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Dealing with Medical Situations

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Dealing with Medical Situations

Old 02-04-19, 01:31 PM
  #26  
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Uber/Lyft, neighbor, ambulance - not necessarily in that order.

I may have had as many medical appointments, ER and urgent care clinic visits in 2018 as bike rides. Those three worked for me when I wasn't able to take the bus, ride my bike or walk.

I think I did ride my bike once to an ortho follow-up after I was hit by a car. But a thyroid issue and surgery for cancer later in the year sapped my energy, so I mostly used the bus, taxis or friends.
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Old 02-04-19, 03:08 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by canklecat
Uber/Lyft, neighbor, ambulance - not necessarily in that order.
Last year my next door neighbor was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got nabbed to haul me to Urgent Care for "blood poisoning". I stabbed myself with the pick I use to dig glass out of my bike tires - the most filthy tool in my house! Red line running up my arm, neighbor drove up just as I was about to bike to the doc.
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Old 02-04-19, 09:26 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by Machka
One of the reasons I ask this question is because I've been tentatively diagnosed with a fractured hip. I've been told not to walk, and if I have to, I should use crutches.
Also, very very sorry to hear this...especially after what you and Rowan have recently been through
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Old 02-04-19, 10:04 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by JoeyBike
Last year my next door neighbor was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got nabbed to haul me to Urgent Care for "blood poisoning". I stabbed myself with the pick I use to dig glass out of my bike tires - the most filthy tool in my house! Red line running up my arm, neighbor drove up just as I was about to bike to the doc.
Yikes. I've had bouts with cellulitis from cat bites and scratches. My grandparents had way too many cats and I tried to save them money by doing whatever cat health care I could do. My cousin's husband was a vet and would give us the pills or injections. Usually it went well but occasionally a cat would bite and scratch the hell out of me. Pretty scary to see those red, burning and swollen capillaries and lymph vessels. I've been to urgent care a couple of times for that -- took the bus both times. I still have cats but don't do home cat health treatment anymore. Our vet is only a few miles away and has a magic touch with cats. He slides them around on the countertop with one hand, like a bartender wiping down the bar, while injecting them with the other. They're paralyzed in his office, no hissing, scratching or biting. I don't have that magic touch.

I'm fortunate to have a neighbor willing to schlep me to medical appointments if necessary. He's offered many times -- even the long round trip to and from Dallas -- but I've taken advantage of the offer only once, a few months ago when I was almost too weak to walk. We just went to the local hospital, only 5 miles away. Turned out to be a wonky thyroid. Docs put me on levothyroxine, removed a cancerous tumor and the endocrinologist Monday said I'm doing better. Just takes patience to get the thyroid levels back to normal. I've been riding my bike a couple of times a week and my speed is pretty good, but I'm exhausted rather than invigorated after rides. The doc told me to take it easy but the bike wants what the bike wants.
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Old 02-04-19, 10:21 PM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by Machka
One of the reasons I ask this question is because I've been tentatively diagnosed with a fractured hip...
...
Do any of you have a service that takes incapacitated people to medical appointments?
Yikes. That's a challenge.

In my former rural home it would have been a challenge to do anything without a vehicle. I had a truck then. In 2007 I moved to the city to take care of my mom when we realized she was in the early stages of dementia, among other health problems. She quickly declined from using a cane to a walker to a wheelchair.

Fortunately she was eligible for reduced rates for the city transit system's special bus/van service for folks with disabilities. It cost around $5 each way, whether to and from the hospital, for grocery shopping or even recreational or entertainment trips. As her caregiver I rode free. The only catch was scheduling -- everything had to be scheduled 24 hours in advance. They could accommodate some leeway in return trips since medical delays were unpredictable. But initial trips to the first destination had to be on time within 5 minutes. And the regular city bus was an option, only $1 each way and the large city buses have wheelchair ramps.

I ended up not using my truck at all, and the batteries would die. For a year I never even moved the truck from my reserved parking space and my former apartment complex manager gave me the evil eye and threatened to have it towed. So I gave it to a relative whose husband abandoned her in a rural town with no bus or taxi service.

