Has Your Healthcare Coverage Cost Gone up, or Down?

Is your healthcare coverage more affordable now?

Ours has gone up.

If it helps someone-- fine! Otherwise not fine at all.

12/28/2010


Alice:

I guess that's the new health care law ! Now their
talking about " Death Panels," I guess they'll put us old
people to sleep ! Joking ! I have already made a Health
Care Proxy and a Living Will , NO EXTREME MEASURES !
I just want to slip away peacefully, not artificially !


Cheers...Joe

Joe,

You are a young man--too young to slip away.
I have that too.
Everytime I go for surgery they ask me if I have an advanced directive. I tell them yes, but I wasn't planning on needing it just yet.

The "death panels" are NOT part of the law but represented one of the scare tactics to excite the public.

Yes, new legislation may initially impact insurance costs because the insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry and the medical lobby all seek to increase their profits in case limits are placed on just how high their costs may go in the future. Just like the new credit legislation to protect consumers allowed for a window that banks rushed into and raised their fees quickly before the new legislation was fully in effect.

The new legislation is a cobbled attempt to get something in place. Of course it is imperfect. That does not mean it should be thrown out completely. Any new legislation will need some finessing along the way.

It still does not insure everyone and states are throwing away good tax payer dollars by "fighting" the legislation. I believe it is a CRIME that every child in this country age 0 to 18 years does not have medical and dental care. That is what costs money. Preventive care in the early years with proper nutrition leads to a healthier, more intelligent and creative adult population. I will gladly pay my taxes to support a system of healthcare that benefits all citizens, even the illegal ones. Disease is disease, and it spreads. I want everyone free of disease so I can be healthy. I am just that selfish to want to pay the taxes that insure my future health and that of those I love.

DK,

The death panels came from Palin. I, too, want everyone covered. The reason I asked was that a fomer co-worker was telling me he was going to pay $1100.00 per month for himself, wife and child.

I want him to pay less. I don't mind paying more.

12/28/2010


We'll I guess the new health insurance laws are making
the premiums sky rocket ! Soon no one will be able to
afford them, and I don't believe Sarah Palin created the
death panels. From all I read people have to decide what
they want if they get very ill, just as I mentioned I created
a health care proxy and a living will stating my wishes..


Cheers...Joe

I hope the health care coverage works out well. I would like to see everyone covered with our tax money. Instead of war, we can pay for health care.

Our insurance costs are the same. My husband had an ER visit recently. Our out-of-pocket was $400 on a $3,800 bill. That bill was for about three hours there, mostly waiting on a test. We weren't even sent home with any sample meds, just a script to get filled at the all-night Walgreen's.

This crazy cost is because hospitals are forced to absorb the costs of all the illegal border-crossing criminals, their many kids, and assorted other home-grown deadbeats. The only crime being committed of 0-18 yr olds not being insured is the crime of their incompetent parents having children without being able to provide for them.

Quote :

I will gladly pay my taxes to support a system of healthcare that benefits all citizens, even the illegal ones

So I assume you pay extra each year when you file your income tax, checking the box that asks to donate extra to the federal government?

" I will gladly pay my taxes to support a system of healthcare that
benefits all citizens, even the illegal ones. Disease is disease, and
it spreads. I want everyone free of disease so I can be healthy. I am
just that selfish to want to pay the taxes that insure my future health
and that of those I love."

In this case, the entire quote is really quite necessary. My reason to support a healthy country is entirely selfish just as stated above.

Since we are not able to designate to which fund we wish our extra taxes donated, I will continue to support specific charitable contributions where I know exactly the route my contribution takes. Since my income is quite small, my tithe is likewise quite small.

The other suggestions I have made in previous threads along with those by other members of the forum would make quite a difference in the collection of tax money to support a healthy citizenry.

LC,

Why would anyone want to be legal? If you are legal they can take you house for a medical bill.

Regarding the price of health care. My individual policy through my employment was $700 for one person per month. The coverage was minimal with high co-payments and lots of limits within a network system (Aetna). I remember many years ago (1988) coverage for my family was $1200 a month. I lived on a sailboat and most of the families with whom we sailed internationally had no health insurance and no insurance on their boats - medical care in any other country was affordable. Health insurance was unnecessary. Drugs could be purchased without a prescription and one pill at a time if an expensive drug - the price of the pill - not more expensive because it was one. Dental care was downright cheap. Many places you could describe your ailment to the pharmacist and bypass a physician altogether.

I'm not taking the illegal "bait." That horse has been beaten to death already. Illegals are a moot point as potential jobs dwindle and they are no longer recruited by U.S. agricultural industries;some enforcement at the employer level is taking place. Those that remain need to receive medical care, however, to protect me.

As for losing a house, might as well rent these days. A house is a diminishing asset, just like trailer homes. Or as we used to say in the boating community, a hole into which you pour money. I recommend leasing a car and renting a dwelling. That way a person can feel free to bury themselves in debt and enter bankruptcy to clear it and start over. Why own anything?

Let's be humane. An animal shouldn't suffer or a person either. I don't care who they are or where they came from if they are here, let's help them.

Stop the wars. Help sick folks! We need to get our priorites straight.

