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My Dad is healthy, 66 years old, owns his own business and has private insurance.
Am I misunderstanding what you mean?
If social security is a form of socialism then so is everything else funded through taxpayer monies...education, police, infrastructure....
Ask your dad if he has signed up for medicare. It is my understanding, based on years of experience in Home Health, that one must sign up at some point in time, that private insurers will not insure you if you are eligible for medicare. Your dad may have a medicare supplemental policy, that pays for things that medicare doesn't. He may also have a "Medicare Advantage" plan:
If you are a supporter of McCain and Palin, you must have heard that they abhor socialism. If so, do you believe Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid (i.e. entitlement programs) are manifestations of socialism? If so, shouldn't you be returning your social security checks? Shouldn't you renounce any Medicare and Medicaid benefits you might receive beginning now until you drop dead?
SS, Medicare, and Medicaid comprise the biggest chunk of the federal budget. This is where the bulk of your taxes go. So if you hate taxes and oppose tax increases, it is only logical for you to renounce these programs and fight tooth and nail that they be abolished. But we don't really hear McCain and Palin (and their stooges on this forum) doing that. They attack the abstraction of socialism, but they can't really attack these programs directly because they know they will lose votes in the process.
All they do is posturing. These Republicans criticize Obama for supposedly being a socialist while at the same time they continue to receive their SS checks. Suck the government teat while hypocritically whipping its behind.
Have you ever worked and actually gotten a check? They take FICA tax out of that check to cover Social Security and Medicare. It is not socialism if you pay for it.
I stand corrected! There are some people under 62 on Medicare. It's been a while since I worked for a medicare home health agency, so I don't remember the particulars, but they're out there.
Quick, tell me how to get it at age 64. I was going to wait until 65 to apply because that is what my annual SS statement told me....I could use it now because of some health issues that my insurance doesn't pay for very well...
Ask your dad if he has signed up for medicare. It is my understanding, based on years of experience in Home Health, that one must sign up at some point in time, that private insurers will not insure you if you are eligible for medicare. Your dad may have a medicare supplemental policy, that pays for things that medicare doesn't. He may also have a "Medicare Advantage" plan:
My health insurance policy automatically becomes a supplemental policy when I reach 65. They have already written me and told me I must apply for Medicare early so that it will begin at 65 or I will not be covered. The good news--my premium will drop some, but I will have to pay a premium for Medicare. It is not 100% free.
Have you ever worked and actually gotten a check? They take FICA tax out of that check to cover Social Security and Medicare. It is not socialism if you pay for it.
Where do get that idea? Do you think Canada just has healthcare and the Albanians send checks over to take it for them? You pay a healthcare fee or tax, call it what you want, and in exchange you are covered. If you cannot pay for a period of time due to unemployment, you don't have to pay. Social security is the same thing. You pay into a governnment run pension/insurance plan and the government determines your benefits as part of a the entire population. Pure socialism.
Where do get that idea? Do you think Canada just has healthcare and the Albanians send checks over to take it for them? You pay a healthcare fee or tax, call it what you want, and in exchange you are covered. If you cannot pay for a period of time due to unemployment, you don't have to pay. Social security is the same thing. You pay into a governnment run pension/insurance plan and the government determines your benefits as part of a the entire population. Pure socialism.
Not true, you draw a benefit from social security that is based on a schedule of what you pay in. If you do not work and pay in, you do not draw anything from social security. Not everyone draws the same benefit, but a graduated benefit based on the highest quarters you paid in. That is indeed not socialism. I am shocked that you do not understand how a program as old as social security works. It is not an entitlement, it is something you earn. The key here is that "you do not draw social security if you do not pay into it". In Canada, you do get healthcare whether you pay into it or not depending on your ability. Socialism... some work and pay for others who do not and yes we do have welfare and medicaid, but some of us are fairly fed up with those programs and certainly don't want to expand further into even more entitlements that we have to work and pay for.
Not true, you draw a benefit from social security that is based on a schedule of what you pay in. If you do not work and pay in, you do not draw anything from social security. Not everyone draws the same benefit, but a graduated benefit based on the highest quarters you paid in. That is indeed not socialism. I am shocked that you do not understand how a program as old as social security works. It is not an entitlement, it is something you earn.
I did not say it was an entitlement. I said it was a socialistic program of a government owned insurance/pension plan. I am not sure why people are confused about this. If the government took over the steel industry and paid you a wage, you would earn the wage, but it would still be socialism. If I paid the US government to manage my healthcare, they would pay the doctors, I would pay my taxes, and it would be socialist system. No entitlement in that.
I did not say it was an entitlement. I said it was a socialistic program of a government owned insurance/pension plan. I am not sure why people are confused about this. If the government took over the steel industry and paid you a wage, you would earn the wage, but it would still be socialism. If I paid the US government to manage my healthcare, they would pay the doctors, I would pay my taxes, and it would be socialist system. No entitlement in that.
You are the one that is confused. Social security requires contributing to it to draw from it. It is not paid to those that do not contribute. I understand your point about the government redistributing the payments but that is not pure socialism.
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