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It absolutely CAN be "solved" here in the USA. The problem is that our government is in the back pocket of the insurance companies. Most of our economy is basically made up of scams upon scams, and people are slowly becoming aware of just how much that is...
Quote:
Originally Posted by hsv2017
Very true. It's all about ripping people off. Whether it's insurance or these essential oil pyramid scams, things have gotten pretty odd here.
So true.
We got vote some honest people in office, if they'd choose to run. We vote them in and the big drug/ health insurance companies corrupt them.
They forget who they are suppose to be representing.
Our premium is more than doubling for 2018, to over $1,700/month for a bronze plan with a $14,000 dedectible. Healthy family of three.
All told, taxes take about half of my income right off the top; insurance takes a good chunk of what's left. No subsidy, thanks to working 60+ hours/week self employed. Sometimes I wonder why I bother trying so hard.
For us our 2018 went down by $145 per money for basically the same plan as last year. This year there is no premium for us at all, thanks to the ACA subsidies. Then in 2019 I will be eligible for Medicare.
Our premium is more than doubling for 2018, to over $1,700/month for a bronze plan with a $14,000 dedectible. Healthy family of three.
All told, taxes take about half of my income right off the top; insurance takes a good chunk of what's left. No subsidy, thanks to working 60+ hours/week self employed. Sometimes I wonder why I bother trying so hard.
And, thanks to the new "tax reform", we probably lost the insurance premium deduction. As it currently stands, if you itemize, the portion of your premiums (or any medical expenses) above 10% of your income can be used as a deduction. The House tax plan completely drops that provision, the Senate version started off by sparing it, but it will probably be lost in reconciliation.
For us, the spouse turned 65 this month and his former employer offers a pretty good UHC Medicare Advantage program, so his health care drops below $200 a month (including Part B). My plan goes up about 5% to $875 a month. I rearranged our income to get subsidies (starting in 2016), so I will get about $350 a month off that. That roughly $700 a month we will be paying in insurance is the lowest amt we've paid in probably 15 years. I think the first year of the ACA we paid $770, which was a $90 a month drop from the really bad catastrophic-only coverage we had before the ACA.
Last edited by PNW-type-gal; 12-19-2017 at 09:16 AM..
Reason: added
It absolutely CAN be "solved" here in the USA. The problem is that our government is in the back pocket of the insurance companies. Most of our economy is basically made up of scams upon scams, and people are slowly becoming aware of just how much that is...
It's not just insurance companies, it's the entire medical profession, including doctors, hospitals, etc... they can charge whatever they want to whomever they want. And it will continue to get worse until people have had enough...
It's not just insurance companies, it's the entire medical profession, including doctors, hospitals, etc... they can charge whatever they want to whomever they want. And it will continue to get worse until people have had enough...
And it's not just the medical profession. It's all big industries IMO. I am in the process of buying a home, and it had to be extended 3 times through no fault of my own. I had to have 2 appraisals done 2 weeks apart for almost $600 each, the exact same house did not change in 2 weeks! You should see the list of fees I have to bring to closing, there are probably 20 different fees ranging from $30 to $200. I had to pay $375 twice to extend the closing date....just to change a date! I had to pay hundreds of dollars for a septic inspection even though the house was in process of being sold to someone else a month or so before we put in an offer and the last people also paid for septic inspection. Same thing with housing inspection. Conceivably, one inspector could inspect the same house over and over and charge $1200 each time and not even have to do anything but print out the old paperwork.
I feel like the country is set up for us to be ripped off. It will most likely get much much worse, with Trump getting rid of every consumer protection regulation that ever existed, and now handing the keys to the Kingdom to Verizon and Comcast with the reversal of net neutrality rules.
And it's not just the medical profession. It's all big industries IMO. I am in the process of buying a home, and it had to be extended 3 times through no fault of my own. I had to have 2 appraisals done 2 weeks apart for almost $600 each, the exact same house did not change in 2 weeks! You should see the list of fees I have to bring to closing, there are probably 20 different fees ranging from $30 to $200. I had to pay $375 twice to extend the closing date....just to change a date! I had to pay hundreds of dollars for a septic inspection even though the house was in process of being sold to someone else a month or so before we put in an offer and the last people also paid for septic inspection. Same thing with housing inspection. Conceivably, one inspector could inspect the same house over and over and charge $1200 each time and not even have to do anything but print out the old paperwork.
What does your home inspection have to do with health insurance?
What does your home inspection have to do with health insurance?
Nothing, that's why my first sentence sets it up by saying it's not just health insurance but all industries that are a problem.
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