Anything else you motherfuckers need?

[Jack_Batty]

Anybody got an over/under on posts in row?

[MsWhatsit]

@Jack_Batty

Anybody got an over/under on posts in row?

You beat me to it. I’ll take… oh, let’s go conservative, with 8.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@Shot_From_Guns

Thank you, and welcome to 1,200 posts ago.

Psst… different thread.

[Jenaroph]

@curlcoat

As I’ve said before, there don’t seem to be any. I cannot find anything to indicate that anyone has bothered to look into the real causes of bankruptcy, other than look at what people say on their applications.

You’re not looking very hard then.

@Harvard Study

Medical problems caused 62% of all personal bankruptcies filed in the U.S. in 2007, according to a study by Harvard researchers. And in a finding that surprised even the researchers, 78% of those filers had medical insurance at the start of their illness, including 60.3% who had private coverage, not Medicare or Medicaid. …The researchers examined the court records of a random sample of 2,314 bankruptcy filings across the nation during early 2007, and also contacted those filers for written explanations. The researchers then followed up with extensive phone interviews of 1,032 of those filers.

@curlcoat

As I’ve said before, I am well aware there will be times when someone is caught short thru no fault of their own. My opinion is only that they are not in the majority.

Why must it be a majority of people before it’s a problem? Isn’t 1 out of 3 bad enough?

@curlcoat

Way to ignore what I said, which was “it is extremely irresponsible to expect that the taxpayer will cover all of your (generic your) medical expenses if you have done zip to try to pay for/plan for them yourself.” Nothing there about whether or not anyone expects to get cancer.

@Harvard Study

This newest, nationwide study, conducted before the start of the current recession …found that the filers were for the most part solidly middle class before medical disaster hit. Two-thirds owned their home and three-fifths had gone to college.

@curlcoat

You make up these stories about how much it costs to deal with cancer and ignore the fact that a majority of medical expenses have nothing to do with anything that expensive. You don’t have any interest in looking into what really leads people to go bankrupt nor why there are people who make too much to have Medicaid yet cannot afford insurance. No, you’d rather spend billions on yet another bandaid instead of dealing with the problems at the source, thereby creating even more people who are dependent on the government to get by.

And you think I’m divorced from reality…

@Harvard Study

They found that a number of medical factors contributed to a family’s financial disaster. More than 90% of medically related bankruptcies were caused by high medical bills directly or medical costs that were so high the family was forced to mortgage their home. The remaining 8% went bankrupt because a medical problem caused them to lose income. The authors were not able to track credit-card defaults caused by medical bills, but a 2007 study found that, of low- and middle-income households with credit-card debt, 29% used their plastic to pay off medical expenses.

Individuals with diabetes, one of the most common chronic diseases in the U.S., and those with neurological illnesses such as multiple sclerosis had the highest costs, an average of $26,971 and $34,167, respectively. Hospital bills were the largest single expense for half of all medically bankrupt families.

[Broomstick]

@Rubystreak

I wish she’d figure out a way to reply to a bunch of people in one post. Instead, she replies to each person individually, even if her replies are repetitive. I can understand if you can only get online once a day or once every other day and have a lot to respond to, but open a word processor window, reply to a bunch of people at once and then post it, and don’t feel like you have to get back to everybody.

And if YOU use multiquote or otherwise combine multiple replies into a neat, well-organized post then she whines that your posts are too long…

The hilarity never ends!

[Broomstick]

@curlcoat

As I’ve said before, there don’t seem to be any. I cannot find anything to indicate that anyone has bothered to look into the real causes of bankruptcy, other than look at what people say on their applications.

Um… where else would they list their cause of bankruptcy? Do you think people are going bankrupt from, say, silly investments in emu farming but putting down “credit card debt” or “medical expenses” instead?

[Rubystreak]

@curlcoat

As I’ve said before, I am well aware there will be times when someone is caught short thru no fault of their own. My opinion is only that they are not in the majority.

Cites have been given. Your uninformed opinion is not a worthy entry in any sort of intellectual debate. This is why no one takes you seriously in these conversations. All you have is your opinion.

Way to ignore what I said, which was “it is extremely irresponsible to expect that the taxpayer will cover all of your (generic your) medical expenses if you have done zip to try to pay for/plan for them yourself.” Nothing there about whether or not anyone expects to get cancer.

I didn’t ignore what you said, though maybe I should have, all things considered. My point, once again, is that there is no way to plan for an expense that large. I’m sorry, but there isn’t. Cancer, heart disease, and stroke are very common maladies, and they are very costly to treat. If you were to find your coverage short, you would be screwed.

Which should be said to you.

