So I was already paranoid...

[Wifezilla]

Social Security would be doing just fine if it weren't for the baby boomers and the longer life expectancy now

So would that would mean the solution is to SHORTEN their life expectancy?

Hummm....

That explains the food pyramid. It is allll making sense now

 

[Big Daddy]

Social Security would be doing just fine if it weren't for the baby boomers and the longer life expectancy now.

Rather simplistic view isn't this? I think it is a bit more complicated.

It's very simple. There's more people on SS now and the numbers keep increasing at higher rates than we've ever had because of baby boomers. We've been getting warnings about the influx for years but nobody has done anything about it They are now collecting SS. Add to that the fact that the avg life expectancy for a white male in the US is 73 yrs old and you have a big strain on SS. Then there is the recession and the fact that less money is being contributed. They say that is a minor factor. The only thing the gov has done wrong on SS is using the funds, which were supposed to be off limits. I'm sure there is abundant fraud. Kind of like all the money corporations hide in off shore accounts to avoid taxes. What would life be without fraud? So no it isn't complicated.

Like Wifezilla suggested we could just euthanize people over a certain age. That would save a lot of money. Personally I hope that compassionate people are in charge when I retire. I don't want to be euthanized.

 

[VT-Chicklit]

Big DaddyWrote: Like Wifezilla suggested we could just euthanize people over a certain age. That would save a lot of money. Personally I hope that compassionate people are in charge when I retire. I don't want to be euthanized.

I think they will use another, less obvious way of shortening life expectancy . . . those who are old(er) or seriously ill will just land up waiting on lists for the tests and treatment that they need until they either
1) get to the top of the list and receive their care (maybe)
2) get better on their own (less likely)
OR
3) die because they never make it to the top of the list (probably)

sylvie wrote: I LOVE Medicare!!! I want a single payer system exactly like Medicare for myself!
Dh is on it and we also picked up a Medigap policy for that percentage which Medicare doesn't cover.
It has been 5 years, using assorted hospitals, and from our perspective has been a very well run program.

Medicare, while very expensive for taxpayers does work much of the time, even with some MDs no longer taking medicare and medicade patients because of the reduced payments and increased staffing needed to handle the red tape. When you add the remainder of the people here in the US (legal and illegal) into a single payer system, the system will no longer be able to handle the load. The good care that is expected when using the medical system in the US will no longer be consistantly be dispensed. There will be areas where the care will be good, but in many areas it will be bad. The areas where it will be bad are the same areas where care is a problem now . . . inner cities where there are many poor, few Drs and buisy ERs, the other area is rural areas , where poor currently have to go to clinics that are inadequately staffed and few if any state of the art pieces of equipment (CAT Scan, PET Scan, etc) are reasonabbly close by and even fewer specialists to treat those needing specialised care. Both of these areas have one thing in common, concentrations of poor people and few rich people. Doctors tend to go where they can make more money. This makes sense because they spend a huge amount of time on their studies and when they are done they have a huge debt for schooling to pay off. Starting a practice is hugely expensive! I can't fault them. Altruism doesnt pay bills and put food on the table. Because of this sad fact, many of the people who have substandard or no care now are still going to have trouble getting the care that they need.

 

[Wifezilla]

I think they will use another, less obvious way of shortening life expectancy . . . those who are old(er) or seriously ill will just land up waiting on lists for the tests and treatment that they need until they either
1) get to the top of the list and receive their care (maybe)
2) get better on their own (less likely)
OR
3) die because they never make it to the top of the list (probably)

Bingo!

"Patients cheated in NHS waiting list scandal
by JENNY HOPE, Daily Mail

Thousands of patients have been denied surgery or had it delayed by NHS waiting list fiddles, a damning report said yesterday.

Hospital managers have resorted to 'deliberate manipulation' to meet Government targets on queues for operations.

They have used cruel tricks such as offering operations when they knew a patient would be on holiday, then dropping them from the list for refusing the date.

The National Audit Office, the Parliamentary watchdog, found that some hospitals have been massaging figures for years. Records were routinely fiddled to hide patients waiting longer than the Government's 18-month maximum.

The investigation into nine NHS trusts found a catalogue of deception affecting around 6,000 patients. It has led to the sacking or resignation of managers - but created another scandal because some were given compensation packages and then rehired by the NHS with no way to reclaim the money.

The NAO report calls on the Department of Health to seek assurances from the chief executives of all trusts that there has been no fiddling.

It also wants checks on another 13 trusts which have ten per cent of patients suspended from waiting lists - which normally happens when a patient has declined an operating date.

Tory health spokesman Dr Liam Fox said: 'This is a day of shame for Labour. The National Audit Office has confirmed what most people have believed for some time.

'Labour's obsession with list targets, even at the expense of patients' care, is resulting in systematic and widespread manipulation of

figures in the most cynical way.'

