Best example of the economics of “They Shoot Horses” might be Barbaro, winner of the 2006 Kentucky Derby. He shattered a leg in the Preakness Stakes, and from then until January 29, 2007, underwent numerous procedures in an attempt to heal him. They eventually proved ineffective, and he was put down. Estimates of the cost of his treatment ran upwards to half a million dollars, but the owners and professionals involved didn’t discuss the actual cost.
We recently lost a dog to spleen cancer. Treatment would have quickly exceeded $2000 with a prospect of her living another six months, most of that in recovery. Owning pets is not for the faint-hearted.
Remember the Health Insurance Crises before 2010?They will be back, but with more people now ensnared thanks to the “Affordable” Care Act.What we still need is a “Single-Payer” system that covers everybody and provides primary health care, forcing the insurance companies to look into providing secondary health care coverage for unnecessary things like a patient’s own room, television, breast augmentation surgery and other unnecessary things that don’t keep people alive.Our government needs to stop ripping people off and needs to keep others from ripping us off, too!
Single-payer would be great! Then we could all get the same level of government-run treatment and efficiency the VA is renowned for. Or does anyone really believe people who didn’t serve the country would be treated better than those who did?
If things keep going like they are now this might not be joke. Obama would like it if we seniors would be put down when we start needing to many repairs.
I was asked to join with three other friends in a partnership to own a horse with the intention of racing said horse. I thought it might be exciting, so I looked into the program before signing on the dotted line.
The initial cost of purchasing the horse was doable, but when I found out just how expensive this is in total, I decided to stay out and just be a watcher from the sidelines…
Death is the ultimate vacation from life’s responsibilities, Once I’m dead I don’t care what happens here.N.M.P.Not My Problem..Bills? NMPTaxes? NMPCar Insurance? NMPThat lawsuit? NMPDebt? N…M…P…!
@Ginny“Quit blaming the government for our expensive health care. It’s the insurance companies and their zillions of dollars (of our money) who stick it to us.”.It ceases to be our money when we give it to them. This creates a contractual obligation to do whatever they promise to do. Anyone intentionally not meeting that obligation should be charged with first degree murder and frozen until such time as they can be rehabilitated. We need advocates who will make certain we understand what we are getting and what we are NOT getting for any given insurance plan..Sometimes government does raise the cost of healthcare by creating expenses to healthcare providers which they would not otherwise have. For example, requiring emergency rooms to treat people without funds of their own is an expense created by the government’s unwillingness to let them/us just die. Usually living is better than dying, but dying is always cheaper. .Government also sometimes shuts down facilities unless they have certain equipment which they would rarely need and which will therefore not pay for itself in its working lifetime. (A local hospital was shut down for lack of such equipment. Another simply decided it was a branch of a larger hospital and airlift those who need it to Pensacola, that being cheaper than having the equipment and staff required otherwise.).Governments also forbid certain medical facilities from opening if they figure they are not needed. This reduces competition for customers and may raise expenses..They also sometimes create expenses by requiring certification of providers. Some things which formerly were legally required to have a medical doctor deal with are currently done by Physician’s Assistants and Nurse Practitioners. Others are not. .Given artificial intelligence, it might be possible to replace many doctors with high school dropouts and access to computers and good diagnostic tools. Scary, but cheaper..Nobody wants to be treated by an ineffective quack, but quacks are cheaper than people who have actually been proven to know what they are doing..If healthcare were cheap, it would not matter if it were paid by the individual or the insurance company or the county government..And then there is holding physicians and hospitals responsible for wrongful deaths or malpractice. Proving they are not negligent often requires them to be extra diligent and saves lives but is more expensive than “Take two aspirins and call me in the morning if you’re still alive.” It also requires THEM to pay for insurance, an expense they might not have otherwise..“All Obama wants to do is make it possible for those with little to no dollars to have some coverage and not have their expenses paid by you and me.”.Actually, they do have the expenses paid by you and me by requiring everybody to pay for insurance from the providers your seem to hate. The money isn’t simply created out of thin air. (I’m not averse to this but I just don’t want people fooling themselves. TANSTAFL).To reduce the actual cost, we need:better diagnostic imaging, better diagnostic serology, effective medications, automatic equipment which doesn’t need as much monitoring..A big help would be finding general causes for illnesses such as the vaccinations we already make available, the antibiotics we already have aplenty — but more as the pathogens evolve to resist them, reduced environmental risk — such as not requiring lead pipes to go into homes and replacing those still in use for some unknown reason, safer cars — check, other than the fact that SUVs are apt to turn over, fewer terrorists and free muggers and killers, general cures for cancer, heart disease, genetic abnormality related birth defects,cures for mental health problems,protection from invasion and meteoric strikes (they are rare around here but the medical costs involved would be far greater than the expense of avoiding them)..A cure for the heath problems related to aging would also save much money.
King_Shark about 8 years ago
The other horse left while the leaving was good. No point taking chances.
Charlie Fogwhistle about 8 years ago
Best example of the economics of “They Shoot Horses” might be Barbaro, winner of the 2006 Kentucky Derby. He shattered a leg in the Preakness Stakes, and from then until January 29, 2007, underwent numerous procedures in an attempt to heal him. They eventually proved ineffective, and he was put down. Estimates of the cost of his treatment ran upwards to half a million dollars, but the owners and professionals involved didn’t discuss the actual cost.
flyertom about 8 years ago
“And you whine about your health insurance”.
