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I might be the exception, or just lucky, but I always get good customer service from United Healthcare.
Of course, I think people my age might have lower expectations from the start. If I call customer service for any company, and I can understand what the person is saying (that is, I was connected to a domestic operator), I already feel like I've been treated well. If they keep me on hold for less that ten minutes, it's like winning the customer-service lottery.
And - the best thing I like about UHC - I don't have to talk to a person at all! Well, not voice-to-voice. They are very quick to reply to my emails, which I would much rather send than actually calling someone.
I've only hit one road bump in my dealings with them, and it was corrected quickly and to my favor. One of my doctors passed away in the middle of a year-long series of visits, which were supposed to be billed as a single visit. (Just pay the copay once.) But when I went to the replacement doctor, I had to pay the copay again. It was only $20, but I called, and they sent me a refund check.
I hear a lot of people older than me complain about customer service everywhere - retail, sporting events, etc... Like I said, I think if you compare the expectations of people my age against people a generation older, they would be very different from the start.
Chuck, I've never ran from anything in my life, and I'll bet I have more years on the planet than you:)
ps, I don't fight mythical enemies.
Kend -- Is there a comment in any blog on this site that supports what you say? That is,
With regards to when enough is enough, I will give you an answer. I think the appropriate limit would produce a gini coefficient of 0.386, not the current value which is greater than 0.477. My real point is that you keep asking for linear answers to highly non-linear system.
I think my best answer is to eliminate reaganomics. Let us return to the economic policies of the days of the New Deal and the Great Society. It should be noted there was no limit on how much one could make in those days. In those days the lower 47% were protected from the 0.01% (mostly). Because of this protection the super-rich had to work much harder to make their wealth.
Incidentally, Walt was taxed at a rate above 90%.
OU -- Is that your outlook on life, give up and run? I would like to stay and fight the 1%.
DAM -- You seem to keep forgetting that the 2nd amendment was written, so Patrick Henry could run his slave patrols without interference from the feds.
That book about Scalia proposes what the commas say. The author says Scalia was wrong, I was just proposing one way it could be interpreted. I have not read the book, and English at that level is not my strong suit.
Comcast and net neutralty? I just received an email from comcast that i have approached my limit of 300 gb per month for downloading. Once I pass the 300gb, i will be billed $10 for addiional 50 gb and then when that is reached another $10 , etc. I researched why. My donwloads have gone up considerably after subscribing to Net flix for $8 per month. My kids watched netflix as TV normal. Turns out that the 300 GB limit is a new policy - started on May 29. Having net flix and using 300 gb of downloads is easy to do. What this essentially does is I pay $8 for Netflix which is a air price. But then Comcast will bill me $10 once I reach the inevitable 300gb. So Comcast charge of $10 is even more than the amount netflix bills subscribers. Is this what net neutrality is all about becasue this is rediculous. Made more ridiculous by the fact that Comcast has snuck this in. Wait over the nex several months to se how many people drop netflix because of this. $8 is a fair and reasonable price by Netflix, but the real price is $18 and $28 and $38 - all to the profit of Comcast except $8. As consumers, this kind of piggy back gotcha economics is unsustainable.
I thought the rest of the story was that if you reinvested any money you made over a million dollars into your company, it would not be taxed. That was the whole idea. To encourage reinvestment. You can spend it all on your company, or give it to Uncle Sam. Your choice.
None of your business "OU", on that first question.
"Do you know doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity" says OU. Really! How insightful. Never heard that one before.
As to your P.S.? Cute. Tah-tah, enjoy your day. - AIW
yes you are right, Alice I will take your advise and go golfing. Enjoy your Sunday as well.
Kend, quit your whining. We've heard it all before. Chill out, enjoy your Sunday. 'Bye. - AIW
Alice yes Mickey is here to stay but if Walt's money went to taxes instead of reinvestment would Mickey be here in the first place.
Well said Trillions in profits have been made on backs on the poor & lower middle class. ( ilegals too ) Wal mart ,Mc D , BK pay low wages so many workers have to go on medicaid & food stamps. to survive,.at taxpayer expense . Powerful Corps -Billionaires get huge UN funded tax cuts- subsides, giant loopholes. They are the REAL Welfare Queens . War profiteers have a powerful incentive to keep us at war . DC Beltway ' advisors ' who push war ..like Bush Cheney & LBJ 's 'advisors , reap tons of cash , while our young die - become maimed. Lasy 43 years of GOP policies & laws greatly favor the powerful - wealthy- well connected. 1981 Reaganomics Deregulation Citizens United Statesmmmments like' Money is Speech Corps are persons, are all meant to empower the ruling class , keep middle class struggling. My husband worked hard 10 hr days to become Plant Supt ..then boom the CO slashed his promised pension, so his 70 yr widow is S.O.L.
Ok DAnne, I will ask it this way. What is the maximum tax rate a person should pay?
I don't believe anyone no matter how much wealth a Single person has that they can affect the economic or political course of a nation. That's why one person one vote.
Alice, Why do you still live in the USA? You always write about how good life is in other countries. Do you know doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity:))
ps, It's good you have health coverage!! Since we content, happy and smug people make you sick:)
chuckle8 ~ That is the excuse, the security of state. However, the amendment covers everyone in the nation because it clearly refers to the right of "the people" and not militia or army. Lets face facts, if it was meant only to apply to people in one state it wouldn't even have been mentioned in the Constitution of the 'United States' in the first place. It would have been left completely to state Constitutions.
chuckle8 ~ You are reading a hell of a lot into that comma. I simply do not agree. "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" stands on it's own. The phase about "maintaining a militia" is simply used as an excuse to support the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It certainly is not meant to limit that right. Otherwise it would have said quite plainly that, 'The right of the people in the militia to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.' Of course, that is not what it says.
