Small Talk: The Quiver

[way2interested]

If you're working full time often your place of work provides you with health insurance (out of your paycheck), or are you assuming that you have no job, no money, and no health insurance? Because that's kind of a different situation.

Edited March 14, 2018 by way2interested

[Mellowyellow]

No job, chronically unemployed (this happens a lot in Aus).

[apinknightmare]

31 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

Question about the American health care system! So we were watching The Resident and it seems like you guys don't have much a free public health system going. Lol of course I am basing this off a TV show so I thought I'd actually ask someone who lives in in the US.

So say I have ZERO health insurance, nothing at all and not much money. If I get sick do they just leave me to die?

Say if I get something less lethal like kidney stones. Will they put me on a waitlist and remove my stones for free or do I live with my kidney stones until I drop dead?

What if I get stabbed? I assume (from watching TV) they will patch me up in the ER? Is this free?

What if I am about to have a baby? Do you offer me basic care and a doctor when I deliver at a hospital? Can I even go to the hospital or do I just squeeze the baby out at home and hope for the best?

 

It's a hard question to answer because it varies by who you are, where you live, what kind of hospital you go to, who is willing to help you, etc. 

Our healthcare industry works through health insurance - you either get health insurance through your employer who offers plans you can choose from. They usually pay a percentage of the monthly cost, and you pay the rest. You can also get health insurance on your own without a job, but it can be incredibly expensive to do that. A lot of people don't have insurance because they can't afford it, or because they don't want it. In those cases, they are taking the risk of having to pay the full price for any medical emergencies, and it can be incredibly expensive. A couple hundred dollars to visit a doctor for a routine visit - thousands to hundreds of thousands (and millions) if you have a serious or catastrophic illness.

Our healthcare is almost never free. Even people who can't afford it will usually owe some kind of money for care they receive, even if it's at a reduced cost because they qualify for aid. Whether or not they ever pay it is a different story. If you have an emergency, I would imagine they help you first in most cases, and worry about how you'll pay for it later - simply because someone who's been stabbed or shot or whatever wouldn't be in the right state of mind to provide insurance information before they get care. They would usually face an incredibly hefty bill, though. In some cases they could negotiate, or find a program that would be willing to help. 

Edited March 15, 2018 by apinknightmare

[way2interested]

Hospitals aren't allowed to turn you away in an emergency by law, and if they come after you for the money you can declare bankruptcy. Or if you meet the requirements, then you can apply for Medicaid which helps to cover you.

[Mellowyellow]

Ahh thank you @apinknightmare & @way2interested

So it sounds like there is not really a situation where they will treat you for something and you know that it is 100% free.

[apinknightmare]

1 minute ago, Mellowyellow said:

Ahh thank you @apinknightmare & @way2interested

So it sounds like there is not really a situation where they will treat you for something and you know that it is 100% free.

I guess it could happen, like if you're part of a clinical trial or something. But not for routine visits or emergency care, no. 

[calliope1975]

Health insurance and care in the US is a mess. Several years ago, I had my gallbladder removed. I went to the doctor first in a bunch of pain and she sent me to the hospital for surgery. I found out later I would have paid more if I had gone directly to the hospital. I was in the hospital for 29 hours total and my bill was $35,000. Luckily, I have really good health insurance and I ended up paying $300 total (and I was poor at the time and had to make a payment plan.) I often think if I hadn't had insurance I would have just told them to leave it in, lol. Many people go bankrupt over medical bills, and I believe I read that the majority of crowd fundraising is for medical bills/care. 

[apinknightmare]

Oh man, I had my gallbladder taken out during an outpatient procedure a few years ago. I was in for prep/surgery/recovery for a total of 3 hours and then went home. The bill was over $21k! There were pages and pages and pages of charges just labeled "prescription" ranging from $2 to $1500 - and when I called and argued no one could tell me what they were for. I only had to pay a $150 copay for the whole thing, but god that bill made me SO MAD.

[Mellowyellow]

Is your medicine (drugs) expensive? Does your health insurance fund it or do you pay whatever the retail price is?

