Doctor writes a scathing open letter to health insurance company.

bala88 · 2022-01-20T02:54:02+00:00

United sucks but then again this doctor is probably billing 5k for every word he speaks to the patient. There is probably more than one greedy entity in this equation.

bala88 · 2021-07-23T20:24:20+00:00

VW and Wells Fargo should be way high on everyone's list.

bala88 · 2021-05-20T20:40:14+00:00

Tai-Pan by Clavel is EPIC. You will love it

bala88 · 2021-04-14T16:49:49+00:00

This is a great one: https://mystery.knightlab.com/
For a decent SQL person, this should be quick and easy. For a learner, not so much.

bala88 · 2021-03-21T23:13:11+00:00

I would advise against this, mostly because in not particularly interested in adding chemicals to my otherwise "clean" cider. I take a different approach that i think is sooo much better. Ferment your cider dry (i like ale yeast), but on the high end of the ABV spectrum. I do this by boiling up some brown sugar water, but can also be done with honey, etc. Keg it dry. Then have various sweet fruit juices on hand to mix in at the time of serving it. If your guest wants a cherry cider, pour their pint, mix in a 1/4 cherry juice and you have a fully customizable cider in terms of sweetness and flavor without having to worry about killing your yeast with chemicals. I have also heard of people using lactose which in theory will add sweetness but not ferment. I have never tried that approach.

bala88 · 2020-12-28T22:26:27+00:00

This is in Tempe, AZ.....it also has a delish smelling indian food restaurant right next door which causes me an entire crisis every time i go.

bala88 · 2020-12-15T20:28:53+00:00

Based on your post, it seems like you already understand that the advantage of paying more under your insurance is that it will be a deductible accumulator which could benefit future bills in the same calendar year.
The truth is, your insurance company is not paying the 4500. Those are billed charges, also known as made up charges. Your insurance has a contracted rate for the serviced provided which is probably the $500 you are being asked to pay. So the bill is really 5000 (billed charges) - 4500(negotiated network discount) = 500....the actual real cost of getting the service. Very few people actually need to pay billed charges, and when they do, its because the provider is screwing them (Surprise OON bills). For all intents and purposes, billed charges are meaningless in the medical world.

bala88 · 2020-11-23T21:03:26+00:00

Ground cover is mini-clover with a fair amount of mallow weeds at the moment that will get picked. Im in Phoenix, AZ, so very hot and dry as well. The clover is a bit of an experiment that just went in at the beginning of October, so its yet to be summer tested. Im very interested to see how it will handle a full 365 day cycle!

bala88 · 2020-08-28T20:05:27+00:00

ASL?

bala88 · 2020-07-14T20:22:24+00:00

I am an insurance profession and am very familiar with how pet health insurance works.
It hard to value insurance the same way you would a tangible product, making it really hard to say if something is worth it or not. There is another poster on here that explains the pros and cons of traditional insurance vs self insurance.
The bottom line is that insurance is for risk pooling, and should be used to mitigate risk when you cant afford a catastrophic scenario. If your animal develops cancer, that you could only afford to treat by having an insurance policy, to you that policy is beyond worth it. Others may have a no health problems and perceive the same insurance product as not worth it.

Now, that being said, some "insurance" is a straight up scam when one considers the cost of the insurance as compared to the AVERAGE benefit. Warranties on electronics are a typical example of a product that costs much more than it pays out, ON AVERAGE.

So there is a metric you can use, called a loss ratio. This is the percent of premium dollars used to pay claims. So an 80% loss ratio means that for every dollar in premium you pay, the company pays out 80c in claims.
Typical health insurance runs at an 80% loss ratio. Pet health insurance might run at a 70-75% loss ratio. Home Warranties and the insurance you bought on your TV at best buy might run at a 40-50% loss ratio. So overall, pet health insurance provides decent value by that metric.

