ttaylor,
Thanks, that is a pretty acurate description of COBRA. I guess what I'm mostly concerned about is the "overall" high cost of health insurance for the working. COBRA is simply to allow a continuation of health care coverage after seperation from your employer. Your right, COBRA is typically paid at 102% of what it cost your employer so it lets you know what your employer paid to keep you onboard. The reason for the extra 2% cost is to help prevent adverse selection to the isurer.

 

It is funny, that this is mentioned and the rest of you are talking about Insurance. rescuediver is absolutley correct and add the Unions as well, who make big companies pay top dollar to there workers and make them look bad if they do not follow there demands. I am not sure if you all remember the Grocery store strikes that were here in So. Cal. but that was because the Unions did not want there workers paying an extra $15.00/month for health care! Huh, now that seems strange our Grocery store workers here are getting some $12-$20+/hour. Especially in so.cal when you have to wait in an Emergency room filled with a good 30+ people and 85% of them do not have any insurance or not even legal!
Politicians can say all they want and do all they want because they will regardless. Now, if you are going to tell me that one person is going to represent how many million? I am not talking about the president either, I am talking about senators, congress people and decision makers! There is plenty going on behind the seens that we never see. Call if a conspiracy theory but I think the whole electoral vote thing makes me very suspicious! So carry on about who has what plan, but when we can't even get a freakin' pothole filled in a city or a highway widened! Something if freakin' wrong!

out.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

 

That and all the administrative headache to keep you on the policy. Let me say its probably more then 2%.

High cost of health care; lets get to the root of the problem. LAWSUITS. If people who lost their suit had to pay all the costs of the suit they would think twice about filing a suit. The problem is we have too many ambulance chaser and scum sucking bottom dwellers (attorneys) to make it work. I have no problem with people who have a legitimate claim that they should access to the courts. Due to the high court cases doctors are considered "High Risk" Especially when you get into a specialist. Now malpractice insurance runs about 150K-250K a year for a doctor, Now he has overhead for his office, salaries for himself and his staff, Add to the equation taxes and everything else. Now we get a more clear picture of why the doctor charges $50 to see him. I know he could reduce his wage a bit but other things could be reduced if we weren't such a letigious society.

Drug Companies do a lot of R&D work. Who is paying for all the new drugs which come out? We are. Do we want drug companies to continue to come out with new and better drugs? If yes, then who should pay for those drugs? The user right? Well, what happens when there are few users? (aids vs. diabeties). The costs are then spread over all drugs to help the corporation recoup its expenses sooner so it can continue to make new drugs and to help the few users who need the drug to make it more affordable.

Corporate Taxes are a pass through to the consumer. You want to charge a corporation more taxes? Then be willing to pay a higher price? Why do corporation get tax breaks? Because your local government wanted them there to provide a place for your sorry butt to work. They also provide money to the community through donations, and sponsorships. You as a consumer also takes your wages and spends on local business. They in turn do the same and all live comfortably. We want to beat up corporate america but they are the sole reason america exists!!! When was the last time congress got you a job???? NEVER When was the last time your town commissioners gave a tax break to a company so they would build their plant by your community and provide good paying jobs to its citizens??? Yesterday, last year, If your answer is NEVER you need to change your local government.

Only the lazy, lying politicians want you to think your being treated bad when you're not. They create a false sense of a problem that they say needs to be fixed. They do this to create a need. Once this need is created we then will then vote them into office.

If you really want lower health care costs. stop the lawsuits!!!!

 

ttaylor:

Your insights are well thought out and lucid but very narrow in perspective. It's not as black and white as you are suggesting. Sometimes very well-to-do people are forced into poverty because of healthcare issues and it has nothing to do with what you claim as "stupid" for not planning.

My friend has a wife in a wheelchair, she has limited ability. He was hit by a drunk driver who died, had no insurace and no assets. He now works 3 jobs to help support the insane costs of her healthcare.

You cannot plan for everything, this is an uncertain world with uncertain events. Sometimes things happen that we don't plan and cannot control.

