May 27th, 2009
We pay for our own health insurance, and because of my pre-existing condition MY insurance is expensive. But I believe medical expenses shouldn’t be completely tax free. I think it distorts the market.
I hope they choose to tax everyone — not just families who make over $400K a year (ummm…no, I don’t fall into that income bracket).
I feel like everyone should feel the pain, and everyone should know what health care really costs.
I DO like the idea of keeping tax free savings vehicles like Health Savings Accounts an option. I like the idea of people being able to save for future medical expenses.
Posted in Health Insurance | No Comments »
May 27th, 2009
This graph shows how much people are willing to pay for health insurance (It seems to fit about what I’ve seen in the comments at sites advocating single payer health care system.)
I’ve just about had it with people earning 80K+ a year who “can’t afford” health insurance (another NPR interview).
Graph courtesy of NPR: Few Uninsured Willing To Pay Full Cost For Coverage
Posted in Staying Healthy, Uncategorized | No Comments »
May 23rd, 2009
What isn’t mentioned in articles advocating a Canadian health care system in the U.S. is that the U.S. has nearly 10 times the population of Canada (304 Mil vs. 33 Mil). Managing a system of 304,000,000+ participants is a lot more difficult than managing a system of 33,000,000+ participants.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
May 21st, 2009
Another journalist talking about health insurance without a basic grasp of economics.
How truly annoying. S/He bashes the Republican Patients Choice proposals because it “only” provides a tax credit of $5,700 For Families ($2,300 For Individuals)…for the record, that ain’t a deduction sweethearts — that is a CREDIT, works same for everyone, unlike current tax deduction schemes which are unfair.
His reasoning for bashing the plan is that it “The total 2009 medical cost for a typical American family of four is $16,771″.
OK, so should the Republicans going to give a tax credit of $16,771 for every family? Where the heck are they going to get the money for that? Maybe by taxing every family $16,771?
Note to universal health care advocates: The Money Has to Come From Somewhere. Universal Coverage is not FREE!
The point of the Republican plan is not to give people a free ride, but to offer a helping hand. I’m not ga-ga about it, but lets be fair in our criticism, shall we?
Tags: Health Insurance
Posted in $700 Billion in unnecessary Medical Tests, Health Insurance | No Comments »
May 21st, 2009
I believe in deductibles. I don’t believe that general doctors visits, teeth cleanings, general wellness care should be covered by “insurance”. I don’t even believe that most medical tests should be immediately covered by insurance.
Paying for your own health care costs is a good thing, it makes you think. There is over $700 billion spent on unnecessary medical tests every year. Beyond cost these tests can lead to a great deal of pain and suffering on the part of the patient. (Here’s a newsflash, not everyone over 50 should get a colonoscopy, for people with certain conditions the risk of perforation is simply too high).
I know a lot of people don’t want to second guess their doctors, but you really, really, really should. They are human, they don’t know everything — and in many traditional health care scenarios they make more money when they advocate more testing (also, they may get sued if they don’t advocate the test…but that is a subject for another day).
Tags: Health Insurance, Health Savings Accounts
Posted in $700 Billion in unnecessary Medical Tests, Health Insurance, High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) | No Comments »
May 18th, 2009
Someone recently told me that for people with chronic illnesses high deductible health care plans (HDHPs) are only good for healthy people. So I ran the numbers…in my state, with Blue Cross Blue Shield Illinois, he’d be wrong.
Chart Showing High Deductible Health Plan Savings For Someone With Chronic Illness.
Copays + prescriptions assumes 1 doc visit a month + $20 prescription a month.
This doesn’t include the possibility that the HDHP’s yearly deductible could be partially covered tax free by a Health Savings Account (HSA) and so offer a substantial discount…HSAs are the only current option for people who are not self employed for deductible tax savings (the self employed should consider an health reimbursement arrangement (HRA)).
Of course this scenario doesn’t account for the fact that currently people with chronic conditions CAN’T get health insurance of any kind on their own.
Numbers are based on a friend of mine who has Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) a rare-ish condition that causes her pain nerves to not stop firing. She needs very expensive prescriptions and has a $30K surgery about once every year or so.
Posted in Health Insurance, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) | No Comments »
May 17th, 2009
Interesting Article from the Kansas Star.
I DO NOT favor expanding Medicare (I favor shrinking it)…but I do agree with this statement:
Insurance, as usually defined, is the creation of a pool of people to spread out risk…Health insurance is no longer insurance against risk but rather has come to include pre-paid health care with coverage for routine maintenance and preventive health care….These costs are regular and predictable…not the kind of costs one should buy insurance for.
I believe high deductibles for health insurance are a good thing.
But then he goes on to say this:
And it will be difficult to eliminate our American employer based insurance system with a different system because the insurance companies know the alternative: a single payer system.
The alternative to an employer based system IS NOT a single payer system. Just ask the Swiss. We can separate health insurance from employment.
Posted in Health Insurance, Medicare | No Comments »
May 12th, 2009
Reforming the tax exclusion on employer-based benefits.
Why give rich people a 28%+ discount on insurance (and I fall squarely in that tax bracket).
I’m actually a low tax kind of gal, but fairness counts.
Posted in Health Insurance | No Comments »
May 12th, 2009
From the Heritage Foundation:
- Health care reform must expand health insurance coverage by making it affordable for all Americans to purchase, especially those with pre-existing conditions.
- Any reform bill would use private plans to deliver the coverage.
- Reform must foster an atmosphere of competition by demanding that insurers compete on price and value, rather than providing the ability to pick lower-cost, low-risk patients.
- A bipartisan bill would protect consumers by providing them with better information about quality, price and the nature of coverage within competing health plans.
- There would be an appropriate level of government oversight in the marketplace to protect patients from abuse that occurs at times in today’s market.
- The bill would provide advance subsidies to low-income American to help them purchase private health insurance.
The final requisite is that any health care reform must be fully paid for, Enzi charged. “It is my belief that our nation has maxed out its credit card,” he said, noting the Medicare and Social Security are projected to go bankrupt sooner than anticipated a year ago.
Also interesting is Mr. Enzi’s proposals for paying for the $636 billion downpayment that will be needed for reform to happen…reforming the tax exclusion on employer-based benefits.
Posted in Health Insurance | No Comments »
May 12th, 2009
I tried official Massachusetts “Health Insurance Connector” and didn’t see any Health Savings Account Plans (HSA) represented. HSA plans have high deductibles that must be met before the insurance kicks in, they tend to offer lower premiums and all the plans I’ve seen are PPO plans.
If you do a search for Health Savings Accounts + Massachusetts a number of plans do come up. When I compared premiums to what is offered at the Health official “Health Insurance Connector”, sure enough…they were lower.
If you’re in Massachusetts (or anywhere else) consider getting a high deductible health plan (HDHP) compatible with an HSA.
Posted in Health Insurance, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs), The Massachusetts Health Insurance Experiment | No Comments »