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Ridgerunner
Guest
I don’t know. But if he didn’t, he should have.
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7_Sorrows
Guest
Medicare is not pure welfare as I pay for Plan B and would have to pay for any other plans that provided extra coverage. Medicare does cover Plan A.It isn’t even quite a health insurance law, and Medicare isn’t either. Medicare is a pure welfare program. Nothing more or less.
Obamacare is primarily an income redistribution program. Some 20 million people don’t have insurance despite Obamacare. Most who had employment-based insurance still have it; except of course for those who were forced into less than 30 hour employment due to Obamacare. But despite the fact that those with employment-based insurance mostly still have it, and despite the fact that the mandates make it needlessly expensive, corporations still benefit from the “well worker effect”; which is effectively a subsidy to industry.
Some are pushed onto Medicaid, which is a welfare program. The rest are forced onto the “exchanges”, which are a “pool” of those who are least insurable combined with small businesses and self-employed, i.e. an income redistribution plan.
The whole thing is an insane hodgepodge.
The problem is many doctors only take so many patients on Medicare. I have not been on it a year yet so I have only been to the doctor once.
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Ridgerunner
Guest
In a way you’re right, but not entirely. Medicare has its own tax. But it’s not actuarially sound. We really aren’t “insuring” because the tax has no particular relationship to the benefits received. Present payers are paying for present recipients. Also unlike insurance, if you’re not working, you don’t pay at all.Medicare is not pure welfare as I pay for Plan B and would have to pay for any other plans that provided extra coverage. Medicare does cover Plan A.
The problem is many doctors only take so many patients on Medicare. I have not been on it a year yet so I have only been to the doctor once.
Whether doctors do or do not accept Medicare depends a lot on where you live. In this part of the country, the only doctors of whom I am aware that don’t accept Medicare, don’t accept insurance either. I am aware, for instance, of a highly-regarded neurosurgeon who doesn’t accept anything but direct pay. His staff will give you the billing so you can present it to Medicare or an insurer for reimbursement. But they won’t go through all the hassle of billing either one.
This is a generally low-cost area in which to live, and Medicare is readily accepted by everybody except those few like the neurosurgeon I mentioned above.
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stinkcat_14
Guest
What you pay for plan B is only about 25% of the total cost. The rest comes from general tax revenues, not the payroll tax. That is why Medicare is bankrupting our country.Medicare is not pure welfare as I pay for Plan B and would have to pay for any other plans that provided extra coverage. Medicare does cover Plan A.
The problem is many doctors only take so many patients on Medicare. I have not been on it a year yet so I have only been to the doctor once.
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7_Sorrows
Guest
Medicare has been around for decades. There is fraud in Medicare which is notWhat you pay for plan B is only about 25% of the total cost. The rest comes from general tax revenues, not the payroll tax. That is why Medicare is bankrupting our country.
good and that should be stopped. I think over 400 doctors were arrested a few weeks ago for medicare fraud. That is huge! How many more are out there?
I am healthy. I seldom need to go to the doctor. I only take one prescription med.
So I am not bankrupting the country.
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EasterJoy
Guest
I cannot believe we cannot find a solution that works better than this. Providing everyone with insurance or the equivalent is necessary, but with the system we have we are never going to be able to afford care for everybody.It isn’t even quite a health insurance law, and Medicare isn’t either. Medicare is a pure welfare program. Nothing more or less.
Obamacare is primarily an income redistribution program. Some 20 million people don’t have insurance despite Obamacare. Most who had employment-based insurance still have it; except of course for those who were forced into less than 30 hour employment due to Obamacare. But despite the fact that those with employment-based insurance mostly still have it, and despite the fact that the mandates make it needlessly expensive, corporations still benefit from the “well worker effect”; which is effectively a subsidy to industry.
Some are pushed onto Medicaid, which is a welfare program. The rest are forced onto the “exchanges”, which are a “pool” of those who are least insurable combined with small businesses and self-employed, i.e. an income redistribution plan.
The whole thing is an insane hodgepodge.