I think about that when I see the bedraggled animal cruelty ads on television. We need some bedraggled people ads to soften the hearts of those who just don't get it. Thank you, Alice, for your kind heart.

alice wrote:

LC,

Why would anyone want to be legal? If you are legal they can take you house for a medical bill.

Alice, that implies that something is wrong with the system that would take your house away.
The old health care programs placed limits on how much they would pay for a particular illness/disease. Why not a limit on how much a person should pay? when a person loses the house, they usually lose their ability to live independently. When they lose that ability, they become dependent on the government for assistance. Someone needs a reality injection, especially those making the rules.

Abe,

Something is very wrong with our system.

LC is upset because she thinks the illegal aliens get free health care. I have never even seen an illegal alien in the hospital--maybe I live in the wrong part of the country.

They are probably billed as any other non-insured person which is what they are expected to pay.

Remember the insurance company always discounts what they will pay. Some aliens probably pay more than their share.

In my opinion losing one's health is enough--why take their house also?

We fight wars and do not charge, why not fight disease for free as well?
I am tired of blaming people for being ill.

12/29/2010

Alice..

When my Mother was ill 25 years ago, she had a helluva time
getting help, she had Congestive Heart Failure, she was ill for 5
years. Her and my step-father only had Medicare, he was retired
and had Social Security plus a small Army Pension, they also had
a house, they were still paying for it. Because of all this they
couldn't get extra medical help, I had to help her pay for her
prescriptions. When she finally did get the help she needed they
put a lean on her home ! She passed away in 1990 at 63, my
step-father died 5 years later, when my sister and step-brother
sold the house they had to pay off medical bills in order to get
the lean off, what the hell kind of country are we living in !


Cheers...Joe

12/29/2010


I used to go to a Dr. here in Santa Fe, he has a large medical
clinic, these days it's getting harder and harder to find a Dr.
who has a private medical practice, he told me it's insane to
have your own practice, too expensive. They used to pack
the patients in , there were sorry to say tons of illegals and
they had medicaid, I don't know how the hell they got it, but
they know the system well, here in Santa Fe it's well know to
have illegals, I drive by a church called Guadalupe , their lined
up all away around the block looking for someone to give them
work, one day one jumped in front of my car and I almost hit
him, scary as hell.. This town is known for not enforcing the laws,
it's a known fact and Gov. Richardson gave them the rights to get
a drivers license even if their illegal...

Cheers..Joe

joefrank wrote:

12/29/2010

Alice..

When my Mother was ill 25 years ago, she had a helluva time
getting help, she had Congestive Heart Failure, she was ill for 5
years. Her and my step-father only had Medicare, he was retired
and had Social Security plus a small Army Pension, they also had
a house, they were still paying for it. Because of all this they
couldn't get extra medical help, I had to help her pay for her
prescriptions. When she finally did get the help she needed they
put a lean on her home ! She passed away in 1990 at 63, my
step-father died 5 years later, when my sister and step-brother
sold the house they had to pay off medical bills in order to get
the lean off, what the hell kind of country are we living in !


Cheers...Joe

Joe,

I am so sorry, it is not fair. It's not the way I want it.


If DK and I were in charge, it would be a whole lot different.

The illegal aliens with Medicaid are not getting free medical care. They are getting tax assisted medical care.

The doctors and hospitals are getting something as opposed to nothing.


My In-laws were on Medicaid in the Nursing Home. After their money was gone, the state paid for them and seized their SS payments. They were left with about $50.00 each per month

12/29/2010

Alice..

It's disgusting ! Nursing homes cost $6,000- a month
or more ! They need to be regulated.....

Cheers..Joe

Joe,


You are so right. The patients lose everything. The workers make little for hard, hard work.

The owners get rich.

Quote :

The old health care programs placed limits on how much they would pay for a particular illness/disease. Why not a limit on how much a person should pay?

Because those of us who don't require expensive care due to our own bad habits (e.g., diabetes due to obesity, AIDS due to promiscuity, cancer due to smoking) will end up paying far more than our fair share to treat those people.

Quote :

LC is upset because she thinks the illegal aliens get free health care. I have never even seen an illegal alien in the hospital--maybe I live in the wrong part of the country.

That you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I never saw a moonrock but I wouldn't say they don't exist. Do you ever read the WSJ? Profiles about hospitals in border cities going broke due to this are regular features. A simple google will bring up lots of other media articles.

Quote :

The illegal aliens with Medicaid are not getting free medical care. They are getting tax asissted medical care.

Well, yeah, that's my point...

Diabetes has more than one type. Type I has nothing to do with lifestyle. Type II may have something to do with lifestyle but also may be strictly genetic.'

Children have not yet become victims of their own lifestyle choices. They still suffer disease.

People are born with genetic defects and propensities toward certain diseases.

Yes, DK, but that isn't what I was addressing, was it?

I would like to see some sort of incentive/punishment should be built into insurance costs. If your diabetes is hereditary, that's one thing. If it was brought on by one's sick gluttony, that's something else. Pay for it. If it takes selling your house, well, that was YOUR CHOICE.

Insurance companies try to give discounts to those who live clean lifestyles, but then get sued for being "discriminatory." Except the ones being discriminated against are the ones who don't engage in behaviors that run up their medical costs.