Political Discussion

RenegadeMonster said:
Major changes to student loans this morning.

Nothing that helps me or millions of others with student loan forgiveness who are outside of the "non-profit" industry though.

Here's to hoping that they will tackle that next.
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It seems like Biden isn't doing anything diffrenent other than allowing the program to work as intended in 2007. It kind-of feels like a nothing burger. To get any forgiveness you still have to have 10 years of qualifying payments and it isn't clear that any old student loan will qualify now. Also if you were in school through your 20's or went back to school in your 30's and then took a lower paying gov-ment or non-profit gig to have the benefits of the program you are screwing yourself in other ways potentially (investments, retirement).

Yes, it's good that some relief for people in service fields is coming as it should but making something work as it was supposed to 14 years ago seems like the bare minimum effort.
 
I hate medical insurance in the United States.

I just spent an hour at CVS attempting to get a flu shot and left without one.

For the last 3 years my prescription benefits have been decoupled from my medical insurance. United Healthcare for Medical Flex Scripts for prescription.

In previous years I have learned that the flu shot falls under medical and not prescription. And it's always has caused confusion each year at CVS as they try to run it through with Flex Scripts and it comes back as not covered. They have to run it through under the United Healthcare Medical coverage.

This year when they ran it through as Medical it said not covered, run through Flex Scripts. And when they did that it said not covered, run it through as Medical. The pharmacist confirmed with me that it always gets run through as medical and said she would have to call United Healthcare as the system will now allow the flu shot. Of course this took 45 minutes.

And the answer we got back form United Healthcare was "CVS is no longer in-network". And that I have to go to Walmart to get the flu shot.

WTF.

My medical plan is a PPO with out-of-network coverage. Why won't they let me get the flu shot at CVS.
 
jaycee said:
it also asserts that people settled in certain areas by choice which is at least not true in the case of the Scots-Irish who were bamboozled into Appalachian land that was farmable.
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Or the Acadian people that were displaced from Canada to the Louisiana swamp.
RenegadeMonster said:
I hate medical insurance in the United States.

I just spent an hour at CVS attempting to get a flu shot and left without one.

For the last 3 years my prescription benefits have been decoupled from my medical insurance. United Healthcare for Medical Flex Scripts for prescription.

In previous years I have learned that the flu shot falls under medical and not prescription. And it's always has caused confusion each year at CVS as they try to run it through with Flex Scripts and it comes back as not covered. They have to run it through under the United Healthcare Medical coverage.

This year when they ran it through as Medical it said not covered, run through Flex Scripts. And when they did that it said not covered, run it through as Medical. The pharmacist confirmed with me that it always gets run through as medical and said she would have to call United Healthcare as the system will now allow the flu shot. Of course this took 45 minutes.

And the answer we got back form United Healthcare was "CVS is no longer in-network". And that I have to go to Walmart to get the flu shot.

WTF.

My medical plan is a PPO with out-of-network coverage. Why won't they let me get the flu shot at CVS.
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It sounds like you don't have a true PPO plan. I would call United and ask them why you can't go to CVS anymore.

As an aside here, United just bought DaVita, which is one of the two big national dialysis chains. CVS bought Express Scripts a few years ago--this is a pharmacy benefit manager--as well as Aetna, so CVS has both a PBM and a medical insurance carrier in their empire. United has been buying up doctors groups and DaVita. It's now also looking at merging with a health analytics company--merger is being reviewed by the DOJ right now. What I wonder is when everything shakes out and we've got three or four big guys running healthcare, will we lose our choice of care due to these companies putting restrictions on where people can go? How can we say that this is a "free market"? Given that our choice of care is in a rather precarious place, it makes me wonder if we will continue to see a drop of medical standards once people have little or no options.
 
nolalady said:
It sounds like you don't have a true PPO plan. I would call United and ask them why you can't go to CVS anymore.
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I did actually, and emailed HR.

All United will say is CVS is no longer in-network for our group plan. No other information other than the only locations I can get my flu shot is Walmart, or Walgreens. Any other place within 15 miles of my zip code would be out-of-network and not covered. Getting it at my doctors office would also not be covered.
 
Just shaking my head.

Today's vote on the debt ceiling has been postponed. Democrats did not have enough votes and Mitch McConnell was vowing to block the vote anyways.

McConnell is also demanding for the unprecedented filibuster on budget reconciliation which would block democrats from going their own. Can he do that? I thought you can't filibuster the budget reconciliation process which is why they use it to pass things with a simple majority.

Mitch McConnell is proposing 2 of options of his own for Democrats to advert default.

McConnell said that Republicans "will also allow Democrats to use normal procedures to pass an emergency debt limit extension at a fixed dollar amount to cover current spending levels into December."
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Basically he is trying to make it impossible for the Democrats to pass any meaningful change. He is continuing on what he promised, obstructing the Democrats until the GOP have control again.
 
@nolalady

Got more info from HR.

Yes I have a true PPO plan with out-of-network coverage.

But the issue here is out-of-network coverage is not always applicable for voluntary things like flu shots.

HR can't confirm any other information than it does appear that CVS is now out-of-network and they have no idea why nor can get any information out of UHC. They suspect that something is probably going on between UHC and CVS as to where they are not cooperating with each other which only hurts the consumers.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
Just shaking my head.

Today's vote on the debt ceiling has been postponed. Democrats did not have enough votes and Mitch McConnell was vowing to block the vote anyways.

McConnell is also demanding for the unprecedented filibuster on budget reconciliation which would block democrats from going their own. Can he do that? I thought you can't filibuster the budget reconciliation process which is why they use it to pass things with a simple majority.

Mitch McConnell is proposing 2 of options of his own for Democrats to advert default.



