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Employee Benefit Research Institute
According the study, 21.5 percent of 50+ households made prescription drug changes, 19.4 percent skipped doctor appointments and 27.5 percent had difficulty making monthly payments.
If you’ve ever thought twice about going to the doctor or taking a pill because of the cost, you likely aren’t alone.
About 20 percent of Americans over the age of 50 are switching to cheaper prescriptions, failing to take the medicine they are supposed to or skipping trips to the doctor to save money, according to a new research from a Washington-based think tank.
It's the latest example of how high health care costs are forcing some Americans to choose between financial and physical health.
The Employee Benefit Research Institute used a comprehensive 2009 survey of 4,433 Americans 50 and over to get a sense of how many older people couldn’t afford to get the health care that was recommended to them.
The survey found that 19 percent said they had skipped or postponed a doctor’s appointment to save money, while 21.5 percent said they had made prescription drug changes to save money.
The most common approach was the least worrisome: Many said they switched to cheaper generic drugs or used free samples.
But about one-quarter of those who made prescription drug changes said they’d stopped taking one or more pills. About one-fourth also said they’d split pills or taken a reduced dosage to make the medications last longer.
Skipping an occasional pill or doctor’s appointment might not affect you much, as long as you are generally in good health. But the researchers found that the people who were most likely to skimp on health care were also the ones who reported they were in poor health.
Single women and African-Americans were the most likely to report making such changes to save money.
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Last time I checked this was still America. Instead of spending millions in aid to foreign countries that hate our guts and stupid wars, why not take care of our own people first?
Because, that would be socialism and we can't have that. Besides, big corporations make more money from war than from helping people. You also are not allowed to ask the rich to make a choice between a yacht payment or helping their fellow man. That's just not God like!
Because if you didn't spend money on foreign aid and wars, we'd still be in the hole, and we'd still be spending too much on health care. Our federal deficit would probably still be $.5 trillion, instead of the $1.0 trillion estimated it is now.
When did it become the government's responsibility anyway to make sure everyone is healthy and could see a doctor? Maybe that kind of thinking is part of the problem.
No Alan I hate government intervention as much as liberals do, however IF we are going to urinate money away why not spend it on OUR OWN?
Likewise, In THAT same vein, since when it become the America's responsibility to babysit a bunch of backwards third-world cat litter boxes, anyway?????? WHERE in the Constitution does it say we have to do THAT, either?????
Wouldn'yt that be loevely but first you have to elect someone other than rich old fogies like McCain and Lieberman who actuially care about Amercans over the security of Israel.
We already have rationed healthcare. Its called being poor or middle class.
What we spend on foreign aid is a drop in the bucket. It's essentially rounding error in our budget. Did you know that the biggest foreign aid recipient is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of average income per person--Israel?
Anyway, what's the big beef, the free market rations healthcare better than any other mechanism. We don't need death panels when we can rely on the market to sort it all out. Right?
Find the truth. Its worse then you think. I guess its not exactly relevant.
The analogy is that you need to fight for healthcare. You deserve it. Your children deserve it.
This is a repeat of history. The right wingers make up cr+pola and pray on ignorance. You deserve healthcare too.
http://illuminate.newsvine.com/_news/2012/02/27/10520862-the-whitehouse-coup-1933
25% of the entire cost of ALL pharmacy is paying for the TV/magazine ads telling you to tell your doctor you need (the advertised product). OTher countries expect the doctors to know the drugs, what they do, who needs em. They outlawed such ads, their drugs are affordable. They have single payer medical, we have 15,000 different insurance companies, each one trying to control the Doctors. We have 500,000 Medical Insurance agents - what medical care value do they deliver resigning the same people each year ? But they get paid ! some have monster yaghts in the harbor here in Fla. When we stop pretending medical care is a business, we will find everyone can get it for less cost than we spend now giving it to only 80% of the population. But some medical industrial complex participants are going to have to take a haircut - and there in lies the rub. They lobby - you don't. They control the dialog - you don't. They control Congress - you don't. They add the cost of their lobbying to the medical premiums. You don't have any choice. So don't look for improvements anytime soon.
