Eric the Red

Bank fees are in the news, with many banks testing out monthly fees for debit card use.

The best way to avoid such fees on a national scale is for customers of the fee-charging banks to shut their accounts due to the fees. As of posting, Wells-Fargo, Suntrust and Bank of America are planning to roll out monthly fees as high as $5/mo for debit card use.

If you are looking to make a change, here are some banks that do not plan to charge such fees as of this post date:

ING Direct
PNC Bank
Schwab
Ally
BB&T

Internet banks typically have low overhead, and are naturally lower cost. The downside is, checks have to be deposited by mail or electronically.

Other banks limit the number paper checks customers can write per month or require monthly direct deposits.

Disclaimer: listings are made on my own initiative, and I make no claims as to the quality or correctness of this information. Use at your own risk.

A number of my friends have been applying for jobs they find on Craigslist. After they email their resume, they get an email asking for a credit report and get a link to a site that sells one for some kind of small fee.

Potential employers can and will run your credit at their expense if they have a legitimate reason for it.

This could either be an ID theft scam OR a scam to sell credit reports.

You can avoid falling victim to such a scam with a few simple things. First, try running a google search for the company. Also look through the phone book for the company. Finally, look up your states department of assessments and taxation online. This will likely have some “business entity information” search function where you can enter the business name, and the state will show you some public information – such as name, address, property and owners. You can use this to look up potential businesses and avoid getting scammed.

Now that the Massachusetts Senate election is over, the idea for real health reform (rather than a socialist mess) is alive once again.

These points lay out a general outline that I feel make a good first step towards reforming healthcare to reduce costs. These points are designed to provide maximum flexibility for the individual. No individual is required to buy insurance, but if they do not have coverage, then they will pay the consequences.
In the end, the only way to do this is to make people more financially responsible for their care so that they become more aware of the costs of these services. This is what I would like to see in a health reform bill:

1. True Portability: Insurance benefits should not be tied to any job or state, but employers should be encouraged to provide them with tax credits. If I leave my job, I should be able to keep my coverage for as long as I am willing to pay the premiums.

2. No denials for pre-existing conditions: If I have a pre-existing condition, I should not be denied coverage, providing I have not had a gap in my coverage greater than 60 days. If I have had a gap, then I should be subject to an 18 month waiting period before the insurance will provide coverage for my existing condition. The insurance will cover other things, as long as they aren’t caused by the pre-existing condition. This will prevent people from waiting to buy insurance policies until they get sick.

3. No policy cancellations except for fraud: If I get sick with cancer, the insurance company should not be allowed to cancel my insurance. If the insurer wants to cancel coverage for fraud, they should go to court at their expense and prove that fraud was committed.

4. Tax credits for individuals and families: if I buy my own coverage, I should get a tax credit comparable to what businesses get for offering a comparable policy.

5. Provide income-based assistance through Medicaid for those with low incomes.

6. No medical bankruptcy. If someone doesn’t have insurance and cannot pay immediately, then they should be put on a payment plan and remain responsible for 100% of the amount they owe. The provider can deduct what is owed from their pay and/or other government benefits until the full balance and interest is re-paid. This will serve as further encouragement for people to take responsibility for their health insurance.

7. If an insurance policy is offered for sale in one state at a given price, it must be offered to anyone nationwide for the same price. The benefits must be explained in plain English (not legalese) so that people understand what coverage they are buying. These policies can be sold online through a national exchange, and customers should be able to review coverage in detail before buying.

8. No subsidies for illegal aliens. If illegal aliens want insurance, then that’s fine but they should not receive taxpayer-funded subsidies.

The government will have to create an appropriate system for examining the insurance market to ensure that the law is being followed and customers are not over-charged for coverage.

Overall, I believe that these points will allow people to keep coverage they like and buy whatever coverage they believe they need. If someone wants a high deductible policy with a HSA, then they can buy it. If someone wants a traditional HMO or PPO, then they can buy it. If a consumer wants to forgo insurance, thats fine, but they will be fully responsible for the costs of treatment. Creating a national market will help keep premiums low, and individuals will be encouraged to buy their own coverage without mandates.

With the latest attempted terrorist attack, security officials are considering a roll-out of millimeter wave x-ray technology. Critics say that this technology amounts to a virtual strip search and presents an unacceptable invasion of privacy.

While I’m sure the critics would love to prevent TSA screeners from seeing the small penises, cellulite, saggy tits and rolls of fat, I have an additional concern: the scanning technology is obsolete.

While this technology allows security personnel to virtually “strip search” everyone in a matter of seconds, I feel that the TSA should publicly physically strip search everyone who intends to board a plane, wrapping it all up with a full cavity search. Think about it folks: millimeter wave technology means that these devices can be detected, and the terrorists know that they can be detected. These improvised explosives will now have to be hidden in a body cavity (where millimeter wave technology cant see) so that a terrorist can re-assemble them into a working device during the flight.

