...and a fine effort it was Tom, but I don't want to pay for MCG's kid either, nor do I know anybody that does, although undoubtedly there are some and that's fine, they can send him a check directly at their discretion rather than be forced to by the central government. The point you're making is a good one.....we can all think of things that we would like to have, but choose not to because it's beyond our means....we've got to get away from the prevailing view in this country that if the central government writes a check, that means it's free.....newsflash, it's not. It's an insidious virus.... Every nickel Uncle spends takes another nickel out of the private sector - growth in the private sector is what enables future generations better standards of living than that of the previous one.....the more we take from the private sector by way of tax burden/social costs, the more we take away and punish future generations, undermine the geopolitical influence of the US and just leave MCG's kids in a helluva worse mess than he ever imagined....that hopey, changey doesn't work, has never worked, can't work.....even Fidel admitted as much, but hell everybody wants a Maserati.....
My point is that I pay extra for family coverage and that includes all dependents in my family. No one pays for my health insurance but me and as I pointed out the cost of that insurance has been tremendous...especially in the past 10 years. I say weed out the corrupt SOBs like Rick Scott before you worry about a $5.00 bottle of Motrin. I'll be willing to bet that in the years W was in office there was whole lot of scummy crap that went down amongst heath care powermongers like Rick Scott and that contribiuted greatly to the skyrocketing expenses of healthcare.
I'm the small business owner you hear about in political ads. And I'm getting smaller all the time. From 21 employees down to 14. And three of them are part time. My insurance agent hit me with a 27% increase on May 1. Well, he tried to. He only had three companies for me to pick; usually he has 5-8. He said these were the only three left in NJ. My business cannot bear such an increase; my monthly premiums are already higher than my building lease. So we jacked the co-pays and deductibles again until we got the increase down to 17%. And then he hit me with the punch line; he said to expect our premiums to accelerate at a much higher rate under the Healthcare Reform bill. He also said we can expect hospital closings and doctors bailing out as well. Doctors in NJ are forming outpatient surgicenters daily... the reason being that as of now they are not obligated to take in uninsured, indigent or illegal immigrants as patients. This is what happens when a nation "goes to the well" once too often. This president has ruled by class warfare and racial innuendo and has targeted a specific class of people who already pay 80+% of the total tax bill as the bad guys. And now these people are saying F*** You! Dave, clearly you have had your share of trials. But when you talk down to the rest of us like we're immune to this , well, you lose us. You have no idea what we are going through. We know what you are going through because you remind us daily.
I do appreciate what you are saying George. I work with a small company with few employees and their insurance program would be downright debilitating if I had to opt for it. Is it any wonder there are so many Americans opting to be uninsured. I am always amazed at the completely insensitive, aloost inhuman people out there who scoff at the plight of others because it just hasn't occurred to them they could be next. I doubt seriously these healthcare ills are caused by a few people trying to get bottles of Motrin. I truly believe that Rick Scott is not alone. I truly believe there are some lawless people out there with no scruples or morals who are pushing the envelope and milking everything they can by fraudulent means if necessary and certainly at the expense of many average Americans. But these are untouchable people in my opinion when it comes to the GOP and it's never more evidenced as when a slimeball like Scott can garner the GOP's gubernatorial nomination in a state the size of Florida.
You moved to Floriday May/June of last year. Your family followed you in November/December of last year, voluntarily giving up health care before you were able to get it through your new job (6 months after starting is when yours would start?). Your son hasn't been in school since leaving Michigan. You state you don't expect anyone else to pay for his healthcare, but with this new healthcare bill, will the rest of us taxpayers not be required to do just that? As has been repeated many times by almost everyone that frequents this board, you are not the only one that has gone through or is currently going through hard times. My viewpoint is that I would rather not pay for someone else's healthcare for those individuals that, for instance, make the PERSONAL choice to be a struggling musician yet not accept the consequences. All decisions have consequences. The difference between my viewpoint and that of the prevailing Congress is that I feel the person making the decision should be responsible for the consequences, not everyone else.
