Here is what is supposed to be one of those feel-good stories:
A group of firefighters that won $10,000 in the Mega Millions lottery said that they will be donating part of their winnings to help save the life of one of their colleagues, KOB reports.
In a last-minute attempt to snag the $640 million dollars up for grabs last week, five firefighters at the Albuquerque Fire Department in New Mexico decided — 10 minutes before sales closed — to buy a few lottery tickets.
With astronomical odds stacked against them, no one was expecting much.
“We were just eating dinner and I had forgotten all about it because what are your chances of winning?” Lt. Steve Keffer told KASA.
Incredibly, one of their eleventh-hour tickets was a lucky one. Matching five out of six numbers, the firefighters nabbed a cool $10,000.
“Everybody at the station agreed that this would be a good opportunity for us to help the firefighters survival fund,” said Cpt. Jed Hyland.
The survival fund was established to help raise money for fellow firefighter Vincent Cordova, 24, who has a rare and aggressive brain tumor that will be fatal if not removed. He is currently awaiting surgery in Los Angeles — a procedure that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, KOAT reports.
My only reaction to this is WHY DON’T ALBUQUERQUE FIREFIGHTERS HAVE GOLD-PLATED HEALTH INSURANCE? What am I missing here?
Hunter Gathers
Duh, only job creators and evangelicals deserve that kind of healthcare.
Arclite
Lots of fire-fighters are volunteer/part-time.
A better question is, why don’t we have single payer like most of the rest of the industrialized world so that heroes like volunteer firefighters can get the care they need no matter what kind of firefighter they are: full time/ part time/ or volunteer?
Lee
Because that would be even more s0c ial 1sm than having the city run the fire department.
and shut-up.
thats why.
David Koch
Freedom isn’t free.
The invisible hand of the arsonist.
Culture of Truth
he must’ve been one of those free riders trying to game the system
Comrade Mary
They’re part of an evil public workers union and don’t deserve shit.
*sigh* I was chatting with some really nice Americans recently who had been living in Canada for a while and were getting ready to move back home. While they genuinely admired what we do up here, they said that once you get to a certain level of employment in the States, you really do get gold-plated insurance, swankier hospitals, etc. They told us that single-payer is going to be an uphill battle because people with that kind of coverage either can’t be arsed to try to change the system — because it works for them — or they will fight changes outright because they don’t want to risk losing an iota of the insurance they currently have.
Meanwhile, I know a Canadian moving down to the States soon who is simply planning not to get sick for the first three months until her “pretty good” insurance kicks in.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
they’re not good at politics?
Milwaukee Police And Firefighter Unions Endorse Walker Again In Recall
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports: Two unions that were spared from Gov. Scott Walker’s curbs on collective bargaining endorsed him Monday.
Keith G
When I was a public servant in Houston, I had damned good insurance. But if I used out of network care, expenses mounted very quickly. If I traveled to a distant city, I am sure those costs would have been colossal.
pragmatism
has anyone checked to see if zombie ayn rand isn’t slouching toward albuquerque like some sort of golem that was activated by people not acting in their self interest?
Bruce S
Fire Departments are Socialist!
Nuff said…
Rafer Janders
I’m confused — can’t he just go to the emergency room and get the surgery? I’ve been assured that’s the case.
Also, too, why hasn’t Catholic Charities just picked up the whole hundred thousand plus figure tab? I sort we were supposed to be able to count on the charities to step up when private busine….uh, I mean big government has failed.
Corbin Dallas Multipass
http://www.cabq.gov/fire/jobs (via http://www.emsfirerescuejobs.com/state/new-mexico.html)
“A career with the Albuquerque Fire Department offers stability and competitive rates of pay. Paid sick leave and vacation are granted annually. Each fire fighter receives a full benefits package that includes partially paid medical and dental insurance, life insurance, and a retirement plan. Other benefits are determined through the collective bargaining process.”
http://www.cabq.gov/jobs/why-work-for-the-city-of-albuquerque
“Health insurance is offered through Presbyterian Health Plan System.”
So yeah someone else can take it from there.
Bruce S
“I’m confused—can’t he just go to the emergency room and get the surgery?”