Our system for the actual drugs is complicated here but by the time we pay for our meds they are not too pricey because Medicare funds a lot of the cost (everyone has Medicare). If you are elderly or unemployed you can apply for a health care card which means you pay like a few dollars for your meds only. Great for the elderly who are sick and on a huge cocktail of meds.

[calliope1975]

10 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

Is your medicine (drugs) expensive?

Depends on the drug, if there's a generic version, and if you have insurance. I had an antidepressant recommended for me that would have been $150 a month with a discount. I couldn't afford it so I've been unmedicated since then. That's the most I've ever encountered for a drug, but I know others have seen much higher prices. 

[SleepDeprived]

1 hour ago, way2interested said:

Hospitals aren't allowed to turn you away in an emergency by law, and if they come after you for the money you can declare bankruptcy. Or if you meet the requirements, then you can apply for Medicaid which helps to cover you.

Yeah, hospitals can't turn you away if you're brought in through the ER. I was in a very bad accident 5 years ago (was walking in between 2 parked cars in a parking lot, 3rd car comes and rams one of the parked cars and I got sandwiched in between) and I was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, I had lapsed in my health insurance payments (which, lesson learned, I never forget now) but the hospital still took me in and I was confined for 5 days and then they had to sort of "force AMA" discharge me because they couldn't wait for my family to figure out the financials or the insurance of the guy that hit me to finish investigations and pay up. They couldn't even do any type of surgery or much of an intervention other than pain management (they, also, didn't have any specialists that could actually do the surgery needed for my shattered bones at that hospital) so I was pretty much just high on opioids the whole time while wondering if my leg would end up getting cut off. Luckily, my sister's co-worker's brother is an orthopedic surgeon at a different hospital, and he agreed to take me as his patient and make sure I got taken care of over there without worrying about the payments for a while. I had to have 2 surgeries and almost a month's stay at the hospital, which amounted to almost $300k hospital fees, plus more than $30k in professional fees of the doctors. The insurance of the guy that hit me ended up paying for everything in the end, though, and nothing came out of pocket for me. I was truly, super lucky and blessed that it all worked out fine. Otherwise, amputation and bankruptcy was a very real possibility for me at the time.

24 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

Is your medicine (drugs) expensive? Does your health insurance fund it or do you pay whatever the retail price is?

Yeah, it all depends on the medication. Not all meds are covered by insurance. You have to check with your insurance to make sure that your prescriptions are covered or if you'll need to pay any co-pays or have already paid the deductible prior, otherwise you'll pay the whole amount and a lot of non-generic drugs are very expensive.

[Mellowyellow]

@SleepDeprived thank you for sharing! That is just the kind of thing I was wondering about. *Big huggles*

I am flabbergasted they left you there with shattered bones and didn't do anything. I got the impression from the TV show that this would be the case but I thought maybe they sensationalised it for TV. 

[Morrigan2575]

One day we'll get to that universal healthcare system that Canada, UK, etc have.

In other news, I'm seriously loving Voltron, I'm half way through Season 2 and it's really getting interesting.  Love the storytelling and what they've built with Keith's hinted at backstory as well as the revelations of Shiro's story.

I just hope they don't follow the original with Shiro/Sven and Keith.   

[tv echo]

I meant to check out the new NBC show, Rise, that debuted March 13, but I forgot. Anybody see it? Is it worth watching?...

EW reviewer seemed to like the pilot, while the Vulture reviewer was more critical. CNN reviewer described it as a Glee-Friday Night Lights "mashup."

Glorious (from RISE) [Official Video]
Published on Mar 9, 2018, by Atlantic Records

[tv echo]

FYI - another Berlanti show...

You: Penn Badgley Lifetime Drama From Greg Berlanti Gets Premiere Date
By Ryan Schwartz / March 15 2018, 11:00 AM PDT
http://tvline.com/2018/03/15/you-penn-badgley-lifetime-drama-premiere-date/

Quote

Lifetime has set its sights on a late summer start date for You.

