For those geniuses who desperately want to get a hot

[The Snark]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...s-everything-wrong-with-american-health-care/

 

[Liverwort]

Wow, I've never wanted a hot snake just because I didn't see the reason to keep them, but still, I feel angered that CroFab can just manipulate people like that and indirectly lead to the death of a man. Anavip can't come soon enough!

 

[pyro fiend]

well.. seeing as i work with this type of animal knowing of its potency,so i know the reality is all too real.. but then again.... i must laugh a little bit "man bitten wile trying to take a selfie with rattlesnake" like realy.. its one thing to have someone take a pic when your wrangling a snake but... all i can see in my head is him trying to hold it behind the head ,with his most likely least dominant hand, and holding his 'Ipwned 6' like "ima snapchat dis to muh friends so i look kewl!" smdh people nowadays -.- its one thing to have someone take a pic when your wrangling [must admit iv got a few of me with large constrictors and gators] but a selfie?... shoulda dropped the selfie stick and grabbed the snake hook -.- "wrong stick bro, wrong stick"

 

[Arachnomaniac19]

This is on the same level as those people who put pokies on their head for a picture. I hate to be so dark and cold ... but this is a prime example of natural selection. I mean there's a very good reason why you shouldn't put a medically significant hot herp close to your body.

 

[The Snark]

Recollections

I had just brought a group of about 15 people on horseback 18 miles into the high Sierras. I rode tail to keep the stragglers and lazy stable nags moving.

So I arrive at the flats and I've got horses and people milling about everywhere. About the minute I got my feet on the ground someone yelled snake! The people carrying their gear into the cabin were backing away in a hurry. Working my way through the crowd I see I've got a rattler coiled right next to the cabin door. It's pissed off and going like a buzz saw.
Now I know the western timber rattler pretty well. Given a chance it will uncoil and try to scram. But there simply is no place, direction, it could go where there wasn't targets. Except into the cabin and I had no idea if people might already be in there much less wanting to chase a hot rattler in a very crowded bunkhouse.

My rifle is on my horse but green riders and green horses - I let a shot off and BOLT! I might spend half the night rounding up the strays. So I worked my way as best I could behind the rattler then stomped, putting all my weight on that foot. Heavy leather engineer boots with vibram soles. My plan was to give everyone a chance to get clear and take the horses with them. When everyone was clear I had a pretty good chance leaping out of the strike zone, getting the rifle and so on.

Damned it that snake didn't managed to wriggle out from under my boot. It got about 4 inches out so I grabbed it behind the head. So there I stand. People in panic. The horses already had the jitters from the rattle and are doing the a-hole thing. The snake is in my off hand, non dominant, and wriggling like fury. I had a moment of lucidity about then. If it had been in my dominant hand I could have walked a half mile away and tossed it but I had my doubts about holding it that long. Then the old thoughts start wandering through my brain. Who is the only trained medic there? Me. What is our emergency drill? Fastest horse rides the distance then that person drives 13 miles into town and calls for the rescue helicopter but it's almost dark and they won't fly until tomorrow. Plan B is get patient on the best horse, mine and nobody can ride him except me...

&^%$& (Four letter word for fecal material). I've got to kill it in my hand. Does anyone have a sharp knife? No. Okay, who knows horses? I'm going to talk my horse down and you undo the cinch. He'll buck the saddle off. Chase him, get the saddle, In my right hand pack is my knife.

My left hand is in agony and cramping up. The snake hasn't lost any steam at all. It's going to bite like fury anything near it. Using my right hand to help restrain it seems to just be helping it wriggle out of my left.

The know it all about horses timidly undoes the cinch part way. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! PULL THE LOOP! Too late. He's heard rattler, he smells the water and the meadow and there's several mares he'd like to get to know better. Saddle slides off to his butt and rodeo time. Bucking his way across the thick sage. Finally the saddle is off and the knife produced. From a quiet evening getting horses and people fed and bedded down to this. And this thing in my hands is just about as dangerous as a grenade with the pin pulled.

So there we have that guy in that article in about the same fix as I was in and what did he want to do? Take a selfie! It's a shame hospitals can't tack on stupidity tax.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

What happens in USA if you don't have the money for pay that huge hospital bill, and you have nothing (a car/s, house, money in bank, no property etc) ? Jail?

 

[Dave Marschang]

sounds like a lot of over reacting to me. use a pack or something with some reach to shoo it away, and go on about your day. If it wasn't for possible escapes and risks to other people near by, I would say let anyone who wants a poisonous snake fill his house with em' if he gets bit its his problem. if he dies he got what he deserved.
We spend too much time and energy in this country trying to protect ourselves from ourselves, if people want to get them selves killed let em'. it's their right as a free American.