Of course, we could just break down the barriers that prohibit intel agencies from sharing information and allow the authorities to do their jobs and profile people. That would save us all from having out nether regions exposed to the general public.

I laughed out loud when I read this one:

“Polls indicate that Canadians know full well the system is unsustainable in its current form, says Stuart Soroka, Director of the Canadian Opinion Research Archive at McGill University. And yet it’s us who are apparently easily alarmed by scare tactics. Mr. Soroka’s studies also find that the more dysfunctional the system gets, the more Canadians seem willing to entertain alternative options. It took war to shake the official narrative of ours as an exclusively peacekeeping nation; it may take health care catastrophe to get Canadians to finally agree to a real debate on the subject. If those pleading for reform are right in their predictions, it may yet come.”

The same article tells us that the Canadian system consumes 40% of budgets.

Meanwhile, Obama continues to prance around the country telling us that the program will be mostly paid for by eliminating waste from existing government programs and reducing medicare payments. Excuse me? Where will these reductions in Medicare spending come from? Simple: rationing.

How about other government waste? There will be a hodge-podge of tax increases that will not affect the majority of Americans, so the rest of the funding for this program *must* come from cutting waste in the existing government. Other idiots agree.

Please tell us, Mr. Obama, what this waste is, how much money can be saved and how quickly it can be saved. Tell us, or we will continue to not believe your lies.

Arlen Spector met with constituents about health care reform. I think the people in Pennsylvania know very well what ObamaCare represents: expansion of government at the expense of personal freedoms. I’m amazed that our representatives are so quick to throw us all to the wolves for something that we do NOT want!

Obama, in defense of his signature piece of legislation, says “I don’t want death panels“. Then again, he is putting control of our health coverage (and the benefits we receive) in the hands of a group of political appointees who are essentially above the law. Need surgery? Sorry, the Panel doesn’t think it will be effective for you. Try some bed rest and antibiotics. Does your doctor think you need a particular drug? Sorry, the Panel doesn’t think that drug is effective for you. No dice. The intent of comparative effectiveness studies and the language of the law makes his desire very dubious. My thought: they will pull then plug if the savings make sense.

Obama sets up an email address to collect information on those who dissent. Hmmmm….if this isn’t fascism, I don’t know what is. I think its sick that citizens are now accused of being corporate plants or political enemies bent on destroying the Obama administration. I’m wondering if anyone will report me….?

I will conclude my post with some words from Adrian Rodgers:

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first steal from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”

As the health care debate degenerates into a raucous, I’d like to have a few major questions that need to be answered:

Obamacare supporters say that this plan will “bend the cost curve” of health care. But since new technology generally costs the most money, how will Obama accomplish this without rationing care and excluding the latest advances from coverage?

Obamacare supporters say that creation of a national health care plan will extend health benefits while preserving existing coverage. They claim that if we are happy with our plans and doctors, we may keep them. But if a national plan, subsidized by the taxpayer, is created what will prevent existing insurers from dropping coverage? What will stop employers from dropping their plans in favor of the (less costly) option of paying a small tax and forcing employees onto the public plan?

Why does the current bill make it illegal to enroll in a private insurance plan after the effective date of the bill?

Why does the bill force employers to auto-enroll new employees in the government-run public option? Why not enroll new employees in the employers existing plan?

Medical research costs money. Drug development costs money. Medical equipment costs money. Advances in medicine, pharmaceuticals and equipment save lives and improve the quality of life for us all. No one can dispute these facts. But the only real way to contain these costs of these is to block the availability of these treatments. How will the latest ad greatest methods of care be available if no coverage of them is available? Of course, as costs continue to rise, taxes will rise in kind. Anyone who thinks small business and the middle class will be spared tax hikes to pay for this mistake is an ignorant fool.

Consider the following:

“[Medical care should not be given to those] who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens . . . An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia”

Source: Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and health-policy adviser at the Office of Management and Budget and a member of Federal Council on Comparative Effectiveness Research. Quoted here.

“It must be made clear to anyone suffering from an incurable disease that the useless dissipation of costly medications drawn from the public store cannot be justified. Parents who have seen the difficult life of a crippled or feeble-minded child must be convinced that, though they may have a moral obligation to care for the unfortunate creature, the broader public should not be obligated…to assume the enormous costs that long-term institutionalization might entail.”

