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I pay about 30 dollars a month for my insurance, so somewhere around that. (mine is employer based)
Of course, women are going to have to pay more, or men will have to subsidize the females care. Sorry ladies, women generally have higher risk of health issues during midlife than men do (namely pregnancy). Thats why my friend at work pays out an additional 150 dollars to cover his wife.
Many supporters want the Obama plan to pass because they want "affordable" healthcare. What is affordable? Lets assume his plan passes, removes all barriers for pre-existing conditions, and provides access into a public option plan.
Assume you are a single person, and do not otherwise have access to a plan. Also assume you have to have coverage (mandated by law) or you face a stiff fine.
Pick your "affordable premium". When the poll is complete, I will post some numbers I received from an inside source (possible sample premiums for the public option).
Lets see if your idea of "affordable" and the governments idea of "affordable" are the same.
If it's like the French system it will cost you $383.33 a month + what you pay to see a doctor for an office visit.
It should be income based. What's affordable for a single person making $30,000 a year won't be the same as a single person making $55,000 a year.
The same would go for deductibles.
At the same time, those who smoke or are overweight will have a higher premium and higher deductibles.
Do You mean like we already have? And don't leave out the drinkers in your price increase.
I pay about 30 dollars a month for my insurance, so somewhere around that. (mine is employer based)
Of course, women are going to have to pay more, or men will have to subsidize the females care. Sorry ladies, women generally have higher risk of health issues during midlife than men do (namely pregnancy). Thats why my friend at work pays out an additional 150 dollars to cover his wife.
Wow, must be nice.
I'm pretty sure my mom pays about $300-400 a month.
I'd gladly put up a fight against higher insurance costs simply because I'm a woman. I won't ever have children and I'd sign something saying I never will have children just to ensure health insurance savings.
Oh! And since the government wants to interject itself into our lives, perhaps your premiums should increase if you don't get yearly "wellness" exams or you don't get immunizations. Why should I pay for a kid whose parent didn't want them immunized against measles to go to the hospital when they get the measles? And if you don't go to the doctor every year for a pap smear, why should I pay for you when you find out you have cervical disease that has been there for years and could have been taken care of at a lower cost had you just gone to the doctor? Hmmm...let's continue with this. If you chose to live in a high pollution city (LA), you should have to pay more because you inhale more smog and pollutants than people in Seattle. The healthiest states (Colorado for example) should get a discount because we go outside more and have more active lifestyles. The fattest city in America...Houston...should have to pay more. Those in Washington DC certainly are taking in more "hot air" from the bloviating politicians so they should have to pay more to live there too. And North Carolina should have high premiums since they produce much of the tobacco and likely have carginogens floating in the air.
Aren't the insurance companies already running people's lives?
They could very well charge you more if you don't get your child immunized or if you live in a polluted city. Since they are pretty much free to do just about anything and you like it that way, I say let the insurance companies keep doing the business the way they already have. America is just doing SO well with them running things.
Do You mean like we already have? And don't leave out the drinkers in your price increase.
How could I forget the drinkers? Especially those that drink the pure Republican koolaid.
If you drive drunk and get into a wreck, you should have to foot the bill yourself.
The same goes for riding a motorcycle without a helmet, rock climbing without safety equipment, etc.
It would be nice if everyone lived within their means but we're human and we'll always want something bigger and better, sometimes even living beyond our means to attain a certain lifestyle.
If the world were perfect and everyone lived within their means, I would gladly say, EVERYONE should have the same monthly premium. At the same time, a single person making $20,000 may not have that $300-400 a month to spare. They might need to...I don't know, feed themselves?
Okay. I can go with a certain "percentage" of your income. That is fair. But define "feeding themselves." What if the person who says they can't afford healthcare goes out to dinner all of the time? What if they drive a nice car or buy expensive clothes? I would love to have the money I pay for healthcare, auto insurance and homeowner's insurance in my bank account to do what I please. Last month, after a vet visit that cost us nearly $600, we ate cereal for 3 days before payday. My 6 year old thought that was the coolest and we made it fun. We could have used credit cards to go to the store, but we had food in our cupboards.