My elder son now pays for his own insurance....as he should......even though he is still taking graduate course as is his wife and neither one have much money because they are not in their eventual occupations just yet. This age group in their predicament is in a black hole of insurance......they aren't yet gainfully employed enough to afford insurance. My now 22 year old is different. He lives with me and I do believe he will return to school soon. In the interim he is dependent and should be a part of the healthcare family plan that I pay for....note: I pay for.....not anyone else. As I stated before.....I have paid my insurance dues.....probably over $70,000.00 in premiums alone just in the past 10 years. No one has paid my insurance costs but me. And another thing......it used to be about "coverage"...."insurance"....words like that. Now it's more about "pre-existing"....."exclusion"......"dropped" Why in the hell do we pay these exorbitant premiums then?
Mark my words.... If the GOP is successful in repealing the healthcare reform bill two things will happen that will be horrific for the average American: 1} Premiums will rise at astronomic rates and coverages will further diminish. 2) Scumbag crooks out there like Rick Scott will see it as a green light to start grabbing all of the money they can at the expense of the rest of us.
Where do you get this stuff? It's completely nonsensical......because a new Congress follows the will of the people, suddenly boogie men are going to come out of the shadows and fleece us all as never before......seriously?
Nothing definitive BT. I just know that when the Clinton's took on healthcare in the mid-90s the fleecing subsided. When W took office in 2001 the real exorbitant fleecing began. That is the experience I had with my healthcare expenses going through roof with regard to timeline in the period of say 1992 through 2008 at my former company.....whose plan I was on for that period of time. And most people here in Florida know Scott is a crook but even so the GOP voters still nominate this a**hole. That tells me they don't care if they get fleeced as long as the one doing the fleecing "promises" to cut taxes and curb spending and hold everyone else accountable but himself.
I see.....the nation's health care issues are only issues during republican administrations.......no reason to engage in a discussion with somebody who routinely makes up his own facts. Carry on....
Not making anything up BT. I am drawing from my own experience with the same company for 23 years which gives me a pretty good look at different administrations. Maybe it is just coincidence but I know for certain from that experience that in the late 80s/early 90s I began to see increases annually that were troublesome and had me questioning. Then after the Clintons took on the healthcare industry in the mid 90s I did notice that these exorbitant annual increases subsided. After W took office all hell broke loose with regard to those increases and they began to be significant and unrelenting annually. This is a factual account of my own experience with healthcare costs and it has had impact with the opinions I have formed on the issue.
My experience in rate increases was different but that's sticks and stones... So you are saying that rate increases are simply political? Fraud, excessive legal actions, exhorbitant prescription charges and the treatment of illegals etc. have nothing to do with it.
......and from this broad experience with the same company and your own personal insights you conclude that Republican administrations "fleece" the citizenry on the cost of healthcare.....I get it. In fact, health care cost increases have been "significant and unrelenting annually" for over 50 years now. The primary causal effects of those cost increases have been studied intensely and they are many and complex, but I daresay that the current political party in power is not one of them......you always selectively grasp facts, in some cases simple anecdotes and often very superficial observations that support your position but conveniently ignore those facts/data that disprove your position and then draw firm conclusions with your preferred half of the data set......it has been my experience that that generally doesn't lead to sound decisions. I'm not going to go into this with you....it just isn't worthwhile to engage in a debate with somebody that will only see half the data set, real or imagined.....
Nothing imagined BT.. My family premiums went from around $300 in 2000 to $850 in 2008. It only took 8 years for that to happen.....about a 185% increase. They went from $240.00 in 1992 to $300.00 in 2000....only took 8 years for that to happen.....about a 30% increase. My point is the GOP doesn't mind the store......for various reasons but my guess is less regulation and oversight invites thiefs who do what George says: Fraud, excessive legal actions, exorbitant prescription charges
......yes, and eating ice cream makes you drown because the incidence of drowning increases at the same time of increasing ice cream consumption and the earth must be flat because I can't see the curvature from my front porch but when I get off the porch I see things that I don't want to see, so I will deem that my front porch is the definitive position from which to make such observations....and the Dems are in power when I made those observations therefore it must be their fault.....it's absurd, but at least I know where you're at.......