Do you know how other countries handle the expense of high cost and high finding litigation? There is a lot of time expended and procedures done more for lawyers than because of evidence-based standards. This problem has also continued to limit access in rural areas and for low-income Americans generally.
In other words, the cost of health insurance unfortunately has to include the cost of extremely high malpractice premiums. Safety testing, drug development, and drug pricing also has to keep the cost of lawsuits in mind.
The cost of health insurance also has to include the cost of competitive independent drug development and improvements in equipment, improvements which are done with a profit mentality rather than an efficiency mentality. People who deliver improvements in care are not pursuing efficiency. They’re trying to make improvements that will gain them market share and make them money. That doesn’t make them bad people, but it does furnish a force that drives health care costs up rather than down.
I don’t see how we can have a health care system that uses a proportional amount of our collective resources to deliver an equitable access to health care unless we find a way to address costs, costs that are in turn associated with players who contribute a very high amount of money into national politics and who do not want to see their income stream reduced.
Of course, even if we did that, we still wouldn’t have health comparable to countries in which individuals do more to reduce the risk of serious chronic health problems associated with poor lifestyle choices. That is another dimension to the problem that will be very difficult to address, because the many forces that encourage unhealthy lifestyles are very entrenched. (Just take the mental health bill that would come from treating the repercussions of rampant divorce and relational instability.)
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Joyful_Song
Guest
So, it’'s not just all about you. Many people have been born with chronic illnesses they can’t magically wave away. The country deserves a health care system that takes care of everyone.Medicare has been around for decades. There is fraud in Medicare which is not
good and that should be stopped. I think over 400 doctors were arrested a few weeks ago for medicare fraud. That is huge! How many more are out there?
I am healthy. I seldom need to go to the doctor. I only take one prescription med.
So I am not bankrupting the country.
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Jig_Saw
Guest
Someday, you will not be healthy. Just a reality.Medicare has been around for decades. There is fraud in Medicare which is not
good and that should be stopped. I think over 400 doctors were arrested a few weeks ago for medicare fraud. That is huge! How many more are out there?
I am healthy. I seldom need to go to the doctor. I only take one prescription med.
So I am not bankrupting the country.
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7_Sorrows
Guest
People can become unhealthy at any age.Someday, you will not be healthy. Just a reality.
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Jig_Saw
Guest
And then you will be costing the country a lot of money.People can become unhealthy at any age.
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7_Sorrows
Guest
I guess it would depend on what i would have. How many millions are on medicare?And then you will be costing the country a lot of money.
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Jig_Saw
Guest
Would you like to restate that last question, I don’t understand.I guess it would depend on what i would have. How many millions are on medicare?
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Joyful_Song
Guest
Go ahead, shoot yourself in the foot.Stay loyal to Trump no matter what the issue.
Millions more Americans aged 50 – 64 will lose their insurance under the AHCA. This means that once they become eligible for Medicare, many of these individuals will need more – and more expensive – health services. This will drive up costs for all Mediscare beneficiaries, the Medicare program, and the overall health care system.
Further, the AHCA repeals a tax on pharmaceutical manufacturers, which would increase Part B premiums for Medicare beneficiaries.
The Affordable Care Act, on the other hand, helped strengthen Medicare – increasing the Trust Fund’s lifespan by over a decade. This was accomplished, in part, through a minimal payroll tax increase for high income earners. The AHCA repeals this tax, weakening Medicare’s solvency and stability. Most Americans despise the president—a blustering, feckless lout who ignores [the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution]… as he undermines freedom of the press and the free exercise of religion. He has appointed a government of plutocrats, mostly mirroring his own unfitness for office, who appear determined to dismantle the institutions that have made this country humane, strong, prosperous, and respected. Along with his political associates and members of his family, he has encouraged and emboldened the very worst elements in American politics, all echoing his promise to “Make America Great Again.” They cannot make America great again.
Millions more Americans aged 50 – 64 will lose their insurance under the AHCA. This means that once they become eligible for Medicare, many of these individuals will need more – and more expensive – health services. This will drive up costs for all Mediscare beneficiaries, the Medicare program, and the overall health care system.
