Damn Healthcare kills me every year

If you keep yourself well and avoid illness, then you short yourself on the deduction side for the Federal and Mass Tax forms.

And now it's Winter, and we have to heat our houses, apts and condos. Also, thank God, we've had little snow...or we'd have to pay huge amounts of money to plow drivers to clean our parking lots and side walks.

The cost of food is also high. For some reason, milk is pretty cheap.

The cost of the Vet for your cat or dog is very high...

QUOTE FROM PUZZLED:

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I get the feeling, PUZZLED, that either you're a high school student ( or younger) or you're a resident of a region outside the USA.

In the US, we've always had UNIONS,both for private organizations and public organizations. Some of the best UNIONS are those which represent the POLICE depts of Cities such as NYC, Boston and Chicago.

In the Boston area, many nurses belong to very large UNIONs. They have to, inorder to prevent being scalped by the HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATORS.

The Boston police are also well represented by their UNION. The salaries of your City patrolman in the Boston area are far greater than the average salaries of Boston-based MDs or PHDs and the police receive considerable amounts of extra cash due to their overtime.

The police deserve this amount of compensation. The RNS, MDs, PHDs, also put in hugh amounts of overtime . I don't know if Boston-based MDs belong to unions, but I've heard of unions that represent PHDs, who are Professors, who teach and conduct research.

In fact, I do know that in some States/Cities in the US, professors( PHDs) must join a UNION before the University can hire them for teaching and research activites.

RESPONSE OF PUZZLED TO LINKAT;
quote]... your subsidies under Obamacare don't compensate. ... it's because you make so much that you don't qualify for subsidies ... then your plight is not an argument against Obamacare [/quote]...

Then, how did LINKAT's insurance go from $11,000/year to $17,000/year after the "birth" of Obamacare"? She has stated that the insurance plan she had prior to the Obamacare mess, was deleted from the list of companies available to her in Massachusetts, and to receive comparable health care associated with previous years, she was forced to change to the $17,000/year plan.

In reality, individuals like LINKAT are paying higher insurance rates, so that those in the population who can't afford health insurance, orthose who refuse to buy health insurance can be covered for health care services, in ERs and clinics having large populations of indigent individuals.

I get the feeling, puzzled, that you just copy and paste something and have no idea about the real world.
I am neither a Republican nor am I against the ACA (affordable care act), in fact, I come from a very well functioning healthcare system in Europe - I do know the difference when I see it.

Obama could have taken one of the healthcare systems that work in other nations, just look at Canada to the north, or Europa, but no - he had to invent his own system, regulating healthcare without regulating insurances. Obamacare is a win win situation for insurances, period.

I am speaking from experience and not only my own, professionally I hear and see it every day - seniors and low income families are just as disadvantaged as are the middle class and rich. You don't seem to understand that a $3000 deductible means that the person who pays already a high premium also has to meet the first $3000/year for all cost
occurred, that precisely means: every doctor visit, every hospital visit only kicks in after the $3000 are met. How is a low income family able to afford this? They simply can't!

What's needed is a plan where the insurances are regulated, where an employer pays 50 % and where the employee pays 50 % , deducted automatically from paychecks. There is no deductible and prescriptions and co-pays are under $50. Premiums are tax deductible of course and they are according to your salary a percentage of it. Simple, doable and proven to work.

Less than 7% of the private sector workforce is unionized:

http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/union-membership-rate-in-private-industry-and-public-sector-in-2014.htm

Public sector unions are already in the crosshairs of anti-union Republicans, who are adopting a divide and conquer strategy by targeting teachers unions (which are easier targets than fire and police unions and larger too).

" I get the feeling, PUZZLED, that either you're a high school student ( or younger) or you're a resident of a region outside the USA."

I get the feeling that you're a presumptuous, uninformed individual with low reading comprehension skills and an inability to distinguish sarcasm in print. When I wrote about private sector unions in the past tense I meant that they are all but dead.