The problem being that i found out very fast when i was forced into retirement as an injured ortho med surge nurse. The ins you get once retired and not only medicare, but like my husband has till he is 65 and goes to medicare stinks. He worked 37 years with great ins once he took an early retirement they cut everything out of your policy. No more dental or eye examines not to mention much much higher out of pocket expenses. So you have great coverage when you are young and healthy and they rake it all in without needing to pay much out for you, then you retire and get nothing when you need it most! It's disgusting! Also medicare stinks very high out of pocket for something we payed into for 40 years and then continue to pay into after retirement. Drugs are almost not covered at all unless they are generic and for some ppl you can not take a generic drug like a diabetic. Once medicare spends a couple thousand on your drugs you go into a donuts hole and you have to spend i think it is 4,700 dollars before they pick up again for most ppl that brings them to the start of a new year. The avg SS is 1,000 and when a spouse dies there goes half of your income, which for a women that has stayed home or worked part time and has taken time of to raise children puts them into poverty. With the rising cost of prescriptions and healthcare there is no way to ever save enough for it all. That is why this country needs to get these costs down, get rid of waste and fraud and get a universal healthcare system!
Are you kidding? Our country has become so "me first, me only" that the First Lady can't even encourage kids to exercise and eat their veggies without being accused of promoting a "nanny state."
Spaceman mike, just read some of the postings on here to see why we cant have "free" healthcare for all, like most civilized countries.
i am 68 years old. i have had medicare for 3 years-----since being enrolled i have paid $64.00 a month for my portion. the government has paid on my behalf a total of $8.00 for a visit to local clinic (county) . i dislike doctor visits and don't take medications. medicare would work and be solvent if we hadn't created a culture that believes in miracle drugs. tv ads bombard the public with a drug for every possible illness (the part i love is the description of side effects-''could possibly cause death"' ). i have been a senior home health care provider and was astounded at the amount of meds some seniors take---up to 10 different meds daily------several died of liver cancer---seems suspicious to me.
My mother suffers from macular degeneration and has to have a $500 shot in the eye every month. She's lucky she has great (but very costly) insurance or she would go blind.
That same shot can be had in other countries for 1/3 the price.
Big pharmaceutical companies are stealing all of us blind.
Johnny - no one "deserves" health care insurance. You need to get out there and work for it. Additionally, those who are talking about spending money on foreign countries are correct, but look at how much we have wasted on entitlements for Illegals in this country. Cut that out too while we are at it. Then look at the people who refuse employer sponsored plans despite being able to afford it. Why should we pay for them so they can have enough money for cigarettes, beer and electronic toys? Force a bit of personal responsibility on them while we are at it.
I think the survey is a bit on the low side. By starting at age 50 rather than 65, they were able to make the numbers not look so bad. The vast majority of people who are 50 are still on employer plans. I don't know of anyone on Medicare who is getting all the care they had when they were on an employer plan. Let alone, most of those on Medicare are making far less than when they were working. Bottom line, Medicare sucks. And, due to Obamacare, the cost for everyone is going up exponentially and the access to care is going down. So it will be like we are all on Medicare or Medicaid. How is this going to keep us healthy? It's not. But the Democrats could care less about that. Obamacare is all about catering to a voting block that will keep Democrats in office, it is not about a healthy America. And that same voting block has no clue the real cost of their "free" health care and entitlements, and they have no reason to care, ......until it is gone. Wait until we run out of other people's money.........
Willow, what are your sources that show health care will be harder to obtain? What does "work[ing] for it" mean? Being lucky enough to find a job that happens to give you insurance near the house you already own if you lose your old job if you have a pre-existing condition so you can remain financially solvent? Should kids have to "work for it?"
Right on...our government is for the rich...by the rich....and only concerned about the rich...like the insurance companies....the banks....the military-industrial complex...we pay 10 times more per capita for healthcare than any other country in the world...yet we don't rank in the top 100 in public health. What is wrong with our people...when will they forget this religious crap the repubs feed them while they do a reach-around and steal money out of their pockets...not implying the dems are any better...but at least they claim they care about the American people's healthcare.
Kryss, health care is not a "right" or something everyone "deserves." It "used" to be easy to have access to employer health care, but, due to the increased wish of the Democrats to turn America into a Socialist country, that isn't true any longer. Most people used to have employer health care, and a certain % didn't want health care, so most were satisfied with their choices. Now with the recent change in trends, capped by Obamacare at the top of the heap of crap, we are rapidly losing the system that used to work well, in trade for a system that is not nearly as good. It is currently harder to obtain and pay for health care in certain areas. You can apply to the high risk pool now, but you have to be without for at least 6 months and pay more for a plan that gives you less access to care than an employer plan. Also, the small employer market in my State is being hit hard by Obamacare. Many have already dropped their plans, and others, like our company, had to max out deductibles and go to HSA type plans to have anything at all. We are struggling with each renewal, (we've had 2 and they were the worst in the last 15 years.) I will say, this varies state to state, ours? Sucks.
