Posts by Ashley Moore8

Jason Foster7 said:Wait, is that actually you, cirohito???

nah 😬

Honestly, those kinds of math equations usually end up biting you in the ass ☕

get a killer pedicure for those toes😬
(kind of like what Cinderella's stepsisters 😉 did, I guess)

slygull92 said:They aren't actually all that huge.
It shouldn't be much of a headache, honestly—they'll definitely get your money back to you eventually.

Unless, I mean, if that cash ended up sitting in a frozen bank account...😉

Honestly, those freshman orientation parties at MIT have been such a letdown ever since they stopped hosting them right on campus 🙂

Wait, is this sunflower oil thing some kind of joke or what...?🤔
(If my memory serves me right—and I might be totally tripping here—didn't you post a thread a few months back about "how to get all this grease out of my hair after overdoing it with oils" or something along those lines?) 😬

I’ve been washing my hair every single morning before heading into the office for years now—honestly, nothing seems to work

Look, there aren't any miracle shampoos or some kind of magic potion out there... I guess it really just boils down to choosing whether you want to show up to work with greasy hair or not

I actually had my CT scan done over at Beverly Hills, but I went back to my local hospital—just one of those smaller regional centers outside of Washington, D.C.—for the EEG.
I honestly think the most important part of this whole process is just having a good neurologist in your corner—like, seriously. For me, I did the CT at Beverly Hills and then just took all those results straight back to my own doctor.

I was wondering—does the coverage (plus all those extra costs for Madeline—like equipment, maintenance, and everything else) come straight out of the budget, or is that stuff handled privately?

Alright, Doc... I think I'm throwing in the towel on this one.

So, I was thinking—since we actually have the option to go through public hospitals for heart surgeries here in the States—if I ever found myself in that position and had the funds available, I’d probably just opt for the state-run route. Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with that at all! It feels like a totally valid choice, I guess.

So, just to be super clear—and I know I might have been a little vague in my last post—what I’m actually talking about is me just paying the full amount out of my own pocket and not even bothering to ask Medicare for a single cent in reimbursement. Like, seriously, not even a dime—just so there's absolutely no confusion about what I mean!

I mean, at the end of the day—why wouldn't Medicare just cover maybe 20% of the cost if I'm footing the rest of the bill myself? It’s just... I feel like since I’m already paying a pretty decent chunk out of my paycheck every single month for health insurance, it seems kind of weird to pay full price for everything else. Especially when I'm already covering my own dentists, gynecologists, and those routine checkups anyway—you know, all that extra stuff out of pocket.
So, I actually got bumped off my list—which means someone else is probably gonna jump ahead of me in line because of that... I guess? Just one of those things, I suppose!

So, looking back at that whole mess down in San Francisco—total disaster, right?—it’s pretty wild how some people just find ways to get rich off everyone else's misfortune. But there's one thing that really sticks out to me if you think about it... I mean, if the father of LJ Krajnovic was supposed to be waiting his turn for maybe two or three months, but apparently you could just cut the line by dropping five grand upfront... doesn't it seem a little fishy? Like, did that quick rib surgery basically just push some poor, unlucky soul right off the waiting list? I guess it makes you wonder, you know?

Casey Cook10 said:It seems like you just don't get how the whole system actually works. You have to consider what private providers are dealing with when they negotiate their service contracts with Medicare, especially for massive expenses like heart surgery.

So, I honestly think there's no point in us going back and forth on this since I've laid it out as clearly as I can.

alright Casey....
correct me if I'm totally off base here, but at Madeline, they actually have a set price list for specific exams and surgeries—so, like, if I just show up there and drop 7k bucks (and I am NOT asking for any kind of reimbursement from Medicare, even though I know they work with them as a "contracted provider"), I don't really see where the issue lies 😕
but then again, you don't really see that kind of setup over at Cleveland Clinic...

So, I was just checking out Madeline's website...

"Madeline is a specialized hospital focusing on cardiovascular surgery and cardiology.
It stands as the first private hospital in America."

I mean, it’s honestly such a tiny difference when you compare it to the Cleveland Clinic....

Casey Cook10 said:A woman paying Smith is basically paying to skip the line—which isn't exactly legal when you're paying Smith, but it totally is if you choose Turner instead...😕 I’m not trying to defend Smith here, not at all, but isn't it kind of a paradox when both types of patients end up skipping the queue? Maybe we should just let people pay their way properly so everyone wins... Like, let the public hospitals run scheduled surgeries in the morning, then switch over to private ones in the afternoon (kind of how they handle things abroad). Everyone pays their taxes, and everything stays smooth and simple.

The lady who paid Smith, if I remember correctly, did so at a public hospital—and under our healthcare system, those places don't really operate on a commercial basis! So, LEGALLY, Ashley Moore8 can't just show up with a bag of cash and snatch a slot from Stefanie, who was supposed to be operated on today at 9 AM!