Calamity Jane wrote: "You don't seem to understand that a $3000 deductible means that the person who pays already a high premium also has to meet the first $3000/year for all cost occurred, that precisely means: every doctor visit, every hospital visit only kicks in after the $3000 are met. How is a low income family able to afford this? They simply can't!"

You don't seem to understand that a low income family isn't subscribing to a high deductible plan: they're subscribing to a low or no deductible plan with higher premiums that are largely or entirely paid for by the federal subsidies they qualify for under Obamacare.

You may not be a Republican but you're a conservative independent, and since you've done nothing but criticize Obamacare (rather dishonesty I might add) you obviously lie when you say you are "not against the ACA".

Insurance companies are already regulated. Are you advocating price controls on insurance premiums? If so (which I doubt), at what levels? If you mandate both eligibility and place artificial price caps on insurance premiums, but doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies are allowed to charge free market (i.e. high and growing) prices, the insurance companies will go out of business because they won't be able to make a profit.

What is needed is a single payer system. I understand you oppose that, too, despite claiming to come from a European country with a healthcare system that works. Which country, by the way? I'd like to read about their system.

Calamity Jane wrote: " I get the feeling, puzzled, that you just copy and paste something and have no idea about the real world.."

I get the feeling that you're a disingenuous conservative opposed to both the ACA (which has flaws, just not the ones you ascribe to it) and to single payer systems. Also that you're using scare-propaganda to attack the ACA while offering vague but misleading alternatives.

Miller wrote: " Then, how did LINKAT's insurance go from $11,000/year to $17,000/year after the "birth" of Obamacare"? She has stated that the insurance plan she had prior to the Obamacare mess, was deleted from the list of companies available to her in Massachusetts, and to receive comparable health care associated with previous years, she was forced to change to the $17,000/year plan."

Obamacare requires certain services to be provided under insurance plans. So if the plan was pulled from the market it was probably bare bones insurance, which made it cheap. Now, apparently (though I asked for but haven't received clarification on this point), the author of this thread has income too high to qualify for federal subsidies under Obamacare. To keep his premiums low, probably because he smokes and/or had had chronic health problems, he chose a high deductible plan.

However, a high annual deductible doesn't automatically equate to high annual costs in the general instance. Preventive care is free under Obamacare. If you have zero dollars in medical bills during the year, you pay zero for the year no matter how high the deductible. If you get two bills for $500 each during the year you pay $1,000 for the year.

Miller wrote: " In reality, individuals like LINKAT are paying higher insurance rates, so that those in the population who can't afford health insurance, orthose who refuse to buy health insurance can be covered for health care services, in ERs and clinics having large populations of indigent individuals."

Indigent individuals qualify for Medicaid. (Though a major problem with Obamacare is that states don't have to expand their Medicaid coverage thresholds to meet ACA standards.) The law requires everyone else to purchase insurance and low-income households who nevertheless make too much to qualify for Medicaid get generous subsidies covering all or most of the cost of insurance.

In reality, all health insurance uses the healthy premium payers to subsidize the sick ones (and company profits). So non-users of services always pay for the services of users. The same is true for fire insurance, and insurance in general.

Actually Obamacare resulted in many high quality plans being pulled from the market.

Before Obamacare my insurance had an out-of-pocket maximum of $250 per year and I could see any doctor without worrying about networks.

The best plan I can get from the Obamacare marketplace has an out-of-pocket maximum of $3,000 per year, and I have to stay within a network to get full coverage.



And then when they die the state gets to seize their house instead of ownership passing to their children. That isn't Mr. Obama's fault, but it's a pretty serious problem.

The plan I had previously was not bare bones - it had more benefits than the current one I have and no high deductible. And it wasn't cheap - it was more on the higher end, but not as expensive as the current one - but who knows as it wasn't offered perhaps that plan had also gone up quite a bit.

The only individuals able to get subsidies are the very low income - middle income families make too much money. I also get my insurance via work so I do not believe it would qualify for any subsidiaries as I do not go one the obamacare website to enlist.

