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Should have planned for the future. Not society’s position for those who don’t plan properly.
The only way you can be consistent in this statement is to call for the immediate abolishment of forced collectivism which requires things like health care to be maintained & regulated by an involuntary 3rd party (in the form of government).
I'm pretty sure...actually I'm positive...you aren't going to make that leap.
Should have planned for the future. Not society’s position for those who don’t plan properly.
How do you know what they planned or didn't plan? Maybe a catastrophic illness wiped them out? Maybe they were in the stock market trying to plan for the future, but got wiped out during the recession. You have no idea what they planned or didn't plan for. It's not all cut and dried like you think it is.
How do you know what they planned or didn't plan? Maybe a catastrophic illness wiped them out? Maybe they were in the stock market trying to plan for the future, but got wiped out during the recession. You have no idea what they planned or didn't plan for. It's not all cut and dried like you think it is.
Yes, exactly.
Listen, I'm a moderate, but I am very conservative in that I dislike giving any kind of freebies to people who, in my opinion, don't deserve them. (I am not going to be more specific here because I don't want to derail the main point of this thread.)
However, although my husband and I have planned for the future and believe that we will have a comfortable retirement barring any major catastrophe, I am not so smug as to think that everyone in poor circumstances are there because they were just stupid, lazy, or lacking in some personal trait.
Read the article. From the OP's link (my italics):
"Several notes were left citing severe ongoing medical problems with the wife and expressing concerns that the couple did not have sufficient resources to pay for medical care,” the sheriff's statement said.
Listen, I'm a moderate, but I am very conservative in that I dislike giving any kind of freebies to people who, in my opinion, don't deserve it. (I am not going to be more specific here because I don't want to derail the main point of this thread.)
However, although my husband and I have planned for the future and believe that we will have a comfortable retirement barring any major catastrophe, I am not so smug as to think that everyonein poor circumstances are there because they were just stupid, lazy, or lacking in some personal trait.
It may not take a "major catastrophe" either.
When we were touring a nursing home for my father a few years ago the administrator told us that of the 400 people inside just over 90% were on Medicaid. The number who were on Medicaid when they entered the nursing home was under 10%.
Chew on it. Think about it. It's enough to make you go crazy with anger while the sadness puts a hole in your heart.
These weren't "deadbeats" or "poor planners". They were people who, for the most part, worked their whole lives and did all they could to try to prepare for the future.
However, since they had used their 100 (or whatever the number is) Medicare days and in many cases their savings (30, 40, 50 years of work) in sometimes as little as 18 months while in the nursing home they were now destitute.
My mom, who I support, doesn't want any part of it. She's already in her 80s and doesn't want to see me or anyone else lose all they've worked for to keep her alive for a few extra months or even a few years.
So to conclude: F the government. F them big time.
That's what they SAY, but I'm retired and we take care to keep ourselves well insured. It's not that expensive.
People will find all sorts of reasons to do what they do, and all sorts of people to blame. How long did it take before we heard about "senseless wars" with regard to the root cause of this crime? Yes, murdering one's spouse is a crime.
Except for the fact that having insurance is no guarantee the medical bills are paid. Recently I ended up paying $160 for a medical bill I should have paid nothing for because the billing department was so incompetent they refused to fix it. ($20 for a PCP visit with my designated HMO, and 140 for a tetanus shot that was also covered.) The insurance company told me multiple times I didn't owe it but the billing department refused to fix it. Instead the hospital (Houston Methodist) just sent me to collections and told me they would ruin my credit if I didn't pay. Why should the hospital fix it? They just threaten the patient and get them to pay rather than go to the hassle of fixing their billing. Sure, it's "only" $160, but multiply $160 times millions of patients and hospitals and clinics make a tidy profit without resubmitting and recoding. Then there's the additional problem of insurance not covering enough no matter what. I won't even go into how exorbitant drugs and medical procedures are. We all know. No matter how well insured a person is, it doesn't cover enough at times, especially if the individual has a chronic or rare disease.
Except for the fact that having insurance is no guarantee the medical bills are paid. Recently I ended up paying $160 for a medical bill I should have paid nothing for because the billing department was so incompetent they refused to fix it. ($20 for a PCP visit with my designated HMO, and 140 for a tetanus shot that was also covered.) The insurance company told me multiple times I didn't owe it but the billing department refused to fix it. Instead the hospital (Houston Methodist) just sent me to collections and told me they would ruin my credit if I didn't pay. Why should the hospital fix it? They just threaten the patient and get them to pay rather than go to the hassle of taking care of their billing error. Sure, it's "only" $160, but multiply $160 times millions of patients and hospitals and clinics make a tidy profit without even bothering with having to fix their own errors. Then there's the additional problem of insurance not covering enough no matter what. I won't even go into how exorbitant drugs and medical procedures are. We all know. No matter how well insured a person is, it doesn't cover enough at times, especially if the individual has a chronic or rare disease.
Well, that is ANOTHER argument for a mass overhaul of our healthcare system!!!
When we were touring a nursing home for my father a few years ago the administrator told us that of the 400 people inside just over 90% were on Medicaid. The number who were on Medicaid when they entered the nursing home was under 10%.
Chew on it. Think about it. It's enough to make you go crazy with anger while the sadness puts a hole in your heart.
These weren't "deadbeats" or "poor planners". They were people who, for the most part, worked their whole lives and did all they could to try to prepare for the future.
However, since they had used their 100 (or whatever the number is) Medicare days and in many cases their savings (30, 40, 50 years of work) in sometimes as little as 18 months while in the nursing home they were now destitute.
My mom, who I support, doesn't want any part of it. She's already in her 80s and doesn't want to see me or anyone else lose all they've worked for to keep her alive for a few extra months or even a few years.
So to conclude: F the government. F them big time.
People are encouraged to spend down their assets or transfer them to their kids etc. which is likely what many of those people did.
So, what do you want from "the govt." in this case? Many of those have no significant assets and don't have family that is able or willing to care for them. Do you want the govt. to take more from Soc. Security and then just make nursing homes paid for regardless of assets?
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