$300 for health insurance is a deal.
Posted By: What do you do when it starts to on 2009-05-04
In Reply to: But how many of them are wasting their money? - ctmt
cost $1,000 or more a month?
Health insurance premiums, plus their refusal to insure people with preexisting conditions, are becoming prohibitive costwise for many (millions of Americans) to afford.
Though the example you gave may be true for some younger folks, I believe that's the exception and not the rule.
There is a huge crisis in healthcare in this country today. Good for you that you can afford it and just blame everyone else who can't. Maybe someday soon you'll be in the same boat with the 50-odd million Americans who simply can't afford it. Who will you blame then?
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Health Insurance/Health Care sm
I figure either one of two things will happen. Either the US will go to a single payer system, i.e., national health care covering all through federal taxes and cost control by the government, or therre will be an implosion of the private system in x number of years with something different emerging from the ashes.
With the exhorbitant cost of health insurance, mandating coverage is not an answer. Anything can be mandated. The question is how does one pay for it?Massachusetts mandated individual coverage, and already has had to exclude 20% due to the cost of a policy, anywhere from $1,200 to $1,400 a month for family coverage. Employers cannot afford to cover employees either due to the cost of health insurance. The current system? Well, insurance companies can charge $3,000 a month for a health insurance policy, health care providers can charge $800,000 for a 3-day hospital stay, etc. In the end no one, businesses or otherwise, will be able to keep "feeding the beast" and the current system will implode.
I think the proposal of being able to buy into Medicare is a noble one, but president Clinton pushed that years ago, and with much opposition and to no avail at that time.
I don't mean to sound so pessiimistic. Actually I'm not. There are 300 million people in this country, they have the ability to change anything, and hopefully they will take the initial steps to do that in November.
Health insurance
I'm not sure about that specific point, but in her plan if you don't purchase medical insurance your wages will be garnished. How's that for communism?
With health insurance, though
we are all driving basically the same model and we are insuring it for what could possibly happen, not what will or actually does.
Way back in the 1960s when I first started working, my company's health insurance did not cover single women for most 'female' issues, especially birth control and/or pregnancy-related issues, which has since been deemed discriminatory. Now you must cover everyone equally for every contingency.
The only way to individually ajust coverage costs would to be to exclude coverage based on genetic testing and/or family history, or maybe lifestyle issues such as alcohol or tobacco use or risky behavior like sky diving, which consumers have been fighting for years. This would probably also be deemed discriminatory.
MANDATORY HEALTH INSURANCE
You said it so well! It will bring everyone down too. What about more sliding scale clinics? We have one where I live and the care is quite good. They have patients from all income levels. Maybe we should give more tax breaks to those sliding scale clinics and encourage people with good insurance and lots of money to attend those clinics more often in order that others with less can afford decent care. I wish the Clintons would quit trying to force their health care ideas down our throats. Maybe they want us all to be socialists? By the way in case you have not guessed by now I am a Lifelong Republican, soon to be a right wing independent unless Fred or Duncan Hunter win. No one should be "forced" to get health insurance, especially one of the "crap" varieties that you mention in your post.
You view of the dem health insurance is way..sm
too simplistic. The idea is to have people pay what they can afford on a sliding scale for private health insurance. You have your private doctor and everything you have with your insurance now, much like people who have been in Medicaid. The only difference is that Medicaid is for the poorest and is free. The Obama insurance would cost what is a reasonable price based on what you can afford. I am not a know it all about this subject, but this is basically what I understand about it. It would not be run like the VA. I think we should bag the VA from the horrors I have heard about them. For shame treating our veterans like that!
Health insurance for children up to age 30...
Does no one see what is wrong with this picture?
Hint.....children.....30-year-old children...those children that should have their own jobs and their own health insurance.