I ride my bike, walk or take the buses and trains. As a disabled veteran I'm eligible for VA assistance with transportation but my disability isn't bad enough to request that service. They have veterans with far worse disabilities, who can only get around with wheelchairs or walkers. I just take the public transit. The VA reimburses my travel expenses. It's cheaper and easier to take the bus and train than drive and park.

There may be other alternatives. Some taxi services may offer discounts for folks with medical disabilities, at least for the expected term of recovery with confirmation from a doctor. Ditto some charitable organizations. A friend who volunteers for Catholic Charities in my town says they provide vans to help transport folks with temporary medical disabilities and other temporary or transient needs.

There may also be a Facebook group that may be able to help organize ride shares or transportation to medical appointments on an informal basis. Any such group should be set to private, away from prying eyes, with the understanding among group members that posts are confidential and not to be reposted and shared.
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Old 02-06-19, 12:06 PM
  #31  
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Taxi!
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Old 02-06-19, 07:11 PM
  #32  
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Family. We mostly live within 3 miles of each other and rely upon each other for medical emergencies. My wife's sister drove her to the hospital for both births. The first on her water broke in the car. When my back was thrown out family member picked up scripts and things while wife was working. Family is indispensable.
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Old 02-06-19, 08:51 PM
  #33  
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Machka's family all live in Canada or another part of the American continent, which is somewhat beyond question for offering help here in Australia. And my own family is scattered in either location or attitude to not be available.

Yeah taxis are great if here you don't mind paying over 10 times the bus fare to cover the same distance, and maybe put up with crap driving and discussion in a language that is not possible to understand.
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Old 02-06-19, 09:30 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by Rowan

Yeah taxis are great if here you don't mind paying over 10 times the bus fare to cover the same distance, and maybe put up with crap driving and discussion in a language that is not possible to understand.
I can see where taxpayers picking up the tab for personal transportation to get to important medical appointments or carry on every-day life while not being able to get out and about would be preferable to paying for taxi service, if/when family, friends, or public transit are not available, convenient, or cost more than you wish to pay.
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Old 02-06-19, 09:37 PM
  #35  
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Dealing with Medical Situations

After a serious reply to this thread, I made a tongue-in-cheek one:
Originally Posted by Machka
You're going to use a stretcher to go to work, do your shopping, and take care of errands?What about when you can't walk? Or cycle or drive?

How do you go about your daily life? How do you get to your follow up medical appointments?
Originally Posted by Machka

Like let's say you broke a hip or leg or badly burned a foot or something.

What resources does your area provide for those sorts of circumstances?
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
Stretcher would be for emergencies [for transport to an ambulance]. Otherwise as I described[link]:...

For a further comprehensive list, I could get the servants to bear me on a sedan chair or a rickshaw...Now that's car-free...
This evening I read on this thread, "A vision of transportation of the future - vintage 1952":




Originally Posted by jefnvk
TO be fair, that isn't too incredibly different from the pedal-cabs that are popping up in cities...
Originally Posted by NomarsGirl
Looks like a pedi-cab. I see them all over the place.
Originally Posted by indyfabz
Taxi!
Here in Boston, pedicabs appear pretty much only in baseball season, though in New York City they were prevalent on a visit around 2006, though I don’t know if they can be called for like a taxi.
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
When we visited central Manhattan several years ago during the summer, I was astounded at the number of pedicabs seemingly all over, day and night. We even rode from and back to our Hotel to the Rainbow Room in black tie evening attire.

Here in Boston, the only ones I see in any number are on Red Sox baseball game days in a relatively small area of the Back Bay extending about two miles at most from Fenway Park.


We live near Fenway, and often walk through the Back Bay. The pedicab fare (via tips) is at least about $15, while a taxi would be about $8 with tip. However the pedicab can negotiate the traffic more easily.
Originally Posted by noglider
Pedicabs don't seem that practical to me. I think the fee is at least $1 per minute. I think only tourists ride them….
PS: Pedicabs are a lot easier to enter and exit than taxicabs, especially in the compact cabs in Boston; one of the few comparative advantages of NYC, with spacious Yellow cabs.