I have never smoked nor does my husband. Neither of us have any health problems - as a matter of fact my doctor comments each time as to how healthy I am. The last time I went to the doctor for anything besides a wellness or routine care was maybe 4 or 5 years ago when I broke my finger playing my daughter in basketball so I rarely even go to the doctors.

I meant to also offer having two teenagers you would prefer to have a low deductible to cover them. They are as healthy as can be but last year one broke a finger yes playing basketball - she had to see a specialist at boston children's because she is still growing - so if I had a high deductible there it would have gone with just a couple of visits.

My other daughter strained her knee when some other kids fell into her - just some freak thing. She required seeing a sports orthopedic doctor as she is training to play at the college level - and physical therapy. We Not were told if she wasn't in such good shape the damage would have been much worse.

Things happen to kids like this and the high deductible can be a killer.

Not sure what I am going to be paying soon as just this weekend we were in the emergency room with concussion - I gave over my insurance card just waiting for the bill now. If it is high, I am going to have to negotiate a payment plan as it will be difficult to pay.

You are able to negotiate cost with hospitals which is nice, plus you have to check carefully what they charge.

I've been to the ER countless times with my daughter and I only have one...once they do sports that's a given. Children's hospitals are usually cheaper as regular ones, do you have one close by?

Yes one of the top in the country - but we went to a local hospital as they have pediatricians from the Children's hospital in its emergency room.

oralloy wrote: " And then when they (indigent Medicaid recipients) die the state gets to seize their house instead of ownership passing to their children. That isn't Mr. Obama's fault, but it's a pretty serious problem."

This is laughable, preposterous, and false. Signing up for Medicaid does not give the federal government any equity in, lien on, or claim upon, a recipient's house.

I see no need to reply to the rest of your comment, since you've discredited yourself.

The reason your rates have gone up probably has to do with how insurers have to cover sick people now. They used to be able to discriminate positively in favor of healthy people like you, but now your pool includes people with expensive pre-existing conditions.

There's no free lunch.

In the end I approve of the rules protecting older people and people with pre-existing conditions, but it hurts some people, like you.

Not everyone who's poor can get Medicaid. Obama tried to force the states to expand their Medicaid programs to cover everyone, but the Supreme Court threw out that part of obamacare.

Linkat wrote: "The only individuals able to get subsidies are the very low income - middle income families make too much money."

Subsidies are available up to 400% of the federal poverty level, though they level off after 300%.

Household of 4 persons:

300% = $72,750
400% = $97,000

That's not low income, much less very low income, though living costs vary by state.

http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-subsidies/

Linkat wrote: "The last time I went to the doctor for anything besides a wellness or routine care was maybe 4 or 5 years ago when I broke my finger playing my daughter in basketball so I rarely even go to the doctors."

If you have a high deductible plan to keep premiums lower, and you have only been to one paying doctor's visit since Obamacare took effect, why would your annual insurance cost be so high? You keep talking about paying a $500 "deductible" per month. Are you saying that the annual cost of your insurance premiums alone is $6,000?

May I ask your household income?

Why are you telling me what I myself wrote above?

I know that many states with Republican governors didn't expand Medicaid to match ACA standards.

That said, if someone doesn't qualify for Medicaid, they still qualify for the Marketplace subsidies under Obamacare. There is no class of persons who make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to qualify for Obamacare.

Linkat wrote: "Not sure what I am going to be paying soon as just this weekend we were in the emergency room with concussion - I gave over my insurance card just waiting for the bill now. If it is high, I am going to have to negotiate a payment plan as it will be difficult to pay."

Obviously, you'll pay no more than your insurance deductible. After that, your insurance will pay the balance of the medical bill, not counting co-pays for drugs. If you have already had medical bills this year, those are already deducted from the deductible. So you will owe anything from zero up to the full deductible amount. May I ask what your insurance annual deductible is?

I wasn't complaining of rising rates. Was your post meant for Linkat?