Health insurance is my number 1 issue
I agree with some of what you said about the state representatives being held accountable. I did vote for Senate candidates in the last election based on their stances on healthcare. One of them has been working tirelessly (with many others) to expand CHIP health insurance to kids to more middle-income children in the state, and he was successful! Now that the income bracket was raised, my 6-year-old has healthcare again, and I am so grateful! (Bush is threatening to veto the legislation that expanded CHIP to more families, though, so I'm praying he does not do that).
I am relatively young (26) and so many of my friends do not vote. I am always encouraging them to do just that (whether they vote Democrat or Republican), and I think if Senate recall (I think that's what you called it) was in place, more of them might vote. For now, we just have to hope they keep their campaign promises in hopes of being re-elected.
I know Congress needs to pass the bills on health insurance, and I know many of the Congressmen (on both sides of the aisle) have been bought and paid for by the insurance companies, and that is very disturbing to me. That's one of the reasons I like Obama so much - I think he is a good man who has not been "bought and paid for" by any big corporations.
I think America needs to cover all medical costs for our children and our elderly, and I hope more Republicans candidates will address that issue. We need to take better care of our most helpless citizens.
To me $1000 health insurance premium is a lot
That's fine you don't care about the fact that many families are working their fingers to the bone just to pay for necessities, including health insurance, but I do. I care very much and am very sad that so many people in this country only seem to care about children that come from upper middle class and rich families. I guess they deserve better health care than the middle-class kids. I don't know how people that feel that way can go to bed with a clear conscience.
People in Congress that we took the time to elect put a lot of effort into negotiating this bill to make both parties relatively happy. YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE TAXED FOR IT. THE CIGARETTE TAX WOULD HAVE GONE UP. Keep telling yourself what you need to tell yourself to sleep at night, but the fact is kids with diabetes from a lower-middle-class income family have less of a chance of surviving than a child from an upper class income family. That is a sad, sad, fact.
The Candidate's Health Insurance Plans
MCCAIN:
• McCain's health care plan will increase taxes on employer-based insurance, and kick 20 million people off the rolls.
• McCain's plan will throw you into the individual market, where the same plan your employer offered will cost $2,000 more, and you can be refused care because you were sick 10 years ago.
• McCain's plan will shift costs onto the sick.
OBAMA:
• Obama's plan will cover tens of millions of Americans and reform the insurance industry such that everyone gets a fair deal and no one can be discriminated against because they were once sick or unlucky.
• It will create a group market that businesses can buy their employees into so that a small business that paints homes doesn't have to run a tiny insurance company on the side and an entrepreneur can pursue his idea without having to learn about health coverage regulations.
• It will cover all children. And Christ almighty, isn't it time we did at least that?
Once i took a full-time 3rd shift job for the health insurance - sm
I have some relatives who don't have health insurance - not provided by their jobs because their husbands are self-employed and they don't buy it themselves. They also think they are too good to work the job I used to for health insurance even though they would be quite capable of it. Therefore, I think I am too good to participate in a handout so they can have it.
I have heard Obama say that every American will have health insurance
and while that is a lovely thought, it is not a realistic one. Look what happened with children in Hawaii. People began dropping their own private insurance in favor of the public insurance and caused the system to fail. Unfortunately, health care is expensive and cannot be guaranteed by the government without a price. I think that it is a nice plan, but will ultimately fail because we have a lot of lazy people who think that Obama is going to be their goose that laid the golden eggs. It's as if some people here (and it is the deep south) believe that if they vote for Obama, he is going to ensure that everyone drives a Cadillac and eats lobster. It is silly and unfortunate. These people are still living in FEMA trailers. Did you know some people actually steal them? Now--don't get me wrong, I am sure that there are some hard luck stories of people with health problems and such that cannot get out of their FEMA trailers, but the vast majority of them are just lazy. It has been three years.. but I digress. I think that radical government change happens very slowly and Obama is ushering it in. My opinion. Feel free to disagree, but I feel that these programs are stepping stones. Oh--and TriCare is the military plan.
Here is what Hillary told people about her health insurance plan. sm
She actually came out and said that they would try to garnish your wages to make you take the gov't sponsored health insurance. Fortunately, it never got any further than that.