But I have to say to you that to make debt and living beyond your means into something basic like "we're all human" does a disservice to those like myself who don't live extravagantly. We are not in the $250,000 yearly income bracket, but my family makes a decent living. We qualified for an expensive home and not a week goes by where we aren't bombarded with credit card offers. We chose a smaller home in a nice neighborhood that is decidedly middle class. We use that extra money that we could have spent on mortgage payments and put it into savings. We have credit cards but pay them off monthly. We drive our cars until they are 10 years old or longer. I never shop without coupons and haven't paid full price for anything in years. You'd think we were suffering but my kids wear very cute clothes that are bought on sale at department or speciality stores and our cars are both Hondas. Just because we don't spend a lot of money on things doesn't mean we look "poor."
It's not "human" to be in debt. The problem is that the credit card industry and the mortgage industry have convinced us that a person making $20,000 a year DESERVES to have the same luxuries as the person making $100,000 per year. We need to all go back to our grandparents time when you bought things with cash, you lived in the same house until the mortgage was paid off and you didn't invest more in the stock market than you could afford to lose. It's only been recently that we have lost touch with what "living within your means" actually means. But I think we have to be careful about letting the media give us the wrong impression about how many people are truly in debt. According to the Federal Reserve, only 1 in 8 people have credit card debt of more than $8,000. 55% of people either don't have a credit card or pay their monthly bill in full each month. Of those who carry debt each month, nearly 48% owe less than $1,000. Now for the mortgages. According to the Mortgage Bankers Associaton only about 5% of mortgages are in some stage of foreclosure. That means that the other 95% of us either don't have a mortgage or are paying it on time. Seems the news would cause you to believe that everyone is drowning in debt. Actually, the statistics show that it's far more "normal" to not be in debt.
Oh! And since the government wants to interject itself into our lives, perhaps your premiums should increase if you don't get yearly "wellness" exams or you don't get immunizations. Why should I pay for a kid whose parent didn't want them immunized against measles to go to the hospital when they get the measles? And if you don't go to the doctor every year for a pap smear, why should I pay for you when you find out you have cervical disease that has been there for years and could have been taken care of at a lower cost had you just gone to the doctor? Hmmm...let's continue with this. If you chose to live in a high pollution city (LA), you should have to pay more because you inhale more smog and pollutants than people in Seattle. The healthiest states (Colorado for example) should get a discount because we go outside more and have more active lifestyles. The fattest city in America...Houston...should have to pay more. Those in Washington DC certainly are taking in more "hot air" from the bloviating politicians so they should have to pay more to live there too. And North Carolina should have high premiums since they produce much of the tobacco and likely have carginogens floating in the air.
And why should I pay for you to send your kids to school because you chose to have kids and I did not?
Why should I pay for extra pigs because you choose to live in a more dangerous part of town then me?
I dont even live in a house, we are full time RVers, why should I pay for your fire house?
These are not attacks on you but are just making a point. That is what insurance is. Everyone contributes to the whole. Those who are more risk pay more though I dont think that is completely fair either.
How could I forget the drinkers? Especially those that drink the pure Republican koolaid.
If you drive drunk and get into a wreck, you should have to foot the bill yourself.
The same goes for riding a motorcycle without a helmet, rock climbing without safety equipment, etc.
I am a registered Independent who votes all over the place...hardly a Koolaid drinker. As a matter of a fact, I cannot even tell you what channel Fox News is on. I only watch a few hours of tv a day and most of that is DVRd so I can buzz through the commercials.
Your comments about wrecks and lifestyle choices makes you seem like you advocate personal responsibility...I do too. I am okay that teenagers pay more for auto insurance. They have more wrecks. I am okay that my family doesn't pay much for auto insurance because we don't put that many miles on our cars and neither one of us has had a wreck or speeding ticket in more than 10 years. Not that I haven't deserved a speeding ticket...I just haven't received one!
