SeaGypsy wrote:I pay my 1.5% medicare & .5% disability insurance in Oz since I was 15. I am 50 next year & have never needed surgery & have been to the GP Doctor about 10 times in 30 years- I am subsidizing a lot of unwell peeps & hypochondriacs.
Outcast_Searcher wrote:SeaGypsy wrote:I pay my 1.5% medicare & .5% disability insurance in Oz since I was 15. I am 50 next year & have never needed surgery & have been to the GP Doctor about 10 times in 30 years- I am subsidizing a lot of unwell peeps & hypochondriacs.
And that's the way insurance works.
Plantagenet wrote:Outcast_Searcher wrote:SeaGypsy wrote:I pay my 1.5% medicare & .5% disability insurance in Oz since I was 15. I am 50 next year & have never needed surgery & have been to the GP Doctor about 10 times in 30 years- I am subsidizing a lot of unwell peeps & hypochondriacs.
And that's the way insurance works.
Thats not how health insurance works here in the USA. Obamacare is set up so those conventional old-fashioned insurance rules no longer apply.
With Obamacare the premiums and deductibles are high enough that some people think theres not much reason to sign up and pay premiums until they actually get sick. If the sad day finally comes that you need medical care you can just enroll in Obamacare then. The program has to accept everyone who applies and there are many exemptions that allow people to sign up outside of the "enrollment periods."
Once you are sick then sign up and pay one month's premium and you are immediately covered and you can immediately go to a doctor or a hospital and get treated.
Then, after the surgery or whatever, you have the option to drop the coverage again and stop paying premiums. Your insurance will continue for another 3 months anyway even if you're not paying premiums.
Its an amazing innovation----Obamacare is a health insurance plan that you don't have to pay into until you are actually sick, and then you are cured you can stop paying into it until the next time you need it. Then just sign up again.
Win-Win!
Outcast_Searcher wrote: Obamacare is a mess and …. over time it may well prove to be SUCH a mess that the Democrats get what they wanted all along, a fully socialized system.
Outcast_Searcher wrote: Don't make the imperfect the enemy of the good
Plantagenet wrote:Outcast_Searcher wrote: Obamacare is a mess and …. over time it may well prove to be SUCH a mess that the Democrats get what they wanted all along, a fully socialized system.
The claim that Ds want a fully socialized system doesn't match reality.
More than five years after the single-payer system was scrapped from ObamaCare policy debates, just over 50 percent of people say they still support the idea, including one-quarter of Republicans, according to a new poll.
The single-payer option – also known as Medicare for all – would create a new, government-run insurance program to replace private coverage. The system, once backed by President Obama, became one of the biggest casualties of the divisive healthcare debates of 2009.
The idea remains extremely popular among Democrats, with nearly 80 percent in support, according to the poll, which was shared first with The Hill by the Progressive Change Institute.
Outcast_Searcher wrote:SeaGypsy wrote:I pay my 1.5% medicare & .5% disability insurance in Oz since I was 15. I am 50 next year & have never needed surgery & have been to the GP Doctor about 10 times in 30 years- I am subsidizing a lot of unwell peeps & hypochondriacs.
And that's the way insurance works. Most people use less than the average, some far more than the average. People buy it in case they need it to cover a potentially catastrophic economic event, since the details of the future (including timing) are unknown.
Do you wish your house burned down annually so you can get your "fair share" of fire insurance? I seriously doubt it. (I, who clearly am subsizing others on all my insurance policies thus far, don't want to be without any of them).
Democratic societies choose certain rules that people live under via their elected leaders. Generally, health insurance is considered both a right to have, and a responsibility to pay for, by the competent adults in that society. Just like paying taxes is considered a responsibility.
So what do you suggest as an alternative? That we abandon health insurance? If so, how does anyone who isn't very wealthy pay for significant medical treatment? If we just say those who don't have it die and it's their responsibility, I'm OK with that -- but apparently the vast majority of people across developed cultures strongly disagrees with that -- to the extent that the current system exists.
SeaGypsy wrote:Outcast_Searcher wrote:SeaGypsy wrote:I pay my 1.5% medicare & .5% disability insurance in Oz since I was 15. I am 50 next year & have never needed surgery & have been to the GP Doctor about 10 times in 30 years- I am subsidizing a lot of unwell peeps & hypochondriacs.
And that's the way insurance works. Most people use less than the average, some far more than the average. People buy it in case they need it to cover a potentially catastrophic economic event, since the details of the future (including timing) are unknown.