President is going after overblown insurance charges, crooked insurance plans, .....sm
crooked hospital systems that have become quite prosperous "businesses" on the backs of the elderly, but he is NOT AGAINST the eldery getting good solid care, that is political hogwash and propaganda, you wise up and read up, and I don't mean from Fox or Coulter of Limbaugh or one of the Pub sources......
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=av1lMcI6E1no&refer=home
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/
The deal is
just like the war, embryonic stell research has been so politicized that any kind of logical even-minded interpretation has flown right out the window.
I think it is a very big deal -
I don't think it would be a very big deal at all if she were the one paying for it and not the RNC - I don't think that clothes and makeup and haircuts is where most people think their donations are going when they donate their money...
and I don't think it sends a very good message at this time when people are trying to figure out how to buy gas and food and pay their utilities that they are paying $150,000 a month for clothes for her to wear..
and they will be donated to charitable causes? Give me a break!
Here's the deal...sm
1. What makes it so profitable for foreign oil companies is the tax cuts provided to them by our government. I won't even bother arguing who did that as its pretty obvious.
2. The US Department of Energy last time I checked was a page or two before the "funnies."
3. Within the same time (or probably less) that we could drill for more oil here in the US (which wouldn't even come close to producing the quantity we use, and would not stand a chance on the market due to taxes that are already in place) we could implement other sources of energy. In the course of this we would be providing renewable energy, decrease the horrific environmental impact on the environment, and create new jobs.
I also think this was a done deal
before the DNC. Remember how pelosi said SHE would take care of it (meaning the nominee) before the DNC? I had the feeling when HC conceded, it was because she was made a sweet deal by somebody.
OK, hon, this is the deal.
Hitler was an anti-Semite, granted. Using his Holocaust against the Jews as a historical parallel to illustrate the Palestinian Holocaust is not.
I do not wish to waste my time beating this dead horse with you, especially since your entire argument is founded on a false premise (a kind reference to what, in fact, is a filthy lie that seeks to dehumanize and trivialize genocidal slaughter). As long as you dismiss the occupation and "myth" and try to present a case that rewrites a distorted and warped history by assuming an exclusionary myopic perspective based on such an outrage (occupation denial), nothing you have to say holds any credibility and merits no further consideration or comment.
As long as the Israel perpetuates its own myth-based myth and believes it can justify state-sponsored terrorist apartheid occupation, it will doom itself to living in a parallel universe as a hated global pariah and its population will never see a moment of real peace or security.
that was quite a deal, eh? sm
Being conservative and pro-life (and never having given birth to boot), "freedom of speech" is something I want to see more often--certainly more than "racist!" Talk about an over-played, lame-@ss word, ya know?
My only take on it is that, like Savage says, "I leave vengeance to God." But you certainly have every right to say whatever you want, and I'm glad you said it without apology.
What really ticked me off was when Greg Jarrett on Fox used the term for pro-lifers as "extremists." Excuse me? I have every right to be pro-life and hold anyone I elect to that same mindset. So that makes me an extremist? It escapes me if I'm also considered a religious extremist.
That frosts me far more than about any of the lame remarks like GJs, etc.
Here's the deal about prejudice. sm
Prejudice is prejudice. I don't differentiate prejudice against overweight people any differently than I do prejudice for race. The left seems to be able to do that with no problem. Why, you would think they are all slender and well groomed. However, the presence in their midst of people like Ted Kennedy, Jerry Nadler, Barney Franks, Linda Ronstadt, etc., etc., would prove differently.
it's politics. deal with it.
Wow, that sure got your panties all in a wad, now didn't it.
Wonder why ?
Gotta deal
It is time for her to put on her big girl panties and face 'em head on. Politicians get bashed. They get bashed before they are elected and after they are elected. If she can't deal with them now, how the heck is she going to do it as the VP or possibly the Pres?
I think she can handle herself, but who knows if we will ever find out.