Oh, and do you know the response to the Obamacaremandate that all children regardless of pre-existing condition were allowed to have insurance? Most companies no longer offer a plan for children only. How's that for access?
@Willowbrook, The US rates 37th in terms of health care in the world. Other countries with universal health care do it better and cheaper. Those are the facts.
Of course, everyone deserves health care. The US believes that, the problem is that people go to the emergency room when they get really bad instead of seeing a doctor regularly, and its expensive and they have no way to pay, and all of us get stuck with the bill.
The Republican position that health care is for the wealthy is untenable.
Eric, it's not really cheaper. Most of those countries private insurance companies do a big business in supplemental policies that makes up the difference in less covered care from the govt. So, in essence the care is not the same and the cost is not as low as the govt. numbers. I know agents from several competing supplemental insurance companies that are already beating the doors down offering these same policies for those, like our company, who've already lost that level of care. And all of them expect their market to explode after 2014 when the large employer market starts to feel the crunch. Incidentally, what about those "austerity" measures some of these countries are experiencing?
Health care and dental care have become luxury items by design. Fuel and food are next. Thank the GOP.
G. Bud - How is it the GOP that have driven up the cost of health CARE any more than democrats? In reality, it is democrats who have increased the cost with regulations that have driven insurance from the individual market to the employer market (wage controls). It is democrats that came up with "plans" that are unsustainable and cause underpayment by government that has caused costs to increase on non-government plans.
You can blame the GOP all you want, but you should really consider the unintended consequences of the programs promoted and implemented by democrats to get a better understanding of why costs are high today.
Universal health care would be cheaper and better than what we now have. Actually, "universal health care" is a misnomer. It is in reality, "universal payment" for prevention and health care. We already partially have it. Medicare, Medicaid, VA care, various state systems for children that are subsidized by the federal government, etc. Then we have about 56% who are covered by some type of private insurance. Leaves many with no health care. This hodgepodge needs to be pulled together by the federal government and a universal payment system installed and administered by the federal government. It's a good socialistic endeavor. The government has proven It does this well, and by far and away, most Americans want it. Additionally, It would bring down Employer costs.
If you want health insurance you had better pay for it. "All I ever wanted was a free lunch." Those days are long gone; you can no longer walk into your local bar for a beer and expect to find the fixings for a sandwich set out on the counter. Maybe some peanuts........ that's it! "peanuts." When beer was 25 cents a bottle it came with a free sandwich.........
There was a moment, just a moment during the Health Care debate when the fools on the hill considered eliminating the laws that restrict fair trade between states for the buying of health insurance. As it stands today, one can only buy their H.I. within the state of which they are a citizen. If that law had been changed to allow an individual the right to buy in any and all of the fifty states there would have been no need for these outrageous annual premiums that we must pay if we want insurance. There would have been no need for what is called ObamaCare. A simple change in this law and we could form our own massive groups of millions thus giving us the same or better buying power as those who work for the federal government or any given state government. Here is the deal, send me $100.00 to become a member of "The Real American Health Insurance Company." You are then one of 10 million who can shop the nation and the companies for the best and most comprehensive policies. The damn insurance companies would be lining up for our money, the annual premiums would drop to a few grand rather than 10 or 20 grand. They are in cahoots, in bed with the insurance companies. A gang of liars and thieves. Impeach the entire lot of them for breaking their oath of office; to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Then tar and feather them and run them out of Washington on a rail..............
The bottom line of this story is that not only does the United States have a crappy health care system (doen to an estimated 42nd from 37th), it has one of the worst indigent care (Medicaid) and elder care (Medicare) systems of any developed country. Do you realize that every other developed copuntry in the world has a better senior medical system than Medicare? For example, the US is the only country that does not include vision care, dental care, and only partial prescription care. Since older people are the most in need of vision and dental care as well as prescriptions, that doesn't really make sense does it? Medicare actually kills people with its lack of dental and vision care and with the "donut hole" in its prescription care.
If we had to go down the Obamacare road, we should have insisted on the public option. It would have kept health care competitive and, as such, driven down costs.