I thought the deal with brain surgery was that you dialed 911 and paramedics came to your house.
amk
They are prolly like these WI idjits.
dr. bloor
From one of the links in the linked article. Ten hours, five surgeons, although it shouldn’t matter with a policy that has an annual/lifetime cap. Is the money going to the cutters, or to support him/loved ones during the prolonged rehab? If it’s the former, to swipe a movie quote, they’re gonna need a bigger lottery.
pragmatism
teh VICTORY whisperer, veritas would tell you that those silly billy firefighters can just rely on charity.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
But I’m sure that in return for their endorsements that nice Gov. Walker promised he’d never go after their unions, and he’d never break a promise like that, would he?
Jeebus. The combination of stupidity and cynicism really is breathtaking.
BGinCHI
Gold plated health insurance?
It’s not like the dude is on the Supreme Court.
Warren Terra
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
That is disgusting.
Bubblegum Tate
Goddamn moochin’-ass firefighters. What have they ever done for society, right, wingnuts?
beltane
@Comrade Mary: The number of people with that type of “gold-plated” coverage shrinks with every passing year. However, even in the crappiest 3rd world hell hole there is always a small percentage of wealthy and connected people who enjoy top-notch health care on demand. Even Osama Bin Laden was able to receive quality health care while in hiding. If we are condemned to wait until the top 1% is denied gold-plated health care coverage we will be waiting forever because that day will never come.
Corbin Dallas Multipass
http://firefightercordova.blogspot.com/ is the particular firefighter.
gnomedad
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
When chased by a bear, you only have to run faster than your companions, I guess.
PeakVT
Speaking of drowning people:
urizon
Compensated firefighters are the exception, not the norm, here in the Hudson Valley. Almost all volunteers.
Dr. SkySkull
Unfortunately, he was determined to have a pre-existing condition called “living”.
Ripley
@pragmatism: New Mexico state government has an Ayn Rand-as-Golem stand-in named Susanna Martinez. She’s a terrible governor and a wingnut of the first magnitude. Yes, we’re becoming the Land of Disenchantment.
BGinCHI
@PeakVT: Countdown until they name the state New Mississippi.
BGinCHI
@Ripley: Is she popular?
PeakVT
Milwaukee Police And Firefighter Unions Endorse Walker Again In Recall
Lemme guess: both services have a, uh, shortfall of minority employees wrt. the city population.
Punchy
I’m sorry, I know you pay for good talent, and medicine aint cheap, but one million dollars for a sugery? That’s fucking outrageous. I’ve never in my life heard of anything even close to that. WOW.
Any docs in house to explain just whiskey tango foursquare runs up the tab so ungodly high? Are the stiches made of pure gold?
Judas Escargot, Your Postmodern Neighbor
@Ripley:
I have a hunch that Gov. Martinez has a good chance at Romney’s VP slot: Hispanic governor from a state that went for Obama in 2008 (by 15% or so), with the proper wingnut record.
Svensker
@Comrade Mary:
When Obamacare was being proposed I talked to some county govt workers — unionized, with great benefits — who said they absolutely didn’t want it to pass. Why? said I. Their answer: Because there’s not enough money for everyone to get health insurance and they didn’t want to share.
I was a bit gobsmacked.
Chris
@PeakVT:
Fucking chickenshits.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: first they came for the teachers, yadda, yadda, yadda….
It’s I got mine so there.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Punchy: my mom had surgery a few years ago, and the bill for the OR, for using the room, was IIRC 20 grand
Horrendo Slapp (formerly Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.)
Because that would be communism. If we take care of firefighters, we lose all our freedom, it isn’t so hard to understand. Besides, we know nothing about this “sick” fireman’s kitchen. He might have marble counters, and thus would be morally ineligible for any kind of help at all, and we should wish him nothing but a long and excruciating fatal sickness. That’s what Freedom! is all about.
Silver
@Horrendo Slapp (formerly Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.):
Cordova sounds like the name of an anchor baby, anyways…
HeartlandLiberal
Clearly we cannot allow these unions to sponge off the government. That would be socialism, and that would be wrong.
Same thing goes for the police.
Same thing goes for all those roads; and waterways; and airports.
That would be socialism, and that would just be wrong.
Truly, I am surprised I have to explain this to you.
WereBear
@Svensker: Classic “zero sum” wingnut thinking.
