living on less than $1800 a month

[Malloric]

Originally Posted by modhatter

And I thought I suffered from senior moments.

And?

That was always my point. $1,800 a month is different than $1,800 a month and welfare. Cash value of any and all welfare benefits received needs to be included. Admittedly, that's pretty difficult with Medicare. It's is and always was a hypothetical question, so I'm not sure what you're getting at.

[phatladycoupons]

Baby Boy, I have fed my family of four and paid all my bills on much less than $1800. The two of you should do just fine, no going crazy though. Use coupons to help with your food budget and just do some smart shopping, that can up it quite a bit. Don't leave on electric items when not in use, save up for your nights out. Don't spend the bill or rent money no matter what. Plus, even though now you have a room mate, you need to rely on yourself. Many of my friends have gotten into trouble relying on that second person. Put money back encase your room mate falls through on bill money. Believe me it happens. Good Luck to You!

[Bluff_Dweller]

Originally Posted by Littlelu

I'm not going to worry myself about what's going to happen in the future. Deal with it when it happens. Besides what good would it do me? I've managed for 4 years and who knows how long we will live?!

You are absolutely correct about worrying does no good, But planning does help. I also worked in the private sector with a business or more going all the time. So I was always planning five to ten years ahead of what I was going to do. I didn't think I would live this long but it snuck up on me and here I am. I didn't rely on social security and it was a good thing I didn't because after paying into it for 39 years I started drawing when I was 62 and started getting $68 per month. But I had my penson and savings to live on. My dad, wife and her dad didn't live long enough to get back what they paid in much less what their employers paid in which in my state was 15% of our wages. I have seen some states only paid in 8%. Some states government employees were exempt on paying anything. I wondered where all the unused money went so in 1995 I searched the internet and found out. The only way for anyone to know for sure is to find it yourself. IMO

FDR didn't sell the social security program to the american people as a welfare program. He sold it as a supplementry retirement program. Like all city, state or federal government programs, they are started with good intentions. However it isn't long before the corruption begins and it is the corruption that makes all government programs unsustainable. IMO

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Bluff_Dweller

As you said, Medicare is NOT welfare. My Medicare premiums are $199.80 a month paid out of my 39 years of paid into social security benefits.

It could be viewed as such since most folks take way more in Medicare benefits than they ever paid in. We could fix that problem pretty quickly, though, if everyone would adopt a plant based diet with minimal meat and processed foods. If everyone did that, we wouldn't need half the pills & other treatments we're subjected to and costs would drop dramatically.

[modhatter]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

It could be viewed as such since most folks take way more in Medicare benefits than they ever paid in. We could fix that problem pretty quickly, though, if everyone would adopt a plant based diet with minimal meat and processed foods. If everyone did that, we wouldn't need half the pills & other treatments we're subjected to and costs would drop dramatically.

Though I do agree with your assertion that diet and lack of exercise is a strong factor contributing to the rise in health issues, I do not think it is the main cause. (though it needs to improve dramatically)

The biggest issue is the "for profit system" our health care is built on. As long as that continues, we will never get a handle on health care costs until it literally bankrupts the government. Here is a good documentary on the subject. I have read several books on the subject as well if you are interested. It's called Money & Medicine.

Video: Money & Medicine | Need to Know | PBS

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by modhatter

Though I do agree with your assertion that diet and lack of exercise is a strong factor contributing to the rise in health issues, I do not think it is the main cause. (though it needs to improve dramatically)

The biggest issue is the "for profit system" our health care is built on. As long as that continues, we will never get a handle on health care costs until it literally bankrupts the government. Here is a good documentary on the subject. I have read several books on the subject as well if you are interested. It's called Money & Medicine.

Video: Money & Medicine | Need to Know | PBS

I don't think the "for profit" system is the root cause. Even if you take into account fat 20% profit margins for health care and make it non profit, that only takes us back by a few years in costs. My health care provider, Kaiser Permanente, is a non-profit. Their premiums still have been going up in the high single digits every year, just like the for-profit health care plans.

The biggest issue with our for profit health care is that it's a private market, but not a free and competitive one (and hasn't been in over 50 years). If your employer subsidizes 80% of your health care plan's costs, you really don't have the ability or incentive to shop around for private health insurance...which leads to bloated costs whether you have a for profit provider or a non-profit. Non-profits can end up being just as bloated or inefficient as for profit organizations.

Regina Herzlinger from Harvard writes about this in detail in Who Killed Health Care?:

http://www.amazon.com/Who-Killed-Hea...ina+herzlinger


Even scientists are saying (see link below) that:

80% of heart disease is completely preventable
91% of diabetes is completely preventable
36% of cancer is completely preventable

Key to Affordable Health Care Revealed | LiveScience

This guy found similar results as the scientists regarding people in long lived cultures. It turned out they lived longer and were much less likely to have long term chronic diseases and disabilities. In short, they DID NOT NEED so much darn health care, yet they were healthier and lived longer:

Dan Buettner: How to live to be 100+ - YouTube

Buettner also wrote about this in detail in his book:

The Blue Zones, Second Edition: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest: Dan Buettner: 9781426209482: Amazon.com: Books

One final piece of evidence was the documentary Forks Over Knives. They documented an example of one guy who was overweight, had diabetes, (37 different health complaints). Almost all of them went away after he went to this pair of doctors who treated everything with diet first. He was able to stop taking most of his (very expensive) medications. His was only one example of many that I could mention from the film:

http://www.amazon.com/Forks-Over-Kni...ks+over+knives

Honestly, I think if people had to pay the full cost of their health care up front, out of their own pockets, they would have already adopted healthier lifestyles many years ago, and we would not have a 68% overweight and 33% obese population.