Healthcare costs are unsustainable, whether it be an employer provided plan or a gov't subsidized plan.
Here is the way I see it. We work and pay into this program for 30 years or more, the government messes the money there and never pays the program back, those on the program don't get a cost of living raise for a couple of years, than this current admin cuts the amount you put into the program, great huh, than shoves a pile of crap health care bill down our throats. I think I have most of it right. Now that you are on the program you have to pay for the right to use the money you have paid into this program but oh by the way we are going to cut the benefits because there is not enough in the fund. How can anyone live on $1000 month and still buy the meds and visit the doctor, buy food, pay for a house and etc without something falling by the side. I have read the 2700 pages of the health care pile of crap and it really does nothing for the seniors. I already have my living will and etc but that makes no difference I have to go over this with my doctor regularly so he can fill out some report and if I need some test out of the normal according to the bill a panel has to review it first and yea or nay and to top that they want my bank account number so they can take the money for the insurance right out of my account, no thank you, I will go with out fine or no fine. I will go without before I let the government run my health. The government already has to much say in the way we live. This is my own interruption of the health care bill and no one elses.
One prescription I take costs $600 per month. How can anyone afford that on a long-term basis (it is a "take it for life" medication) at that price?
Do not lie Wakehead, that does not include the middle class.
Last time I checked, this is the United States OF America -- not America. Sorry, no matter how obese or egotistical one may be, they cannot lay claim to all of the Americas.
Willowbrook--a lot of businesses don't offer healthcare at all. Many large companies offer health care to full time employees, then they purposefully hire only part-time employees so they don't have to pay benefits or overtime. So people wind up working 3-4 part time jobs, constantly working because the companies pay as little as they can get away with and minimum wage is not a living wage, and they have no benefits, no savings, no free time, nothing, in spite of the fact that they work hard and work constantly. They deserve healthcare. They deserve to be treated better. They DO WORK FOR IT, but the rigged system refuses to give it to them anyway. It's disgusting.
Most Have None!
I enjoyed excellent health care for most of my 51 years until about 2002. Most Americans have none today.
That is quite a "change" in a decade.
Your right. We already have rationed healthcare. Its called being poor or middle class.
I have hard time believing that only 1 in 5 older Americans scrimps on healthcare. More like 4 out of 5 based on people I know.
Yep, although the Republicans will call it "class warfare", it seems only the rich have insurance.
I'd like to scream hypocracy now. Here's why:
1. The President's nationalized healthcare system is involuntary while people currently have the choice of their insurance provider, their level of coverage, their level of deductable, etc. There have been many surveys concluding that a good proportion of the young decide not to get insured so that they can have more cash while "young and healthy" to play with. I don't see any reason why they should have to purchase insurance if they do not wish to pay for it. If they get sick, it's their responsibility to prepare for a "rainy day" and then to deal with it- not the government's.
2. The President's nationalized healthcare program is described as the end all be all of coverage, while the administration has provided "waivers" (partial to full waivers) to SEVEN STATES and MANY large companies. If it's so great and takes care of everything, why shouldn't everyone be jumping on board willingly??
3. The government can't manage a small program, let alone a large one. The meds. part 3 program under Bush proved it. Congress legislated the program with the image of life saving drugs going to the elderly, but they forgot to specifically describe what needed to be covered and what is considered a choice. Soooo, the elderly realized that their boner drugs could be covered, their happy pills, their experiemetal drugs covered, etc. because you can't possibly say no under a federal program or you get sued.
4. The cost of healthcare is exploding now.... because the government is expanding regulations on doctors and insurance providers. That's why your premiums are going up exponentially. It's kind of like why a college education is costing much more now- you'll notice that when the federal government took over the student loan program they insured colleges that they'd get their money, so colleges started to realize that they could ask for more and get more, and so on. THAT's why college costs so much, there's little reason for competition.
5. The President is now calling for free contraception, abortions, etc. Guess what, those things cost MONEY. The condom and pill companies won't just give them out for free (not even if the government takes them over), it's coming out of someone's pocket. Firstly it comes our of your employer's pocket because it's comes as a rise in insurance costs, then yours as an adjustment to your program, etc. "Yay it's free now" is such a retarded perspective.
6. Then there's the media perception (and public perception) of the culprets. Why is it that when a company goes bankrupt and during their restructuring make healthcare cuts that they are deemed "evil corporations" while when the President proposes cuts to the military which include significant cuts to their medical coverage it's ok.