Last edited by Jim from Boston; 02-07-19 at 08:00 AM. Reason: Added PS
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Old 02-07-19, 12:23 AM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
I can see where taxpayers picking up the tab for personal transportation to get to important medical appointments or carry on every-day life while not being able to get out and about would be preferable to paying for taxi service, if/when family, friends, or public transit are not available, convenient, or cost more than you wish to pay.
As a taxpayer and someone who has worked since 16, I've paid for those who came before and needed transport, so if I ever need transport and can't arrange it, I have no problem with using the same system. Given that my son has never owned a car and bikes everywhere, he's not going to be driving me. Also, consider the # of pedestrian injuries caused by seniors driving (which have increased in the last year quite a bit) I think we might all be better off if older folks had free transport. Too many old folks with cataracts behind the wheel these days.
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Old 02-07-19, 01:45 AM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by linberl
As a taxpayer and someone who has worked since 16, I've paid for those who came before and needed transport, so if I ever need transport and can't arrange it, I have no problem with using the same system. Given that my son has never owned a car and bikes everywhere, he's not going to be driving me. Also, consider the # of pedestrian injuries caused by seniors driving (which have increased in the last year quite a bit) I think we might all be better off if older folks had free transport. Too many old folks with cataracts behind the wheel these days.


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Old 02-07-19, 01:45 AM
  #38  
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So I used a taxi on the way there, and the bus on the way back. Not entirely ideal, but the best I could do at the time.
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Old 02-07-19, 07:56 AM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
Here in Boston, pedicabs appear pretty much only in baseball season, though in New York City they were prevalent on a visit around 2006, though I don’t know if they can be called for like a taxi.


Yeah, they're certainly a novelty thing here too. I doubt on a Tuesday morning in April you'd be able to hail one to take you to work, they mostly work the downtown areas during drinking hours.
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Old 02-07-19, 09:47 AM
  #40  
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It's also an interesting question surrounding the idea of community. I'm not a church goer but know quite a few locally and part of the attraction is the sense of collective concern they have for their congregation. They are always checking up on people in need and providing meals, rides etc... If we look past churches there are also service or social groups that many people belong to (Lions, Rotary, Legions etc...) where social friendships and connections are made and relied upon in times of need. Or even the old concept of neighborhoods or small town concern for each other.

One strange thing for me, in regards to car free living, is that densification seems to make transportation easier but I have found it also made me feel more isolated from others. Alone in a sea of strangers.

In modern society a lot of those things have been lost by choice or circumstance and when something like this occurs a person can be left feeling quite alone, even in a city of people. I've been that way several times in my life because I am. by nature, rather self reliant and socially reserved but currently (because I have an amazing wife) now have a pretty good network of friends and we are constantly filling in the gaps for each other when they occur. One is now undergoing breast cancer treatment and there is a que for accompanying her to radiation appointments and providing meals for the family...

Not a solution for the current problem perse but another aspect to consider, especially if one is going carfree. It's a form of infrastructure we often overlook.

Ps. I must have missed it. How'd you break the hip Machka?
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Old 02-07-19, 10:08 AM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by linberl
As a taxpayer and someone who has worked since 16, I've paid for those who came before and needed transport, so if I ever need transport and can't arrange it, I have no problem with using the same system. Given that my son has never owned a car and bikes everywhere, he's not going to be driving me. Also, consider the # of pedestrian injuries caused by seniors driving (which have increased in the last year quite a bit) I think we might all be better off if older folks had free transport. Too many old folks with cataracts behind the wheel these days.

You also seem to have no problem disparaging "seniors" and "old folks." Do tell "us", just how many pedestrian injuries are caused by seniors driving? How many "old folks" with cataracts are behind the wheel? What age makes the cutoff between "we" presumptive healthy folks who can choose our own transportation mode to go wherever "we" want, and allegedly decrepit old folks that you would make dependent on government/charity provided transportation services to regulated "needed" destinations?

