Where do you stand on Healthcare?

[hog88]

Definitely not. Pretty sure helicopters for CEOs don’t help that or their ridiculous salaries.

You suffer from wealth jealousy.

 

[USMC-TNVOL]

You suffer from wealth jealousy.

No. Getting overpriced healthcare is the issue.

 

[hog88]

No. Getting overpriced healthcare is the issue.

I've listed a few things that could be done to lower costs but for some reason nobody wants to have a discussion about that. Or hell give any real solutions other than let the government run it. What has the government ever done efficiently?

 

[Y9 Vol]

You suffer from wealth jealousy.

Ding...Ding...Ding...

 

[VolStrom]

You suffer from wealth jealousy.

Are you wealthy? If so why bitch about healthcare costs for your minions?

 

[hog88]

Are you wealthy? If so why bitch about healthcare costs for your minions?

Far from wealthy.

 

[1972 Grad]

The government used to take care of homeless people by the way of mental health institutions. I remember a huge institution in Knoxville called East Tennessee State. At some point in time we deemed places like this unnecessary and closed them only to release the people that were inside to a world they weren't prepared for.

Eastern State.

 

[1972 Grad]

Far from wealthy.

No man, I'm pretty f***ing far from wealthy.

 

[hog88]

Pretty f***ing far from wealthy.

Yep. I only have 1 house.

 

[Y9 Vol]

Yep. I only have 1 house.

Peasant

 

[1972 Grad]

Yep. I only have 1 house.

I stole a line from the movie Pulp Fiction by Marsellus Wallace with a minor change. I didn't mean to insinuate that you aren't wealthy. I have no idea. FWIW, I don't think I'm wealthy, just fortunate enough to be better off than some, not as well off as others.

 

[FallBranchChick]

Medicaid should have been expanded instead of implementing Obamacare, the government destroyed 85% of Americans healthcare to supply healthcare for 13.3 percent of the population. My deductible has gone from 1000.00 to 5500.00 since Obamacare was implemented. A lot of People choose wants over needs, why should I have to suffer for others poor decisions???

 

[hog88]

I stole a line from the movie Pulp Fiction by Marsellus Wallace with a minor change. I didn't mean to insinuate that you aren't wealthy. I have no idea. FWIW, I don't think I'm wealthy, just fortunate enough to be better off than some, not as well off as others.

I'm not wealthy but fortunate to be where I am.

 

[USMC-TNVOL]

I've listed a few things that could be done to lower costs but for some reason nobody wants to have a discussion about that. Or hell give any real solutions other than let the government run it. What has the government ever done efficiently?

I haven’t seen what your possible solutions are.

As I said before, a single payer system gives larger purchasing power to drive down overpriced medicine and ridiculous medical bills.

The current system is nowhere efficient or economical as it should be. An insurance company will do its best to cover as little possible because profits are the bottom line.

 

[1972 Grad]

I'm not wealthy but fortunate to be where I am.

That is how I look at my situation.

 

[hog88]

I haven’t seen what your possible solutions are.

As I said before, a single payer system gives larger purchasing power to drive down overpriced medicine and ridiculous medical bills.

The current system is nowhere efficient or economical as it should be. An insurance company will do its best to cover as little possible because profits are the bottom line.

It's on page one.

Do you think for 1 minute our government won't try to cover as little as possible?

 

[Carl Pickens]

Where is the choice that says people go to the doctor way too much, and medical mistakes result in the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S.?

And lawyers are leeches and practically the devil

 

[PointGuard]

So I’m going thru shoulder surgery recovery now and I laugh continually at the provider billing and what is paid.

Each rehab session: Billed $350 paid $50

Surgeon fees for surgery: Billed $9k paid $900

Surgery Center: Billed $53k paid $9k

Pre/post op visit: Billed $150 paid $50

So if those paid costs were good for them and they had already agreed to them why do the damn shell game FFS. Insurance is broken and it broke health care costs.

But if you don’t have insurance at all, you are on the hook for the billed amount not the “settled amount@.

