Fuckwittery 101
Jan. 27th, 2011 10:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normalAh, my grad school never ceases to let me down as a major source of fail. Today's shining example:
We were having a hypothetical discussion of the soda tax, which is supposed to raise revenue and cut down on health care costs by encouraging people to drink fewer sugary beverages. This is all fine and inoffensive until SOME DUDE decides to chime in with, "Why don't we just tax fat people for being fat?"
YES LET'S DO THAT. Because clearly only fat people need to be penalized for being unhealthy. I mean, really, health is all about how you look, not what you eat or how much you exercise, right? OF COURSE IT IS.
"But shouldn't unhealthy people pay more, because their treatment costs more?" this dude asks. That would be why we have INSURANCE PREMIUMS, dumbass. And let me tell you, they will charge you a higher premium for anything even remotely close to a symptom or predisposition for a condition.
Undeterred, his next suggestion is, "Well, has anyone considered raising the Medicaid and Medicare premiums for unhealthy people, the way private insurance does?" Fortunately, the dude sitting next to him (who I think was ready to slug him, lol) fielded this one by pointing out that the ENTIRE PURPOSE of Medicare and Medicaid is to provide affordable insurance to people because NO ONE ELSE WOULD INSURE THEM. Old people in particular are not cost-effective - their health is pretty much guaranteed to deteriorate, which will inevitably end up costing a crapload of money. This is why we HAVE Medicare. Making them pay more pretty much defeats the purpose of the program.
But the best part? Douchey McDumbass is in my group for the final project for this class. AWESOME.
(Also, for those who were wondering, no, I did not finish my homework for tonight, and no, it did not matter. We spent the entire class on our presentations - which were just as redundant and boring as I anticipated. I totally winged mine and did fine. And so the reading and discussion questions we were supposed to have done for this week is now due next week. See? Laziness totally pays off.)
We were having a hypothetical discussion of the soda tax, which is supposed to raise revenue and cut down on health care costs by encouraging people to drink fewer sugary beverages. This is all fine and inoffensive until SOME DUDE decides to chime in with, "Why don't we just tax fat people for being fat?"
YES LET'S DO THAT. Because clearly only fat people need to be penalized for being unhealthy. I mean, really, health is all about how you look, not what you eat or how much you exercise, right? OF COURSE IT IS.
"But shouldn't unhealthy people pay more, because their treatment costs more?" this dude asks. That would be why we have INSURANCE PREMIUMS, dumbass. And let me tell you, they will charge you a higher premium for anything even remotely close to a symptom or predisposition for a condition.
Undeterred, his next suggestion is, "Well, has anyone considered raising the Medicaid and Medicare premiums for unhealthy people, the way private insurance does?" Fortunately, the dude sitting next to him (who I think was ready to slug him, lol) fielded this one by pointing out that the ENTIRE PURPOSE of Medicare and Medicaid is to provide affordable insurance to people because NO ONE ELSE WOULD INSURE THEM. Old people in particular are not cost-effective - their health is pretty much guaranteed to deteriorate, which will inevitably end up costing a crapload of money. This is why we HAVE Medicare. Making them pay more pretty much defeats the purpose of the program.
But the best part? Douchey McDumbass is in my group for the final project for this class. AWESOME.
(Also, for those who were wondering, no, I did not finish my homework for tonight, and no, it did not matter. We spent the entire class on our presentations - which were just as redundant and boring as I anticipated. I totally winged mine and did fine. And so the reading and discussion questions we were supposed to have done for this week is now due next week. See? Laziness totally pays off.)
no subject
Date: Jan. 28th, 2011 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Jan. 28th, 2011 09:04 pm (UTC)I don't think I've ever heard a professor actually say, "Um. No." to a student before. :)