I have no trouble putting myself in the place of someone who is financially screwed by our current system when they have an emergency injury or serious illness. It is you who cannot put yourself in others’ place. You expect everyone to be like you, with $200,000 equity in your home, multiple, high limit, low interest credit cards, and a husband who can support all her bills. A lot of people, hard working middle class people, are not in your cushy position. Can you acknowledge that?

You make up these stories about how much it costs to deal with cancer and ignore the fact that a majority of medical expenses have nothing to do with anything that expensive.

I gave you fucking CITES about how much cancer treatment costs, and how many people are driven to financial ruin because of it, including people with insurance. You have no reason whatsoever to accuse me of making shit up, Ms. It’s My Opinion, Snort.

You don’t have any interest in looking into what really leads people to go bankrupt

I already did and gave a cite. If you disagree with my cite, and you are really interested in what leads people to go bankrupt, FIND YOUR OWN CITES. I double dog dare you to.

And you think I’m divorced from reality…

Yes, I do, and it wasn’t an amicable separation.

[curlcoat]

@woodstockbirdybird

Bullshit. I don’t know anyone who has $26K to throw down for a routine procedure, and my friends are all employed middle-class. If you can’t see why people get the impression you’ve got the same mindset as the idle rich, it’s these kind of shitty judgmental statements you make.

“Middle class” indicates an income level, not what you do with your money. We don’t spend much of ours, other than routine bills, which is how we have managed to accumulate savings and quite a bit of equity in our home.

It’s not like we have $26,000 that we could just blow, but we do have quite a bit available should we have some disaster that we need money for.

Also, Amex has to be paid off by the end of the billing period, so it’s hardly true to say it “has no limit”, except in theory.

Amex has a card that you can carry a balance on - all I know is that it is blue since it is my husband’s card, left over from the job he had before the current one.

[cwthree]

@curlcoat

You make up these stories about how much it costs to deal with cancer and ignore the fact that a majority of medical expenses have nothing to do with anything that expensive.

Rubystreak’s not making anything up. Treating cancer really does cost that much. And several people (including me) have provided first-hand examples of huge medical expenses not related to cancer.

@curlcoat

You don’t have any interest in looking into what really leads people to go bankrupt…

Why do you have such a hard time believing that people go bankrupt for the reasons they say they do (catastrophic expenses, long-term unemployment, etc.)? Does it make you feel less vulnerable if you tell yourself that bankruptcy only happens to bad people who buy expensive SUVs, big houses, and fancy toys? Do you also tell yourself that rape only happens to loose women who dress a certain way?

@curlcoat

…nor why there are people who make too much to have Medicaid yet cannot afford insurance.

Several people have explained exactly why this happens. Several posters have also told you exactly what it would cost to purchase health insurance for their families. They’re not making those numbers up, either.

@curlcoat

Amex has a card that you can carry a balance on - all I know is that it is blue since it is my husband’s card, left over from the job he had before the current one.

Do you know anything about the terms of this blue credit card? Ask your husband about the finance charges associated with carrying a balance on it.

[Shot_From_Guns]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

Psst… different thread.

Good god damn, you’re right. That’ll teach me to step away to do actual work in the middle of reading a thread. In my defense, it didn’t make much sense as a reply to this thread, though.

@curlcoat

Amex has a card that you can carry a balance on - all I know is that it is blue since it is my husband’s card, left over from the job he had before the current one.

“I talked out my ass and now I can’t be arsed to actually back it up.” Also, did you seriously just say that your husband kept an old corporate card and you’re considering it part of your equity?

[Broomstick]

@Shot_From_Guns

@curlcoat

Amex has a card that you can carry a balance on - all I know is that it is blue since it is my husband’s card, left over from the job he had before the current one.

“I talked out my ass and now I can’t be arsed to actually back it up.” Also, did you seriously just say that your husband kept an old corporate card and you’re considering it part of your equity?

Apparently she is doing just that.

And don’t you just love how she describes it? “I know we have this other sort of card. It’s blue”. It’s fucking BLUE! Like the color is the most important thing about it. Nothing about interest rates, whose card the name is in, terms of repayment…

“Left over from the he had before the current one” - unbelievable! Is the card even valid anymore? Expired? Account closed?

Good thing the chick is married and on government support - she’s obviously too stupid to make it on her own.

[cwthree]

@Shot_From_Guns

Also, did you seriously just say that your husband kept an old corporate card and you’re considering it part of your equity?

@Broomstick

Apparently she is doing just that…

“Left over from the he had before the current one” - unbelievable! Is the card even valid anymore? Expired? Account closed?

Hang on… If I remember correctly from when I had a corporate AmEx card, the only thing corporate about it is the name on the card. I was still entirely responsible for any charges incurred. AmEx billed me, and they would have come after me if I hadn’t paid. I suppose I could have kept using it after I left that job, not that it would have occurred to me to try.

