I spent 6 yrs in the USN, 1972-1978. But I always feel funny refering to myself as a Viet Nam Vet, since most people always ask if I was in Viet Nam. My father spent 1940-1946 in the USN, but no one asks if he was a WWII vet..

The VA considers everyone who served “in time of conflict” (1960?—1975) a Viet Nam vet.

Betances with another start showing non-terrible control. 1BB 6K, the not so great part: 5 IP 3ER, 92 pitches. Other good things 5-2 GB-FB. Decent things: 5 H.

I’m hoping he’s put the mechanics together. If he has there’s a non-zero chance we could see him in the BP near the end of the year.

Back in first place, at least for the next 24 hours.

Back in first place, at least for the next 24 hours.

Rent, don’t buy.

4:we are? Doesn’t seem like it.  Lester gave up how many runs?

[2] Think I’ve heard “Vietnam Era Vet”.

My kids are at the nearby VA health system day care center - it’s pretty great.  As is the VA system per everything I’ve read, which is as it should be.

Lester’s ERA corrects to his FIP.  Hmm, not his xFIP.

Meds thru the VA are much less expensive then thru Medicare because the VA is allowed to bargain.

Since we’re way off topic, my father in law, who served with the 8th Army in Korea (not during the war) raves about VA health care.  I’m not sure how to square this with all the current combat vets who seem not to get the care they need.

And repeating SG’s sentiment, a big thank you this Memorial Day to all those who have served.  And thoughts and prayers to the families of those who have lost their lives doing so.

Agreed.

I am formerly of the pharmaceutical industry, and worked for a time as an analyst in my old company’s Managed Care Contracting department.  As far as I can tell, the VA Health Care system is easily the best model in the States.  Physicians are salaried and the focus is on preventative care because the VA knows that they are going to be taking care of each person for the rest of his or her life.  And because physicians aren’t financially motivated to administer tests, they are allowed to focus on what’s right for the patient.  The cents on the dollar spent that goes to care is by far the most efficient of any health care provider in the States, and it’s not even close.  Interestingly, savings through pharmaceuticals is actually a very small portion of that efficiency…I am no apologist for the industry (I got out of it because the idea of working for Darth Vader for the rest of my life was terrifying)...but drugs do in fact represent a much smaller portion of total healthcare costs than most people realize.  The VA certainly gets them cheap, but the meat of its efficiency lies in an (ironically) lean bureaucracy, a focus on the long-term benefits of preventative care, and physicians whose incentive lies not in volume of procedures but in patient management.

My dad, a retired USAF colonel, was in Viet Nam.  To this day I know very little about what he did there.  He flew jets.  He once mentioned a shrapnel wound he suffered in his foot.  He doesn’t complain about the treatment he receives at the VA, which means it must be pretty great.

My father was a filthy hippie draft dodger.

After I separated from the USAF (1996-2000) I worked in a shitty job before going back to school.  I switched from full to part-time at my job (lost my healthcare) for school and after about a year and a half, I discovered a lump in my neck.  I started freaking out because a) OMIGODWTFcancer! b) I had no insurance.

My better half at the time talked me off the ledge and told me I should check with the VA.  I didn’t think I qualified for anything because I had no service-connected medical issues and I wasn’t a retiree.  But I did call them and because I was a poor student, I qualified for coverage.  I went to three appointments, including a biopsy (benign), and my surgery was scheduled.  It took ~four months from initial visit to diagnosis to surgery before I was done.  But I was low on the priority ranking (young guy, non-life threatening) and the care was top-shelf.  I think I can buy into VA care since I’m no longer a poor student, or at least use my insurance there.

Solve high healthcare costs?  Sign everyone into the VA system.

VA = NHS, basically, right? 

Oh, yay win!

Today RLYW taught me that I should join the military for VA healthcare.

My father was one of the few at Fort Hood who could type and was made a Master Sergeant who stayed in Texas during WWII. I went to work for the military industrial complex and avoided the draft and was a not so filthy hippie.  I’m no economist but it seems to me low overhead and CEOs not looking to get mega rich are good.components in health care delivery system.

Wait, they are injecting Colon’s own fat back into him?  That isn’t a practical joke?!

I’d like to thank all of those who have served Bartolo Colon. And that’s a lot of people.

[12]  I’d be skeptical of any HC system that mainly relies on salaried govt employees to provide care.  While govt-run hospitals may succeed in eliminating the financial motive to order a lot of unnecessary tests, by the same token, it also eliminates the financial motive to work really hard and get really good patient results.

[21] It’s his good looks that make everyone want to serve him.

[20] I’d like a moment to remember all of those that Colon has eaten. Also a large number.

[19] It’s called recycling.

Solve high healthcare costs?  Sign everyone into the VA system.

Compulsory military service? I approve (although, I think that some sort of civil service should act as an equivalent as well).