Basically he is trying to make it impossible for the Democrats to pass any meaningful change. He is continuing on what he promised, obstructing the Democrats until the GOP have control again.
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Democrats are trying to a lot of things with a very slim majority. Passing historically sized legislation on a historically slim margin is well…hard to do.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
Just shaking my head.

Today's vote on the debt ceiling has been postponed. Democrats did not have enough votes and Mitch McConnell was vowing to block the vote anyways.

McConnell is also demanding for the unprecedented filibuster on budget reconciliation which would block democrats from going their own. Can he do that? I thought you can't filibuster the budget reconciliation process which is why they use it to pass things with a simple majority.

Mitch McConnell is proposing 2 of options of his own for Democrats to advert default.



Basically he is trying to make it impossible for the Democrats to pass any meaningful change. He is continuing on what he promised, obstructing the Democrats until the GOP have control again.
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The power of the Minority in the Senate isn’t anything bestowed by the Constitution. They are made up parliamentary rules that can easily be changed by a simple majority vote. The Dems have plenty of options but are reluctant to use them. If they were smart they would make an exception to the filibuster, extended the debt ceiling, and then pass a law eliminating the stupidity of these self hostage situations every year and if they are unwilling to go that route Janet Yellen should mint a trillion dollar coin. Either options completely eliminates any leverage that the GOP is pretending to have.


The one recommendation I would give is for the Dems not to give into anything McConnell is demanding because it would just embolden him to do this shit more often. They have 12 more days until we potentially default. They will take this shit up to the brink because that is how it all works but any leverage the GOP is playing up is completely imaginary.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
I did actually, and emailed HR.

All United will say is CVS is no longer in-network for our group plan. No other information other than the only locations I can get my flu shot is Walmart, or Walgreens. Any other place within 15 miles of my zip code would be out-of-network and not covered. Getting it at my doctors office would also not be covered.
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Be careful then. It sounds like y’all got switched to a plan with a very narrow network. Instead of doing high deductible health plans to save money, the new trend is to put employees on these ultra narrow network plans where they are forced to go to a handful of providers.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
@nolalady

Got more info from HR.

Yes I have a true PPO plan with out-of-network coverage.

But the issue here is out-of-network coverage is not always applicable for voluntary things like flu shots.

HR can't confirm any other information than it does appear that CVS is now out-of-network and they have no idea why nor can get any information out of UHC. They suspect that something is probably going on between UHC and CVS as to where they are not cooperating with each other which only hurts the consumers.
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This is crazy.
Expect more of this sort of crap as the big guys try to muscle each one out of the market.
 
Just a few bad apples I guess 🤷‍♂️

minnesotareformer.com

Jaleel Stallings shot at the MPD; a jury acquitted him of wrongdoing • Minnesota Reformer

Jaleel Stallings was accused of trying to kill Minneapolis cops five days after George Floyd’s death, but he was recently acquitted by a jury of all charges.
minnesotareformer.com minnesotareformer.com

If you want to injure yourself there is plenty of bodycam footage that's now been released of the incident. It's of course difficult to watch. Hopefully, the people of Minneapolis vote appropriately.
 
jaycee said:
Just a few bad apples I guess 🤷‍♂️

minnesotareformer.com

Jaleel Stallings shot at the MPD; a jury acquitted him of wrongdoing • Minnesota Reformer

Jaleel Stallings was accused of trying to kill Minneapolis cops five days after George Floyd’s death, but he was recently acquitted by a jury of all charges.
minnesotareformer.com minnesotareformer.com

If you want to injure yourself there is plenty of bodycam footage that's now been released of the incident. It's of course difficult to watch. Hopefully, the people of Minneapolis vote appropriately.
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So the cops roll up in an unmarked white van, don't identify themselves, and start unloading on people and are then surprised to get return fire? And then have the balls to try and call it attempted murder?

I hate this country.
 
folsom_lives said:
So the cops roll up in an unmarked white van, don't identify themselves, and start unloading on people and are then surprised to get return fire? And then have the balls to try and call it attempted murder?

I hate this country.
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Pretty much.... and add on that they then beat the shit out of their "suspect" who had surrendered and well... par for the course. Thank goodness for video cameras. Say what you will about the evils and harms of technology but without these jackasses being recorded there would've been no possibility of an acquittal... and at least the events are documented so that all of the people out there who can just easily ignore this shit because it doesn't effect them can see it if they choose to expand their thinking beyond themselves to their fellow humans.

I hate what it is too. I hope that the promise it has can be realized.
 
jaycee said:
Pretty much.... and add on that they then beat the shit out of their "suspect" who had surrendered and well... par for the course. Thank goodness for video cameras. Say what you will about the evils and harms of technology but without these jackasses being recorded there would've been no possibility of an acquittal... and at least the events are documented so that all of the people out there who can just easily ignore this shit because it doesn't effect them can see it if they choose to expand their thinking beyond themselves to their fellow humans.

I hate what it is too. I hope that the promise it has can be realized.
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Reminds me of when "police" in plain clothes and unmarked vans were snatching people off the streets.

Those images still make me sick.
 
Schumer just announced a deal to extend the debt ceiling through december.

The Dems straight up are doing what McConnell offered yesterday.

A temp deal where a fixed number for the debt ceiling has to be set.

In other words, they played right into the Republicans games, and that number will be used against the Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections attack ads. They will place the debt increase directly on the Democrats and have a visible number to work with.

This compromise also doesn't solve anything. We will be right back where we are now in a couple months.

It also means the budget bill and infrastructure bill are delayed until at least then as well.

Progressives still will not allow the passes of the infrastructure bill without a vote on the larger budget bill.
 
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