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DonC

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  1. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A couple years ago I posted my brother's Lund 18 foot SSV conversion to a dream walleye boat. He has updated the boat and information on what was done. For those interested in the progress of the Dream Walleye Boat, feel free to visit: http://correllconcepts.com/boat_conversion.htm DonC
  2. I am an emergency physician. 85% of the patients we see have insurance. The 15% that do not have insurance have help in some form, from discounts to total write offs of the bill, at least in the hospitals, unless they are well off. The US system expediently takes care of virtually everyone usually, regardless of financial status. We do not have much waiting unless the specialist can not see a patient in the office if they overly busy, and there may be a few weeks of waiting for nonurgent situations. There are good and bad anecdotes with the Canadian system it seems, and also with the US system. Americans are used to being taken care of in a reasonably quick timeframe, and that usually is the case. We pay more of our GNP for the luxury of our system. I would pick the US system for uniform consistency of excellent care. I can not comment on other systems that are reportably less costly, and leave that to those who live in those systems. Regarding writeoffs, in the state I am in, there is reimbursement for a small portion of the losses. The writeoff is the part of the bill that the patient does not pay. Don
  3. Johnny Bass, I am not an OB/GYN. I would guess that the costs would be in the tens of thousands potentially. Most hospitals eventually write off what they can not collect. My brother-in-law had around $30,000 written off. He was diabetic on dialysis in his early 50's. Passed away at age 52. My brothers who choose to not pay for insurance take the risk. There are some in the US with medical conditions that are not insurable. Medicare and Medicaid are going broke. We have a tremendous system for prompt patient care. How long can we afford it with over-utilization and the defensive medicine we are forced to practice remains to be seen. I have not seen anything the looks to be passible by the government to deal with situation given current politics, and do not have much faith in a universal health system, though Canadians seem pleased frequently with theirs. We can not afford the current socialized health programs as structured in the future. I support fully the medical care system we have. We need to change the patient's stake in the cost of medicine where they benefit when not over-utilizing the system, and have the relief that Canadian doctors have from malpractice. Don
  4. Minnow Group: Members Posts: 33 Joined: 21-May 07 From: Tennessee Member No.: 1,776 Buried at the end of a long thread on the Canadian Health Care System is my post. For those who do not want to read the prior 38 posts. I work in an ER in the US. I will relate our situation, an anecdote and an opinion. We see 85,000 patients per year. 90%-95% of those patients are in a room within 30-45 minutes ready to be seen. 90% of the patients are seen within one hour by a doctor or physician assistant after checking in at the front desk, and around 75% of patients are seen within 30-45 minutes after checking in. Many ER's are not so timely. We run around 3.5-4 hours on average to be admitted to the hospital and 2.5-3 hours to be discharged home after signing in to the ER. 15% of our volume have no insurance. 28% have Medicaid and 32% have Medicare. 26% have commercial insurance. My hospital, as many others, have programs for patients with limited means and no insurance. If you make less than $13,000 per year for a single person, you have no bill whatsoever from the doctors in the ER and any hospital based doctors, and no hospital bill. If you are single and make less than $18,000, you get a 60% discount. If you have 2 children, a spouse and make less than $40,000, you get a 40+% discount. Within the past 2-3 years there have been successful lawsuits against multiple hospitals that gave 50% or so discounts to commercial insurance plans and none to uninsured patients. If we can give up to 55% discounts to insurance plans, and up to 70% discounts to Medicaid (government requires the discounts), then it is fine to give discounts to uninsured. No one is turned away from the ER. On occasion they may have difficulty finding a doctor to follow them up. Usually everyone is taken care of with infrequent exceptions after they leave the ER. Office based doctors give a portion of their care away free. If a patient needs admission, we have a call list if they have no doctor, without regard to financial status. All care is given regardless of financial status in my ER and hospital. We do not delay care to check on insurance status. To do so is illegal. We have a utilization problem in the US. Over and under-utilization. Patients almost always have no financial stake in their care. We have an aging population, with increased technology and patient expectations, an ever increasing medical liability situation driving unnecessary testing and admissions. If patients had a medical savings account, paid by government out of existing funds, or through some tax incentive, then the patient would be more involved in the cost of evaluation and treatment. They would have an financial incentive to not have unnecessary testing and utilization. We can not afford the cost in the future without proper utilization. We need legal relief from the malpractive connundrum. An anecdote: The owner of the lodge in Ontario we go to each year has a home in a town of around 50,000 or so in Florida for the winter. She had a heart attack 2 years ago in Florida. 35 minutes after the chest pain started at home, she was in the cardiac cath lab at the local hospital getting the coronary blockage opened up and had virtually no damage to her heart. Not many places in the world would that occur so promptly. They have a policy that covered the cost. They are Canadian citizens. Socialized medicine, which at my ER represent 60% of our volume, is great for those on it. The doctors have a 10.6% cut coming next month unless reversed by Congress. If that happens, and the future cuts in the coming years occurs, then they will have trouble finding doctors. They will still receive care in the ER. Our government health programs are going broke in the coming years. We get paid around 33% of what we charge in the ER. I am OK with that, but not with a 25% projected further cut in reimbursement in the next 5 years. Either patients are going to need an incentive to utilize the program correctly, or the medical system, nurses, doctors and midlevel providers with take a cut in reimbursement. Many doctors in offices do not break even on Medicaid patients due to paperwork and other costs, with the low reimbursement, which is sometimes around 10% of what they charge. I estimate that 25% of what we do is defensive medicine. If we had the relief from medical malpractice that Canadians doctors have, then we could save some significant money. That will never happen. The trial lawyers have the democratic party in their back pocket. We have had some legislative relief here and there, but not to the extent really needed to change the situation. To summarize: The US health care system is very consumer oriented. We need changes to improve utilization and relief from having to practice defensively. Don PS: I have 3 brothers who choose to not have health insurance. That is their freedom of choice, and to live with its consequences. We lose our individual freedoms for the mantra of Societal Greater Good.