[Duke]

@cwthree

Hang on… If I remember correctly from when I had a corporate AmEx card, the only thing corporate about it is the name on the card.

Hey, that’s not the important thing here…what really matters is, is it blue?

[Harborwolf]

@Duke

Hey, that’s not the important thing here…what really matters is, is it blue?

I’ve got a blue card too, and I can’t wait to rub it in some smug doctors face.

“Ya see this? This card is blue! Mother fuckin’ blue! You better treat the shit out of me cause I got a blue card.”

And is anyone else struck by the utter uselessness of arguing the economics of health care with a person who’s knowledge of her own financial stability is based upon the color of her husband’s credit cards?

[wonky]

You can keep a balance on other Amex cards, too, if they qualify for their revolving loan amounts. I think there’s a minimum amount.

Amex doesn’t have a set limit, but they aren’t going to let you randomly pick up their card and use it to charge tens of thousands of dollars of medical debt. The more you use the card, the higher they will allow charges to go, but if it’s in a drawer somewhere, they won’t allow you to plop down $50000 on it, in my experience.

Blue Amex is just a credit card with no real differences from BofA or Discover.

[wonky]

While I’m loath to defend her foolishness at all, the name of the card IS “Blue.” And it’s blue. Well, white with blue, I think. It’s a credit card, not a charge card, and I don’t remember it having any of the features of Amex like the soft limits.

[elucidator]

@Rubystreak

…Yes, I do, and it wasn’t an amicable separation.

The restraining order is made of leather.

[curlcoat]

@Broomstick

So what your saying is that no one should ever have a child unless they have $1,00,00 in cash savings and a fully wheelchair accessible domicile “just in case”?

You and your exaggerations lead me to believe that the number you meant to type was $1 million, right? Which of course is far more than the last number I saw (I think $65,000) to raise a kid to 18 years. OTOH, don’t you think it would make sense to have a couple of employed people with at least one with group insurance, some savings and not a lot of debt before you have such an expensive addition? Or do you think it’s a better idea to just pop them out and hope God will provide, ala the Duggars?

How many people driving a 10 year old Chevy that belches smoke when they’re laid off and find out that, even if they wanted to get COBRA they can’t because they simply don’t have that much money?

And how many of those folks are there out there? Who planned and saved and still ended up “driving a 10 year old Chevy that belches smoke”? Do you realize that because there are so many bleeding hearts like you, it appears that no one has ever bothered to look into why people fall on hard times, other than whatever the final straw was? All they see is “oh gosh, look at that, a famblee with baybees that needs help”. Over the decades, that attitude has created far too many entitlement minded people, who feel that they can do whatever they want, whether they can afford it or not.

Not everyone has credit card debt. For instance, I have ZERO credit card debt. I haven’t had credit card debt in… oh… nearly 20 years now.

That’s nice - did I say everyone? No, I asked how many.

What’s wrong with the US system is that we have 45-50 million people who don’t have access to the systemb saving for he ER. That’s 1 in 6 of us.

They have access, they just can’t or won’t pay for it. And you have no desire to find out which it is. Apparently it doesn’t matter to you that there is a possibility that a majority of those folks are in that situation because they choose to be. You don’t know or you don’t care that for decades we have been teaching people that they don’t need to be responsible for themselves - no the only “evil” you see are those who wonder if we can afford another of these sorts of programs.

[GIGObuster]

@curlcoat

Apparently it doesn’t matter to you that there is a possibility that a majority of those folks are in that situation because they choose to be. You don’t know or you don’t care that for decades we have been teaching people that they don’t need to be responsible for themselves - no the only “evil” you see are those who wonder if we can afford another of these sorts of programs.

That is, if you think giving more freedom to those people and even the ones that are under-insured is evil.

So far, your answer to that is yes.

[curlcoat]

@Broomstick

Actually it IS the responsibility of emergency medical personal to take care of you unless you have gone through the legal steps to declare otherwise. If you don’t want them to do their job then you better have the proper legal documentation easily accessible and visible at all times.

You really don’t have a brain do you? Obviously if I am unconscious, the EMTs take the responsibility I can’t exercise. If I am conscious and feel that I don’t need help, I can tell them so and they must leave me alone.

Sucks to be you - yay for us!

Ah, so then you are advocating a socialist society, where everyone is completely equal - same housing, same vehicles, same income, etc? Not that such a setup has ever worked but you are certainly not alone in the desire to somehow make life “fair”. Apparently you have never heard the phrase “those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it”?

No… some of them worked for the mob.

Snort. Apparently to you no one can get rich without being evil.

But… why not? There’s all that FREE STUFF you can get!

And, as I have said, I didn’t take any of it.