You do seem to have a problem making a distinction between people needing help (financial and/or physical) with transportation, and some self-entitled people just not wanting to pay for personalized door-door service at their beck and call for whenever they feel the need for it.
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Old 02-07-19, 10:24 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
You also seem to have no problem disparaging "seniors" and "old folks." Do tell "us", just how many pedestrian injuries are caused by seniors driving? How many "old folks" with cataracts are behind the wheel? What age makes the cutoff between "we" presumptive healthy folks who can choose our own transportation mode to go wherever "we" want, and allegedly decrepit old folks that you would make dependent on government/charity provided transportation services to regulated "needed" destinations?

You do seem to have a problem making a distinction between people needing help (financial and/or physical) with transportation, and some self-entitled people just not wanting to pay for personalized door-door service at their beck and call for whenever they feel the need for it.
First of all, I AM a senior, age 69. And I know of what I speak. In my community there has been a massive increase in pedestrian injuries at night from drivers and our police stats show that 70% of the drivers were over 65 years of age. Having actually been in a car with a friend, not knowing she had cataracts, I discovered she could not see pedestrians at all when driving - and it scared the crap out of me!!!! I now have a cataract in my left eye and realized I cannot see white cars if the sun is behind me when I turn to look so I am having surgery in March (earliest I could get). It's very easy to not even realize you have cataracts. And it's something that is VERY common for seniors. I'm not going to respond to the rest of your comment; I've seen enough of your previous posts to know I don't want to engage with you more.
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Old 02-07-19, 10:51 AM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by Mobile 155
From my perspective medical situations take priority over LCF.
That's everybody's perspective. I imagine if the most hardcore opiate abstainer was administered IV morphine to improve blood flow in the middle of an acute heart attack, that would take priority too. Would you no longer consider them to be drug-free?

Last edited by cooker; 02-07-19 at 11:02 AM.
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Old 02-07-19, 10:56 AM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by Machka
Now I'll ask the question, how do you deal with medical situations? Situations where you can't ride your bicycle or walk ... and can't drive.

What services do you have in your area to help you?

Obviously if it is really bad, you'll call an ambulance. But suppose you need to get to important medical appointments or carry on every-day life while not being able to get out and about.
Since you added "and can't drive" this is really not about LCF - but more generally, how does anybody, with or without a car, access services when they can't take themselves there, in or on their own vehicle. And of course, the answer is, they get somebody else to drive or accompany them, or use some other service like public transit (if they're mobile enough to access it). Some cities have a separate door-to-door disabled person's transit service. Or they take a cab or Uber/Lyft. Worst case scenario - call an ambulance.

Last edited by cooker; 02-07-19 at 11:05 AM.
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Old 02-07-19, 11:04 AM
  #45  
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Originally Posted by linberl
So my car was sold Thursday (yay, car free) but I was just thinking about what to do if I needed to get my dog to the emergency vet. I can call an ambulance for myself, and there is an pet ambulance in S.F but I live in the East Bay and they don't offer service there. What to do if I need to get to the vet asap? Can't imagine Uber or a taxi letting me put an injured dog in their cars. This is kinda freaking me out now...not completely off topic as it IS a medical emergency.
Can you ferry him in a cab if he's in a crate? How big a dog?
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Old 02-07-19, 11:12 AM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by cooker
Can you ferry him in a cab if he's in a crate? How big a dog?
I'm not worried about regular appointments, I can get my dog there. I'm just thinking about if an injury occurs. I saw someone's dog get attacked by an off leash dog while walking and their dog was hurt pretty badly, bleeding, etc. I don't imagine a taxi would respond quickly enough nor want a bleeding animal inside. It's only life-threatening emergencies I'm worried about......where getting my dog to the emergency vet fast matters, and I don't have time to make arrangements. I guess I would have to hope one of my neighbors was home....I can't find any other solution. Fingers crossed I will never need this, it's really the only situation where I cannot figure out a solution for me not having a car. $$$ would not be an issue, I'd pay whatever to get my dog to the vet, so flagging down a stranger and offering a hundred bucks might work or whatever.
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Old 02-07-19, 12:22 PM
  #47  
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Originally Posted by linberl
First of all, I AM a senior, age 69. And I know of what I speak.
And I am more senior than you and have already had cataract surgery in both eyes. And my wife just had hip replacement surgery two weeks ago and has had to get to and from medical appointments as well as the hospital 75 miles away for the surgery.