The new psychological thriller starring Gossip Girl alum Penn Badgley is set to premiere on Sunday, Sept. 9, at 10/9c, the basic cabler has announced.
*  *  *
The 10-episode series follows a bookstore owner named Joe (Badgley), who becomes obsessed with aspiring writer Beck (Once Upon a Time‘s Elizabeth Lail). He soon turns to social media to keep tabs on her and remove any possible obstacles that stand in the way of their romance. Executive producers Greg Berlanti (The Flash) and Sera Gamble (The Magicians) co-wrote the pilot, which is adapted from the Caroline Kepnes novel of the same name.

Rounding out the cast are Shay Mitchell (Pretty Little Liars), Zach Cherry (Search Party) and relative newcomer Luca Padovan; John Stamos (Fuller House) recurs.

Edited March 16, 2018 by tv echo

[BkWurm1]

Well that sounds like a how to for stalking, lol.  

[catrox14]

3 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

Well that sounds like a how to for stalking, lol.  

Seriously.

[Sakura12]

1 hour ago, BkWurm1 said:

Well that sounds like a how to for stalking, lol.  

It's supposed to be. The guy's

a serial killer.

. I hated the book. But knowing some people they will find it romantic.

[JJ928]

1 hour ago, Sakura12 said:

It's supposed to be. The guy's

  Reveal hidden contents

a serial killer.

. I hated the book. But knowing some people they will find it romantic.

Thank god! I only read it because so many people pushed it on me, and I hated it. Everyone I know loves the book.

Spoiler

I didn't bother reading the second book, since I hated Joe. I normally don't have issue with books based on serial killers, however, I do feel like he was romanticized & that's not my cup of tea.

Edited March 17, 2018 by JJ928

[Sakura12]

The second book was worse on that part. Joe is the worst and it felt like we were supposed to root for him and I have no idea why. 

[BkWurm1]

Ok, now I feel properly warned to skip that whole mess.  No thank you.  Not for me.  

[JJ928]

38 minutes ago, Sakura12 said:

The second book was worse on that part. Joe is the worst and it felt like we were supposed to root for him and I have no idea why. 

I figured it could only get worse. Ugh. I won't be watching the show & I gave away the book.

[bijoux]

4 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

It's supposed to be. The guy's

  Hide contents

a serial killer.

. I hated the book. But knowing some people they will find it romantic.

That makes me feel better. 

Quote

At least it’s intentionally creepy.

[tv echo]

Gina Rodriguez Hints at ‘Jane The Virgin’ Ending With Season 5
By Danielle Turchiano   March 12, 2018
http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/gina-rodriguez-hints-at-jane-the-virgin-ending-with-season-5-1202724184/

Quote

Will season 5 of “Jane The Virgin” be the last? Series star and co-executive producer Gina Rodriguez said so during the Women To Watch day of panels from Create & Cultivate and Fossil in Austin, Texas on Sunday.

Rodriguez discussed directing, which she tried her hand at in a pivotal season 4 episode, saying, “When it came to directing ‘Jane,’ as the star of the show — as a woman, as Latina, I was like, ‘I need to come so correct that I cannot be denied.'”

After calling it “the most incredible experience,” Rodriguez noted that her episode happened to be “the highest-rated of the season” and concluded by noting that she has plans to “do more [directing] next year — in our final season.”

However, the CW has not yet made any official announcements or pick-ups for returning shows next season.

Edited March 18, 2018 by tv echo

[tv echo]

I watched the premiere of NBC's Rise online. It's been described as a mash-up of Glee and Friday Night Lights.

Based solely on one episode, I would say that Rise is closer in look and tone to Friday Night Lights than Glee (though not as well-written as Friday Night Lights). Glee was more like a comedy, where the characters sometimes verged on caricature, the diversity seemed broadcast through distinct stereotypes, and the singing sometimes dominated the storytelling.

Rise is more realistic-looking than Glee, the diversity is more natural, and there's only singing when it's appropriate to the story, like during auditions or rehearsals for the musical (although there's still the occasional background song in the soundtrack).

