Nooooooooooo!
Who'd have guessed?

Years ago, there was a surgeon at the local hospital named Dr. Slaughter.

...and you could see where their office was, by the modest-sized gold text in a third floor window.

And perhaps Dr. Slaughter was a client. I saw "was" because Dr. Slaughter died years ago.

Was named Dr. Cook. No lie. And yowzer did I get cooked?! But I’m alive 35 years later so I guess it worked. 😉

My sister just completed radiation treatments last Tuesday following surgery for uterine cancer. Before starting treatments, she was told that radiation is a lot easier on the system than it once was. Even so, there were some side effects.

I had external proton beam radiation, almost no side effects. (And so far I'm still cancer-free.)

💗👍

I'm so happy that it worked for you.

Radiation was the treatment. But she kept cooking inside long after it stopped.

It was a horrendous way to die.

I am very glad to hear that it actually worked for you. I don't know what went wrong in her case.

I'm so sorry about your friend.

Agonizing.

These come to mind, but I think there was another that was great, but I can't recall it.

Dr. Goodman - pediatrician
Dr. Hertz -- oral surgeon.
Dr. Grimm - orthopedic

When I was in nursing school, one of the attending urologists was Dr. Cockett -

I assume that Dr. Slaughter got razzed about his name. No one I knew ever went to him, though. He was a legend...of sorts.

Also spare a thought for the unfortunate partner Gascoigne of Home Counties estate agents Gascoigne-Pees:




And a final nominative determinist shoutout to the firm Owen Pugh, which rents out portable toilets:

https://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/owen-pugh-toilet-hire-glasgow

If my surname was Pees, I would change it to avoid having people laugh in my face.

...office. His last name was Penix. My own last name is Ball. Altho he was a really great guy, I never wanted to date him because I didn't want to run the risk of us falling in love and wanting to marry. My last name was problem enough, and I wouldn't have wanted to change it to his, and I certainly couldn't have hyphenated the 2 names.

You definitely wouldn't want to hyphenate those two names.

…club, as both performers and dancers, and we worked together to choreograph numbers for one of the club’s presentations. The cast very much had fun with bandying about “On stage with Penix and Ball.”

Were that my last name, I would at the very least add an H and make it Phoenix, if not just change it altogether.

Ball was the subject of many athletic jokes, like, “How’s your brother, Basket,” and the like. In 7th grade, I used to get greeted every morning in homeroom by a classmate who would leer at me and say, “Hi, Ball. How’re they hangin’?” His buddies would laugh their asses off at his adolescent cleverness.

One morning, when I’d had enough and after much mental rehearsal so I knew I could pull it off, I glared at him and said, “Fine, thanks. How are yours?” His buddies laughed even harder, and he never said it again.

It was a moment of triumph I still enjoy some 55 years later.

https://ttapscenter.com/

called 'Amputee and Brace ',
located on Gore Avenue.

Many examples in the article about the insurance companies claiming "pre-existing conditions" (which aren't covered by these plans) after expensive surgeries

Now insurers can sell you an essentially worthless policy, often paid for by taxpayer subsidies.

In other words, Republicans fought for "the right" of insurers to rip off their customers.

Ripping off consumers and working folk is a good thing, according to Republican policymakers.

are not sold on the healthcare.gov ACA exchange, nor on state ACA ones like Covered California and MNSure. Similarly Association Health Plans (AHP's), whose requirements were loosened, are not sold on ACA exchanges.

Neither are Health sharing plans, also known as medical cost sharing. These, are community-based, non-profit alternatives to traditional health insurance where members pool funds to help cover each other's medical expenses. These plans operate based on shared values or beliefs, and are often faith-based, such as Healthcare Sharing Ministry plans. They are not insurance and they suck when a member's care gets expensive.

Which make them ineligible for Medicare programs should health issues arise. All you can do is warn them.

but both those have limitations, for example only 80% of Part B expenses are covered. The uncovered 20% can get to be a very big number for some medical conditions.

One can purchase Medicare Supplement plans, also known as Medigap (NOT to be confused with Medicare Advantage), to fill in the uncovered costs and even reduce or eliminate the deductibles of traditonal Medicare. I have one such. But the good ones are expensive. All told, I'm paying $185 for part B + $320 Medicare Supplement + $40 Part D drug plan = $545/month.

Some people think Medicare is free or nominal cost. It is not.

Switching to a Medicare Supplement plan from a Medicare Advantage plan, or adding a Supplement plan when one has had only traditional Medicare can be subject to a medical exam and acceptance by the insurer, known as underwriting (Medicare Supplement plans are private insurance). One is free from this requirement only if they sign up for the Supplement plan within a 6 month window or something like that from when first getting on Medicare. There's also some one-year leeway IIRC for Medicare Advantage people trying to switch to a Supplement plan (i.e. you can try Advantage for one year or less), I forget the details of that.