 

[FireSpider]

I'm not sure which part of this story is more unsurprising: that some people are less intelligent than the average invert, or that the American healthcare system is made of evil, heartless greed. At least this is one of those rare cases where the victim and the system deserve each other.

I love watching experienced handlers work with hot snakes and hotter inverts too. I think it's awesome that some people have the skills and experience to work with such things responsibly. But there's also a reason my dream is to have a gorgeous collection of New World terrestrial eight-legged pet rocks. I am not one of those awesome people with hot-handling skills, lol.

And selfie-sticks are the most obnoxious invention in history.

What happens in USA if you don't have the money for pay that huge hospital bill, and you have nothing (a car/s, house, money in bank, no property etc) ? Jail?

Jail? Seriously? Um, no. Most people who are overwhelmed by hospital bills end up declaring bankruptcy, which erases the debt. Contrary to popular belief, you get to keep your personal property and vehicles when you declare bankruptcy too, unless you have something abnormally valuable. Otherwise they'll get a court order to garnish your wages, but either way we haven't done debtor's prison on this side of the pond for a very long time.

 

[The Snark]

Hospital bills that amount to legal fictions certainly don't help consumers keep themselves out of debt trouble. Todd Fassler's bill is a perfect example -- he left the hospital on July 9, 2015. His bill said his $153,000 payment was due by July 27."

Take note, insurance companies don't even process claims for 30 to 60 days as a general rule. So as the article points out, the medical system is completely broken.

I've known several people with cardiac conditions that had to take medications that cost up to $600 per day. Kidney failure? Dialysis can cost as much as $2500 per day, sometimes for the rest of a persons life. Financial ruin.

Sometimes it's a moron like Mr. Selfie, sometimes it's a regular working stiff. The system is completely broken and even minor efforts to correct like Obamacare get shot in the ass whenever possible.


One thing is pretty obvious from this incident. If you keep hots, move to a country that has socialized medicine. Dicing with fangs is peanuts to dicing with insurance-profit racketeers.

 

[pyro fiend]

I had just brought a group of about 15 people on horseback 18 miles into the high Sierras. I rode tail to keep the stragglers and lazy stable nags moving.

So I arrive at the flats and I've got horses and people milling about everywhere. About the minute I got my feet on the ground someone yelled snake! The people carrying their gear into the cabin were backing away in a hurry. Working my way through the crowd I see I've got a rattler coiled right next to the cabin door. It's pissed off and going like a buzz saw.
Now I know the western timber rattler pretty well. Given a chance it will uncoil and try to scram. But there simply is no place, direction, it could go where there wasn't targets. Except into the cabin and I had no idea if people might already be in there much less wanting to chase a hot rattler in a very crowded bunkhouse.

My rifle is on my horse but green riders and green horses - I let a shot off and BOLT! I might spend half the night rounding up the strays. So I worked my way as best I could behind the rattler then stomped, putting all my weight on that foot. Heavy leather engineer boots with vibram soles. My plan was to give everyone a chance to get clear and take the horses with them. When everyone was clear I had a pretty good chance leaping out of the strike zone, getting the rifle and so on.

Damned it that snake didn't managed to wriggle out from under my boot. It got about 4 inches out so I grabbed it behind the head. So there I stand. People in panic. The horses already had the jitters from the rattle and are doing the a-hole thing. The snake is in my off hand, non dominant, and wriggling like fury. I had a moment of lucidity about then. If it had been in my dominant hand I could have walked a half mile away and tossed it but I had my doubts about holding it that long. Then the old thoughts start wandering through my brain. Who is the only trained medic there? Me. What is our emergency drill? Fastest horse rides the distance then that person drives 13 miles into town and calls for the rescue helicopter but it's almost dark and they won't fly until tomorrow. Plan B is get patient on the best horse, mine and nobody can ride him except me...

&^%$& (Four letter word for fecal material). I've got to kill it in my hand. Does anyone have a sharp knife? No. Okay, who knows horses? I'm going to talk my horse down and you undo the cinch. He'll buck the saddle off. Chase him, get the saddle, In my right hand pack is my knife.

My left hand is in agony and cramping up. The snake hasn't lost any steam at all. It's going to bite like fury anything near it. Using my right hand to help restrain it seems to just be helping it wriggle out of my left.

The know it all about horses timidly undoes the cinch part way. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! PULL THE LOOP! Too late. He's heard rattler, he smells the water and the meadow and there's several mares he'd like to get to know better. Saddle slides off to his butt and rodeo time. Bucking his way across the thick sage. Finally the saddle is off and the knife produced. From a quiet evening getting horses and people fed and bedded down to this. And this thing in my hands is just about as dangerous as a grenade with the pin pulled.