I think the debate is a big deal
One of these guys is going to be elected president in the next 41 days. I want to hear them debate. This crisis is not going to get worse because a few hours are spent on a debate.
See my ad below for a great deal on
$700 billion delivers it right to your door!
The reason it has become a big deal . . .
this is a woman who is almost single handedly dividing this country into pro-American and anti-American. (Can you say McCarthyism?)She who claims to be so patriotic and pro-America. If she is so gosh-darned American, than why isn't she buying her clothes at Wal-Mart? Can't get much more American than that! She actually sees herself as some sort of grand presevationist of the great American ideal -- bullhockey!. She is nothing but a power-crazed, hypocritical megalomaniac. She gives us legitimate women a bad name and I am ashamed to share gender with her!
Sorry you have to deal with so many cooks
nm
They sure won't be able to deal with it if he loses.
A $2M victory party already. If he loses what will he do? Many news casters both left and right say he should not be so bold to think he already has won. Nov 4th has not arrived yet. I'm hearing more and more democrats are voting for McCain. Polls are neck in neck (even though they don't mean squat), but they are all over the place. And we do have to factor in the 11% who are undecided. And factor in the people who are too afraid to publicly state they are not for Obama, yet when election time comes they feel more comfortable having someone in who has experience and knows what they are doing. So what's going to happen if they do lose. It IS a possibility after all. Even Michelle Obama at a rally said do not listen to the polls it is a close race.
I don't think for one second that there will be riots. I think that is a scare tactic being used by Obama supporters to put fear in Americans. "Vote for Obama or we'll riot". Pulleese. I know that if Obama wins there are a lot on the other side who will say the same. Illegal elections, votes stolen, it goes both ways.
So, I just sit back, hope the next 9 days go by fast and will wait until late 11/4 or 11/5 if it takes that long to see who won.
If Obama wins I will come back on the board and say "congratulations" but if he loses I will say "I told you so". It's at the time when people get too cockie that things don't work out the way they hope them to.
Of course you don't understand the big deal.
You could have written the scripts. A lot of it is identical to what you post on this forum.
Was a deal made??? probably. sm
And no matter what deal was made or how or by who, bottom line is that the American people are going to get the brown end of the stick....AGAIN.
I have an awesome deal right now too (sm)
My husband is a firefighter so we have insurance through the city (BC/BS). That's a relief all by itself! However, the city has gone one step further for its employees. They provide FOR FREE a clinic where you can go for the small stuff (cuts, colds, UTIs, etc). They also provide city employees with FREE medicine so long as they carry it. It has to be generic, but it's such a huge help. What this service provides us: For me: lipid-lowering agent, happy pills, sleeping pills, and PPI. For my husband: Blood pressure medication and PPI.
They did this because it is actually cheaper for them in the long run to provide this service to their employees with health maintenance drugs, thereby reducing the added cost to the insurance from people not being able to afford this medication and ending up in the hospital which in the long run increases the cost of insurance. I just hope they can continue to do this.
Geesh what is your deal?
I am laughing at this! Out of all the nasty, mean, down right horrible posts on this board, you pick this one to get your panties in a wad about? I dont get it? Abc posted that she could kill her baby in her tummy which is here opinion but what about that? why not be upset over that? is that cuz you agree with abortion and that is okay? you're like on a witch hunt or something.
The only ones making a big deal are
the liberals trying to argue that everyone is prejudice against him and a racist. Conservatives and independents could care less. Conservatives and independents try to argue about issues. The liberals (most but not all) are the ones who turn it into a race issue.
We all know he's half white/half black and I think the one making the biggest deal out of him being the first black is he himself.
big flippin deal
Desperately grasping at straws to stir up some kind of controversy.
no, here is the deal, the question was
did he give her a chance to answer the question or not? Yes he did. And since she did not, he looked it up for himself and gave us the the answer on tonight's show. She said her way of defending Sarah was by calling Bill-O a sexist during the campaign. SAY WHAT, how is that defending anyone?
Yes, I truly think we will get a worse deal...