  5. UF, I started taking them in the boat when they were around 4 or so. My youngest I probably took younger than 4, but do not recall if I had a boat then. Took my son to Canada on his first trip when he was about 6. With the short attention span, it is very important that they catch fish as quickly as possible, otherwise have something else to occupy them if the fish are not cooperating. I do not recall things over the past 20 years precisely with the kids on the water. It runs together over time. My youngest daughter outfishes her "hunter" boyfriend usually, but at age 22 does not actively pursue fishing. I took her and the boyfriend out fishing after dinner one evening. I hooked the 44 inch muskie on a tube with 8 LB. test, and let her bring it in. She then wanted to fish for bass some more and started catching smallmouths. So my advice is take them fishing, but be careful to not burn them out if they get bored and want to do something else at the time. Just take them routinely over the years and try to make it fun for them. Don
  6. My daughters also had a good time. Oldest daughter husband doing military duties so she came with us. My wife enjoyed their company. Fortunately they take after my wife in looks.
  7. More pictures. Youngest daughter with a 27 inch walleye and me with a 18-19 inch smallmouth. More.
  8. More pics of one of my daughters. 38 inch Pike and a nice walleye.
  9. Plenty of pics if I can figure on how to load them in. Last year the files were to large. Will try again.
  10. Just returned from last Saturday from Minaki. The fishing was very good. Had my wife, 2 daughters and others to make a group of 10. Stayed at Birch Island Resort. Very good accommodations, equipment and food. Fishing for smallmouth, I caught a 44 inch muskie and another in our group a 49 inch muskie. My daughter caught a 27 inch walleye also on a tube in 5 feet of water fishing smallmouth. We had our best day for smallmouth, catching 145 for our boat. Personally caught 5 smallmouth 18 inches and larger for the week. Largest for me was 19.5 inches. Caught most on tender tubes, color was green pumpkin with orange flake. The largest walleye in the group was 28 inches. Daughter and fishing partner both caught 38 inch pike. The fishing is improving on the Winnipeg River. Not many fisherman out this year. Good fishing for all fsihing Canada this year, Don
  11. Enjoyed good times at Casa Blanca the past 2 years with Bryan. We did the American Plan. Food was very good. Fishing for smallmouth is great. Caught smallmouth up to 20 inches. A lot of fun fishing below Chaudiere Dam for smallmouths. Caught some 15 inch white bass for the first time which surprised us. Never knew they were in the system. Hooked a 40+inch muskie there too but could not hold it more than 2 minutes in the current from shore. Fish the docks behind Sandy Island at the mouth of the French for smallmouth. Sad to see the lodge owners struggling with business. The gas prices, exchange rate and creel limits are doing a job on them over all Canada. Personally I agree with improving the fishery with slot and creel limits. Have a great time, Don
  12. Here are my brother John's reply to 2 questions. Reply to spooner – post #9 All of the in-seat (or under-seat) flotation was left in place – no need to remove any of it. --------------------------------------------------- Reply to Pigeonfisher – post #5 Here’s the cost breakdown for the entire rig (Spring 2006, U.S. dollars, including tax): 4250 Lund SSV-18 450 Lund boat cover 200 Cover support bows/hardware 1800 EZ Loader trailer 7500 Evinrude E-TEC 60 hp 370 Three Cabela’s AGM 12v batteries 160 Pro Sport 20 plus battery charger 800 Minn kota Powerdrive trolling motor 800 Two Humminbird sonars 60 Two 6-gallon fuel tanks 500 Four Tempress seats 300 10 stainless seat bases 100 Four 13” seat pedestals 150 Four stainless seat mounts 150 Two 3/8” sheets marine plywood 120 Deco Dot vinyl for floor (5 running yards) 1500 Hardware: extruded aluminum; stainless steel nuts, bolts, etc. (high estimate) 225 Five nets for side storage 45 Portable running lights 45 Hatch cover 50 Rule bilge pump 500 Whatever else I bought but couldn’t recall for this list $20,075 TOTAL Although I aspired to create an affordable rig, my main objective was to create exactly the boat that I wanted. After completing the project, I saw ways to create a really nice walleye rig for about $15,000 (by coincidence, the very price that you mention). It wouldn’t be exactly the same as the above rig, but it would be similar in many ways. I’m in the process of writing an article, for posting on my website, that explains how it could be done. I expect to have it written in a few weeks.
  13. Spooner, My brother John can answer you question. Contact him at [email protected] Thanks, Don
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