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I have the Indian Health Service for life + a limited Idemnity Plan through work for $10 a month which helps. It's of much more value than the other plan they offer which has a deductible and costs about 8% of my income.
My 54 yr old husband has no health insurance starting next year. He is saving his breathing machine devices (CPAP) such as the filters and such. He is set for 2 years. So beyond that, we will buy this stuff ourself, not sign up for insurance.
We would never consider accepting a subsidy just due to what we read online about it coming back to bite
At retirement (age 62), we'll have 200 thousand saved + live on about 5-20 acres in an offgrid home we built without permits. No mortgage or Utility bills, only an internet bill + car insurance. We will grow much of our food as we have in the past. Our SS will only be about $1425 (todays dollars) because that is the highest it can be to ensure our Health Care is fully covered. I did hospice a few times so can see some serious health issues coming up
I would love to work well into retirement because I enjoy my job... but can't risk going over that amount in SS. We will both take our SS at ages 62
I've done hospice, I know what the future holds for him. And I don't want to risk loosing our home and property, where we live. It will be a very cheap piece of property in an offgrid town we've already picked out.
We will also inherit a newly built 350 thousand dollar home (3 bed/2 bath) but we are giving it to our son early as his early inheritance. Hopeing he will sell it and move on our property with us as eventually he will also end up with breathing issues if he remains there.
Last edited by OutdoorsyGal; 11-20-2015 at 01:03 AM..
I hope you realize this cannot literally be true at the aggregate level. What everyone pays in, including transfers to the Medicare system from other programs or from general revenue, is at least equal to what everyone gets out, or else the Medicare checks would bounce.
Welcome to the definition of "ballooning Federal and other debt"......
The bills get paid but not from what people, aggregated or singular, pay in.
This is all part of the costs of hiding the true downsides of unregulated capitalism from the general public. Most people don't care if a benefit THEY get breaks others, either now or in the future. That's the same reason you hear people crying about how high their premiums are under the ACA. I've heard 50 year old couple complain to me that they are now paying $1K or more per month for health insurance....
Well, they seem to have really enjoyed it when they were paying 1/4 of what they cost instead of 1/2.......
Any true "conservative" would want to pay the true cost of things. If the true cost is too high - and it is - the system needs reform. But if you hide the true cost and make it look like it is one group against another - you win! That's somewhat the story of history - let the little people fight it out in the streets while Mitt Romney and Bill Frist (both have made billions in Medical Stuff) collect the $$ which comes from the chaos.
If we had to pay the true cost we've have a healthier population and medical costs at 1/2 the current level.
Before you sprain your elbow patting yourself on your back - take a look north at Maine:
I know that people in New England tend to have pretty high tax rates. What are taxpayers getting for their money? Robyn
Maine is sorta not really New England in the traditional sense - more like a combo of the South and the Rust Belt - jobs and economy gone, poor and rural.
I am 100% certain that you can find things wrong with New England. There are literally thousands of statistics, metrics, lies and damn lies (as they say!).
But take most measurements of
Education
Lack of Divorce
Lack of STD's
Income Levels
Level of Uninsured (lowest in the US in MA, I think)
Low Infant Mortality
Life Span
Etc, and you will find states like MA. are at the top of he list. Those things matter.
As to what we are getting - put it this way. I have a house in Florida and I will not move my taxes or residence there due to the horror of thinking about being caught up in that medical system....
For that privilege we pay a little over 5% state income tax. Property taxes are now that much higher than I pay in Florida (if I include insurance they are the same).
If I was poor (and I am not) in MA, and I had a massive medical problem, I could go to MGH (one of the top 5 hospitals in the country) or others in the Boston area and get the same exact treatment as anyone else. I say this from experience, since I have a "libertarian" friend who got 1/2 million dollars worth of it....or more..after a bad accident.
You do get what you pay for. Every system has waste and I won't claim MA or other states are perfect, just that when it comes to the actual metrics we use for measuring most larger societal things, it comes in on the top.
Maine is sorta not really New England in the traditional sense - more like a combo of the South and the Rust Belt - jobs and economy gone, poor and rural.
In a 'traditional sense' ???
Maine is New England.
After I retired we settled in the Southern half of Maine [a bit North of Bangor], for many people this is an ideal region to retire.
Especially for those of us who retire pre-65.
Quote:
... we pay a little over 5% state income tax. Property taxes are now that much higher than I pay in Florida
So sorry. I have not paid Income Taxes in over 30 years. Our property taxes are extremely low as well.
Quote:
... You do get what you pay for. Every system has waste and I won't claim MA or other states are perfect, just that when it comes to the actual metrics we use for measuring most larger societal things, it comes in on the top.
Maybe you should include Quality of Life in your metrics.
I think I get what the person is saying.
Florida is in the South also. But there's no doubt it's not really like GA, AL, LA, MS…..
Maine IS in NE, but it's not as populous (for area) as CT, or MA….or NH or VT for that matter.
The job base and economies just aren't the same either.
So yes I can see that Maine is not. quite. like. other parts of NE.
...As to what we are getting - put it this way. I have a house in Florida and I will not move my taxes or residence there due to the horror of thinking about being caught up in that medical system....
What medical "system" are you talking about? Florida's a very big state - top to bottom and side to side (up in the Panhandle). I am sure that there are some parts of the state where I wouldn't find medical care that's up to my standards. But the medical care available where I live is (and it was excellent when I lived in Miami too - although I left Miami 20 years ago and don't know what's going on there today). Robyn
I wonder about those generalizations in comments a lot. It can be more difficult to find care you are happy with in varying locations. Outcomes for various conditions are better at some places than others. But painting a state as large as FL with a broad brush? That usually happens when other factors have already made you lean positive or negative about a location. There is world class care available.
I wonder about those generalizations in comments a lot. It can be more difficult to find care you are happy with in varying locations. Outcomes for various conditions are better at some places than others. But painting a state as large as FL with a broad brush? That usually happens when other factors have already made you lean positive or negative about a location. There is world class care available.
Agreed. About the only generalizations you can make about the whole state of Florida IMO are it's hot and humid in the summer - we don't have a state income tax - and it's about the last place in the US I'd consider if I wanted to snow ski a lot .
Also - I'm not quite sure how Mass General has anything to do with Massachusetts state income taxes - since it seems to be a private non-profit outfit - like Mayo here is. And - although it seems to accept some Medicaid and uninsured patients - I doubt it accepts all who would like to get services there. Moreover - the wealthier patients *will* get better treatment. Like new comfy private rooms - as opposed to the old regular semi-private ones:
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- take a look north at Maine:
