and pushing deals from sponsors).

To Americans, that's the Affordable Care Act, what the Republicans have painted as "Obamacare."

I'm just going to assume that you (Gillianren) have far more horror stories to tell than I ever could possibly come up with.  And because this is the kind of money that fuels politics, politicians have no incentive to eliminate their friends' (questionable) livelihoods.

Oh, my, yes.  I'm going to limit it to two for now.
...
I'm repeatedly amazed and baffled by the stories I hear about the US health care system.  Even having a partially state funded and partially insurance-based system, it could be so much simpler and cost-effective, but since it seems to be run primarily for profit, rather than for the well-being of the people it treats, I can't see it changing any time soon.

Quote
...
We are still trying to deal with that, and right now, they are telling us to fax in an image of her insurance card, because of course everyone has access to a fax machine during a pandemic, and we can't just scan it like real people, or send in a photo, because they gave us a fax number and can't accept it by e-mail.
There are online services which can send faxes from email or via a web interface which might solve your problem.  There are even a few free ones (some listed here - https://www.lifewire.com/free-fax-services-2378048) although it may not be advisable sending any personal documents through them.  There are a few low cost ones as well, which may be more secure.
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Offline JayUtah

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #18 on: November 10, 2020, 05:36:46 PM »
...they are telling us to fax in an image of her insurance card, because of course everyone has access to a fax machine during a pandemic, and we can't just scan it like real people, or send in a photo, because they gave us a fax number and can't accept it by e-mail.

They can't accept it by e-mail because HIPAA doesn't generally allow it.  Facsimile transmissions anywhere and everywhere are encrypted in a way that satisfies HIPAA.  They can't usually make the same guarantee for email, although most common email providers would qualify.  While an insurance card doesn't have any private health information on it, it has private identification information that's protected (albeit to a lesser extent than PHI) by HIPAA.

(For non-Americans, HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, a sweeping set of rules set down by Congress for protecting the privacy of health and medical information.  It's pronounced "hippa," and generally misspelled that way too.)

The good news is that nearly all the web-to-FAX gateways provide end-to-end HIPAA-compliant encryption and are accepted by insurers and providers.
"Facts are stubborn things." --John Adams

Offline gillianren

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #19 on: November 11, 2020, 10:49:36 AM »
Okay, I'll definitely look into that.  It's just really frustrating; this has taken over three years to resolve.  It's a roughly $500 bill, which is peanuts relative to how much a week's NICU stay costs but is definitely not peanuts compared to my monthly disability check.
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Offline Glom

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #20 on: November 11, 2020, 03:50:43 PM »
I need to clear something up. Contrary to what ABC said, the fireworks in London on Saturday weren't to celebrate the US election. It was Bonfire Night. Ironically, a celebration of stopping a Catholic from overthrowing the government.

Offline jfb

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #21 on: November 12, 2020, 11:18:19 AM »
I need to clear something up. Contrary to what ABC said, the fireworks in London on Saturday weren't to celebrate the US election. It was Bonfire Night. Ironically, a celebration of stopping a Catholic from overthrowing the government.

Okay, now that's funny. 

Offline gillianren

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #22 on: November 12, 2020, 12:06:05 PM »
Remember, remember!
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Offline molesworth

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #23 on: November 13, 2020, 04:46:25 AM »
I need to clear something up. Contrary to what ABC said, the fireworks in London on Saturday weren't to celebrate the US election. It was Bonfire Night. Ironically, a celebration of stopping a Catholic from overthrowing the government.

To be fair, there were a lot of sighs of relief over here when it became clear that Biden had won  ;D
Days spent at sea are not deducted from one's allotted span - Phoenician proverb

Offline JayUtah

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #24 on: November 18, 2020, 01:18:40 PM »
Sadly, it's unlikely that a Biden administration will do much to hold former Trump officials accountable for their actions.  In truth, American Presidents have historically done quite a lot in office for which they should have been made by rights to answer for, but the trend is for us just to look forward and not relive the sins of the past.  President-elect Biden is already making noises like his plan to heal America is not to extensively investigate his predecessor's administration.
"Facts are stubborn things." --John Adams

Offline LunarOrbit

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #25 on: November 18, 2020, 01:33:42 PM »
I can see the harm that investigating Trump might have on the Divided States of America, but they need to (at the very least) fully investigate everything he did even if they don't punish him. Otherwise it sends the message to all future Presidents that they can be as corrupt as they want with no consequences.
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I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth.
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Offline Obviousman

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #26 on: November 18, 2020, 03:38:09 PM »
Sadly, it's unlikely that a Biden administration will do much to hold former Trump officials accountable for their actions.  In truth, American Presidents have historically done quite a lot in office for which they should have been made by rights to answer for, but the trend is for us just to look forward and not relive the sins of the past.  President-elect Biden is already making noises like his plan to heal America is not to extensively investigate his predecessor's administration.

You mean like "drain the swamp"?

Offline jfb

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #27 on: November 18, 2020, 05:06:21 PM »
Sadly, it's unlikely that a Biden administration will do much to hold former Trump officials accountable for their actions.  In truth, American Presidents have historically done quite a lot in office for which they should have been made by rights to answer for, but the trend is for us just to look forward and not relive the sins of the past.  President-elect Biden is already making noises like his plan to heal America is not to extensively investigate his predecessor's administration.

My understanding is that Biden isn't going to explicitly direct his DoJ to investigate the Trump administration or other officials; however, if they decide on their own to launch such an investigation based on mountains and mountains of evidence before them, he won't stop them.   

At least I hope that's the case.

There has to be accountability for the shenanigans of just the past week, much less the past four years, with Graham pressuring state officials to just ... toss out legally cast and counted ballots.  The activities of Trump and Trump officials over the last four years presents a target-rich environment for prosecution (it's virtually certain WH officials are involved in honest-to-God money laundering). 

If we just move on they'll do it all again, and next time they'll succeed.  The only reason it didn't happen this time is this particular bunch can't tie their shoes without injuring themselves.  Giuliani's egg is about as scrambled as Trump's, but it doesn't matter, because the lawsuits aren't a legal strategy, they're a PR strategy, and as such they're succeeding brilliantly

Offline Zakalwe

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #28 on: November 19, 2020, 05:22:47 AM »
Th New York Southern District AG is out to get him anyway.
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Offline gillianren

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Re: The Biden Presidency
« Reply #29 on: November 19, 2020, 10:22:28 AM »
Yeah, I'd be shocked if Trump didn't face charges in New York, if not federal ones.
"This sounds like a job for Bipolar Bear . . . but I just can't seem to get out of bed!"

"Conspiracy theories are an irresistible labour-saving device in the face of complexity."  --Henry Louis Gates