The biggest flaw of Rise is the high school teacher, Lou Mazzuchelli (played by Josh Radnor), who asks for and is granted the right to take over the theater department from the long-time theater director, another teacher, Tracy Wolfe (played by Rosie Perez), simply because the male principal finds her to be a "pain in the ass." Lou then replaces Tracy's selection of Grease with Spring Awakening for the school musical. I guess we're supposed to root for Lou, but he just comes off as simultaneously depressed and entitled. Unfortunately, he has a lot of screen time since this show is based on the true story of an inspirational high school teacher named Lou Volpe. I also found the end of this first episode to be unrealistic.

However, the biggest assets of Rise are the students, especially Lilette (played by Auli'i Cravalho of Moana fame) and Robbie (played by Damon J. Gillespie), although several of the other young actors are also good.

Bottom line: I liked it enough to watch more, but I wonder if the appeal of the students can outweigh the annoyance of the teacher Lou. The show needs to find its balance - cut back on Lou's time and devote more time to the students.

ETA: I also wonder if any of these young actors will eventually end up in the Arrowverse like so many Glee actors.

Edited March 18, 2018 by tv echo

[BkWurm1]

I think it's easier from a narrative standpoint to initially set up stuff through a teacher and then switch focus to the students once the audience knows them.  Mr. Schuster eventually faded much more to the back in Glee as well.  

[Mellowyellow]

Guys!!! Need your advice! 

So I bought an emerald which is a softer stone. I have a gem setter I've worked with several times who has set quite a few gems for me and he always does a great job. Trouble is he works for a shop located in the CBD, which sells the settings for MUCH higher prices. I have used them in the past but now I am itching for a bargain. Just questioning how wise it is to suddenly be cheap.

Now I can take my emerald to the suburbs and save myself $400 on a setting which would translate to more diamonds and more bling on the actual ring. Or just a cash saving in general if I don't buy a blingy setting. BUT the suburban guy specialises in diamonds (which are super hard and resilient) so there is a risk he may crack my emerald. But I have spoken to them and told them repeatedly emeralds are SOFT and they have told me it's going to be ok.

Neither shop will cover damage to the stone (just the way it works unfortunately) and no I cannot buy a cheaper setting from Suburban shop to get the guy in CBD to set. They won't do it.  

What would you do? Pay the extra $300 to $400 or take a gamble to save money. If the suburban guy can set my emerald I will have found a source of cheap settings for my ongoing gem habit. 

[bijoux]

How much did you pay for the stone? As in how much will you lose if it's damaged?

[Mellowyellow]

$300 @bijoux

Stones are usually always more affordable than settings. 

[statsgirl]

If you can save $400 on the setting for a $300 stone, I would risk the suburban guy. As you sy, if it works out you've found a cheaper way to see you through your jewelry loves.

[Mellowyellow]

5 hours ago, statsgirl said:

If you can save $400 on the setting for a $300 stone, I would risk the suburban guy. As you sy, if it works out you've found a cheaper way to see you through your jewelry loves.

I could set garnets! My gem guy has lovely super affordable garnets in different shades but I've never bought any cuz the thought of spending almost ten times to set the stone boggles my mind! 

I currently have a $150 stone that is going to cost $1,000 to set. Everyone is telling me not to set it but I love the colour! 

[statsgirl]

You could try out your suburban guy with a garnet.  If he ruins the stone, its not such a big loss and maybe you could use the setting for a harder stone.

A setting that costs $1000 above the cost of the stones boggles my mind.

[Mellowyellow]

Gold prices have skyrocketed unfortunately and diamond melee is costly too.  Someone also told me the labour cost to set pave is pretty pricey. If we're not talking about diamonds, unheated sapphires and rubies or large Columbian emeralds with few inclusions and great colour then most gems are really affordable.

My settings are stock settings made in Hong Kong/ China so they are on the cheaper end of the scale already. Custom settings run into thousands of dollars. 