 

[USMC-TNVOL]

It's on page one.

Do you think for 1 minute our government won't try to cover as little as possible?

Depends on what’s put in there. That’s what republicans would want anyways.

Medicare for all would save us tons of money just through admin costs alone.

As far as your solutions:

Employer insurance is done away with why exactly? Because you don’t want to provide your employees benefits?

Insurance premiums are already deductible if expenses are high enough. That doesn’t help with the overpriced costs. Same with HSA.

Denying people healthcare that can’t pay is absolutely idiotic.

 

[Sea Ray]

None of your answers fit what I would I would do if King for the day.

1. Do away with employer provided health insurance. People have to purchase policies on their own.
2. Make health insurance premiums 100% deductible from an individuals taxes.
3. Make contributions to an HSA 100% tax deductible up to 10k per year. Money can be passed down in inheritance.
4. Allow healthcare providers to deny service to people that can't pay.

Those would be the 1st changes I would make. And to clarify on the tax deductibility of insurance premiums I mean regardless if you itemize or not it is deductible.

I like your ideas but remember, half of Americans don't pay income taxes anyway so deductibility does them no good and they're the ones who can't afford it, generally speaking.

 

[volfanhill]

You suffer from wealth jealousy.

It's such a lazy argument by them. If you reduced the CEO's salary of all these companies to zero it would not make any meaningful impact on cost in this country.

 

[Sea Ray]

Depends on what’s put in there. That’s what republicans would want anyways.

Medicare for all would save us tons of money just through admin costs alone.

As far as your solutions:

Employer insurance is done away with why exactly? Because you don’t want to provide your employees benefits?

Insurance premiums are already deductible if expenses are high enough. That doesn’t help with the overpriced costs. Same with HSA.

Denying people healthcare that can’t pay is absolutely idiotic.

A couple reasons to do away with employer health insurance:

1) It's not an employer's obligation to provide health insurance for their employees any more than it's their obligation to provide car insurance

Here's the biggest reason to do away with it:

2) If you do away with employer based health insurance (including Congress) this will get fixed really quick.

As it is right now, it's awfully hard for people who are getting cushy insurance plans from their employer to get on board and address this problem. If say a teacher is getting wonderful insurance as well as their HSA payments provided thru their work, what do they care about the self employed schlep that's paying out $2K/mo for his family plan? If that teacher was also paying out $2K/mo, he/she would put a lot more pressure on said Congressman to do something about this

 

[hog88]

Depends on what’s put in there. That’s what republicans would want anyways.

Medicare for all would save us tons of money just through admin costs alone.

As far as your solutions:

Employer insurance is done away with why exactly? Because you don’t want to provide your employees benefits?

Insurance premiums are already deductible if expenses are high enough. That doesn’t help with the overpriced costs. Same with HSA.

Denying people healthcare that can’t pay is absolutely idiotic.

Doing away with employer provided insurance frees people to pursue opportunities including starting their own business.

Insurance premiums are NOT deductible except by the employer. Only direct medical costs over I think 20% of your income are deductible.

Why? Would you support the government forcing a mechanic to fix peoples cars that can't pay them? How about a heat and air guy? Should they be forced to fix a furnace in the dead of winter for someone that can't pay them? Why is a medical provider different?

 

[Sea Ray]

This is what many people who are pro government healthcare don’t understand.

In many ways the ACA has hurt more than it has helped - especially small businesses and their employees/families.

HSA should be a key part of the long term fix, but not sure how we get out of the current mess we’re in.

HSA is not a cure all but I agree it should be part of a solution. Why can't every American have an HSA? Why? Can't anyone answer me that? Congress should pass tomorrow a law that every American can have an HSA of at least a few thousand a year

 

[hog88]

I like your ideas but remember, half of Americans don't pay income taxes anyway so deductibility does them no good and they're the ones who can't afford it, generally speaking.

I think catastrophic plans could be affordable for most and with the incentive of providers being able to refuse service more would buy a policy instead of buying booze or smokes.