Tea Party kicks Boehner in the teeth - again

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Riot

As I said, Medicare is one of the least expensive insurance delivery systems, very efficient, with most of the dollars going to patient care - the government does it way better than privates.

And yeah, that efficiency is why the government can charge 70 and 80-year olds much less than any private company would, if someone could even get private insurance at that age at a remotely affordable price without exclusions for everything (cancer, cardiac, etc)

The alternative used to be no insurance whatsoever, until we decided to start Medicare. Because old people couldn't get and afford insurance when they needed it most.

So complaining about Medicare seems pretty silly. Try to get private insurance such as the Ryan plan recommends. The GOP Medicare plan is, "Crawl off and die in the woods, Granny"

It would be great to bring the cost of Medicare down even more, and increase coverage.

First start would be not to privatize it as the GOP wants (what a disaster!) but to increase government involvement, to allow the government to bargain for drug prices as the private insurance companies are allowed to do now. That would be huge savings, billions.

Then, open up Medicare to a healthier population. Start with people 50 or 55 and older. As a preface to opening it up to the entire population.

I don't know where you are getting your figures, most of the older people I know pay $300-$400 a month for their health insurance supplemental needs while on Medicare. Considering it would be at least a thousand dollars from a private insurer, with nothing covered (no cancer, no cardiac, etc) it's a damn good deal in my eyes! And Medicaid pays for nursing homes if the patient didn't plan for that.

where do i get my figures? the arkansas life/health ins. classes i went to last week, that's where.

and yes, capt obvious, i know full well that when tony retires we lose group health..probably because he'd no longer be a member of the 'group'.
and yes, medicaid pays for nursing homes for those in need, that need 'aid'. hence the name. do you know the amount of time they go back to find any assets you might have sold to remain solvent? five years, perhaps changing soon to seven. you have to be down to your last 2k to be eligible for medicaid. no house, no life ins with cash value, no annuities, no nothing. then the nursing home (avg cost 5k a month) takes all your ss less 40 a month.

i will be buying long term care coverage, i will buy supplements for medicare. i know what i'm looking at in 21 years...


i also know that in order to make this program work, things need to change:

you must work more than 10 years before you qualify for full benefits.
you must work more than 10 years to qualify for full medicare part A. part b is only available if you already buy A. and it'll cost you...plenty
the funds taken from your checks to go to ss, and thus medicare, need to go to a separate account...not into the gen'l fund to be spent, with iou's taking their place.

i will buy the 'f' plan of supplemental coverage, as that's the plan that covers all those deductibles that occur with every incident, unlike every other ins plan that charges one deductible per year....perhaps medicare could do the same IF they actually required that people pay more than 120 months for full coverage.




the 500-odd i quoted was what medicare part A costs you IF you don't have 40 credits, thus not qualifying for full ss-which operates medicare.

we talked for a while last week about medicare, and what would fix it...but it MUST start with changing qualifications on the front end. you can, in no way, pay your way with a max demand of 10 years. that is why this coverage is what it is. if things remain as they are, tony and i will go with the medicare co-pay plan upon retirement.


i am aware of the difficulties involved in seniors accessing health care...but i'm horrified at the costs involved with medicare. it was a real eye-opener last week.


warning to everyone: plan now, ss is just a supplement...don't count on medicare to take care of you, it's just a part of what you need.