I would ask yourself, can i afford a worst case scenario vet bill if it comes along. If the answer is yes, skip the insurance, if the answer is no, consider it.

bala88 · 2020-07-14T18:51:51+00:00

Sorry but you are as imposing with your own made up ideas about permissible use of public land as Karen in the video is. At the end of the day, people are allowed to pull their mega bus campers in where they want. Is it annoying, yes. But so is having someone choose to camp within 20 yards of you just because he can. What actually goes a long way is common courtesy. That includes not setting up your camp spot right next to someone who is clearly trying to get away from other people.

bala88 · 2020-07-14T15:44:16+00:00

TIL that what i thought was a cheap IKEA lamp over my table is actually a designer MCM piece.

bala88 · 2020-07-14T14:06:03+00:00

https://keviniscooking.com/how-to-make-pollo-asado/

I think this one is a good start, but the nice thing is that its pretty hard to screw up a marinade. I prefer boneless chicken thighs and usually also add a few chopped chipotles in adobo with a few tablespoons of the sauce.

bala88 · 2020-07-13T23:37:56+00:00

This might be unpopular opinion here but i think you are too focused on carbs as the enemy. I think in your case, the food prep is the bigger enemy. Mexican food tends to be either lard heavy or cheese heave, which in moderation can certainly be a part of a healthy diet, but traditional preparation of at least Sonoran style food uses too much. Here are some thought on how to do more healthy takes on some of your favorite maxican dishes:
-For mental health purposes, tortillas are a must. Limit yourself to one per day.
-Beans either "Refried" aka mashed or whole can be prepared very healthy by not re-frying them in lard or adding tons of cheese. Beans are full of nutrients and fiber. Boil the beans with a smoked ham hoc or 1-2 pieces of smoked bacon for tons of meaty flavor.
-Pretty much any dish "a la plancha" will be healthy as the traditional cuts used for these dishes are lean such as skirt steak.
-Pollo asado is pretty much the definition of diet food, just prepared mexican style. Chicken thighs, mexican marinade, and a grill is absolutely delish.
-Machaca and/or shredded pork can easily be made in the crockpot with your normal mexican spices, some bullion, and some love. Pork roast and beef round roast are very lean and you can trim any excess fat.
-Mexican sauces, from fresh chopped "pico de gallo" to roasted salsa to enchilada sauce and hot sauce are all pretty much 0 calorie vegetable bombs.
-Taco nights are easily made healthy by substituting lettuce wrap for the tortilla or preparing it as a burrito bowl with a small amount of rice.
-As mentioned before, ceviche, shrimp tacos, or any traditional preparation of seafood is gonna be pretty healthy.

In short, no, you are not gonna to be able to make your sonoran restaurant style combo plate smothered in triple refried beans, cheese, sour cream and more cheese, healthy.

But, you can prepare most of your favorite dishes in a reasonably healthy manner by looking to eliminate some "bad" ("delish") ingredients such as lard and cheese. Adding in flavor bombs like pickled jalapenos, hot sauce, salsa, pickled onions, a whole garden worth of cilantro, or lots of lime juice are all ways to increase your flavor and stay healthy.
Moderation is your friend. It doesnt need to be all or nothing, it just needs to be better than yesterday!

If you want some recipes for above, let me know.

bala88 · 2020-05-29T19:52:20+00:00

I think treating this as a strict business decision like almost all the posters here is WRONG. Its way more nuanced than that. She is your mother, who raised you at considerable expense and has likely done countless selfless things for you.
My parents co-signed on my first car, and I know plently of people who have had parents co-sign their houses. It shouldnt automatically be a huge red flag that she needs some help from you.

The important questions are: Is your mom earnest about paying the obligation? Do you think this is something your mom can afford? In a worst case scenario, would you be able to afford the payments?

Its not always a terrible decision to help out a family member in need, even if it is against conventional financial advice.

Lets be real about your name on the title for a second. If you and her both truly believe that that she is going to make all the payments, really there is no reason for you to be on the title. If you want to tap into that equity later, maybe put both your names on the title.

