https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/wealthiest-californians-leaving-state-bad-news-18575950.php
Covid was the worst thing that could happen to the high tax states like NY and CA. People figured out they could live elsewhere and have a comfortable life instead of barely scraping by while the big state governments soaked them in taxes. Now they are going to need to learn to be fiscally responsibleâŚpain is expected.
Well, butler, would you consider Oregon to be a high-tax state? How about Washington State?
Wasnât the article about California ?
LOL! Wonder why they are leaving? Could it be for the absurdities like giving all of the âguestsâ from down south free healthcare?
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Did you hear California thinks everyone should have a ârightâ to public education in their native tongue? Imagine how expensive that will be to provide.
Can just imagine the strain illegals are putting on California hospitals. Imagine a migrant with kidney failure showing up for free dialysis at a hospital? Of a trafficked female that has been raped showing up with a complicated pregnancy.
Well, Henrius, do you Oregon is really that much better than California in this day and age? How about Washington State? I have relatives who currently in Oregon. However, I do admit that Oregon has been losing residents as of late. Texas might be a great state today, but what about five or ten years from now?
Fair pointâŚif enough Liberals leave California for TexasâŚthey might duplicate the same problems that they abandonedâŚ
I agree, but to be fair, itâs not just illegals. Common knowledge around here: âDo NOT go to ER on a Friday night!â
I found out why. Came home from work on Friday and wife could not walk straight, and bumped into things. [she did not drink] Called Advice nurse and she said go to ER now.
We sat in ER for hours, as entire families paraded all the kids in. I recall some had toothaches, headaches, and minor things. But ER tends to everyone.
Wife finally got in well after midnight.
Talk to ambulance drivers and ER staff about their so-called âemergencies.â It will get you riled up.
EMT after EMT have told me that 90% of their ambulance transport calls are non-emergency from welfare patients who just want free transport. Most report vague stomach pains. Many disappear from the hospital once they are downtown.
One time a car hit me on the bike and I had to go to the ER during the day. Among other things, there was a toothache patient waiting. The ER can do no dental procedures, except an occasional lance and drain on severe facial space infections. 500 yards from the hospital was a dental office that was open for business. But the patient could stiff the hospital, but not the private dentist. So to the ER he went.
There is no penalty for Moochercaid patients overusing ERs so they do it all the time.
Henrius, do you think Medicaid, Medicare, and even Social Security should be completely, totally done away with? You might want to check out this article:
The programs were immoral to start with. The Greenspan Commission predicted Medicare would be in trouble first, and that is proving to be correct. I am having trouble now getting MDs to see me now that I am on Medicare. My only option is to pay for medical care out-of-pocket overseas.
If Medicare is to survive, we have to completely eliminate the fee ceiling for non-participating providers. Otherwise, seniors will receive nothing except crappy care in the future- if that! Right now non-participating docs can only charge 10% more than the Medicare fee, which is still a pittance.
Once started, handout programs are hard to stop. If the government started a program tomorrow to provide shoes for everyone, in two years time it would be unthinkable to buy oneâs own shoes. Not only that, but half the people would be indignant because government did not provide free socks as well.
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Well, Henrius, if you despise Medicare so much, why are you on it?
On an arguably related note, do you think the Federal Reserve should be completely, totally abolished?
Semi related. I worked decades with a large international company, and the concept of an âemployee suggestion planâ was recommended many times.
It was always blocked by someone at the exec level who said, âOnce you start such a plan, itâs forever, because you can NEVER get rid of it.â
Because Medicare is the default insurance for seniors over 65 and I have no other options.
This is not a political forum. You have to ask the question, âWhy is a central bank necessary?â What prompted killing the Fedâs two predecessors- The first and second banks of the US? Why should interest rates be fixed by a board, rather than by the free market?
The Fedâs original mandate was far, far different than what it is today. It was strictly to liquify banks who had sound assets and suffered bank runs. The thought of a central bank trying to ârunâ the economy was regarded as simply crazy.
You have to excuse me, Henrius. Iâm worried about the national debt myself, but Iâm permanently disabled. I have both Medicaid and Medicare. I receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits.
My sympathies go out to you. I sincerely hope you can get acceptable medical care with the puny reimbursement levels Medicare and Medicaid offer to physicians. I am having trouble finding a neurologist in my area who will see Medicare patients.
In the future, going offshore for medical treatment paid out-of-pocket will become more common amongst Americans, as it already is with citizens of other developed countries.
Next to our debt time bomb, our demographic time bomb is what scares me most. There are not enough young people to take care of our aging population, many without any children.
The immoral part of the US health care system is not government subsidies, itâs the income of medical professionals who demand exorbitant high prices for their services. They can do so because their patients have no real recourse. And, if average life span is any indication of how good those services are, just compare ours to a country like New Zealand:
| New Zealand | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Population: | 5,124,000 | 333,288,000 |
| Inhabitants/km²: | 19.1 | 35.0 |
| Life expectancy males: | 81 years | 74 years** |
| Life expectancy females: | 84 years | 79 years |
Doctors in NZ make between (in US$) $75K and $188K and average $112.
Doctors in the US make between $215K and $500K and average around $275K
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The disparity in life expectance is due to 2 things. American are obese. Go to Europe and you donât see anywhere near the level of obesity you see here. Especially men. European men tend to be downright skinny. And you cannot blame genetics as a large percentage of the US population are European decedents.
The second is that New Zealand has universal healthcare. In the US a large percentage of residents have no health care or very expensive health care. If they do go to the doctor they end up paying a lot out of pocket. Consequently people donât go.
New Zealand is in the top three fattest countries behind the US and Mexico, where 36.5% and 32% respectively of the population are obese. New Zealandâs rate is just below 29%.
The real difference is Universal Health Care and not scalping patients.