...with universal healthcare than we have now. If you want to screw something up royally, give it to the gummint to run.
Good lord! Look at Canada or the UK, who have socialized medicine. You go into a Canadian clinic. It's a walk-in system. They don't make appointments. You take a number, which is 51. Number fifty is called. Then it's quitting time. You get sent home to come back another day and try your luck again. Need an MRI? Take a number. We'lll call you in 4-6 months - or you could go to the US for it. Need bypass surgery? We'll see about that.
It will become a triage system: You, sir, are 60 years old and overweight. Your cholesterol is too high. Why should we waste our precious resources on you when younger and more viable specimens are stacking up outside? No, you may not have an angioplasty - at least not this decade. NEXT!
Socialized medicine is a pretty good deal if you're young and don't need a lot of services - not so very good when you reach an age when you actually do need them.
U
what is the deal with the mob mentality...
is this gang up on old men day? And I say this with the utmost respect because I, for one, really like old men! Do you people have so little to say to actually bolster you stance on issues that all you can do to feel better is pick on one particular poster? Well, here you go--pick on me, too, if it will make you feel better about yourselves. I can, as I am sure TechSupport can, take it.
I just got my Dell, what a deal that was!
I have had Dells in the past, would have gone with them last year but I knew they had Vista, could not use with my platform and just recently learned you could still, for a price, have XP put on. Back to my story. Had always had really good machines from there, had put up with the language before, not as bad in years past like now. I got passed from pillar to post and back again ordering. I spoke with 1 person, completely unable to talk with them and told them I have to listen to different dialects each day in my job, not when I am ordering and told them wanted to speak to someone I can understand. I am older and don’t have time to play around. I placed order, delivery delayed and delayed and delayed. I thought it would never get here. Another delay and I was cancelling my order and it just showed up 1 day. I hope to get really good service, not from them because that just does not happen now, but from the machine itself. That was a chore to have to go through that and should never be that way. I was told about the delay that Dell could not get the parts needed for the computer??
Insurance companies.
I agree the insurance companies need a very, very major overhaul, but do you think the insurance companies are going to do that??? If they would there would be no need for a government run system, but the insurance companies will do absolutely zilch, and things cannot contine the way that they have been going.
I'd like to see the insurance companies
You're right about the mtg. insurance
It also irks me that somehow we are being asked for $700 billion to help these companies when $700 billion would go a long way toward ensuring Americans have health insurance - what about that Mr. Bush?
mccain - insurance
The Truth about the McCain-Palin Health Care Plan
!["](http://www.johnmccain.com/Images/ml4/hc/hc_main.jpg")
Barack Obama And Joe Biden Have Consistently Lied To Americans About John McCain's Plan. Their claims have failed every fact-check - from CBS to the Washington Post. John McCain is not going to raise taxes on middle class families. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the only ones in this race that plan to raise taxes.
![Get](http://www.johnmccain.com/Images/ml4/hc/HCFACTS_LEARNMORE.jpg")
![](http://images.johnmccain.com/Images/ml4/hc2/hc_1.jpg")
OBAMA FICTION
John McCain Will Tax Health Care Benefits For The First Time And Will Be the Largest Middle Class Tax Increase In History.
THE FACTS
This Obama charge is a blatant mischaracterization of the McCain Health Plan. It only focuses on the fact that the value of the employer provided insurance will now show up as additional income for the employees – what he fails to mention – is that John McCain’s generous refundable tax credit ($5,000 for families and $2,500 for individuals) will not only shield millions of families from a tax increase but will actually give them MORE dollars to invest in their health care needs.
The McCain Plan DOES NOT tax:
- Premiums paid by families and individuals
- Employers for providing health care coverage
- Medical expenses like the cost of a procedure or medication
- Insurance claims
Approach Supported By Obama’s Own Advisor: This is an approach supported by Barack Obama's own Senior Economic Advisor Jason Furman who wrote that "we could scrap the current deduction altogether and replace it with progressive tax credits that, together with other changes, would ensure that every American has affordable health insurance."