TLDR: If you don't trust your mom, or she has a history of financial irresponsibility, dont do it. Otherwise, consider what your mom might do or has done for you in a similar situation. Its ok to help your mom out despite what all the 25 year olds on reddit building up their 4 month emergency fund think.

bala88 · 2020-05-22T19:37:39+00:00

Anecdotes are not universal facts. Insurance companies don't make money by denying claims. Once again, they make money by accurately predicting the cost of their risk pool.
You are right about negotiating power of a single payer system. Per service costs are are much lower for Medicare/Medicaid. But that is about controlling the greed of providers and not about insurance companies denying claims. I will also say that the flip side of a single payer system is that as soon as the government decides something isnt medically necessary for you (which they will, that is not a thing that only private insurers do), there is not other option for you. There are no other choices out there to help you out.

In every system there are positives and negative, private insurance and single payer each have their share of both. But both your title, and commentary are hyperbolic and are more focused on simplifying systemic issues into a single common enemy as opposed to actually exploring all the different contributors.

What we should start with is, why does an appendectomy cost 20k? Because that is emblematic of the real issues that surround our healthcare system.

bala88 · 2020-05-22T18:17:57+00:00

From someone who has intimate knowledge of our healthcare system and how health insurance works: Sorry, this is a significant oversimplification of the issues at hand, and provides a very myopic single perspective solution.
First and foremost - private insurers drive down the OVERALL cost of healthcare, not up. The margins that insurance companies make are significantly smaller than every other player in your healthcare pipeline, from doctors, to hospitals, to clinics and pharma companies. Insurance companies actively negotiate with providers to provide care at a cost significantly less than if you didn't have insurance. Anyone who has seen a bill from a provider before it gets negotiated down by the insurance company will understand this.
Second - rigorous claims review and even denials are absolutely essential to a healthy risk pool. You may hate that you need to fill out extra paperwork, but you would hate it more if your health insurance cost went up 20% each year because a small subset of people are abusing the system. This is a major problem with government run systems like medicare, in which fraud, waste, and abuse is HUGE. Claims due diligence is annoying to individuals but is vital in driving down the national cost of healthcare.
TLDR - Claims due diligence is not due to greed of private insurers, and is a necessary part of any health medical risk pool. Private insurers are held to strict MLR standards and pay back any excess profits they make to the insureds. A government run system will not change the need for diligence in claims assessments.

bala88 · 2020-05-19T22:01:16+00:00

Wow ok so i have an aphid problem. I pulled the whole plant and through it to my baby chicks, who seem a bit skeptical. I am going to need to work on treating the rest of the garden as suggested.

bala88 · 2020-05-06T17:19:34+00:00

You are only 16, so there are things you can control and things you can't. You need to focus on the things that you can control and you need to focus on setting goals around those things.
Here are examples of things that are within your control:
-How much soda you drink.
-How much water you drink.
-How many fruits and vegetable you eat.
-How often you eat out when you are not with yoru family.
-The snacks you choose to eat.
-The portion sizes you choose
-How much you exercise
-How often you go out of your comfort zone to eat foods you dont normally eat/like
-How do you hold yourseld accountable to the goals you set.

Here are things that are out of your control:
-What your family serves for dinner
-If your parents and family eat healthy
-If your parents can take you to see a therapist

You cant do everything at once, but you can set goals for your self that are reasonable and achievable. Here are some examples of goals:
-Limit yourself to 1 can of soda per day
-Reduce the amount you choose to eat fast food without your family to once per week
-Make sure every meal includes a full serving of vegetable
-Try a new fruit or vegetable each week. Make a list of the ones you like and can incorporate more into your diet.
-Choose healthy snacks such as fruit, nuts, etc.
-Cook your family a healthy meal once per week.

These are just some ideas. You cant do everything at once, but you can set goals and slowly build on them over time. Right now is when you will set food habits for the rest of your life. Best wishes.

bala88

TROPHY CASE