Health Care

[Hawnjigs]

Think $104 gets deducted from my Social Security for Medicare and what I consider a high deductible supplement policy cost another $110 so think I may be better off than many.  I'm wondering how much others pay monthly for health coverage?

Researching found the following:
[font=Rubik, Arial, sans-serif]"In 2015, [/font][font=Rubik, Arial, sans-serif]the Kaiser Family Foundation found[/font][font=Rubik, Arial, sans-serif] that medical bills made [/font][font=Rubik, Arial, sans-serif]1 million adults [/font][font=Rubik, Arial, sans-serif]declare bankruptcy. Its survey found that 26 percent of Americans age 18-64 struggled to pay medical bills. [/font][font=Rubik, Arial, sans-serif]According to the U.S. Census[/font][font=Rubik, Arial, sans-serif], that's 52 million adults."[/font][font=Rubik, Arial, sans-serif][font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]

"Cigna CEO David Cordani made $43.9 million in 2017, according to a federal securities filing.'[/font][/font]


Solution?

Single payer Medicare for all cost:
[font=Georgia,]"Kenneth Thorpe[/font][font=Georgia,], a professor of health policy and management at Emory University, put the cost at $2.4 trillion a year. A team from the [/font][font=Georgia,]Urban Institute[/font][font=Georgia,] put the number at $2.5 trillion a year. The [/font][font=Georgia,]Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget[/font][font=Georgia,] projected $2.8 trillion a yea[/font][font=Georgia,]r."[/font]

We're already spending:
[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]"U.S. health care spending increased 4.3 percent to reach [/font][font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]$3.3 trillion[/font][font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif], or [/font][font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]$10,348[/font][font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif] per person in 2016." (cms.gov)[/font] 

[font=Georgia,]"Under single-payer, people would no longer have to pay for insurance," said Christine Eibner, a senior economist at the RAND Corp. "So even if it required new federal spending and commensurate tax increases, people would not necessarily be paying more for health care."[/font]
[font=Georgia,][font=Georgia,]"Even as federal expenditures for health care rise under a single-payer system, the expenditures by individuals and companies would fall, potentially canceling each other out."[/font][/font]

 

[Hawnjigs]

OK, lets get personal.

I enrolled with Silver Script Plan D Medicare drug plan this year since out of 3 options it was the only one with no deductible for generics, which my BP med just qualified for. Previous drug cost with an Advantage plan $40 for the NAME BRAND, and with Silver Script $60 for the "cheaper" generic. Luckily, my pharmacy had a no insurance rate of $18. WTF?

Just got off Yelp! for a review of Silver Script. https://www.yelp.com/biz/silverscript-medicare-phoenix

The reviews if one cares to read helps expose the massive ripoff by the health insurance industry and resistance to a single payer government health care system. But, go ahead and trus politicians getting paid by the industry to resist single payer if you don't believe your fellow citizens.

 

[Bucho]

Germans pay 20-30ct for a single aspirin pill. A former workmate of mine brought them from his homeland Turkey where one bottle with hundreds of pills cost 1 or 2 bucks altogether. He ate them like tic-tacs because of the headaches he got from dry ac-office air until he got stomach problems. Pharma prices depend on the countrie`s wealth. And that is free medicine with lots of generica. Imagine the profits with patent-protected stuff!

Pharma lobby is the single most antisocial rip-off western societies are burdened with. They are very, very strong. It is long known, but nobody seems to be able to do something about it. Free market order simply doesn`t work when it comes to healthcare. The seam of social security and capitalism is a mess in every contry.

Over here it is against the law to be without healthcare, hence no bancrupsies from hospital bills. It comes free with welfare and maxes around 700 Euros for a well earning individual (16% of 50 grand), including a non-working spouse and unlimited number of children if you happen to be a family guy. So take a normal income, 16% from that and consider there might be family members included, that might be a reference what a halfway decent healthcare costs. Around 300 Bucks a month.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Yup, in the spirit of capitalism drug makers can charge whatever they want, & free from any gov intervention of course they do. Industry support media here proclaims single payer gov healthcare as "socialism"(BAD!) when in fact healthy people are already paying for the sick thru our so called "health insurance" system.

I suppose until a person actually experiences getting buried by medical expenses, they're fine with the status quo, and won't support change to a system that works OK for them. And there's a constant barage from segments of the media and leadership extolling selfishness as a virtue.