Eric, get real. If you can't see that the entire system is screwed up than you don't get it. Government takes over stuff, it gets more bureaucratic and expensive, people get hurt, people complain, the government steps in and makes it worse.
160 million Americans have no health care?
ObamaCare will improve this to 5 in 5.
There is no "nationalized healthcare program".
Medicare is very well managed with much less overhead than private insurers. And old people love it.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/04/19/poll_70_percent_of_tea_party_supporters_oppose_medicare_cuts.html
Please furnish your address so we can forward these unpaid bills to you. Those of us who are responsible and make sure we have health insurance are tired of subsidizing those who simply don't want to pay for insurance so they have more money "to play with".
@JoeNY,
I hear your hipocracy!
1) The ACA makes absolutely no difference if you already have health insurance. It continues just as it is today. The idea for a "mandate" came from Conservative Republican think tanks back in the Clinton era. The conservatives did not want healthy young people freeloading on the system and driving up costs for everyone else by subscribing w=only when they got sick. I would go along with eliminating the mandate if there was a ten-year waiting period for those who didn't want to get health insurance --- ten years of paying premiums but without any ability to collect claims until the playing field has been leveled a bit. And no exceptions.
2) As in #1, current coverage would remain exactly the same. There have been zero waivers granted. You have your issues mixed up. You might be talking about Medicaid because ACA does not kick in until 2014.
3) Medicare Part D (what you call "part 3"). It is exactly the same sort of private insurance scheme that ACA is. It also has a mandate --- if you do not sign up for Part D the moment you become eligible for Part A (which is free) you incur a fine and an increase of 1% a month in opremiums, cumulatively, with no cap. I guess finesand mandates are okay of a right-winger comes up with them?
4) Medicare does not cover every prescription and doers not cover "experimental" drugs at all. Your assertion makes no sense at all.
5) Neither does your assertion that the federal government lowering student loan interests and combining loans so the burden is not so crushing is why tuition is going up? That's not very bright. Think about it for a while.
6) The President did not call for free contraception. The Catholic Church got the right wingers behind their "right" to force their religious beliefs on their non-Catholic employees (and the vast majority of Catholic employees who do not agree with the Church's stance on birth control. So the President, said, okay, you can force your religious beliefs on others, but the others should have the same right to choose as others, so the insurance providers, if an employer claims the right topersecute others for religious reasons, must give contraceptive services for free. That doesn't force anything on anyone. But it does make a joke out of the Catholic Church's attempts to force their sexual deviancy on others under the guise of religious theology (which it is not.) There is no "yea its free" mentality because the health insurance companies just roll the costs in and the employer has to pay for it anyway.
7) The "evil" media just reports when corporations attempt to use bankruptcy to renege on contracts that they have made previously. The idea that they can overpromise and then bail out out on the promises so they can pay their CEO's millions of dollars in bonuses is evil.
Now tell me again how the government is the reason that we pay more than twice PER CAPITA for health care, but fewer than half get any of the pie. And even for those that get some of the pie, it is the 42nd worst pie in the world. If you are happy with this situation, you are simply in love with hate.
If you cannot afford health care, you are free to leave the United States. If you can't make it in the United States and do your part, then chances are you are not needed. Please leave. Thank you.
Imoen's own brand of death panels for the elderly, given that it is practically impossible to get a job after age 60 anymore that pays enough or provides good enough health insurance to survive without assistance.
I am about to graduate college, and I have a job waiting for me after, but it's with a very small company and they cannot provide health insurance. Theoretically I can afford to buy my own insurance, but it will significantly cut into the money I was planning on saving to try to build up a down payment on a house. I'm trying to decide which is the better deal, getting the insurance or trying to buy a house.
Find the truth. THey stole your money.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/10/19/retirement-heist-how-firms-plunder-workers-nest-eggs/
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/retirement-heist-u-pensions-plundered-corporate-greed-author-131151510.html
I'm not over 50 but skip doctor's visits. Why? Because the co-pay is $40, and that's not including all the hidden costs and surprise bills I get.
All the government mandates telling us and the doctors what to do and all the government methods to try and keep health care affordable I believe is to blame. Our government is turning health care into a disaster. Trying to make it affordable is making it unaffordable. This of course will never be spoken of in the msm.
Good for you Alan, I agree with you on this one.
Thank you!