Further, the AHCA repeals a tax on pharmaceutical manufacturers, which would increase Part B premiums for Medicare beneficiaries.
The Affordable Care Act, on the other hand, helped strengthen Medicare – increasing the Trust Fund’s lifespan by over a decade. This was accomplished, in part, through a minimal payroll tax increase for high income earners. The AHCA repeals this tax, weakening Medicare’s solvency and stability. Most Americans despise the president—a blustering, feckless lout who ignores [the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution]… as he undermines freedom of the press and the free exercise of religion. He has appointed a government of plutocrats, mostly mirroring his own unfitness for office, who appear determined to dismantle the institutions that have made this country humane, strong, prosperous, and respected. Along with his political associates and members of his family, he has encouraged and emboldened the very worst elements in American politics, all echoing his promise to “Make America Great Again.” They cannot make America great again.
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AFerri48
Guest
Who says people here are doing that? You stressed the ACA as if someone can’t be against the ACA while simultaneously disagreeing with Trump in other areas.Go ahead, shoot yourself in the foot.Stay loyal to Trump no matter what the issue.
You don’t have to stress how much you’re against Trump in every topic. We get it.
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EasterJoy
Guest
More to the point, fellow citizens who do not have access to health care are not as productive. Sometimes, they are even incapacitated because they wait too long to get a treatable problem addressed. If they are bankrupted by emergency or life-saving medical care needed for themselves or their family, they can become homeless or jobless or both. There are probably a lot of alcoholics and drug addicts out there who are self-medicating problems that should have been addressed by a psychiatrist.So, it’'s not just all about you. Many people have been born with chronic illnesses they can’t magically wave away. The country deserves a health care system that takes care of everyone.
The list can go on and on, but even from a secular perspective the problem of getting heath care for “other people” is one that seriously impacts everyone. For a Christian, however, of course we have to be concerned about our fellow human beings on a deeper level. The part of health care needed by our neighbor that is not provided by the government is, if we read the Gospels strictly, on us. If our secular society doesn’t take care of someone, what are we going to do to step up?
Which of the sick who pressed in on Him from every side did Our Lord turn away?
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stinkcat_14
Guest
You individually may not be bankrupting the country but the program is. The cost of Medicare part be was $313 billion last year. Individual recipients paid 23% of that, general tax revenues paid for the rest (the Medicare payroll tax paid for none of it). But, the problem is Bush and Obama never balanced the budget, so our grandchildren will be paying for you Medicare benefits. Why do our future generations need to sacrifice for your benefits, Why shouldn’t beneficiaries pay 100% of the cost themselves?Medicare has been around for decades. There is fraud in Medicare which is not
good and that should be stopped. I think over 400 doctors were arrested a few weeks ago for medicare fraud. That is huge! How many more are out there?
I am healthy. I seldom need to go to the doctor. I only take one prescription med.
So I am not bankrupting the country.
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dvdjs
Guest
Because they lack the means.Why shouldn’t beneficiaries pay 100% of the cost themselves?
One could also ask why do future generations get the benefits of the effort, investments, and sacrifices of past generations - the discoveries, the infrastructure, the everything? Overall, it seems like they get a very good deal, but it comes with responsibilites…Why do our future generations need to sacrifice for your benefits
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stinkcat_14
Guest
Source?Because they lack the means.
Our current retired generation has given the future nothing but debt.One could also ask why do future generations get the benefits of the effort, investments, and sacrifices of past generations - the discoveries, the infrastructure, the everything? Overall, it seems like they get a very good deal, but it comes with responsibilites…
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dvdjs
Guest
Suffers from obviousness.Source?
“How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!”Our current retired generation has given the future nothing but debt.
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stinkcat_14
Guest
Which is why it is always good to have statistics to back up our preconceived notions. So, the question for you is: what is the average net worth of those over 65? If it is obvious that they are all poor, then that should be pretty easy for you to answer.Suffers from obviousness.
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