Kend, wanna hankie? Don't worry, Micky Mouse is here to stay. - AIW
Kend ~ We have answered that question many times and in many ways in the past. In fact, stecoop01 has already provided the perfect answer to that question right here on this very blog in post #37. Of course, I know your attention span is severly limited and you are far too lazy to read everything; so, I'll repeat it here for you.
Aliceinwonderland and OU812 ~ I've had a lot of experience with the medical side of our for profit health care from the best plans it has to offer. I've know people who've gotten sick and were completely covered. I've told these horror stories in depth on this blog already and don't want to repeat them. Suffice to say that profit is placed above everything else. Regardless of whether it is how much they can milk from you or your employer in premiums, or how they can deny services, they always find a way to place profit above everything else including your health and your life. Think about this chilling fact, if you acquire a catastrophic illness, or suffer a seriously debilitating accident, if you die quickly they save a fortune if you are fully covered. Face the simple fact that there is no profit whatsoever to be made in simply keeping you alive if doing so sucks up their profit.
What is it about for profit that you trust and that makes you feel so safe? Perhaps because you haven't yet really needed it? Perhaps because you haven't gotten sick yet? Perhaps because you haven't gotten very sick yet? Perhaps because you haven't really sat down and thought about it? We used to think just like you OU until we really needed it. What a rude awakening that was!
Give me single payer any day over this racket. The simple reason is that the Doctor will get paid with single payer only as long as I am alive. That is what I call a good insurance policy!
Bravo Marc! I concur. - AIW
Well goodie-goodie for yew. Been sick yet? Had any major crises? Until then OU, you don't really know how great your coverage actually is.
Since we're fortunate enough to live in a so-called "blue state", my husband & I have lucked out with Medicaid and pay nothing 'til our income goes up. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we're fine for now. But our friend in Bandon, who is self-employed and works her butt off, must pay $900 a month just for herself, with a HUGE deductible. And another friend in North Bend, in her late seventies, lost valuable medical benefits from a company she retired from thanks to the ACA, and now must pay out of pocket! So you see OU, some win and some lose, all due to circumstance and technicality.
Health care is not a commodity. It needs to be accessible to everyone, not just to some people, without the bureaucracy and the bullshit that has some of us faring better than others. But just like Chicago Matt, you're content, happy and smug. Your little butt's covered, so why change anything?!
You people make me sick. - AIW
P.S. Out of all the world's wealthier developed countries, our healthcare system beat the others only in cost. Overall we U.S. citizens pay substantially more for substantially less, have the worst outcomes and score last in quality of care. God bless America.
Matt. Good effort but trust me I have been trying for years to get a answer to when is enough, enough and you wil never get a answer because Thom and pretty much everyone on this blog is a socialist. It is only enough when your money is shared equally. Where everyone can live the same standard of living No matter how they lived their live.
They believe If you move to Dakota and work 16 hours a day 7 days a week for years in the oil business you should have the same standard of living as a women who has 4 children from 4 different fathers before she is 24. The fact is America still is loaded with opperatunity and people are becoming extremely successful there everyday. What scares me is that if it was up to Thom Americans would pay 90 % tax after a million dollars. Do you think Disney would be what it is if Walt was taxed 90 %. I don't think so. Keep trying though Matt . You never know You may be able to convert one of them one day.
Joseph Jaroszewski ~ There is a giant hole in your fascist logic that you could drive a boeing 747 through. Legal psychotropic drugs that are legally prescribed for everything from depression to insomnia. You don't test for these drugs and they are usually used 24/7 by the people who use them. They can contribute to everything from suicidal tendencies to homicidal tendencies. Yet all you are interested in is catching recreational pot users. Personally, that is fine with me. It's your company. You make the rules. Let the market decide whether or not that is a good idea.
You should also be aware--if you're not already--that there are a lot of other companies--some of which you might compete with--who might just not drug test. Doesn't that thought scare you at all? That means that pot smokers--especially those who are strong minded enough to object to your invasive policies--might prefer working for someone who respects their human dignity and privacy over you. If they are that strong minded they are also probably a lot smarter than anyone who would apply to work with you. Scared yet? How about this. Because they found an employer who trusts and respects them they might also be more loyal to that employer than your employees are to you. They might just accept less pay then your employees. They might even volunteer to work extra time for free. Certainly the last thing they would want is for their company to go under and have to change their lifestyle just so they could work for you. Finally, they might just work a lot harder than anyone who would want to work for you would ever dream of doing. That--coupled with all the money that company is going to save from those rip off drug tests--is going to put their bottom line way ahead of yours. Are you scared yet? You should be!
Well if not, fine and dandy! Maybe when you are applying for bankruptcy, or signing over your company for a leverage buyout to a competitor, you can ask yourself where you screwed up.
Aliceinwonderland ~ OK! I added my two cents. There wasn't a whole lot to add to what you said, however, I managed to think of a thing or two. Here is a direct link to the blog if anyone else wants to join in. Thanks for watching our back Alice. You rock!
http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2014/03/it%E2%80%99s-time-end-all-drug-testing?page=1#comment-272904
Alice, aren't you the one who's in wonderland:) let me give you a brief overview of the insurance I have at present. $10.00/ visit, perscriptions are $10.00 (Generic) for a 90 day supply, $25.00 (name brand) for a 90 day supply. No deductible on medical or prescriptions...the provider is Aetna, my cost is approximately $70.00/month for me and my spouse...and the best news is I don't have to deal with the Gov't. Why would anybody in their 'Right' mind (pun intended) won't to change.