What the research and article didn't point out is exactly what you are talking about, Alan. How many of those "skipping" an appointment are skipping a follow-up or other type of appointment that will cost them a deductible or co-pay, but potentially wasn't a "necessary" visit.
In another article posted today, there is a story about hundreds of millions being spent in ERs because of dental problems....by Medicaid patients. Medical resources are limited and to waste ER time on dental emergencies only drives up the cost for everyone.
The health care law isn't fully in effect until 2014. Yet we are seeing the start of things that will bring down costs, like prevention, free vacines, birth control etc.
We are still "fee for service", the new health care law cuts costs by giving doctors a set amount to keep you healthy. It's proven and working in England, Australia, France, etc.
Get out of the dark ages and get with new things that work.
Eric - Those countries' healthcare systems don't look anything like the plan that passed in the US.
Eric-913730, dental emergencies are not a waste of E/R time because an infected tooth can ultimately cause a brain infection and kill.
@Bookem,
Medicare is alone in the world in that it does not cover dental and vision care. The especially bad one is dental care. It is estimated to kill over 45,000 elders every year. Lack of vision care results in fewer deaths but is a primary cause of people being institutionalized at much greater cost.
What is your source for 45,000 seniors dying each year due to lack of dental care?
It is estimated that 99.7% of all people who have cancer have consumed carots in their lifetime. Therefore, carots cause cancer.
Dental and vision care (partially because of the lack of third party payers) is much less expensive in comparison to a visit to a "health care" doctor. Choices to not get an eye exam or a dental check up are up to the individual. If they chose to spend money on non-essential items (new cars, cell phones, etc.) rather than going to the dentist, it is a choice they made.
Yes Bookem. If we had a capable gubmint, they would restrict uses of Medicaid so people cant go to the ER for Dental Problems. They should, like the rest of us, go to a dentist. I know a guy whose ex had a drug problem, couldn't hold a job was on Medicaid. Had custody of the child. She was no cook either. Kid was constantly having Gastro probelms from bad diet. Because she held a Medicaid card she never took the kid to a family practice physician. She only took the kid to the ER. Jobless, tons of time on her hands and a blank check from the Feds in her hand. So the ER, because they have protocols, would spend 6 or 10 tests and run a $5,000 bill into the Gubmint each time this woman showed up. A family physician could have solved the kid's problem for $100 to $200. But the gubmint employees get a paycheck for life whether this is a problem or not - so they aren't going to write regulations on the use of the card. The drug addicts don't care. Then there is the massive Doc fraud in Medicaid/Medicare. So they all collude to break the bank and once it's broken the gubmint employees decide to deal with it by cutting benefits for the legit people - you know, the ones who paid the bills and set it up.
The last SS disabilty increase I got $50..
Then food stamps was cut 50 and Medicad now requirs a larger co-pay along with the amount I pay for my share of medical increased..
So we never got an Increase, cause now we pay $100- to $150 MORE in medical and food..
So where do you cut back that you can??????????
I am on Medicare and I think I'm happy with it. However, the same time the Government announced that seniors would be getting a COLA, the insurance company raised all the co-pays and food went up 20% (not to mention how much gasoline has gone up). I take all generics and keep trying to get off them, and when the doctor asks if I would like to try a new medication to replace the generic, I ask (I already know) if there is a commercial on TV about it. Then I tell him if they have a commercial, I can't afford the medication.
Bank that Republicans will "reform it" or "save it" which is code that you will have to pay more still.
Medicare pays 80% of health care charges and seniors by approximately $100.00 per month for Part B, Part A is free. If a senior gets a comprehensive MediGap policy the cost for that is roughly $175.00 per month and covers all other costs so that a senior has no further out of pocket costs for their health care other than prescription drug insurance. Tell me where an under 65 person in an employer plan to get 100% coverage in an indemnity plan for themselves for under $300.00 per month? You can't. Seniors have better health coverage than the average worker...period.
The Democrat plan is much better where you pay for it but not get anything.
@laurie,
I am 68 and not on Medicare (except for Part A where I have no choice.) This is because my wife's private insurance is much cheaper, has much better coverage, and covers much more. You forgot to mention the costs of Part D and that what you quote has no dental or vision care and drops you in the second half of each year for prescription coverage.
And I stick with Blue Cross Bluc Shield, knowing that when my wife retires I will have to pay a $5,000 fine plus 1% additional cumulative premiums for each month since I started Part A. You know --- the Republican health care mandate that the right-wingers' "Convenience Alzheimers" makes them forget.