So there we have that guy in that article in about the same fix as I was in and what did he want to do? Take a selfie! It's a shame hospitals can't tack on stupidity tax.

*simply slow claps* yea like i said the guy grabbed thw wrong stick... Now yes, people are bit every year some are even caretakers for the snakes.. But this by far takes the cake smh

---------- Post added 07-27-2015 at 01:58 PM ----------

I'm not sure which part of this story is more unsurprising: that some people are less intelligent than the average invert, or that the American healthcare system is made of evil, heartless greed. .

Erm...rattlers have spines.. If tou knkw of one with an exo let me know ill go pick it up

 

[The Snark]

And to the bottom line. If you find yourself restraining a pissed off hot with your bare hand, if that option is even on your list, sell your hots and take up a safer hobby like buying a wing suit.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

One thing is pretty obvious from this incident. If you keep hots, move to a country that has socialized medicine. Dicing with fangs is peanuts to dicing with insurance-profit racketeers.

Here i have to disagree. I live in a country where there's socialized medicine, and an incident like that here will hit, trust me, the 19:30 dinner time "brainwashed people national news" like those gong in ancient China for the Emperor.

This will lead to a total ban, as a first result. And, on a personal opinion, i will agree (for different reasons) with the rest of my brainwashed citizens complaing about. We aren't supposed to pay for selfish, full of ego idiots.

Taxpayers pays the sanity system for the people. We pay, and, if we need, we get cured, for free. We pay for the unemployed, and homeless people. It's right. But pay for those idiots, no.

An old lady beated to death in her home by thugs needs to be cured asap, and for free. Street pirates victims, womens raped during jogging etc

Those idiots needs to pay their cure, as they pay gladly, and with no problems, for their beloved, hot pets. Fair enough.

I too sometimes (my arachno disease) had the temptation to buy a "Red Fang" Ctenidae, for 40 Euro, from Germany, then the moment after i realized it's not worth (and never will be worth) the risk, and stick with my, at least not potentially deadly, African Baboons.

Now i can't say, of course, if that hospital bill is "right" or "over exagerated", i'm not a Doc. But it's good to have them to pay for their mistakes.

 

[pitbulllady]

What happens in USA if you don't have the money for pay that huge hospital bill, and you have nothing (a car/s, house, money in bank, no property etc) ? Jail?

Nothing. The hospitals CANNOT refuse to treat anyone, regardless of that person's ability to pay, and it's been that way for as long as I can remember. If a person does not pay their bill, the hospital will just refer the bill to various credit collections agencies, and they will make phone calls and send letters, but that is as much as they can do. I've heard of some people having their income tax refunds garnished, but I've never personally known anyone who actually had that happen. Hospitals refer to such people as "indigents" and pass their bill along to everyone else, in the form of service price hikes. This is why a lot of low income people, who have no insurance, go to the ER for minor things like colds; they know that they can get free treatment there.
On the topic of the guy who wanted to take a "selfie" with a rattlesnake, though, it is my understanding that this was a wild snake that he found, not a captive snake. This is indicative of a huge problem, one I believe to be mental, that has erupted from the smart phone culture. Yellowstone National Park is experiencing a rash of people being gored and kicked by bison and elk right now, because the visitors want to get right next to these big animals to take selfies with the animals.

pitbulllady

 

[The Snark]

Nothing. The hospitals CANNOT refuse to treat anyone, regardless of that person's ability to pay, and it's been that way for as long as I can remember. If a person does not pay their bill, the hospital will just refer the bill to various credit collections agencies, and they will make phone calls and send letters, but that is as much as they can do. I've heard of some people having their income tax refunds garnished, but I've never personally known anyone who actually had that happen. Hospitals refer to such people as "indigents" and pass their bill along to everyone else, in the form of service price hikes. This is why a lot of low income people, who have no insurance, go to the ER for minor things like colds; they know that they can get free treatment there.
On the topic of the guy who wanted to take a "selfie" with a rattlesnake, though, it is my understanding that this was a wild snake that he found, not a captive snake. This is indicative of a huge problem, one I believe to be mental, that has erupted from the smart phone culture. Yellowstone National Park is experiencing a rash of people being gored and kicked by bison and elk right now, because the visitors want to get right next to these big animals to take selfies with the animals.

pitbulllady

Well, partly correct. It is the law in the US that hospitals cannot refuse service and thus low income people head that way for anything. However, failure to pay. This varies a little from state to state. The bill is sent to a collection agency. That agency has the authorization to pursue collection FOREVER. If the person gets a legit job and pays taxes the agency will get wind of it and garnish the persons wages. It happened to me. My ex wife went on welfare and ran up some bills. 15 years later my paychecks got garnished. I had to pay back to welfare every last penny. whee.