To me, it feels just like comparing any checkup at a public clinic to one where I LEGALLY pay my own way at a private facility in Germany or wherever and get finished about a hundred times faster.

jadetinker85 said:Wait, how does it work where private clinics don't have waiting lists? It’s like the solution is just to double the number of surgeons so those lists actually shrink by half or something.

man, things really do get oversimplified sometimes 😬
it isn't just about one single surgeon (and their massive salary, I guess)—you have to think about who's actually footing the bill for the entire medical team involved in a surgery. I mean, it’s never just one doctor; you've always got at least two surgeons, plus the anesthesiologist, the nurses, the surgical techs... there's also the operating rooms, all the high-tech equipment, and stuff like that.
you basically need to build a few more hospitals from scratch, kit them out, train everyone up, and handle a bunch of other little details too 😬
so, like, where is that money supposed to come from?

I honestly don't get why people would even bother paying bribes for heart surgery (especially when we're talking figures like $5,000) when there's a legitimate alternative right here—Magdalena, where—if the papers are telling the truth—surgeries cost somewhere between $2,000 and $7,000.
I mean, if someone actually has enough cash to pay a bribe, they could probably just pay for the procedure legally for almost the exact same amount of money 😕

monika13 said:It’s pretty obvious that your upbringing didn't quite cover all the bases in life, huh? I mean, maybe you just skipped a few chapters during your education or something...😁 🤣

Man, I really should’ve listened when everyone told me not to waste my breath arguing with idiots—you know, that whole thing about how you always end up losing just by sinking down to their level? Or even better, that advice about not touching trash just so you don't end up smelling like it even more... yeah, I totally ignored that, and now look at me.
I gotta admit—I definitely didn't listen to them this time. 😢

monika13 said:Yeah, seriously, could you try writing just one single post without using the word stupid or any variation of it?

Honestly, when I'm chatting with you, I just can't
👋

Rachel Kim52 said:Yeah, that’s just our mindset, I guess. And whenever I bring that up while I'm living abroad, people back home always give me this look—like, "Oh, stop complaining, that happens everywhere!" But honestly? It really doesn't! So, just to drive my point home... my director recently had a baby girl over in Germany, and he actually asked his sister if she should bring something for the doctor as a little thank-you gift—you know, maybe some high-end whiskey or something like that. Luckily, his sister was a Canadian woman, so she gave him a reality check. She explained that in Germany, you just don't do stuff like that—it's totally out of the question. The only thing appropriate would be a nice bouquet of flowers; otherwise, both he and the doctor could end up in hot water because it's actually illegal. It’s kind of sad, too, because back home, even if you're facing a life-or-death situation, you might be stuck on a waiting list for three months before you even get an operation. If you're lucky enough to make it that long, I mean. It's just terrible! 😠

It'll probably take us another 50 years before things change like that here.

monika13 said:I see you're constantly dragging everyone else down—acting like you're somehow the only intelligent person left in every single room you walk into...😳
Seriously, what’s with the attitude? You really think there isn't a chance one day you'll end up being "handled" by the doctor on duty...🤣

Oh my god, Monika, just... fuck off already! 🙄
Look, when I need medical help, I go to my primary care physician first, get my referral, and then just see whoever is next in line at the hospital—which means an "ordinary" attending physician, and honestly, I have zero issues with that (unlike you, clearly).
People who think they'll get better treatment just because they try to grease the palms of some professor—who, by the way, hasn't even touched a scalpel in years because they're too busy with research—are just plain stupid. Period.

I do my job for a paycheck. I would never dream of offering a bribe (and I certainly don't ask for them either), and if anyone ever asked me for one, I'd report them to the Police Department immediately—that's what I call having actual integrity, though I guess that's probably a concept you struggle to wrap your head around. 🙄

Anyway, come on now 👋 — you are being so incredibly boring.

Rachel Kim52 said:It really depends on who you ask. I mean, sure, there are honest folks out there, but then you’ve got those people who would basically demand a bribe just to get their standard $10 paycheck. It’s just part of our national mindset, I guess—there's honestly no fixing it. 😈

It’s that whole "our way" mentality—you know, how some people feel like they absolutely have to tip a doctor, a teacher, or even a priest 🙄
If we actually made it so people stopped offering bribes, while simultaneously making sure anyone caught taking one loses their license, gets a longer prison sentence, and has all their ill-gotten gains seized... well, maybe we could establish some actual order pretty quickly...

The thing is, though—and I hate to say it—but people can be pretty clueless. They actually think if they slide some cash to Professor X or whatever, they'll get better treatment at the hospital. Yeah, right! As if 🙄
(usually, the resident on duty is the one who "handles" them anyway 😛 )

jadetinker85 said:Honestly, I’m just hoping the guy survives the surgery—hopefully his colleagues don't decide to take him out right there on the operating table just out of some weird solidarity with their buddy.

Oh my god, seriously? He's not even going under the knife with Mengele, 🙄
your whole theory that his coworkers would intentionally kill him is kind of 🤮 🤮 😲
I mean, heart surgery isn't exactly the same thing as getting your toe calluses nipped off, you know? The risk is... well, a little higher, I guess... 🙄