Part A (Hospital Insurance) is free for most people (actually they paid in during their working lives through FICA payroll taxes). But those who don't have a full 40 quarters of lifetime covered earnings have to pay a big premium for Part A.

In addition to what you have pointed out small business owners and self employed pay double into Medicare and Social Security. I never heard of the trial period for Medicare Advantage which is not affiliated with Medicare. It used to be if Medicare Advantage was chosen there was no going back.

https://www.medicare.gov/plan-compare/#/?year=2026&lang=en


It was that way when I first shopped for Medicare back in 2016 or thereabouts, so it's not a Krasnov thing.

That Medicare Advantage is not Medicare or not affiliated with Medicare is an ideological statement, not fact.



Sorry, never was true.

Just to be clear, I think Advantage sucks (from what I read, I've never been on it) - too many denials, pre-approval requirements, must stick to networks, and if the anasthesiest or physician assistant, for example, is not in the network (even if the hospital and surgeon are), then one has to pay those out-of-network peoples' bills.

Here's some info on how one can still get a Supplement plan after being on Advantage without medical underwriting (the one year thing)

=====================================================
https://cahealthadvocates.org/medicare-advantage/when-you-have-guaranteed-issue-rights-to-switch-from-a-medicare-advantage-plan-to-a-medigap-policy

When You Have Guaranteed-Issue Rights to Switch from a Medicare Advantage Plan to a Medigap Policy

If you are in a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan, you have guaranteed-issue rights to buy a Medigap policy in certain situations. These rights require private insurers to sell you a policy without a health screening. You cannot be denied a policy or charged a higher premium due to your current health or history.

You have guaranteed-issue rights to a Medigap policy when:

Your Medicare Advantage (MA) plan terminates coverage. In this case, you can return to Original fee-for-service Medicare with Medigap, but you must apply within 123 days of the end of your MA plan benefits.

You move outside your MA plan service area. You must apply within 63 days of moving.

You joined an MA plan when you first became eligible for Medicare and want to switch to a Medigap policy during your first 12 months in the MA plan. This is your Medicare Trial Period #1.

You switch from a Medigap policy to an MA plan for the first time since becoming eligible for Medicare, and you disenroll from the MA plan within the first 12 months. This is your Medicare Trial Period #2.

doesn't pay. Heart surgery can be pretty pricey.

That's the only thing I could come up with.

Who is going to buy Trump-recommended policies? Mostly, it would be Trump supporters. The others would be unfortunate souls who were tricked into it out of desperation.

"If it sounds too good to be true it probably isn't."

I can’t understand how you could buy an insurance policy without reading the specifics of the policy in writing. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Dishonest insurers will always try to find loopholes to deny a claim, but you really need to understand the basics of your plan before you sign up.

In his film "Sicko" in 2007. I thought tge ACA outlawed them.

Are the sales reps. being complicit these policy's? Trump skates no matter what but these folks selling these policy's
make a used car salesman look golden. There are so many sales persons peddling marginal products it is
sickening. If the top CON can get away with it, why can't I says the lower CON?

I didn't realize Trump had changed that in his first term. They absolutely should be illegal

Just one of those things they couldn't get rid of.

the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 eliminated the individual mandate penalty, which increased the use of short-term plans as an alternative to ACA plans.

The Trump administration expanded short-term plans, allowing them to be sold for up to 364 days and renewed for up to three years. Biden changed it back to 3 months.

I’m wanting to retire next year at 56 or 57, and I want a high-deductible ($10k-$15k) policy. Basically, I just want catostrophic coverage. I am now able to find these types of plans, but you have to read the plans.

My guess is these three liked the low premiums and were prepared for the high deductibles didnt take the time to read their coverage plans. It would have been nice if the article had more info.

These catostrophic plans can be the right coverage for certain people.

Deceptive disclosures. endless "small print," hard sells, on and on, that ruin peoples lives are all good with the felon's regime, regardless of how central central a product is in consumer's life. Hey' it was there in the contract wasn't it?

We are on our own in a jungle of increasingly damaging and predatory businesses, with health care and the fourth estate topping the list "changing business models" that are directly causing enormous harms.

In the general scheme of things with the regime, consumer protection is a dirty word. AFAIK, the FTC Consumer Protection Bureau and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have essentially stopped all the work those agencies were doing before Jan 20, 2025. As acting Director of CFPB Vought tried to fire 90% of the people but was blocked by a court. Still fired a bunch. He also refused to the funding draw and ordered everyone to not just stop investigations and enforcement actions, but actually reversed actions.

I'm less up on what's happened at FTC CPB, but I have no doubt they aren't doing much protecting of anyone. For example, came across these tidbits from the felon's appointed director:

But, back to our insane health care system. Medical care is not a fucking commodity! You need what you need when you need it. "Market forces" have no place. NONE whatsoever.

And our 100% Fee for Service model is even crazier.

Arrrgghh. I'll stop there.

The whole industry is a scam.

Health insurance lobbyists... politicians... making money off sick people.