We could have economy of scale with medical care too, you economic jeenusuhes!
batgirl
24 years old? That can’t be — didn’t some asshole justice of the Supreme Court just tell me that 20-somethings don’t get sick and don’t need insurance?
Ripley
@BGinCHI: Her popularity is hard to determine – aside from making the requisite wingnutty grunting noises about immigration and the like, she’s largely invisible. Her policy record seems most prominent for a lack of any policy. Here’s an old link for some perspective; she appears to be popular for demographic and “rising star” reasons alone.
@Judas Escargot, Your Postmodern Neighbor: Yes, she’s the Marco Rubio of the West, without all that Cuban-American baggage. She’s known for her past DA position and as a corruption fighter, although she’s also known for fighting dirty and being corrupt herself. She’s infamous for a “only light-skinned Hispanics” casting call for a political ad. In short, she appears to be a sociopath, but as we’ve determined, that’s a feature, not a bug.
Nutella
@Judas Escargot, Your Postmodern Neighbor:
A wingnut from a very small state (population just over 2 million) who has not yet finished her first term as governor. What could go wrong?
Jess
@Nutella: LOL
General Stuck (on self glorifiication)
Yes, and so was Gary Johnson, who didn’t do much of anything as governing, and stayed locked in a do nothing standoff with our deeply blue legislature. Every now and then coming out with some kooky libertarian wet dream proposition, that went no where. Martinez is following in his popular footsteps as the Seinfeld governor about nothing. Other than making stupid moves like cutting back on tax credits for hollywood film makers, filming in our poor state. Which ends up causing more lost revenue than the tax breaks. But makes the nutters in Little Texas get woodies sticking it to those uppity movie stars.
ruemara
@Punchy: I had a blood pressure blow out a few years ago. Blood pouring from my nose and mouth like a live action Monty Python skit. Between emergency room use, 2 tampons up my nose, high quality 10% cocaine solution and people standing around looking at me, my share was $5k. My insurance was supposed to cover up to $12k, they covered $15k. And thanks for letting my boss in while I was choking on my own blood, assholes. They fired me a week after I returned from sick leave. Nearly $20k for 6 hours worth of work and I still paid for the actual attending physician’s cost out of my own pocket. When I asked the intake woman whether they took my insurance, she said sure and that my cost would be $200.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
I’ll try to give a non-snarky answer to John’s question.
Basically the firefighters failed to lock-in gold plated benefits back in the early 1990s when it might have been possible to scrape up the money for it, in part because back then they didn’t see coming the trainwreck that is today’s healthcare system, and since then there have been zero chances to fix the problem.
Albuquerque is at best an occasionally prosperous city (and the only really large city) in the middle of what has long been one of the poorest states in the nation. Wages are depressed here compared with national averages, which is partially compensated for by the low cost of housing (that is why everyone hasn’t moved away). The housing boom of the early-mid 2000s bypassed this market and we’ve been in mildly recessionary conditions more years than not since the mid 1990s. Combine that with the fact that the ABQ City Council normally has enough wingnuts on it to form a very slim majority (Dems don’t turn out to vote in City Council elections), and the net result is that the city has been in budget cutting mode for the last decade. So nobody in the public sector around here is getting gold-plated benefits, except for a few highly placed administrators. So, a nice place to visit and a nice place to live, as long as you don’t get sick.
double nickel
Too bad Albuquerque wasn’t in Canada.
WereBear
I have “pretty good” insurance. My surgery was simple, arthroscopic, only one night’s stay. They made me jump through hoops to make sure they would pay the 80%, and the 20% pushed us further into debt.
But hey. Could be worse.
Phoenician in a time of Romans
@gnomedad:
Being chased by a bear assumes you CAN get away. The Milwaukee police and fire-fighters will be, uh, staying in Milwaukee. They’re not running away faster than their fellow unions, they’re throwing them to the bear with whom they’re still trapped.
So there’s going to come a time when the bear is hungry again, and there’s no one around to fight with them…
PurpleGirl
@Punchy: What may go into the cost calculations:
5 surgeons and their teams of assistants and surgical nurses, the anethesiologist(s), general nurses, the operating room itself, possible consulting neurologist/surgeon, the MRIs and radiologist(s) to read the films and having any and all of these people on-call during the operation. The general nursing staff and the ICU staff to care for him after the surgery. The PT staff and rehabilitation doctors planning for care before the surgery and doing it later. A place for him (and his family) to stay before, during and after the surgery.
