I’m surprised any companies still offer coverage to “domestic partners” since it is now legal for LGBT people to marry.
Are you and you partner unmarried?
Grunching pretty hard here as I am just catching up on this thread but I want to say that getting a MMJ card has had a huge benefit on my health. It is a way better treatment for occasional anxiety than I have had from my actual doctor (Ativan), I sleep like I haven’t slept in years and the big one for me is that I drink way less. I was drinking enough for a decade to have hangovers 2-3 times a week which is extremely bad for me. Now instead of having my 4th-10th drink I just blaze one up and before I know it I am sleeping soundly in my bed and waking up the next day feeling fine and ready to face the day.
Now I also understand we might not know all of the health effects but I would say there has been widespread usage for like 60-70 years and the effects are nothing like what you see from smoking, alcohol or prescription drugs. Do some people have bad reactions to it? I’m sure they do. But they seem to be few and far between and to my knowledge there is no better treatment for things like anxiety, mild pain, insomnia, etc. There is no way I would want to be taking Ativan, Ambien and other prescription drugs over just smoking some pot.
Also the fact that I can go to any one of hundreds of stores here and get the exact strains that give me the effects I want rather than having to rely on some full of shit sketchy drug dealer is huge and often understated when talking about legalization. Most people have no idea the differences between indica and sativa let alone the nuances between all the strains. As a result they smoke something that doesn’t mesh well with their actual desires or needs and next thing you know you have that group of people that likes to talk about how they “don’t like pot”. Largely because they have only smoked indica their whole lives because that is all that was being grown in the black markets because the yields per plant were 4x as much as a sativa grow. Almost to a person these “don’t like pot” people love smoking sativas and I have converted a lot of them over the years.
4 Likes
I looked at my files and the most expensive plan we could buy as a company would cost roughly $450 for someone on their late 20s. I live in a poor State so maybe it’s different in California, but $900/mo for someone your age should come with incredible benefits (no deductibles, no co-pays, very low max OOP, etc).
It is silly that healthcare is tied to employment. Once upon a time it was used as a competitive benefit but then the powers that be took that for granted and exploited it and it has been locked in.
Zero reasons for employers to be responsible for healthcare of employees.
2 Likes
I don’t know if it’s unions or whatever fighting the Dems on this, but agree that decoupling hc/employment would be a huge plus. Should be a top priority. Do something else for unions or tell them to eat a dick, as they have no other options (I say this as a pro-union person).
Premium Calculation
- Calculate the former employee’s premium by adding up to a 2 percent administration fee to the current premium rate. COBRA beneficiaries pay the full health insurance premium plus a 2 percent administration fee. If monthly premiums for employees with single coverage are $200, for example; the COBRA beneficiary pays 102 percent of that amount, or $204. Spouses and children also may be covered. The same rule applies for beneficiaries with dependent coverage. An employee plus spouse and children would pay 102 percent of the family rate, or $408 monthly for an example $400 premium.
Theoretically your partner’s old company was paying $1800/month (minus whatever your partner paid). Or they’re screwing her somehow. Her old paychecks or salary contract may show their contribution to her health premiums.
You should check to make sure you’re eligible for the ACA and not expected to pay COBRA under your partner’s old plan. Although her getting a new job would seem to make that unlikely.
The stupid ass employer health care deduction costs the government $250 billion a year.
1 Like
But how will we pay for it? Oh wait.
1 Like
I’ve heard this, and it does make sense–a cynical view of unions would be that they only care about self-promotion, and being able to tell their members that they secured great health care is probably a PR win. But a better argument that needs to be repeated is that UHC will actually strengthen unions–by taking it off the bargaining table, it gives one fewer thing that unions will have to consider as they fight for their members, raising their negotiating position.
Hi everyone:
As you may know, I am the owner of a small business that was negatively affected by the actions of Eric Holder under the Obama Administration’s Justice Department. In addition, my business was further emaciated by the passage of the Affordable Care Act. We were ultimately forced to retract health coverage for our employees and eliminate bonuses that were traditionally paid each year.
You’re probably wondering how that’s possible since our company was too small to be directly affected by the law. The answer is the Law of Unintended Consequences. The Affordable Care Act was a quixotic attempt to provide insurance to those unable to pay for the services, but it was done in haste and rammed through Congress in the middle of the night. The fundamental theorem of economics states that all actions taken by the government result in an outcome lower than maximum efficiency, and that’s exactly what happened here. The unintended consequences were less disposable income in the pockets of Americans, and consequently, less disposable income in the pockets of those in the poker industry.
Fortunately, the Trump Tax Plan (which comes from Steve Moore) has put that cash back in the pockets of everyday Americans. When you pump cash into an economy, it finds its way to downstream targets like poker players and eventually to the businesses they patronize. I’m glad to report that the poker economy is in great health largely due to the actions of a president that many of you seem to hate. Unfortunately we are still unable to offer health coverage to our employees due to the unsustainable cost growth spawned by the Affordable Care Act. Sadly, this situation could have been reversed if not for the selfish actions of Senator John McCain, whose final mission was to kill healthcare in America while ironically facing his own certain demise.
Best wishes,
TD
4 Likes
have we established that maxing out HSA contributions is the correct play?
No we don’t know Top Dog
Also a D- MM gimmick.
I give it a C+/B-.
It is. You can leave it to grow and then submit for reimbursement in the future as long as you have receipts and the HSA existed at the time you incurred the expenses.
This pretty good for the “Real or Onion?” game.
Ban qtips. Debrox ftw
Some of the most grateful patients I get are those that we irrigate a mouse-sized chunk of ear wax out of. It’s amazing.
MM MD
Ohhh man… That’s relief, Thank you Sir 
Anyone ever get the metal curette treatment for the wax? I had so much once as a kid that the Debrox couldn’t budge it. Go into pediatrician, she comes out with the curette set. I was like “Uh, I really hope you know what you’re doing.” Cold metal rod feels like it’s going straight into your brain. The wax she found looked like little black rocks.
I have idiopathic thoracic spinal pain in my 30’s. GP won’t order imaging, demands I go for PT first. I’m laying prone on the table with a 225 lb grown ass man on me, “Take a deep breath in, now let it all out.” And I’m thinking “Uh, I really hope you know what you’re doing.” He pops me somewhere around T10-T12 and just the shock freezes me. Body goes numb then I start tingling. Felt like I was floating walking back to my car.
I had a couple raisins come out when I went to the dr. for the first time after playing poker for 2 years w/no health insurance. Of course I had to take a picture and text it to everyone I know. I could hear better afterward too - at least treble.
Swimming was terrible when I still had the raisins in - as my ears would get plugged if I got water in them. I spent a week in Thailand not being able to hear anything or anyone.
Now I get one mini-raisin every couple of years - but the other ear stays clear.