[21] Well, regardless of your ideological misgivings, the fact is that the VA consistently delivers excellent outcomes.  The current predominantly pay-for-treatment health care model differs from most other market-based models in that the desired outcome, health, is inversely related to the financial motivation of the health provider.  Physicians would prefer to see you more and administer more tests and treatments, as it will maximize his or her profit.  Financial motivation for salaried physicians can instead be tied to quality of care delivered.  There are a number of ways to realign how healthcare is delivered to improve its efficiency and efficacy; right now in the US, the VA delivers the highest quality of care on the dollar.  It’s fair and appropriate to be question if such a model could manage significant expansion, but being skeptical on ideological grounds while ignoring loads of outcomes data doesn’t make much sense.

[21] I’d be skeptical of any HC system that mainly relies on for-profit insurance companies not trying their damnedest to deny coverage for everything. After all, their first obligation is to make money for their shareholders. Also see [18] and [26] for motives of fee-for-service providers.

Also, if you’ve ever worked at a VA hospital, you’ll know the docs there are sharp as tacks and work their asses off, and same for the rest of the staff. It’s a real no-bullshit operation.

[27]
I agree.
My experience (not only in medicine) has always strongly suggested that the ideological insistence that people do bad work unless the incentive is money (high pay) is one of our country’s most pernicious myths.

[21] We’re heading afield into politics, but doctors are aware that patients can’t tell if they’re getting above-average results or below at above-average cost or below - doctors rarely have any way to tell that themselves.  But salaries work for e.g. the Mayo clinic.

[28] I do damn good work for shit money. Incentives are nice, but personal pride is greater.

I’m would agree that the profit motive is an incentive to mobilize a lot of money to solve problems, though it’s also true that what profits a company and what benefits society are two different things.  It’s also true that researchers motivated by the desire to know more can make breakthroughs too.  I have no problem with both.

[30]  That is not what I hear about your work…

Kidding aside, I’m leaving reality TV to work harder for less money as a writer & documentary producer.  So I know what you mean.

And of course we need look no further than people like SG, Jonathan, and Mike K who do excellent work for NO money.

Though I believe that SG is secretly a wealthy nobleman, like the Scarlet Pimpernel.

They seek him here, they seek him there, those Townnies’ seek him everywhere, is he in heaven or is he in hell?

[32] Aw shucks!  I really don’t think of what I do as work.  Well, sometimes trying to argue that the Yankees really aren’t as bad as they seem can be work…

[26]  “The current predominantly pay-for-treatment health care model differs from most other market-based models in that the desired outcome, health, is inversely related to the financial motivation of the health provider.”

Not sure what you mean by “current predominantly pay-for-treatment health care model.”  Currently, only something like 13 cents of every HC dollar is paid by the patient.  Everything else is paid for by the govt in one form or the other, or by an insurance company, or ISN’T directly paid for (e.g., people using ER services without paying) and therefore is passed along to everyone in the form of higher prices.  So the current system is anything but a “pay-for “treatment” model.  I don’t think it makes me a raging ideologue to question whether the solution to the continuous price spiral in the HC sector is to fix it so that 100 cents of every dollar is paid by someone other than the consumer. 

Also, I’m not saying that, if put on the govt payroll, every single doctor would suddenly become lazy and uncaring.  I’m simply pointing out that taking the profit motive out of the practice of medicine removes a major overall incentive for docs to deliver quality services in the most efficient, lowest-cost manner possible.

“Financial motivation for salaried physicians can instead be tied to quality of care delivered.”

Sure, if you can devise metrics that can be seriously and consistently applied within the constraints imposed by whatever civil service/union umbrella the doctors are working under, you could theoretically make the docs feel like they had a strong financial motivation to do a great job.  However, this doesn’t address the problem that the “employer”—in this case we’re talking about the VA, itself wouldn’t have a profit motive, and therefore wouldn’t have any institutional incentive to lower overall HC costs.  If they’re operating in the red, Congress will just increase the subsidy and/or taxes that are going to support it.  By contrast, private businesses have to compete in terms of quality and prices or they go under.

Speaking of health care and complete game shutouts, shouldn’t Mark Prior be making it back to the field one of these days?

[36] Is he getting VA care?

[37]  Well, he is a seasoned veteran.

[38] I enjoy my veterans with paprika and sliced almonds, although I’ve heard rumors that Prior would be best served with rosemary.

Hands behind you, Clay - out of the stadium with you!

[36], [37]

Damn you two.  I just spit pepsi on my computer monitor.

I’m leaving reality TV to work harder for less money as a writer & documentary producer.  So I know what you mean.

Sell in.

But seriously, you’ll still have a source for the top chef gossip, right?

But seriously, you’ll still have a source for the top chef gossip, right?

Top Chef is serious business. And one of the decent reality shows.

What’s Russell Hantz really like?

Teix has been cookin’ a hot bat in May. (See what I did there) I vote we call June 1st - May 32nd, and so on. Need to keep May Teix around since him, Granderson, and Martin are the only 3 hitters this team has that aren’t completely cooked.

cookin’ a hot bat

That just seems wrong.

Top Chef Spelunker edition

Though I believe that SG is secretly a wealthy nobleman, like the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Aside from the wealthy part and the noble thing, this is dead-on.