I have a $400 chrysoberyl sitting in a setting that cost my jeweller over $2000 to produce. He made it for someone ages ago and they just vanished and never paid him. By some miracle it fits my affordable stone and he sold the setting to me at a really affordable price so that stone is blinged to death and it looks like I spent a ridiculous amount to set this cheap stone. 

[Delphi]

16 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

I could set garnets! My gem guy has lovely super affordable garnets in different shades but I've never bought any cuz the thought of spending almost ten times to set the stone boggles my mind! 

I currently have a $150 stone that is going to cost $1,000 to set. Everyone is telling me not to set it but I love the colour! 

See,  if I had money for stones and setting them was so expensive,  I'd just go full on Catwoman and have piles of random jewels in my jewelry boxes. 

[Mellowyellow]

7 hours ago, Delphi said:

See,  if I had money for stones and setting them was so expensive,  I'd just go full on Catwoman and have piles of random jewels in my jewelry boxes. 

One of the posters on the jewellery forum has a bowl of gems next to her bed! I was whinging about developing a bad habit of accumulating gems without solid plans and budgets to set them and she took the snap for me just to show how bad habits can get!

[Mellowyellow]

@tv echo you mentioned OUAT in the other thread. What happened to it after a bunch of people left?

[tv echo]

^^^ Once Upon a Time returned this season (S7) with almost an entirely new cast. The only old cast members remaining are the actors playing Regina, Hook, and Gold (Emma, Snow, Charming, etc., all exited). Ratings dropped a lot from the previous season (down 42% in demo and down 21% in viewers from S6). The show has now been cancelled. There will be no S8.

Edited March 21, 2018 by tv echo

[Mellowyellow]

ooh thanks for the very nice and succinct summary @tv echo! 

[statsgirl]

I think the biggest problem with this season's OUaT was the casting of the new leads especially Henry and Cinderella (I can't remember her other name, which tells you something). They seem like nice people but utterly uncompelling. There were a couple of strong secondary actors like Adelaide Kane and Mekia Cox but they weren't on enough to counteract the others. Even Gabrielle Anwar, who was so marvelous as Fiona in Burn Notice, floundered here.

There were problems with the new storyline too. And moving if from Sunday night, which is kind of a family night, to Friday night, which is "book the babysitter" night, must have hurt too.  It was "oh, right, that's on tonight".

[Mellowyellow]

I think I've found a show I'm obsessed with more than Arrow!

My Kitchen Rules is on a break during our non ratings period and I don't know what to do with myself! It is my obsession 4 nights a week! 4 nights of delightful garbage with overhyped drama and crazy people who can't really cook! 3 week break!!!!!!!! 

[Mellowyellow]

45 minutes ago, jaye.elle said:

You should watch Gogglebox. It's great

Does it have the same over exaggerated promos, side eying and general crazy of MKR? 

Did you ever watch the Aussie version of The Bachelor/Bachelorette?

[tv echo]

The X-Files season (series?) finale was incredibly bad. I was embarrassed for DD and GA.

The Krypton pilot was also bad. 

All in all, last night's television watching was a big disappointment.

[BkWurm1]

6 hours ago, tv echo said:

The X-Files season (series?) finale was incredibly bad. I was embarrassed for DD and GA.

The Krypton pilot was also bad. 

All in all, last night's television watching was a big disappointment.

I was surprisingly ok with the X-Files finale.  In an odd way, I think if fixed the misstep they made in this season's opener.

Spoiler

In the opener they took away Mulder as Willaim's father and this time they kind of took away Scully as his mother.  And then William gave them their do overkid, lol.  When that happened I'm not sure., lol.   Also, the Smoking man referred to himself as William's creator this time so I'm not even positive that he didn't actually take DNA from Mulder and Scully in the first place and was just being hyperbolic about being the boy's father before. 

