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"America’s sky-high health-care costs are so far above what people pay in other countries that they are the equivalent of a hefty tax, Princeton University economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton say. They are surprised Americans aren’t revolting against these taxes.
“A few people are getting very rich at the expense of the rest of us,” Case said at conference in San Diego on Saturday. The U.S. health-care system is “like a tribute to a foreign power, but we’re doing it to ourselves.”
The U.S. health-care system is the most expensive in the world, costing about $1 trillion more per year than the next-most-expensive system — Switzerland’s. That means U.S. households pay an extra $8,000 per year, compared with what Swiss families pay. Case and Deaton view this extra cost as a “poll tax,” meaning it is levied on every individual regardless of their ability to pay. (Most Americans think of a poll tax as money people once had to pay to register to vote, but “polle” was an archaic German word for “head.” The idea behind a poll tax is that it falls on every head.)
Despite paying $8,000 more a year than anyone else, American families do not have better health outcomes, the economists argue. Life expectancy in the United States is lower than in Europe."
That poll tax is like a giant tapeworm consuming the American economy. We really do need to fix it.
"America’s sky-high health-care costs are so far above what people pay in other countries that they are the equivalent of a hefty tax, Princeton University economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton say. They are surprised Americans aren’t revolting against these taxes.
“A few people are getting very rich at the expense of the rest of us,” Case said at conference in San Diego on Saturday. The U.S. health-care system is “like a tribute to a foreign power, but we’re doing it to ourselves.”
The U.S. health-care system is the most expensive in the world, costing about $1 trillion more per year than the next-most-expensive system — Switzerland’s. That means U.S. households pay an extra $8,000 per year, compared with what Swiss families pay. Case and Deaton view this extra cost as a “poll tax,” meaning it is levied on every individual regardless of their ability to pay. (Most Americans think of a poll tax as money people once had to pay to register to vote, but “polle” was an archaic German word for “head.” The idea behind a poll tax is that it falls on every head.)
Despite paying $8,000 more a year than anyone else, American families do not have better health outcomes, the economists argue. Life expectancy in the United States is lower than in Europe."
That poll tax is like a giant tapeworm consuming the American economy. We really do need to fix it.
This "news" is at least 10 years old, more like 15.
Any solution would require an integrated multi-variable approach.
Government insurance that outlaws private insurance will not work.
All-out price transparency and free market (we have NONE of that) might help, but would leave a lot of people out.
I would suggest a combined private-public system, coupled with significant improvements in the food supply and intensive education and advertising about healthy eating and exercise.
But this is just a wish-list: the healthcare financing system is riddled with special interest groups and their lobbyists, such that two people can't even agree on what words like "health, "diet", "carbs", etc. mean.
Divide and conquer. Works almost all the time.
And trying to make a partisan political debate about it only makes us all stupider and sicker (see point above about divide and conquer).
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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My employer plan costs me less than $100/month and the annual out-of-pocket is $2,000, plus $400 for drugs. That's a total of less than $3,600/year, much less than the "$8,000 more" claimed. I know people that are on Obamacare medicaid and pay nothing at all.
My employer plan costs me less than $100/month and the annual out-of-pocket is $2,000, plus $400 for drugs. That's a total of less than $3,600/year, much less than the "$8,000 more" claimed. I know people that are on Obamacare medicaid and pay nothing at all.
And what does your employer pay, you know, their portion of that group plan premium? A: it’s likely $12K to $20K in addition to your $3600.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TimAZ
And what does your employer pay, you know, their portion of that group plan premium? A: it’s likely $12K to $20K in addition to your $3600.
That's available on our corporate intranet site so I looked it up. We have 3 plans, mine is the most expensive and costs them $726/month., or $8,712/year.
My employer plan costs me less than $100/month and the annual out-of-pocket is $2,000, plus $400 for drugs. That's a total of less than $3,600/year, much less than the "$8,000 more" claimed. I know people that are on Obamacare medicaid and pay nothing at all.
Just curious as to what you do for a living? The reason I ask is because as a teacher for the public school system I was paying much more than that and had a $5000 deductible. I have a sneaking suspicion that lower paid people are paying higher healthcare costs. I don’t have an old paystub or I would share what the school was paying for my healthcare but I’ll ask someone.
Just curious as to what you do for a living? The reason I ask is because as a teacher for the public school system I was paying much more than that and had a $5000 deductible. I have a sneaking suspicion that lower paid people are paying higher healthcare costs. I don’t have an old paystub or I would share what the school was paying for my healthcare but I’ll ask someone.
Hahaha. Ask any self-employed person, who has to pay his/her entire premium and deductible, and does not qualify for subsidies, if they are paying less than lower-income people. I have a sneaking suspicion that the answer is NO.
We are self employed and pay $1200/mo for our PPO (family of five), plus an $8000 deductible.
That's available on our corporate intranet site so I looked it up. We have 3 plans, mine is the most expensive and costs them $726/month., or $8,712/year.
Is that an additional $8,712/year that could be part of your paycheck if they were not paying this insurance for you? You're paying it one way or another.
Hahaha. Ask any self-employed person, who has to pay his/her entire premium and deductible, and does not qualify for subsidies, if they are paying less than lower-income people. I have a sneaking suspicion that the answer is NO.
We are self employed and pay $1200/mo for our PPO (family of five), plus an $8000 deductible.
No, I know y’all get hammered, and just think about the jobs that could be created by small companies if they didn’t have to worry about this, not to mention that they’re also spending time on the paperwork for the insurance for them and their employees and that’s time that could be better spent elsewhere.
No, I’m talking about people with jobs that pay well and that have generous benefits packages. Are they paying more or less for health insurance than I was or my teaching assistant who was making less than $18,000/year? I think I was spending about $380/mo plus $5000 deductible plus $25 copays. This was until spring of ‘18.
One thing I did learn during that time is that it’s really wise to call the clinic the day before you have a big test scheduled and make sure everything is good to go. I almost had to pay for a CT scan out of pocket because someone had scheduled it incorrectly and it would not have been approved. My God, how much is a CT scan? More than I have I know.
My employer plan costs me less than $100/month and the annual out-of-pocket is $2,000, plus $400 for drugs. That's a total of less than $3,600/year, much less than the "$8,000 more" claimed. I know people that are on Obamacare medicaid and pay nothing at all.
You are very lucky. Count your blessings and keep your job! That is definitely not what is going on in the industry. I work for a major insurance company and most of our self-funded employer groups have moved to the HDHP model. It's not unusual to see employer sponsored plans with 9k family deductibles and 15k out of pocket maximums. Low deductible and/or copays plans are like unicorns now....lol
Many employers now require the full family deductible to be met before they will cover any RX charges. So if your child requires insulin, you are going to need to pay the first 9k EACH year, before insurance pays or covers anything.
Last edited by Angie682; 01-08-2020 at 11:43 PM..
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