The million dollar quote may be off-the-cuff but may be fairly close to all the final costs. This is not to excuse the costs, but isn’t all the fault of the doctors. The insurance carrier he does have may have called this a pre-existing condition or said they’d cover part but not all of the costs. They wouldn’t cover the living expenses anyway. And yes, it shouldn’t be this way.
Maude
@ruemara:
I’d ask why they let your boss in, but why bother. Your story just made me so angry.
TaosJohn
Don’t know if it’s related, but we have one o’ them Republican governors now. Martinez (rumored to be a Romney veep choice) has already just about killed Amtrak service for the state and a whole lot more. Gave oil companies the keys to the place. Wouldn’t surprise me in the least if state cutbacks are the answer to your question, John.
BTW, it’s snowing here in Taos. Temperature right now is FORTY-FOUR DEGREES colder than 24 hours ago.
clevername
That’s a specialty service which requires a skilled neurosurgeon and oncology. You can’t get that in an emergency room.
Sammi
$10,000 buys a lot of chickens that can be used to barter with the doctors. I’m sure that, with all those chickens, he’ll get top-notch treatment.
Sammi
NM Gov. Martinez was a Democrat once. With Romney’s GOP cred in doubt by the base, I don’t think they’d wanna put another suspected RINO on the ticket. They will go with a proven conservative.
dollared
@Phoenician in a time of Romans: It’s all about the in-city residence requirement. Walker and the Republicans eliminated it, so the Milwaukee police and firefighters can now move out to the suburbs.
Seriously. Nothing worse than having to live amongst the people you beat senseless once a year. Or to pay taxes to the community that pays your wages.
Bubblegum Tate
@Dr. SkySkull:
Even worse, the mortality rate of said condition is 100 percent.
PopeRatzo
The answer to the question, “Why don’t the Albuquerque firefighters have gold-plated health insurance” is almost certainly, “Republicans”.
I can answer and be certain of answer, without knowing any of the details about Albuquerque or the fire department down there.
I can tell you, with equal certainty, that the answer is NOT “unions”.
PhoenixRising
Im not a firefighter but I do use an insurance company approved by that very same state “regulatory” commission, so I can tell you:
Because he can’t get the surgery he needs in-network, he has to pay until an out of pocket limit is reached, and that OOP is roughly the current value of the economy of Greece, in drachmas. No travel expenses are covered, either.
Yeah, my family is enjoying our new lifestyle while we wonder if it’s worth a bankruptcy to wipe away the $25k we now owe, not including 3 weeks in historic Philadelphia. But at least my kid isn’t wondering whether I’ll be there for the quincenera. So it could be worse.
It’s comforting to know that the weasels at the insurance company are mistreating this dying kid who is also a public employee protected by group benefits in the same criminally negligent fashion that they’re treating me, except that it takes some of the enthusiasm fr finding a good lawyer out of my already winded sails. My suspicion is that the firefighters union has the power to negotiate, which I don’t as an individual policy holder, and that therefore lots of the other victims of this practice have no standing.
Lurker
@Punchy:
Yeah, it’s not like we’re talking about brain sur–oh, wait.
Seriously, though, advanced medicine is expensive. If it wasn’t, the average Joe would not need health insurance to pay for it.
PhoenixRising
@PopeRatzo: Nope, but that is the answer to why NM’s utility regulation commission which “regulates” health plans is a flaming bag of dog crap left on the porch of unsuspecting citizens who get sick instead of dying in a car wreck like our DUI rates would suggest to be inevitable.
PhoenixRising
@PopeRatzo: Nope, but that is the answer to why NM’s utility regulation commission which “regulates” health plans is a flaming bag of dog crap left on the porch of unsuspecting citizens who get sick instead of dying in a car wreck like our DUI rates would suggest to be inevitable.
Debbie(aussie)
Gee whizz! If you lived in a soc!alist country like Aus, he would have his surgery done for nothing or if he wanted as a private patient with health ins that cost about $3-4000/year. You poor barstards ;)