Health Insurance

[david wild]

Since my health care insurance has tripled, and I do remember Oasswipe telling me that my cost would go down and I would get better coverage, how about we all get together and sue him with a class action lawsuit before he leaves office that way he will have something to look forward too.

Should be very simple case to win, play all the press coverage of him wagging his finger at the TV telling us all his lies, present that evidence and then have him personally pay us back and pay for any future losses we incur due to his lies. Case won, then he can file bankruptcy because he can't pay the claim. we get nothing, either way I'm happy if I have made his life hell like he has done to so many others.

[david wild]

Well still nice to see a spineless America, talk a great line of BS but then never stand and be counted, unless you fear that turd in the WHITE house (not peoples). he will be gone and real Americans will take over and the feel good BS will go away

[41chevy]

Mine tripled to $2347.00 per month and the deductible went from $5000.00 to $22000.00. My insurance for my workers went up to beyond un affordable. I now have 1 full time and 2 part timers. AFA cost 11 people their jobs on my end. I cancelled my health care and go to the V.A. as bad as they are on Long Island.

I approached a few lawyers about the ACA destroying my "quality of life" (to quote the nimby's) and business. All told me the same line "it's the law"

Going to end up being solved only one way in the end.

[HeavyGunner]

I'm lucky that my company takes the brunt of the increase but my monthly cost went up, my deductible went up and my maximum out of pocket went up a lot. We will likely never see any real change in the political field in my opinion because being politician is far to lucrative. Politicians are paid far too much by us (and especially lobbyists), guaranteed a big retirement and healthcare different than us common folks so why would they ever make a sound decision for the people? Lobbyist have way too much power. Don't believe me? Watch the documentary Fed Up, it was jaw dropping for me to see how powerful just the sugar lobby is. Can't imagine how powerful other lobbyist are. When we take the mean wage of Americans and that is the salary for the politicians, no retirements, no lifelong health care, no lobbyists then we MIGHT get people who actually want the job take it instead of greedy lifers sucking off the teat of the working average American.

[Dirtymilkman]

Hmmm.....I thought Obama was gonna end lobbying......

[41chevy]

Hmmm.....I thought Obama was gonna end lobbying......

He's busy lobbying to stop it.

[mrsmackpaul]

We dont have these problems in Australia big business iss trying its hardest to get us all into health insurance but most Australians dont have any its called free public health and for the most part it works fairly well

Paul

[kscarbel2]

Overseas, the cost of medicine and medical care is a fraction of the US market cost. American's have long grudgingly accepted our corrupt health care system, rather than bring the matter to a head. But in all fairness, the masses have no ability to change the situation.

[41chevy]

We dont have these problems in Australia big business iss trying its hardest to get us all into health insurance but most Australians dont have any its called free public health and for the most part it works fairly well

Paul

You also don't have lawyers who will sue for millions of dollars over the pain of removing a band aid. Oh the pain from the glue.....

[HeavyGunner]

Overseas, the cost of medicine and medical care is a fraction of the US market cost. American's have long grudgingly accepted our corrupt health care system, rather than bring the matter to a head. But in all fairness, the masses have no ability to change the situation.

The costs maybe lower in other countries but from what I've been told by many Canadians and a couple of Swedes our healthcare is much better. Hell our local radio stations which can be heard in Canada advertise to the Canadians that they can accept their insurance. One of they guys I know from Sweden owns his own business and does well for himself and he flat out told me he comes here for any major medical care. He is a very intelligent man and we get along so well because he's blunt and up front with anything he says. One day while the Ofailedcare was being debated he looks up at me and says "why the hell did you vote someone in who is pushing for socialized healthcare?" I said I didn't vote for him and we had a nice visit about healthcare and politicians. I say socialized healthcare is (in most instances that I can think of BS!) not a good idea. Why should more and more people on the dole get more handouts ( don't forget they already get free medical care ie Medicaid or Medicare) and the working people be forced to buy it? I've posted this elsewhere but I post it again, I challenge anyone to name one thing that the government runs well? Now that you've thought about it do you want those crooks and morons running your healthcare? Remember politicians get a different kind of health insurance and retirement than us peasants do.

[mrsmackpaul]

You also don't have lawyers who will sue for millions of dollars over the pain of removing a band aid. Oh the pain from the glue.....

We have the ambulance chaser lawyers out here dont worry but Australia is set up a lot different than the US in the way we run better in some cases a lot worse in others

The costs maybe lower in other countries but from what I've been told by many Canadians and a couple of Swedes our healthcare is much better. Hell our local radio stations which can be heard in Canada advertise to the Canadians that they can accept their insurance. One of they guys I know from Sweden owns his own business and does well for himself and he flat out told me he comes here for any major medical care. He is a very intelligent man and we get along so well because he's blunt and up front with anything he says. One day while the Ofailedcare was being debated he looks up at me and says "why the hell did you vote someone in who is pushing for socialized healthcare?" I said I didn't vote for him and we had a nice visit about healthcare and politicians. I say socialized healthcare is (in most instances that I can think of BS!) not a good idea. Why should more and more people on the dole get more handouts ( don't forget they already get free medical care ie Medicaid or Medicare) and the working people be forced to buy it? I've posted this elsewhere but I post it again, I challenge anyone to name one thing that the government runs well? Now that you've thought about it do you want those crooks and morons running your healthcare? Remember politicians get a different kind of health insurance and retirement than us peasants do.

Dunno if your implying that Australian medical is sub standard but I think if you do a little bit of research we have some of the most advanced medical facility's in the world not saying we have the best but for what it is and size of our population its pretty damn good and even if we dont have somethings the government will fly Australians to were they need to be to get the treatment they need most times

Paul

[HeavyGunner]

We have the ambulance chaser lawyers out here dont worry but Australia is set up a lot different than the US in the way we run better in some cases a lot worse in others

Dunno if your implying that Australian medical is sub standard but I think if you do a little bit of research we have some of the most advanced medical facility's in the world not saying we have the best but for what it is and size of our population its pretty damn good and even if we dont have somethings the government will fly Australians to were they need to be to get the treatment they need most times

Paul

No I specifically stated what I had heard first hand from Canadians and Swedes, no clue about Australia.

[41chevy]

Millions Facing a Hefty Increase in Medicare Premiums in 2016 Nearly a third of the roughly 50 million elderly Americans who depend on Medicare for their physician care and other health services could see their premiums jump by 52 percent or more next year. That’s because of a quirk in the law that punishes wealthier beneficiaries and others any time the Social Security Administration fails to boost the annual cost of living adjustment.While Congress is largely focused on addressing looming shortfalls in the Social Security Disability Insurance program, a financial time-bomb of sorts may go off in 2016 because of the festering premium problem in Medicare Part B – the premium-based government health insurance program that covers seniors’ visits to doctors and other health care providers, out-patient care and durable medical equipment.Unless Congress or Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell intervenes, an estimated 15 million seniors, first-time beneficiaries or those currently claiming dual Medicare and Medicaid coverage will see their premiums jump from $104.90 per month to $159.30 for individuals, according to an analysis by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Higher-income couples would pay multiples of that increase.A spokesperson for the Centers on Medicare and Medicaid Services on Friday confirmed that the premium hike is in the works, although a final decision won’t be made until later this year. While approximately 70 percent of Medicare beneficiaries “are expected not to see a premium increase in 2016,” he stressed, “the remaining 30 percent of beneficiaries would pay a higher premium based on this projection.”CMS is exploring its options for finding a way to blunt the effect of the major premium increase next year, although officials say the federal agency does not have authority to extend beyond what the law calls for. The likely rate hike has received relatively little public attention until now. According to the Center for Retirement Research study, it illustrates the broader “complicated interaction” between Medicare premiums, which are typically automatically deducted from Social Security benefits, and the rest of Social Security funds that are used for retirement and other non-health care related expenditures.For just the third time since automatic cost of living adjustments started in 1975, Social Security will not increase the cost of living benefit next year, simply because the Consumer Price Index used by the government has remained relatively flat.Since Social Security COLAs do not “fully reflect the increase in health care costs faced by the elderly,” the study notes, any missed annual cost of living adjustment can trigger a crisis in the Medicare Part B program.Because the law for various reasons “holds harmless” about 70 percent of Medicare beneficiaries from premium hikes to compensate for diminished resources caused by a missed cost of living adjustment, the remaining 30 percent of Medicare Part B beneficiaries get clobbered by premium increases.“Because the COLA for Social Security benefits is expected to be zero for 2016, premiums would not in­crease for the 70 percent protected by the hold harm­less provision,” according to the study. “Under current law, Part B premiums for other beneficiaries must be raised enough to offset premiums foregone due to the hold-harmless provi­sion.”Unless the administration figures out some “work-around,” the study states, the base Part B premium would rise from $104.90 to $159.30 – a 52 percent increase.The study goes on to say that participants with higher incomes would then have to “pay mul­tiples” of $159.30 depending on their income levels. As an example, each member of a married couple with household income ranging from $170,000 to $214,000 a year would pay a Part B premium in 2016 of $223.00. “Premiums would top out at $509.80 per person for couples with income of more than $428,000,” the study states.Juliette Cubanski, a Medicare expert with the Kaiser Family Foundation, said on Friday that the premium increases “could sting” millions of older Americans, but cautioned that the projected 52 percent average increase in premiums is based on 2015 Medicare Trustees’ projections that may be altered before the new rates take effect.“The Secretary of HHS has some authority and discretion about what level the Part B premium will be set at,” she said. “So we may not see as steep an increase as the trustees are projecting.”But seniors would be wise to brace for a hefty increase in any case. By Eric Piani, The Fiscal Times