Please leave the United States and stop being a burden on the system. If you can't afford health care, then there is something seriously wrong with YOU.
It makes me sad when people say if you are poor or don't have healthcare it is your fault. The corporations that control the nation's wealth are sorely abusing their employees, and many citizens are not only perfectly okay with that, they blame the people being victimized rather than the people in control. It's heartbreaking.
ImoenOfTelengard--okay, I'll bite. Let's say a person works 40 hours a week, making minimum wage, and makes approximately $15K. Let's say that person tries to get health insurance for him/herself and his/her spouse. Health insurance costs (and I am taking the lowest figure I can find) $5K per year, if a person has a $10K deductable. Let us say that said person pays $500 a month for rent.
This person has precisely $4K left over--for everything. That's a total of $333 per month for food, for clothes, for transportation, for utility bills, and for doctor co-pays and medication up to $10K.
Given that I am already taking the lowest possible costs for pretty much everything--it should be danged obvious why most people cannot afford health care and why many, who become ill with something perfectly normal (like a pregnancy that has minor complication) go broke.
What part of "health care isn't affordable" is giving you trouble?
You can thank "tricky dicky" and the repuglitons for opening the doors to the corporate insurance thieves for medical insurance.
We need a one payer plan to get rid of the insurance scammers.
Nope - what we need is socialized healthcare (not socialized insurance) with the option of private practice doctors and insurance programs for those who want to pay for it.
Brian--I prefer single-payer health insurance, with an opt-out clause for those who'd rather use doctors who refuse to accept the single-payer plan. I do think that some procedures should be excluded and everyone should have the option of catastrophic health insurance for things like needing a heart transplant, but "socialized" health care probably won't work with the US population (it works better when people are more homogenous and not quite so hateful of one another).
No need to be concerned about the poor, they have their safety nets.
Complete with holes.
So did seniors who saved for retirement until Bernake and Geitner cut the interest rates so that we are drawing down our principle to supplement our meager Social Security.
If it were REASONABLY priced maybe people could afford a DR. visit. Our last one was $350.00 dollars to get an earring removed from my daughters ear becasue the stud was too small and sank in. It took about 3 minutes and a dab of local anesthetic cream. That is ridiculous. So imagine people who are really sick and need treatment and medication.
I agree. I'm afraid of what happens to a person when they get really sick. The bills are sometimes worse.
You went to a doctor for that???
mm- The problem there is that the insurance companies keep cutting what they're willing to pay the doctors, etc. so the difference has to be paid by those that don't have insurance.
Do not lie Wakehead, it does not include the middle class.
@Men,meh: Well heck, I'm not the same kind of doctor (scientific, not medical), but I could have done that procedure for you in the same time, and only charged you for a six-pack of good beer.
Engineer here. - Tube of benzocaine cream, sharp utility knife, alcohol, tweezers. I've pulled 3/8" long splinters out of children's feet.
I have to skimp. We own our house, so in order to protect ourselves financially in the event of a health issue, we carry Anthem Blue Cross. Our annual premium is just over $10,000 for the 2 of us and that only buys us a catastrophic policy with a $10,000 annual deductible. My wife and I are in our 60's and reasonably healthy. No prescriptions, and we have not incurred a total $10,000 in health care services over the past 20 years. With a premium that large, I forego doctor visits to save money. Meanwhile, Anthem pays out huge multi-million dollar bonuses to their executives with unspent premium monies like ours. They are no better than common thieves and should be in jail. Health care should be not-for-profit. Medicare for all as an option was a good plan, but the congress has been bought by the lobbyists, so no deal.
I agree. They have you between a rock and a hard place. I just went on Medicare, but my husband isn't 65 yet so we have to pay $600 a month for his health insurance and it doesn't pay much. I am not sure why they are even allowed to sell policies to people over 60 that don't cover most things, since statistically persons over 60 get sick more often than younger people. I never got sick when I was younger. I actually got into an argument with someone at the insurance company and told her that I refuse to buy their executives' $2,000 suits. I think health insurance companies should have their profits limited to a certain percentage. My insurance company was actually given a reprieve from some of the mandates of the Affordable Care Act because they cried to HHS about they wouldn't be able to provide sufficient insurance to their insureds. I am getting the feeling that HHS doesn't ask them what their profit margin is when they make those decisions.