The scandal emerged only because of complaints from patients - one had been waiting 23 months - concern from an MP and a TV investigation.

The nine NHS trusts were: Barts and the London; Guy's and St Thomas'; Plymouth General; Redbridge Health Care; Salford Royal; South Warwickshire General; Stoke Mandeville; Surrey and Sussex Healthcare and University College London.

The seriousness of the 'adjustments' varied from mistakes by junior staff through to 'what appears to be deliberate manipulation or mis- statement of the figures'.

More than 1,000 patients were deleted from waiting lists, never put on them or 'inappropriately suspended'. Patients were offered dates at short notice, asked to come in when they had arranged holidays or ' intentionally held back' from lists.

There were delays in adding patients to the waiting list until the month they were treated, altering of records, under-reporting of waiting patients and false returns to the Health Department.

The report said these actions were potentially dangerous to patients. Without an investigation some might never have got treatment.

Dr Peter Hawker, chairman of the British Medical Association's consultants' committee, said: 'Patients deserve to know what is really going on. If figures are distorted, they will feel justifiably angry because of the yawning gap between their experience and the spin they are being fed.

'I feel genuinely sorry for my NHS manager colleagues. They are under intolerable pressure.' Nigel Edwards, acting chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents managers, said: 'The Confederation has been arguing for some time that fundamental change of this system is necessary.'

NHS chief executive Nigel Crisp promised that waiting lists would now be subject to spot- checks, with tough sanctions for staff found to have falsified them.

He said: 'The public has a right to expect higher standards from NHS managers.'

Official waiting times for all NHS consultants are to be published on the internet, so patients can compare them to their own experiences."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-90691/Patients-cheated-NHS-waiting-list-scandal.html

 

[k0xxx]

Yeah, the economy sucks. However, it's not all gloom and doom. There are quite a few bright spots in sales.

Vegetable seeds seem to be flying off of the shelves, as is Spam, Dinty Moore stew and chili. According to the National Gardening Society, the number of home vegetable gardens is predicted to jump 40%. It would seem that people are stocking up and preparing for tough times.

Chocolate, alcohol and condoms sales have increased. I guess if you have no job and no prospects, that you might as well stay at home and have a little romance.

On the other hand, sales of laxatives and stomach remedies have also increased. Perhaps due to worrying about no job and no prospects?

Also, discount store retail sales are up, as people look to economize.

Smith and Wesson reported that their total sales are up 27.5%, even though sales of hunting related items are down. Maybe worrying about the others with no job and no prospects (of course, the sales spike also corresponds with the recent election).

So, there are a few "bright" spots.

 

[Big Daddy]

I think the people that started all those rumors about guns and ammo control bought stock before they started typing. It would be great to be able to manipulate the market like that.

 

[Wifezilla]

Whether or not the gun and ammo control fear was based on rumor or not will also become clear in a few years.

Anyone wanna take bets on this one?

Chocolate, alcohol and condoms sales have increased. I guess if you have no job and no prospects, that you might as well stay at home and have a little romance.

 

[Big Daddy]

Whether or not the gun and ammo control fear was based on rumor or not will also become clear in a few years.

Anyone wanna take bets on this one?

Chocolate, alcohol and condoms sales have increased. I guess if you have no job and no prospects, that you might as well stay at home and have a little romance.

That would be an easy one. At least based on the rumors I've read on here and elsewhere. In the next few years you may see something that isn't pure fantasy designed to tighten sphincters through the entire gun owning world and send people in to a buying frenzy. Don't think anything will ever happen though. It's kind of like the abortion issue. Even if the conservatives ever get back in and replace the whole supreme court with right wingers. They won't overturn Roe vs Wade. There are too many single issue voters out there. That is their only issue, so if it is overturned they may start voting for the side that is better for them and the life they are leading. Same with guns. Lots of single issue voters there too. So they vote against themselves because of the perception that the dems will take their guns.

More simple stuff. One of these days I'm gonna take Grannys guns. Her vision isn't too good anymore.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Social Security would be doing just fine if it weren't for the baby boomers and the longer life expectancy now.

Actually, SS would be just fine if people would use it as it was originally intended, supplemental income, to go with your regular retirement.

SS was not created to be your entire retirement, it was to be a back up or a supplement to retirement.

I could say a lot more about this, but

 

[Big Daddy]

Social Security would be doing just fine if it weren't for the baby boomers and the longer life expectancy now.

Actually, SS would be just fine if people would use it as it was originally intended, supplemental income, to go with your regular retirement.

SS was not created to be your entire retirement, it was to be a back up or a supplement to retirement.

I could say a lot more about this, but

How you use it doesn't effect SS. It does effect how useful it is for those that receive it. I hope it is still around in 17 years when I retire.