Better Than "Members of Congress": Under the McCain Plan, your employer can provide you with health insurance as good as a "Member of Congress" (approximately $12,000), and you would pay no more in taxes – regardless of your tax bracket. In fact, you would have additional money left over from the McCain tax credit to put in a health savings account.
|
Income Tax Liability |
McCain-Palin
Tax Credit |
Total Tax Savings |
10% Bracket
(Up to $15,000)
|
$1,200 ($12,000 x 10%) |
$5,000 |
+$3,800 |
15% Bracket ($15,650 - $63,700)
|
$1,800 ($12,000 x 15%) |
$5,000 |
+$3,200 |
25% Bracket ($63,700 - $128,500)
|
$3,000 ($12,000 x 25%) |
$5,000 |
+$2,000 |
28% Bracket ($128,500 - $195,850)
|
$3,360 ($12,000 x 28%) |
$5,000 |
+$1,640 |
33% Bracket ($195,850 - $349,700)
|
$3,960 ($12,000 x 33%) |
$5,000 |
+$1,040 |
35% Bracket ($349,700 and Over)
|
$4,200 ($12,000 x 35%) |
$5,000 |
+$800 |
Where Is The Middle-Class "Tax Increase"? If you or your family is in the 28% bracket, with an income of $180,000, you could receive employer provided health insurance even better than a Member of Congress, with a cost of almost $18,000, with no increase in taxes. Even the liberal leaning Tax Policy Center, agrees that the McCain proposals will result in a "net tax benefit" of more than $1,200 for an average tax payer. A recent Lewin Group study estimated savings of more than $1,400 per American family – almost three times the savings as under the Obama plan.
O says that he will force insurance
companies to insure preexisting conditions. That sounds like something that will put them out of business to me. No need to buy insurance until you need it. Think of all the lost jobs.
He is not going to mandate that you have insurance -
he is only going to make sure that it is available to everyone whether they have an employer-based program or not.
if you already have insurance you don't have to change - nm
x
Nobody said free insurance -
where did you get that? He said he would make insurance available at an affordable rate for everybody...
But what if you didn't have any insurance...sm
at all? Wouldn't they let you die then because they won't treat you?
But insurance companies already tell us no
What's the difference who says no? Some insurance companies pretty much say no to everything but wellness visits - and that's simply so they can find out if you develop a condition, so they can drop your coverage on a threabare excuse, or jack your rates to the moon so you'll have to drop it. Then no other company has to cover you due to it being preexisting. I don't want to pay for insurance that only covers me if I'm not sick!
At least if there was universal healthcare, even with a wait, they'd have to treat you eventually instead of NEVER. And do it for free.
How are insurance companies...
...involved in the transcription of patient notes?
That just doesn't make sense. 
Before canceling your insurance, you
should have checked a few things out.
I feel for you, but a pre-existing condition is NOT uninsurable if you have had insurance for 30 days prior to the illness.
Case in point: We had private health insurance paid for out of our own pockets for 6 years. DH had open heart surgery. In the meantime I got a job with a company, signed up for insurance and they stated a 1 year before they would insure him. Yet, it was less than 30 days since I signed up. All I needed was a Certificate of Insurance from our private carrier, and then no waiting period. I got that, and he is now totally insured under the company plan.
If you did not cancel your insurance until after your problem, you have a way out. Just ask the former insurance company for a certificate of insurance and no one can turn you down.
I'm not trying to be mean or whatever you want to call it, I'm trying to help, so don't take it the wrong way. Best of luck and hopefully, things will turn around for you.
No big deal. Everyone makes mistakes.
It's easy to do on this board sometimes. 
I don't think the phone call to CBS was a big deal....sm
This call has nothing to do with politics but more of a favor to a friend. He used his influence to help a friend out. Looks like CBS owed him the money anyway. Friends help each other out this way all the time, no harm done IMHO.
Travelgate is a different story. Firing the people for not reason to appoint friends is cronyism.
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