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I repped you, and I am 63. I keep waiting for more people to discuss this, but it seems like it is almost a forbidden topic. (I did start a thread that just partly covered this in a minor way, about what is the point of keeping "incurables" alive.)
I am NOT advocating killing anyone, but why do we insist on keeping very old people alive, even when they might not want to be kept alive? If they do want to be kept alive, even though they are virtually bed-ridden, in discomfort, with little awareness of what is going on and no real happiness -- well, that is different, and as I said, I am certainly not advocating killing anyone against their wishes. But why do we spend hundreds of thousands in medical care and nursing home costs on those who would rather die? (And, yes, I am one of those people, and based on numerous replies and reps I have received when discussing this on CD, a LOT of people are with me on this.)
Doesn't it occur to people that one of the reasons healthcare costs are so high is because we insist on keeping people alive just because we CAN? If people can live to 100 or longer just by being on medication, great --but there is a big difference between a 95-year-old who can still boogie with the best of them vs. a 95-year-old who lives in a nursing home bed.
P.S. I will remind you, though, that Medicare is something that working people have paid into, just like Social Security. Now, of course, some people take out a lot more than they put into it, but some people never get anything back or a lot less.
Who is going to decide? What is very old?
When my grandmother got a terminal illness treatment was recommended because she was otherwise in decent health, but she was also quite old and beginning dementia. The treatment also would help with symptoms. At some point she got worse and the doctor kept sending her for expensive treatment when it probably should have been stopped. Another doctor later agreed it should have been stopped. But she should not have been denied it from the beginning. It is a fine line.
I kid you not, they paid $150 per hour plus overtime for my services and didn't blink an eye when I told them that the cube they put me in didn't have a computer or web access. Whatever. It's your for-profit healthcare premiums at the biggest for- profit payer in America. I just cashed my paycheck.
I almost always agree with you, but in this case, I think that people should be more vigilant about where their money goes. I would not feel good if I knew that my comfortable retirement was due to someone else's suffering.
If you're a public employee or retiree, it is. That's a given. I've already documented why that is.
Location: Sitting on a bar stool. Guinness in hand.
4,428 posts, read 6,508,145 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whocares811
I have plenty of paycheck stubs that prove you wrong. Or did you mean nothing as compared to the big picture? (Or perhaps I just missed the fact that you were just being sarcastic -- I hope.)
the fact is that what we have paid in has/is/will not be enough to cover what is/will be going out. Otherwise we wouldn't adding to the national debt with such items
A self-employed individual (business owner, 1099 contractor, etc.) pays the full 2.9% Medicare tax, which has no cap.
Such an individual with a career average annual income of $1,000,000 (not unusual for a business owner) pays Medicare tax for 35 years.
$1,000,000 ☓ 2.9% ☓ 35 = $1,015,000
Now let's look at what a middle class employee (who pays 1.45% Medicare tax, not the full 2.9%) with a 35 year annual average income of $55,000 would have paid:
$55,000 ☓ 1.45% ☓ 35 = $27,912.50
HUGE difference in what they've paid, to receive the exact same Medicare benefits, which is to pay monthly premiums, have a deductible and a 20% co-pay, and no prescription coverage unless supplemental policies are purchased at additional cost.
Well, perhaps it is not unusual for a small business owner to make that much, but it is FAR from average:
From the link below:
"For example, small business owners with less than one year of experience in running an organization earn an annual salary ranging from $34,392 to $75,076. Those with more than 10 years experience, on the other hand, earn upwards of $105,757 per year."
Since we're blaming people. Let's blame old people. Especially Old people without good insurance or are stuck on Medicare and Medicaid.
There is no primary healthcare insurance for elderly risk.
Used to be old people went to the hospital to die. Most insurers declined to insure hospitalization for the elderly and Government created Medicare to fill the gap. Medical conditions that used to kill are now often treatable and in some cases, curable.
No one imagined at the time that Medicare would one day pick up the tab for a heart transplant.
You need to get a new tune, this one is played out. If you are going to accuse the government of every problem known to man, you should at least enumerate them in each thread as to how they relate and let people have the benefit of your experience. "I don't like government, so everything they do is bad" is not a convincing argument.
So do you types who think govt is the solution to all your problems. Boo hoo
We should all just go on Medicaid and pay nothing ever for it. Problem solved.
I admit that you have totally lost me in this discussion.
Although I admit that government income does not derive entirely from payroll taxes, 80% of it does. To state the obvious, no government spending is "free".
Well, perhaps it is not unusual for a small business owner to make that much, but it is FAR from average
The point being that in the two examples I gave the former is paying adequately, and even more than that, for their own benefits, even though the two are getting the exact same benefits. The latter is not thereby causing a net loss. The fault falls on those who don't pay their way. They're causing the net losses and the shortfalls.
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