Its EZ to distinguish "health" industry paid off shill politicians from those who truly care about affordable health care for all. The corrupt pay to players:
1. Rant about ending or dismantling "Obamacare" without offering a replacement.
2. Resist Medicaid expansion in their states.
2. Say fed gov Medicare for all is too expensive despite contradictory data.
4. Parrot single payer healthcare as "socialism" or government overreach Existing Medicare is a proven successful and
essential existing program that senior citizens (like me) depend on for survival.

No doubting the power of the pharmaceutical industry, they're even mainstream movies about that like "The Constant Gardener" .

 

[Bucho]

Then again, no supplier has an interest in insolvent customers. Your countrymen`s aversion against fed gov Medicare seems to be the one hinder the pharma industry can`t overcome. Their life would be much easier if every citizen had a health plan to afford their products.

If you want Medicare to work, you need to force ALL in, otherwise the young and healty risctakers will leave the old and sickly alone. I understand this is a big issue in a freedom-loving country. Over here, all levy combined, a financially independend person with no current income has to pay 200-300 Euros a month just to breathe German air unless he or she files for welfare. That`s not for everybody. Think of what that means for people who want to start small businesses etc. and simply need a year or two to try a new business idea or simply need a sabbatical or so.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Right now I'm paying $104 Medicare + $112 Supplement + $35 Plan D Rx = $251 fixed monthly healthcare expense exclusive of any actual services, so similar to Germany. Except, NOTHING is free, still have copays for drugs and services until my $1,600 deductible is met, and even thereafter Medicare Supplement does NOT cover all services.

Talking to younger full time workers, their "health insurance" runs $600 to over $1,000 a month, and lucky if their employer pays half. Some of their plans have higher deductibles than mine, in the $thousands.

And yet, voters believe the industry shill politicians who claim the USA already has "the best health care in the world" so no need to fix it. I'm not sure if they're gullible, trusting, or too lazy to research, but either way we're stuck with SOS.

 

[hookup]

Gotta agree w/ you Bucho - not sure how to fix it though? Still not a fan of "socialized" medicine because I know to many in socialistic countries who are now dead because they were older and their contribution to society was negligible

my pharmacy had a no insurance rate of $18. WTF?

I just went through this with a couple of my scripts. Co pay required every two weeks for a two week supply far outweighed the cost of buying the whole prescription without going through the insurance companies

 

[Bucho]

That is actually true. My aunt who lived through socialism in east Germany said that if you called an ambulance for somebody in an emergency, their first question was "how old?". People tend to forget that in a socialist country, the state looks at their workforce as an asset with limited economical life span. In an aging democratic society however a government would be ill advised to execute pension- and healthcare cuts that hurt a lot of voters. Just because you socialize a part of the economy doesn`t mean you throw democracy and participation overboard.  

HJ I gave you the short version. If you lived here at young age and had believed in the promises of a well-meaning insurance salesperson  like I was back in the day, you, as a self-employed person, might have opted out of the gov health insurance and gone for a capital stocked private practice plan at half the initial cost. Such action might have ended you up in an aging tarif bubble with 4 digit monthly premiums AND high deductables regardless your retirement income, with no option back into gov healthcare. I have met people your age who would have given anything to get what you have described up there.   :beat-up: Only very recently private healthcare companies are obliged to offer a "basic" tarif at mentioned 700 Euros (max gov rate) and basic coverage, again, regardless the income.

 

[hookup]

if you called an ambulance for somebody in an emergency, their first question was "how old

At over $1,000 US a ride, ambulance companies ask no questions when called

When I was in corp sales, I was on the same plan as the partners (owners). Health care was great and no co pays for anything. When I took a gov't job, I have decent health care now, but I wouldn't call it cheap. I've heard horror stories from people on Obamacare

 

[Hawnjigs]

As mentioned doctor here suggested his buddy's pharmacy, so I signed up for their recommended Silver Script prescription drug plan at a reasonable $35 monthly with no deductible which turned out to be a scam since their bloated co-pays are absurdly inflated.

So, this year joined AARP for their affiliate United Health Care Plan D coverage for the same monthly no deductible and low generic co-pays. Haven't actually bought anything yet, we'll see. Just found these disturbing reviews minutes ago:
https://usinsuranceagents.com/reviews/united-healthcare/

Also checked into AARP recommended Dentegra dental insurance, here's some reviews:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/DentegraUS/reviews/

So much for AARP being a trusted senior citizen advisor, and a further insight into a BROKEN health care system.