Now, how hospital billing works. You run up a bill. Your various insurance companies get in a race for last place. Each insurance provider will drag their heels hoping some other provider makes the payment first. This very often means the patient will get bad debted before the insurance companies pay anything. The common payment cycle before your bill goes delinquent is 30 days. The average insurance company response time: 60 days. Bend over, Rover. This info is from the social services depts of 4 hospitals I used to work at. It's pretty industry standard.

PBL, dead WRONG WRONG WRONG! But I love it. Yes people are mental. The smart phone has simply brought into focus the problem: one heck of a lot of people are too stupid to walk and chew gum at the same time. When they take selfies, we have stupidity chronicled. Living proof of what I have maintained all along. The vast majority of people are barely homo-erectus. See Farcebook for proof.

---------- Post added 07-28-2015 at 07:50 AM ----------

Pictures with Bison. Prarie Creek elk herd. Rutting bucks and a woman wanting to pet one. She got mounted. A man wanted to get a picture with one. A little fancy footwork and he made it to his car alive but the car ended up pretty much unrecognizable after the buck rammed it for a solid 10 minutes. No windows left, not a straight piece of metal anywhere. and dozens of holes poked right through the sheet metal. Ahh... the genius crowd of today.

In the emergency services we have a number of acronyms for these folks. CD: Cliff Divers-Drivers (set parking brake before humpy in the back seat, okay?), HUA, Head Up Arse, CCs: Crispy Critters - usually reserved for people who use gasoline for a cleaning solvent, TDTF, Too Dumb To Fart and so on.

 

[dementedlullaby]

Screw that. I'm getting one anyway. Just 'cause I can! I'm in Canada, free health care witches! That 153k *USD* is on their heads, not mine.

Or I'd probably die from the bite. I'm guessing the latter.

On a serious note while I have nothing against people who keep incredibly "hot" animals.....This guy had a rattler at home apparently? Like wtf? Really? Why are you playing with one in a bush? I think Naja has proper permits and everything but to my knowledge some States don't even require permits. IMO that's a little odd.

ANNND on a side note. Watch this guy who shoots up snake venom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q_m-rDUNw0 I'm wondering if he's dead yet.

 

[Galapoheros]

Doctors will over-charge because of not getting paid in the past. Sometimes they will over charge somebody they think has money to compensate for the person that didn’t “the other day”. Then the same doctors complain about socialized medicine, but over charging a person they think has money to pay for the other that couldn't ….well what’s that?! It’s not too far from what they complain about. The diff is that they are making the decision to tax the person that has money instead of somebody else(the gov) telling them what to do. Healthcare is one of of those topics, like gun control and birth control, they are topics with branches of circumstances but most people default to “yes” or “no” when imo it’s not a yes or no issue. I got ripped off and had to pay $20,000 for a kidney stone, absolutely ridiculous. btw, I am glad the stone is gone though lol.

 

[The Snark]

Doctors will over-charge because of not getting paid in the past. Sometimes they will over charge somebody they think has money to compensate for the person that didn’t “the other day”. Then the same doctors complain about socialized medicine, but over charging a person they think has money to pay for the other that couldn't ….well what’s that?! It’s not too far from what they complain about. The diff is that they are making the decision to tax the person that has money instead of somebody else(the gov) telling them what to do. Healthcare is one of of those topics, like gun control and birth control, they are topics with branches of circumstances but most people default to “yes” or “no” when imo it’s not a yes or no issue. I got ripped off and had to pay $20,000 for a kidney stone, absolutely ridiculous. btw, I am glad the stone is gone though lol.

I can't comment on the above as I have only heard rumors of that. However, doctors have a very sneaky trick some of them use regularly. They ascertain what insurance a patient has and prescribe treatments accordingly. A patient with a very high quality insurance package may get an entire week in a hospital when a couple of days is warranted and dozens of diagnostics prescribed that are highly questionable. As one example I saw, a patient with advanced atherosclerosis getting a CAT bone scan.
At some hospitals there is a Quality Assurance oversight department that watches for these little scams. While there is little anyone can do as a doctor is a final authority and kept in check only by peer reviews, at one hospital in the public inaccessible QA office a list was kept, prominently displayed on a wall, with the title at the top proclaiming FECAL ROLE ROLL. Doctors tended to try to keep their names off this list as all the other doctors and professionals at the hospital could read it.

Galapheros, $20,000 is small change for some kidney stones. Non Inv Lithotripsy usually starts around $50,000 and on up depending on the type, placement and number of stones. My ex wife was diagnosed, the bottom price was $80,000 with a ceiling of $130,000