Not everyone, no matter how hard they work and save can afford things that you obviously take for granted. People who come from money just do not see the bigger picture of those who struggle. It's easy to spout rhetoric from a white stallion when those whom you are chastising are riding a mule. Poor people don't work any less hard than rich people, sometimes things just don't work out no matter how well you plan.

 

ttaylor, excellent response!!

Unless I'm mistaken there was an initiative some time back that, if passed and made law, would hold accountable the suing party to pay for all legal fees incurred by the defendant if the defendant won the case. Do you recal this at all and am I on the right track? I believe the all-powerful lobbying efforts of the lawyers used thier leverage to kill it before it ever had a chance...go figure. And if bad isn't bad enough, there are actually more students of law in this country that plan on becoming lawyers than there are practicing lawyers.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] Things may just get a lot worse. How sad.

 

Well i dont have 6 kids. Just me and my dog n pony show. But seems everyone has somthing to complain about. I dont notice the cost of healthcare is so out of line. I'm Basically self employed. thus i pay all the taxes and other bills. health insurance $2,000/year and My Trucks insurance $2400/year. The auto insurance is ridiculous. Isnt it the way in a capitolist society if you develop something someone else wants you can set the price? Say my lil company Invented a gizmo that was a 5 minute bolt on for your quad and it would double your horsepower, seems i should be able to charge you what $1500 or maybe $3,000 bucks huh oh it cost me 5 cents to make it in china outsourcing my labor. pretty good profit huh. so on the taxes subject im makin all this cash if we ran on a consumption tax base I would surely spend my money buying trucks, horses, quads, bikes, houses, land and whatever else i choose to spend it on. The government would get its share of my money the same as yours and everyone elses proportianatly (oh speaker of the house was claiming they are working on this system currently to do away with the IRS) Im not sure why under the current system its acceptable by the public to penalize high achievers? so what someone works hard and makes a couple million a year. its kewl to take 35+% of his cash from him just cuz your jelous you dont make as much money? that is simply a bad policy, and completley disproportionate, we are all equal and should support the operating needs of our country equally. Well we're not equal but ya know we all have the ability to do as good as we can, and we have the same oppertunities. We make our own choices in life and have to live with them. dont punish someone else for making a "better" descision. If the government cant run on the revenues it is getting. maybe the government should cut some fat off and loose a lil' weight? The "Government" Is an "Employee" of the Business of America. We pay it a comensurate salary for what it does and well it needs to operate within that. we all make a salary and we all have bills and credit and whatever else and we figure out how to pay it within the means of our salary. Deficit spending Is like your credit card. sometimes your salary dont cut the mustard and ya need something so what do you do? do without or finance it. whats the big deal? HMMM was i complaining or just ranting?

 

Maybe Im from a differnt america but seems to me the way this country was founded, friends and family take care of things like your friends situation. private groups, ie: churches or non religious disability assistance programs. My gramma has done gone beyond her retirement funds and social security doesnt cut the bills and she has allotta medical expenses. And i nor my family expect you or anyone else to take care of her. We all pony up a lil doe to what we can afford to assist her. when my friends are down and out i lend them funds and help them back to their feet. this again is not the governments responsibility. The governments only responsibility should be to protect us from those who wish to harm us. tell the government to give you back your hard earned dollars and you can help your friend who is in need of help. the government really cant do anything right so why expect them to?

 

Cowboy:

In some cases there is no family to help, and the fact is that the "helpers" can pick and choose whom they want to help. If government is not going to help Americans, then they should help no one.

Why do we tax players have to pay for operations for people who don't even live in this country? We are so quick to help those conjoined twins from all over the planet under the umbrella of science and research.

Again our domestic policy is lacking. We are so quick to help the rest of the World while our own country crumbles.

I don't claim Kerry is better than Bush to help any of these problems, I'm just making a point.

 

Write some more stuff cowboy you're really fun to read. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

NSA, To you, it might appear his thoughts are very narrow in perspective. But, I disagree. It seems everyone is trying to cram a lot of info into a small space. And I think it was well put.
This is quite interesting keep it going[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]