Give it time. It’s coming to that.
flagmichael about 8 years ago
We recently lost a dog to spleen cancer. Treatment would have quickly exceeded $2000 with a prospect of her living another six months, most of that in recovery. Owning pets is not for the faint-hearted.
californicated1 about 8 years ago
Remember the Health Insurance Crises before 2010?They will be back, but with more people now ensnared thanks to the “Affordable” Care Act.What we still need is a “Single-Payer” system that covers everybody and provides primary health care, forcing the insurance companies to look into providing secondary health care coverage for unnecessary things like a patient’s own room, television, breast augmentation surgery and other unnecessary things that don’t keep people alive.Our government needs to stop ripping people off and needs to keep others from ripping us off, too!
Guilty Bystander about 8 years ago
Single-payer would be great! Then we could all get the same level of government-run treatment and efficiency the VA is renowned for. Or does anyone really believe people who didn’t serve the country would be treated better than those who did?
ST Joe River about 8 years ago
If things keep going like they are now this might not be joke. Obama would like it if we seniors would be put down when we start needing to many repairs.
neverenoughgold about 8 years ago
It is possible to make a million dollars in horse racing. Unfortunately, you need to start with 20 million…
neverenoughgold about 8 years ago
I was asked to join with three other friends in a partnership to own a horse with the intention of racing said horse. I thought it might be exciting, so I looked into the program before signing on the dotted line.
The initial cost of purchasing the horse was doable, but when I found out just how expensive this is in total, I decided to stay out and just be a watcher from the sidelines…
Space_cat about 8 years ago
Death is the ultimate vacation from life’s responsibilities, Once I’m dead I don’t care what happens here.N.M.P.Not My Problem..Bills? NMPTaxes? NMPCar Insurance? NMPThat lawsuit? NMPDebt? N…M…P…!
JastMe about 8 years ago
Yes – it fit the comic strip well!
David Huie Green LosersBlameOthers&It'sYOURfault about 8 years ago
@Ginny“Quit blaming the government for our expensive health care. It’s the insurance companies and their zillions of dollars (of our money) who stick it to us.”.It ceases to be our money when we give it to them. This creates a contractual obligation to do whatever they promise to do. Anyone intentionally not meeting that obligation should be charged with first degree murder and frozen until such time as they can be rehabilitated. We need advocates who will make certain we understand what we are getting and what we are NOT getting for any given insurance plan..Sometimes government does raise the cost of healthcare by creating expenses to healthcare providers which they would not otherwise have. For example, requiring emergency rooms to treat people without funds of their own is an expense created by the government’s unwillingness to let them/us just die. Usually living is better than dying, but dying is always cheaper. .Government also sometimes shuts down facilities unless they have certain equipment which they would rarely need and which will therefore not pay for itself in its working lifetime. (A local hospital was shut down for lack of such equipment. Another simply decided it was a branch of a larger hospital and airlift those who need it to Pensacola, that being cheaper than having the equipment and staff required otherwise.).Governments also forbid certain medical facilities from opening if they figure they are not needed. This reduces competition for customers and may raise expenses..They also sometimes create expenses by requiring certification of providers. Some things which formerly were legally required to have a medical doctor deal with are currently done by Physician’s Assistants and Nurse Practitioners. Others are not. .Given artificial intelligence, it might be possible to replace many doctors with high school dropouts and access to computers and good diagnostic tools. Scary, but cheaper..Nobody wants to be treated by an ineffective quack, but quacks are cheaper than people who have actually been proven to know what they are doing..If healthcare were cheap, it would not matter if it were paid by the individual or the insurance company or the county government..And then there is holding physicians and hospitals responsible for wrongful deaths or malpractice. Proving they are not negligent often requires them to be extra diligent and saves lives but is more expensive than “Take two aspirins and call me in the morning if you’re still alive.” It also requires THEM to pay for insurance, an expense they might not have otherwise..“All Obama wants to do is make it possible for those with little to no dollars to have some coverage and not have their expenses paid by you and me.”.Actually, they do have the expenses paid by you and me by requiring everybody to pay for insurance from the providers your seem to hate. The money isn’t simply created out of thin air. (I’m not averse to this but I just don’t want people fooling themselves. TANSTAFL).To reduce the actual cost, we need:better diagnostic imaging, better diagnostic serology, effective medications, automatic equipment which doesn’t need as much monitoring..A big help would be finding general causes for illnesses such as the vaccinations we already make available, the antibiotics we already have aplenty — but more as the pathogens evolve to resist them, reduced environmental risk — such as not requiring lead pipes to go into homes and replacing those still in use for some unknown reason, safer cars — check, other than the fact that SUVs are apt to turn over, fewer terrorists and free muggers and killers, general cures for cancer, heart disease, genetic abnormality related birth defects,cures for mental health problems,protection from invasion and meteoric strikes (they are rare around here but the medical costs involved would be far greater than the expense of avoiding them)..A cure for the heath problems related to aging would also save much money.
Thomas & Tifffany Connolly about 8 years ago
I just keep trying to eat healthy and live healthy so I don’t have to find out what Kaiser would do!