3

 It wasn't the most entertaining episode unless body counts amuses you (I confess to laughing at a couple inappropriate times); the episodes where they are just chasing after someone frantically rarely are great but it gave me a resolution that I can live with while leaving the fates of a couple people kind of in the air and at this point I am not sure if they averted the global pandemic or not (I don't consider it a spoiler since they've been warning about it since last season)  but since it was murky, I'll just say they did and leave it at that til I'm told otherwise.  So yeah, I ended up being more than fine with how it left things.  But I get why others may be ranting.  :D

Edited March 22, 2018 by BkWurm1

[Starfish35]

So did they really do the battle of the firefighter shows tonight? I haven't been paying attention, but I was just looking at TVLine, and it looks like ABC ran a two-hour series premiere of Station 19 (the Grey's spinoff), while NBC ran a two-hour Chicago Fire.   That's interesting programming. :)

[statsgirl]

Amnesty International has put out a report about bullying on Twitter,  #ToxicTwitter: Violence and abuse against women online

Quote

“Women have the right to live free from discrimination and violence, both online and offline. But by letting abuse against women flourish, Twitter is undermining these rights. Despite repeated promises to clean up the platform, many women are logging onto Twitter to find death threats, rape threats and racist or homophobic slurs littering their feeds,” said Azmina Dhrodia, Technology and Human Rights Researcher at Amnesty International.

“Our investigation shows that Twitter is failing to provide adequate remedies for those who experience violence and abuse on their platform. As a company it needs to do much more to respect the human rights of women.”...

In 2017 Amnesty polled 4,000 women in eight countries and found that over three quarters (76%) of women who had experienced abuse or harassment on a social media platform made changes to how they use the platform. This included restricting what they post: 32% of women said they’d stopped posting content that expressed their opinion on certain issues...

The report is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative research conducted over the past 16 months. It is based on interviews with 86 women and non-gender binary individuals, including politicians, journalists, and ordinary users across the UK and USA, about their experiences of Twitter’s failure to take reports of abuse seriously.

Good for them for saying it.

Good for them for coming out with it.

[Starfish35]

Being a Stargate fan means seeing a When Calls the Heart gif on Tumblr, and going "wait, that guy looks familiar....is that Narim!?"  Lol. (Turns out, yes, it was indeed Garwin Sanford.)

Edited March 24, 2018 by Starfish35

[Mellowyellow]

Can someone who knows TV stuff explain to me why my Fresh Off the Boat had a season finale with only 18 eps this season?

S1: 13 eps (First season so I get why it was only 13 eps)

S2 & S3: 23 eps

S4: 18 eps

I've googled and they haven't been renewed yet. Ratings have probably fallen but it did get a one for the finale and normally about 0.9ish. Maybe ABC is meaner than CW about ratings?

Anyway what I'm trying to ask is does this mean it's headed for cancellation?

[JamieLynn832002]

I don't really know anything about tv but TVline's Renewal Scorecard which is usually pretty accurate lists Fresh Off the Boat as a 'safe bet' for renewal if that helps

[Mellowyellow]

Oooh thank you! I didn't find that in my googling!

[BkWurm1]

4 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

Can someone who knows TV stuff explain to me why my Fresh Off the Boat had a season finale with only 18 eps this season?

S1: 13 eps (First season so I get why it was only 13 eps)

S2 & S3: 23 eps

S4: 18 eps

I've googled and they haven't been renewed yet. Ratings have probably fallen but it did get a one for the finale and normally about 0.9ish. Maybe ABC is meaner than CW about ratings?

Anyway what I'm trying to ask is does this mean it's headed for cancellation?

ABC and the other networks (NBC, CBS and FOX) do have higher standards for the ratings than the CW though all the network numbers are slipping.  That could be why the show got a reduced episode count. 

 

4 hours ago, JamieLynn832002 said:

I don't really know anything about tv but TVline's Renewal Scorecard which is usually pretty accurate lists Fresh Off the Boat as a 'safe bet' for renewal if that helps

If it helps for comparison, Legends of Tomorrow is also listed as a "Safe Bet" on the renewal scorecard while Arrow is listed as a "Sure Thing" but it's not a perfect system because they also have Dynasty as "a long shot" when didn't we hear it's most likely a lock because of some already in place overseas deal?