Social Security

[gowlerk 1,914]

Just now, Coreece said:

Ya, just stick it in the sand.

Easy now, or start a new thread.

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

3 hours ago, BIGUN said:

I want to apologize for this comment.

Hi Keith,

As I read your previous comment, it made me think about how you responded to a post that I made not too long ago.  And, in retrospect, I should have also.

Good for you for retracting it; it was not the BIGUN that I know.

Jerry Baumchen

[billvon 2,400]

17 hours ago, turtlespeed said:

Sounds like this:

	Top 1%	Top 5%
Income Taxes Paid ($ millions)	$538,257	$839,898
Share of Total Income Taxes Paid	37.32%	58.23%
Income Split Point	$480,804	$197,651
Average Tax Rate	26.87%	23.49%

I guess I am not rich enough to pay taxes that low.

[TriGirl 268]

On ‎4‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 7:24 PM, SethInMI said:

This talk of healthcare costs and controls reminds me of the fact that "50% of health care dollars in this country are spent on 5% of the population". It's really a staggering figure, averaging over $50000 per person per year for the 5%. I wonder how it has changed over the years. A few graphs I found interesting:

In 2017 dollars, USA healthcare spending per capita was $2000 in 1970, and about $11000 now. I wonder how much of that extra cost is going to the 5%. 

In a lot of places in the U.S., homeless people and low income/no health insurance patients just go to the E.R. for any issue.  An E.R. has to check you out, regardless of ability to pay.  The bills simply go unpaid, since these patients have no means to do so.  It's a sad state of affairs when the only way you can be seen by a health care professional is to take up time/space in an emergency room, but if we're unwilling to address affordable basic health care, we as a society are going to keep having to cover peoples' health care however they can get it.

[turtlespeed 212]

32 minutes ago, TriGirl said:

In a lot of places in the U.S., homeless people and low income/no health insurance patients just go to the E.R. for any issue.  An E.R. has to check you out, regardless of ability to pay.  The bills simply go unpaid, since these patients have no means to do so.  It's a sad state of affairs when the only way you can be seen by a health care professional is to take up time/space in an emergency room, but if we're unwilling to address affordable basic health care, we as a society are going to keep having to cover peoples' health care however they can get it.

That was the norm even under Obamacare as it was written.

Still people refused to sign up - it was a bad deal all the way around.

People like me got hosed.  Our rates more than doubled - for what? So I could be lied to some more?

The problem is that the system is politicized.  Take the politics away from it and figure it out from there.

[SkyDekker 1,123]

59 minutes ago, turtlespeed said:

The problem is that the system is politicized.  Take the politics away from it and figure it out from there.

Not sure what that would entail. How do you take the politics out of healthcare? How is politics not part of trying to create a healthy society?

[SethInMI 145]

1 hour ago, TriGirl said:

In a lot of places in the U.S., homeless people and low income/no health insurance patients just go to the E.R. for any issue.  An E.R. has to check you out, regardless of ability to pay. 

I don't know how much that type of care contributes to this constant and steady rise in health care costs we are experiencing. And I say that honestly, I don't know. If becoming a member of the 5% club means hitting 50k in costs per year, that may require say 1 visit a week to the ER for some drugs and a pat on the back and a push out the door? <shrug> How many people are doing that, swapping GP care for ER care that often?

 

  

[turtlespeed 212]

1 hour ago, SethInMI said:

I don't know how much that type of care contributes to this constant and steady rise in health care costs we are experiencing. And I say that honestly, I don't know. If becoming a member of the 5% club means hitting 50k in costs per year, that may require say 1 visit a week to the ER for some drugs and a pat on the back and a push out the door? <shrug> How many people are doing that, swapping GP care for ER care that often?

50/Yr is barely once a month.

 

 

  

 

[gowlerk 1,914]

3 hours ago, turtlespeed said:

That was the norm even under Obamacare as it was written.

Still people refused to sign up - it was a bad deal all the way around.

People like me got hosed.  Our rates more than doubled - for what? So I could be lied to some more?

The problem is that the system is politicized.  Take the politics away from it and figure it out from there.

You are a victim of the half way compromise that is the ACA. Single payer baby, that's where it's at

[turtlespeed 212]

9 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

You are a victim of the half way compromise that is the ACA. Single payer baby, that's where it's at

I am a direct victim of "You have to pass this to see what is in it"  and "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan"

I saw it as a bad deal when it was proposed.

I read the bill, when they actually published it for reading, and from what was actually clear, was that it was obvious that it would be ending up just like it did.

 

Single payer MAY be where it is at - So lets just do the band-aid trick - 

Rip the band-aid off - all the industry workers get fired.  Then they can reapply for employment in a restructured environment.

Best way - Nothing better - it would definitely be the best . . . Just pass it to see what happens.

[gowlerk 1,914]

9 hours ago, turtlespeed said:

I saw it as a bad deal when it was proposed.

You saw it from the position of someone who would be a loser and not a gainer. I can't blame you for not liking that. Healthcare reform in the US is up against very powerful entrenched interests.

[kallend 1,623]

9 hours ago, turtlespeed said:

I am a direct victim of "You have to pass this to see what is in it" 

That is true of any act of Congress.  It's the way bills become acts.  Amendments are possible pretty much right up to the last vote, Senate and House versions have to be reconciled,  and until the "AYE" vote wins you still don't know how it will end up.