There are no functioning socialist countries.
- Thread starter Veerman_12
- Start date
I anticipate never seeing a dime of SS, which is why I'm taking personal responsibility for my retirement.
Not that it has anything to do with the reality of the OP, but I've cut my debt in half over the last 8 months and am investing heavily in my IRA. So yeah, God willing, I will be foregoing the NEED for SS. And if things pan out the way I want over the next 30 years I won't need Medicare either. Much rather keep my personal health insurance.
The vaunted Medicare just covers hospitalization unless you buy supplements. The hospitalization deductible, Dr visits, specialists, ambulance, e-room, prescriptions, and anything else medical requires a supplement. To have "free" healthcare under medicare costs about $400/month.
If a worker participating in the forced Social Security Ponzi scheme dies before retirement, his estate loses his contributions, except for minor children or a spouse.
Compare that to the alternative established by three counties in Texas that opted out of Social Security before Congress changed the law in 1983 to prevent others from withdrawing. The differences are astonishing. Check it out for yourself here.
Good thing we have our federal government "daddy" to provide us with the SS Ponzi sheme, huh?
I'll bet your investments have REALLY gone up over the past 2+ years after our POTUS was elected, huh?
I haven't had the need for an ambulance, either before or since I've been on medicare, and I have not had hospital stay so I can't comment on that. I have yet to pay anything for a doctor visit. My supplement for prescriptions is $15 a month with a fairly high deductible for the higher class drugs, which I don't take on a regular basis. The only prescription I take on a daily basis costs me less than $6 for a 90 day supply, one per day, and my medical supplement just went up from $128 per month to $136. Maybe when you actually get on medicare you'll find out a few things.
So, what did I say that wasn't true?
Aren't you buying supplements?
Your drugs aren't free.
Is seeing the Dr free?
Just because you haven't needed an ambulance doesn't mean it's free.
I did NOT comment on the ambulance issue nor the hospital stay because I have no first hand knowledge of those things. I am paying for supplements but so far they ain't breaking me like not having them could. I pay less than 6 bucks for 90 days worth of the prescription I take and as I said I have NOT paid anything for a doctor visit yet. Under my previous insurance I had a $25 copay for every doctor visit and sometimes had to pay what was left over after the insurance paid all it would pay. I haven't seen anyone say Medicare is "free' now. Some seem to think it should, or could, be. I am not of that belief.
Eh, it's just not true, though.
Take the UK and France, for example. They spend about 2% of GDP on defense. We spend about 3.6%. 1.6% of GDP isn't that big a difference in the aggregate. Even lower spenders like Germany and the Netherlands are at something like 1%-1.5% of GDP spend (so 2%-2.5% difference)
The real differences are as follows:
1. Health care spend. We spend 18% of GDP on health care, including private spend, and they spend closer to 11%-13% of GDP. When you're able to achieve similar health outcomes for 5%+ less of GDP...you can spend more on other social programs.
2. Tax revenue is higher, generally. Germany is raising 37%-38% of GDP in tax revenue. France and many of the Nordics are even higher. The UK is towards the lower end at 33%. The US is closer to 27%-28% (keep in mind to include state and local taxes here.) Do note that some of this particular difference is driven by the US having a larger budget deficit than any peer you'd consider for this analysis.
It's true that the plan has copays, etc., but it's silly to ignore the massive Medicare subsidies available under Parts B (doctors), C (MA), and D (Rx.)
Lots of national health systems have forms of coinsurance/deductibles/etc., and many of them have private provided supplements like Medicare. Many have coverage exclusions just like Medicare does. You're not pointing to something that makes Medicare different than national health care plans in other countries.
The real difference with Medicare vs. other countries is it is actually more open/comprehensive, not less.
SS will be there in some shape or form.
Good luck keeping personal insurance post-65.
So, you are saying what I said was correct......to have medicare that pays for everything you have to buy supplements (B, C, D,).
Do you have private insurance that pays for EVERYTHING? I had pretty good coverage when I worked on the RR but it was NEVER that good.
Have had in the past but that is irrelevant. The point is that i've paid my whole working life for medical care in retirement that I have to pay more to make it workable. it costs more than my insurance through work does.
Technically, you only have to pay for B...C and D offer zero premium plans
And the Part B premium is probably fairer to be thought of as a tax given Part B is a government plan that is directly collected from your SS.
Is your argument really that "Medicare is bad because they don't make it all free?"
If so, Duck has a Presidential Candidate for you.
And your employer provided care costs you a lot - private pre-65 insurance costs over 10k per employee per year, on average. There is no "employer share" of health care spend. Those are your wages you are directly dedicating to health care. If you don't work, you owe that whole amount. They just don't show directly on your pay stub.
If it is taken out of my SS is it not me paying for it?
I've only been told (by providers brought in by our company) what parts B,C, and D cost. I wonder where this zero premium plan is at and why would it need to be an option? Why not include it in part A?
I don't expect my insurance to be free because I haven't paid my whole life for it, I get what I pay for!
Medicare is touted as free healthcare for the elderly retired. If it was an optional thing it would be like my employer insurance policy. A government mandated "benefit" is never as beneficial as sold.
If any of you can figure out how to provide a reasonable level of care to all citizens and keep healthcare costs low enough to not bankrupt our country without getting rid of insurance company plans, I would love to hear your plan. Because it is impossible to contain cost and have great care when your CEOs are adding billions to the cost and providing zero care.
On the RR they paid a bunch and deducted some from my check to finish it off. Every new contract my part got to be bigger and bigger. I pay less now for my medicare stuff than it was costing to stay on my wife's insurance where she works. I'm still on her eye and dental plan until she retires in a about a year.
Part B has always had a premium since the day the law was passed. It's a subsidized insurance program. It's never been 100% free
Medicare and SS have worked out quite well for the average Joe.
Once again you are arguing exactly what I said. In order to get medicare to cover your daily medical needs you must buy an add on.
Who has ever told you medicare would give us 'free' healthcare? I'm talking about what some candidates say they want to do, just what we have had for a gazillion years now.
He doesn't have a point he just doesn't agree with anyone that doesn't eat tRUMP's poo poo like he does.
If you hadn't tried to derail my point you'd know. Go back to my original point and see.
I asked my insurance guy about these Humana commercials claiming no plan premium. Who can given you health insurance for nothing? He said if you get one of those you basically are dropped from medicare, you will have high deductibles and the government sends Humana about $1300 a month rather than pay for your medicare so your medicare payments while you worked are still going to pay for your coverage.
You have a choice between out of pocket costs vs. premiums for how you wish to insure the portion of expected claims that Medicare will not pay. Plans with $0 premium will generally have deductibles and higher co-pays. For someone who is pretty healthy, it may well make sense to elect a $0 premium Medicare Advantage plan instead of paying $200+ a month for Plan F/G
Your insurance guy's description of how supplemental plans work is...not very good.
he was n't describing supplemental plans. I asked how they get away with lying about no premium for insurance when I said nobody GIVES you health insurance. What he said is exactly what you just said except for the part about the government sending them money every month to help with your zero dollar plan premium.