Source: Pamphlet published by Dr. Heilig, representative of the Nazi Physicians’ League. From: Robert N. Proctor, Racial Hygeine: Medicine Under the Nazis, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1989, p. 183

So why does a health czar appointed by Barak Obama to manage healthcare for me, you and your family sound like a Nazi war criminal? Because they best they can do to control costs is to ration care to the point that Washington bureaucrats, with no accountability, decide who lives and who dies. You do not decide what health care is best for you. You doctor doesn’t decide what health care you need. Politicians decide. Do you really think you will get the coverage you deserve with politicians who borrow from Nazis?

Greetings all! It has certainly been a while since I have written here!

With all the nonsense in the media about hope and change, I decided to read my way through the health care bill under consideration (as of the date of this writing), and I have summarized it for you along with my impressions.

Please note that I am opposed to the bill in its current form.

Feel free to read the bill for yourself and disagree with me:

• Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
• Page 29: Admission that your health care will be rationed!
• Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get and, unlike with an insurer, there will be no appeals process.
• Page 42: The “Health Choices Commissioner” will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice.
• Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with taxpayer-subsidized “free” healthcare services.
• Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
• Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.
• Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (such as SEIU, UAW and ACORN)
• Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
• Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (in my opinion, leading to total government control of private plans.)
• Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services (in my opinion, illegal aliens).
• Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.
• Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled, you will have no choice in the matter.
• Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No “judicial review” is permitted against the government monopoly. In my opinion, private insurers will be crushed.
• Page 127: The government will set wages. In my opinion, the AMA sold its doctors out.
• Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives to this plan are permitted.
• Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees AND their families.
• Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll.
• Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll.
• Page 167: Any individual who doesn’t have acceptable healthcare (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.
• Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes (Americans will pay for them).
• Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.
• Page 203: “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax.” What a mess!
• Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. In my opinion, seniors and the poor will be negatively affected.
• Page 241: Doctors: no matter what speciality you have, you’ll all be paid the same
• Page 253: Government sets value of doctors’ time, their professional judgment, etc.
• Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private health care industries.
• Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven wheelchairs.
• Page 272: The government will reduce payments to cancer specialty hospitals who’s costs exceed those of non-specialty hospitals. In my opinion, this will result in cancer patients being singled out for rationed care.
• Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems preventable re-admissions.
• Page 298: If doctors treat a patient during an initial admission that results in a readmission, they will be penalized by the government.
• Page 317: Doctors are now prohibited for owning and investing in healthcare companies
• Page 318: Prohibition on hospital expansion. Hospitals cannot expand without government approval.
• Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on “community” input, which is vaguely defined.
• Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based measures: i.e., rationing.
• Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans, HMOs, etc.
• Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS individuals.
• Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee (healthcare by phone).
• Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior Citizens, assisted suicide, (perhaps) euthanasia?
• Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. Such consultation is mandatory. This appears to lock in estate taxes ahead of time.
• Page 425: Government provides approved list of end-of-life resources, guiding you in death.
• Page 427: Government mandates program that orders end-of-life treatment; government dictates how your life ends.
• Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate treatment as patient’s health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.
• Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have at end-of-life.
• Page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services
• Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations
• Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy. In my opinion, this will lead to government intervention in your marriage.
• Page 494: Government will cover mental health services: defining, creating and rationing those services.

As always, I encourage all to read this bill in its entirety and draw their own conclusions. Frankly, I do not see how any health plan can claim to reduce costs without rationing care and reducing quality. Many others agree.

I agree with Rep. Lynn Westmoreland that pursuing other measures, such as:

• Creating special tax credits for individuals to purchase insurance
• Creating portability in insurance plans
• Allow businesses to band together to purchase plans as a group
• Allow individuals to purchase insurance on a nation-wide scale, rather than state by state
• Curtail frivolous lawsuits against doctors and hospitals

Additionally, I believe that we need to establish a nation-wide pool with limited eligibility, to allow individuals who have lost their jobs due to no fault of their own, children, full time college students and people with pre-existing conditions access to affordable insurance. Yes, I know about COBRA and SCHIP, but I do not think they are effective in their current form. I also think that like car insurance, a certain degree of health insurance (such as covering hospitalizations to deal with car accidents and the like) should be mandatory for all.

I fully believe that every American should write to their representatives and the White House and be very loud in voicing their opposition to this bill. We cannot afford to rush a program through that is not carefully considered.

The following was sent to me. I have no idea who wrote it, but think its good to share with the rest of you:

Warning, new twitter feeds are most likely government members trying to spread misinformation, ignore them! Also, there is a handful of good twitter feeds, but please do not publicize their usernames, they are in enough danger as it is and they don’t need more publiclity. Those in the know will c/p their entries. Major timeline overhaul, including what has unfolded in the last few hours.

They were the ones who first started the crackdown after the election, but it wasn’t enough. While they are violent and repressive, they are still Persian and attacking fellow citizens. A beating is one thing, mass killings another.
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