Because you rely on a single anecdote and a statistical factoid from who knows where about an alleged increased danger to "us" from "old folks" driving, I will assume this "fact" is made up or it is something you read or heard somewhere.

Your proposed taxpayer funded solution to this alleged problem - presumably free door to door transportation for seniors to go where they want, when they want, doesn't sound like a way to cut back on society's use of motorized vehicles for personal transportation. It only would change who owns and pay for the vehicles, as well as requiring taxpayer payment to taxi drivers or government employees driving government vehicles to chauffeur seniors.

Somehow my wife and I mange our own transportation and are managing successfully without running down pedestrians or seeking transportation assistance from the government or a charity. And we figured out the transportation to and from the hospital all by ourselves even on a -20ºF day as well as another day with 10 inches of snow.

Our 19 year old Chevy Prizm with 200,000 miles started right up and handled the snow with aplomb. Note I have only put a little over 1500 miles on it in the 20 months I bought it mostly for taking my wife around town to appointments and local shopping. Even used it to take the cat to the vet too. If we needed taxi service due to disability or car problems I would have paid the cost. Living costs money, living with a disability costs money. I have no problem with society assisting those who need help, but am not for proposals establishing taxpayer funded transportation services to cheapskates who don't want to pay what they can afford for already available services, or to those who make conscious decisions that make their own living (and transportation) situation more difficult.
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Old 02-07-19, 01:03 PM
  #48  
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Originally Posted by cooker
That's everybody's perspective. I imagine if the most hardcore opiate abstainer was administered IV morphine to improve blood flow in the middle of an acute heart attack, that would take priority too. Would you no longer consider them to be drug-free?
It doesn’t matter what I think. People will do what they need to do in a medical emergency. Ideology comes second. I accept that.
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Old 02-07-19, 08:15 PM
  #49  
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Originally Posted by Mobile 155
It doesn’t matter what I think. People will do what they need to do in a medical emergency. Ideology comes second. I accept that.
is it even ideology?
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Old 02-07-19, 08:38 PM
  #50  
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
And I am more senior than you and have already had cataract surgery in both eyes. And my wife just had hip replacement surgery two weeks ago and has had to get to and from medical appointments as well as the hospital 75 miles away for the surgery.

Because you rely on a single anecdote and a statistical factoid from who knows where about an alleged increased danger to "us" from "old folks" driving, I will assume this "fact" is made up or it is something you read or heard somewhere.

Your proposed taxpayer funded solution to this alleged problem - presumably free door to door transportation for seniors to go where they want, when they want, doesn't sound like a way to cut back on society's use of motorized vehicles for personal transportation. It only would change who owns and pay for the vehicles, as well as requiring taxpayer payment to taxi drivers or government employees driving government vehicles to chauffeur seniors.

Somehow my wife and I mange our own transportation and are managing successfully without running down pedestrians or seeking transportation assistance from the government or a charity. And we figured out the transportation to and from the hospital all by ourselves even on a -20ºF day as well as another day with 10 inches of snow.

Our 19 year old Chevy Prizm with 200,000 miles started right up and handled the snow with aplomb. Note I have only put a little over 1500 miles on it in the 20 months I bought it mostly for taking my wife around town to appointments and local shopping. Even used it to take the cat to the vet too. If we needed taxi service due to disability or car problems I would have paid the cost. Living costs money, living with a disability costs money. I have no problem with society assisting those who need help, but am not for proposals establishing taxpayer funded transportation services to cheapskates who don't want to pay what they can afford for already available services, or to those who make conscious decisions that make their own living (and transportation) situation more difficult.
Do you feel the same way about Medicare?
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