yzerman19

This is not the most talented team we've had by any stretch. If we are to do any damage it will be due to an amazing team effort. Dave needs to channel his inner Herbie for the playoff run. Western Michigan is not a "junk" team- they have an NHL coach and have been to the dance- they've done well in the second half, and to split isn't the end of the world- in fact, it might be a great wake-up call. This isn't a world beater Sioux team with oodles of talent like the Parise team or the DOT team or the Pony Express team. We had 3, maybe 4 teams in those years that were elite talent- top 2 in the country on talent alone- but didn't get it done.

Giving up the shorty and drawing a penalty after the major really took the wind out of our sails...it was a dagger

On the bright side, maybe this makes the boys hungrier... I'm disappointed to lose, but if you told me 2 months ago that we'd be playing for the Penrose on the last game of the season, I'd have been thrilled.

THey say sorry- it happened to old Holy Angels star...can't remember his name, but he ended up at Bemidji

Ferris has done great

A UND win and a SCSU loss would've done that

Oh wait, are you bank tellers...

and then these announcers...Jesus...the 90's called and want their shirts and ties back. Seriously amateurish.

and then the "get on your feet" video...looks like the video was made at Red River high school... The song, video, and now the ad break looks like its made by amateurs. Its embarrassing.

This commercial break music is as bad as the floating head from cc...imagine if they were combined and you were on drugs...jesus...

Its interesting to see some of the recruiting misses for us- Cichy, Bruneteau...

Are you a hospitalist then? If you'd prefer full anonymity, I will not be offended if you defect the question. You are clearly speaking from a position of knowledge, which is very helpful in this thread.

I want to know how insurers are taking advantage of it. I really want to hear the logic... Follow me on this: 1. Exchanges encourage transparent competition- forcing insurers to try and be price competitive 2. Actuarial value and MLR (80% on individual 85% on group) say that insurers can't price fix high 3. Benefit requirements and no underwriting and no maxes push costs up for providing coverage 4. Provider consolidation push costs up I could go on and on, but insurers are not taking advantage of anything here, they are on the ropes.

Not a doc, but depending on the situation it is usually only 2 or 3. There are situations where the bill will be broken into technical and professional component or kept packages as global. All doctors can read basic xrays, but radiologists are trained to look for everything. You want that oversight...many a person's life has been saved by a radiology overread- iding a cancerous spot that appeared in the image that was taken for an entirely different purpose. The cynic says the overreads are to protect against lawsuits. Also, unfortunately true. So, usually there are 2 professional reads of an xray. Might end up with 3 if an ER situation or an odd read.

Historically, hospitals loved doctors, because they were the net that brought business to them. Build high-end specialty services with huge margins, cast a wide net of primary care, then reap the $$$ for all the admits and procedures. The fundamental challenge with market transparency is that the system is based on an incomprehensible matrix of retrospective coding, and payment is tied to the coding. I could, in theory, find out the reimbursement rate at a particular provider for say a 99213- let's say its $75. If I have a high deductible plan, I can then assume that the provider will probably bill about $150, they will accept $75 per the insurance contract, and I will owe all of the $75 assuming I haven't met my deductible. Easy right? Wrong. What if the physician finds something unusual or has to do some research into a medication interaction and it now warrants a 99214. Well now the reimbursement rate just went up to $100. Oh, and wait, a lab test needs to be ordered. That's another $30. Total owed is now $130 assuming I haven't met my deductible. I went it with the same problem...my throat hurts...I am paying $75 in one scenario and $130 in another scenario...with the same issue. That was a simple example...sore throat...now imagine it with something complicated Difference is $750 vs $1300 or much, much worse...

magnified by more RVUs for the procedures the specialists perform. A specialist can earn/produce more RVUs in the same time period, and be paid more per RVU.

So you're not calling my post bull, you're agreeing that it is bull that you can't write off Ed interest when you clear an arbitrary threshold. I agree! That's why you take loans- to earn a good income!

A year of junior will do Yon well. He looks like he's got the skils to be a solid player here. He should've finished a couple times...

This is a great post. The ER element is interesting, because the hospital makes money. It ties into "medical arms race" where normal economics are thrown out the window, and competition drives costs up- because the insurers are stuck- if they don't pay up, the provider might go non-par and the employers will dump the insurer. The exec issue is an interesting one- insurance is usually thought of more as finance than as healthcare. $500k for a CEO of a company with a billion in revenue is pretty pedestrian. Agree on dermatology...if I wanted to be a doc (and I don't, because I am money first, and that made me not go to med school) I would be a dermatologist. Ortho and Cardi can make way more, but they work like dogs. Its not just med school- my business school debt is $100k. It is a problem. The bigger insult is that when you make more than I think $160k per year, you can't even write off student loan interest.

That is an unethical, illegal action by a set of individuals. Shouldn't be held against the industry.

Don't 47% of people net a zero tax liability?

True, they did, in conjunction with tax cuts. Raised spending, lowered taxes. Expansionary fiscal policy that has mortgaged us to the hilt. Obama doing the same. We've spent like Drunken sailors getting us out of the Carter years, with the exception of the Gingrich/Clinton era- where an explosion in tech and com and a balanced budget stopped the bleeding.

Been 20 years since I took macro economics, but my recollection of one of Keynes' tenets was that you could generate economic growth through government spending. That is what I am getting at. You and I are of different opinions on moving location or switching careers, and docs aren't paid by the hour- they are paid on production- or migrating back towards # of patients in primary care and other triple aim incentives. Why is there a primary care shortage? because even doctors (most of them)who know they want to be doctors choose every other option first, because the difference in comp is so dramatic. Be a cardiologist, make $900k, be a pediatrician, make $120k. The commonality- investment banking, law, medicine- long hours equals big wallet. Kill the incentive, kill the work. Good post. This is good conversation

Not Country Club Edina...the debate to live out on tonka vs in Edina is more about commute IMO

I've never worked in the NoDak market, but my understanding is that it is monopoly virtually everywhere, on both sides. I guess you have oligopoly on the provider side in Fargo. Compare that to the Twin Cities, where there are really 3 giant health systems and 3 more medium health systems, a few specialty cartels, and pretty decent competition among 4 payers. Different competitive market. Rural vs Urban healthcare is a very interesting topic from the health economics to the community economics.