I would really rather not have an argument about politics. My comments about city choices and lifestyle choices were made sarcastically. I am in no way arguing that the current system is perfect. It's not. I just don't think the government is going to make things better. Any company, private or public that tries to control the supposed 50 million people without health insurance is going to have problems.
I also fear the "Big Brother" aspect of having my medical records on file in a huge government database. What if I don't drink, don't smoke, exercise 6 days per week and have low bodyfat but my family has a history of high blood pressure and alzheimers disease? I can control certain things but I wonder what an insurance company would say about giving me insurance knowing that my family history indicates that they are going to be paying a lot for my medical care in the future if I inherit their problems.
Okay. I can go with a certain "percentage" of your income. That is fair. But define "feeding themselves." What if the person who says they can't afford healthcare goes out to dinner all of the time? What if they drive a nice car or buy expensive clothes? I would love to have the money I pay for healthcare, auto insurance and homeowner's insurance in my bank account to do what I please. Last month, after a vet visit that cost us nearly $600, we ate cereal for 3 days before payday. My 6 year old thought that was the coolest and we made it fun. We could have used credit cards to go to the store, but we had food in our cupboards.
But I have to say to you that to make debt and living beyond your means into something basic like "we're all human" does a disservice to those like myself who don't live extravagantly. We are not in the $250,000 yearly income bracket, but my family makes a decent living. We qualified for an expensive home and not a week goes by where we aren't bombarded with credit card offers. We chose a smaller home in a nice neighborhood that is decidedly middle class. We use that extra money that we could have spent on mortgage payments and put it into savings. We have credit cards but pay them off monthly. We drive our cars until they are 10 years old or longer. I never shop without coupons and haven't paid full price for anything in years. You'd think we were suffering but my kids wear very cute clothes that are bought on sale at department or speciality stores and our cars are both Hondas. Just because we don't spend a lot of money on things doesn't mean we look "poor."
It's not "human" to be in debt. The problem is that the credit card industry and the mortgage industry have convinced us that a person making $20,000 a year DESERVES to have the same luxuries as the person making $100,000 per year. We need to all go back to our grandparents time when you bought things with cash, you lived in the same house until the mortgage was paid off and you didn't invest more in the stock market than you could afford to lose. It's only been recently that we have lost touch with what "living within your means" actually means. But I think we have to be careful about letting the media give us the wrong impression about how many people are truly in debt. According to the Federal Reserve, only 1 in 8 people have credit card debt of more than $8,000. 55% of people either don't have a credit card or pay their monthly bill in full each month. Of those who carry debt each month, nearly 48% owe less than $1,000. Now for the mortgages. According to the Mortgage Bankers Associaton only about 5% of mortgages are in some stage of foreclosure. That means that the other 95% of us either don't have a mortgage or are paying it on time. Seems the news would cause you to believe that everyone is drowning in debt. Actually, the statistics show that it's far more "normal" to not be in debt.
I'm glad there are people like you who decide to live within their means but if you think the rest of America will suddenly jump on that bandwagon...you are kidding yourself.
I plan to live a relatively simple life but I don't want to have to spend my time worrying about my insurance company retroactively rescinding my coverage if I fall ill and need a costly procedure or worry about being denied insurance because of some pre-existing condition. There is a long list of things the health insurance industry considers a pre-existing condition and it's quite ridiculous. If many people had to deal with the individual insurance market, they would be denied. Instead, many people get insurance through their employer and theirs nothing wrong with that but I find it sad that many people stay in a job just for the health benefits, they fear losing their job because they'll lose health insurance, and people worry over medical bills.
I'd love to live in some of these other countries and receive their great health care but I was unlucky enough to be born in the United States. If I knew I could land a job in these countries, I'd gladly move.
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