Do you wish your house burned down annually so you can get your "fair share" of fire insurance? I seriously doubt it. (I, who clearly am subsizing others on all my insurance policies thus far, don't want to be without any of them).
Democratic societies choose certain rules that people live under via their elected leaders. Generally, health insurance is considered both a right to have, and a responsibility to pay for, by the competent adults in that society. Just like paying taxes is considered a responsibility.
So what do you suggest as an alternative? That we abandon health insurance? If so, how does anyone who isn't very wealthy pay for significant medical treatment? If we just say those who don't have it die and it's their responsibility, I'm OK with that -- but apparently the vast majority of people across developed cultures strongly disagrees with that -- to the extent that the current system exists.
Weird. I state fact, you take it as complaint. Really strange biscuit you are sometimes.
Outcast_Searcher wrote:SeaGypsy wrote:Outcast_Searcher wrote:SeaGypsy wrote:I pay my 1.5% medicare & .5% disability insurance in Oz since I was 15. I am 50 next year & have never needed surgery & have been to the GP Doctor about 10 times in 30 years- I am subsidizing a lot of unwell peeps & hypochondriacs.
And that's the way insurance works. Most people use less than the average, some far more than the average. People buy it in case they need it to cover a potentially catastrophic economic event, since the details of the future (including timing) are unknown.
Do you wish your house burned down annually so you can get your "fair share" of fire insurance? I seriously doubt it. (I, who clearly am subsizing others on all my insurance policies thus far, don't want to be without any of them).
Democratic societies choose certain rules that people live under via their elected leaders. Generally, health insurance is considered both a right to have, and a responsibility to pay for, by the competent adults in that society. Just like paying taxes is considered a responsibility.
So what do you suggest as an alternative? That we abandon health insurance? If so, how does anyone who isn't very wealthy pay for significant medical treatment? If we just say those who don't have it die and it's their responsibility, I'm OK with that -- but apparently the vast majority of people across developed cultures strongly disagrees with that -- to the extent that the current system exists.
Weird. I state fact, you take it as complaint. Really strange biscuit you are sometimes.
So let's see... You complain about subsidizing "unwell peeps and hypocondriacs" (YOUR WORDS). And then I am "weird" for asking you what your idea for a reasonable alternative is. No name calling. No strawmen. Just a rational question.
Perhaps if you use less emotional and more objective language, us "weirdos" who actually try to guage reality, instead of constantly preaching to our personal opinion, would understand that you aren't complaining.
Hint: In my experience, overly emotional labelling often equates to complaining.
So sorry for being a "strange biscuit" for reacting to the actual language and context you (IMO) were complaining in. And actually, I'd FAR rather be strange, weird, and a nonconformist than the empty-headed sheeple that the masses seem to be composed of, so I'll actually consider your description of me a compliment, regardless of the intent.
Plantagenet wrote:Most people don't realize that Obamacare is also "gaming" the US economy. Far from bringing costs down, Obamacare caused US healthcare spending to rise dramatically in 2015. Its now the second biggest expense in most family budgets
thanks-obamacare-what-americans-spent-most-money-2015
As Obamacare costs rise, the Fed counts the increasing spending on Obamacare as GDP growth. This means a significant part of the GDP growth seen in the USA in the last few years was actually due to higher costs for Obamacare. As the monthly premiums and the rapidly rising deductibles go up it shows up as GDP growth. Most folks think the GDP numbers are being moved by job growth or to productivity increases or wage increases in the real economy but a significant part of its increased Obamacare spending. Even subsidized spending on Obamacare, where the government pays for part of all of the insurance, actually counts as GDP growth.
Cheers!
SeaGypsy wrote:Considering health reform was a primary platform for Obama, this failure along with bungling the ME would have to rate his Presidency as one of the worst ever. What's left?
SeaGypsy wrote:You must speak a different dialect of English to me, your interpretation of a 'complaint' in my statement is not there in my version of English. Perhaps you can narrow down where it is, other than your presumption.
Cog wrote:I could support single payer in the US, if I were convinced that our health care would not devolve into something like the VA health care system. The scandals involved in veterans health care are appalling. Has it been fixed? Not to my knowledge.
Outcast_Searcher wrote:Cog wrote:I could support single payer in the US, if I were convinced that our health care would not devolve into something like the VA health care system. The scandals involved in veterans health care are appalling. Has it been fixed? Not to my knowledge.
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