I would really recommend that you shop for your insurance. You are paying a very large amount for a $10,000 deductible.
Does your policy qualify for contributions to a Health Savings Account? If so, you may want to find a better rate and contribute the difference to an HSA.
Barbie: The profit margin of health insurance companies is around 3% - much lower than that of many industries. The loss ratios (amount of premium paid in claim dollars) are around 75%. Out of the 25% that doesn't go to pay claims, that amount goes to all salaries, commissions for sales, advertising, administration, etc.
Bookem'Danno....which is still a hell of alot of money.
So Barbie - Do you want to limit profit margins on Apple products? How about Nike shoes and apparel? Seriously? The business of America is business. Health insurance companies make money because they are efficient and provide a valuable service. They have some land available in Russia if you want the government to limit a company's profit margin. Go buy some Birkenstocks and hug a friggin tree somewhere...
Health shouldn't be considered the same as a iPod.
I'm 58. I'm enjoying this part of my life a great deal. I don't scrimp on healthcare to save money. I scrimp because I choose not to be a part of the statistic that shows more money spent on healthcare in the US per person than any other nation. The kids are grown, I've met a grandchild, I have no intention of going through a lengthy illness that would drain my family's funds and I have enough life insurance to pay off the mortgage.
Oh, you have no intention of going through a lengthy illness. Exactly how are you going to do that? Strength of will? Or did you have something a bit more final in mind?
Sounds like what I've been doing since 40. It's called being full-time employed at not quite a living wage and having an employer who drops health care coverage.
Two true stories. I was traveling three years ago and while on the road, I pulled a muscle in my back and couldn't drive. I was 3000 miles away from home (in northern California). There was a Clinic nearby, so off I went, saw a doctor for about 5 minutes for a quick exam. No test, no x-rays, he wrote me a script for a muscle relaxer and I was on my way. On the way out the door, I asked for my bill and was told it would be mailed. I explained that I lived out of state and would prefer to pay before I left. They "allowed" me to pay $75 and told me they'd bill me for any "other" charges. Two days later and states away, I called to find out what the bill was, because I had a limited amount of money and no job at home. I couldn't promise to pay later, I'd prefer to do it now. After being put on hold, I was told the doctor was willing to waive any remaining fee, but I'd still get a bill from the Clinic. I came home, months later, to a $675 bill! I'm still fighting it 3 years later.
FF to last year when the script for my blood pressure medication was going to expire. I called around to find the cheapest doctor visit in the area and made an appointment based on $70, which I was told needed to be prepaid because I didn't have insurance. I saw a nurse practitioner and she asked if I had any "other" health issues. I told her yes, but they didn't really matter, because I couldn't afford to do anything about them, I just wanted my meds so I could make it to tomorrow. I'll worry about the "other" things when/if they become an immediate problem. I got my meds and left. Two weeks later I got a bill for $87! I called and told them I'm not paying it if they couldn't justify it. I was then told that the $70 was for a basic visit and "other" charges were billed later! I told them not to bother wasting time turning me in to a collection agency, do it now because I'm not paying it.
I have to go to a doctor every year, just to have a life-saving prescription filled. The prescription costs me $10/month with no insurance, I don't have the money to deal with other issues and I'm being held hostage by the "rules" just so I don't stroke out today.
In my situation, please explain what good it is to see a doctor every year for a medication I've been taking for 15 years. I'm capable of taking my own blood pressure and alerting a doctor if it's changed. Why do I have to pay $150 to have them confirm that? And if I don't have the $150 to see a doctor, you might as well sign my death certificate over my inability to get a $10 prescription.
I'm a type I diabetic so scrimping on meds would be a big no-no. Luckily for me, my dosages are very small so I only need to refill every 5 months.
I'll bet money the Mexicans don'y have a chart that looks like this with our "fine government" giving them everything they want at the expense of us tax paying folks.
This is a good thing. Most Americans take too much medicine and over-doctor themselves, which increases our health care costs.
No one would stop taking a medicine that is really helping them. But a lot of doctors are pill-happy, and are over-drugging us.
When medical care comes with a bill attached, we tend to think more about what we do and do not need.
I know I do. With a $10,000 deductible health insurance policy, I think long and hard before I bother my doctor with trivial ailments.
And yes, people do have a lot of somatic illnesses. Sad fact.
it's not that they WANT to skimp on health care. Medicare has limits/caps. My mother went through a terminal illness in her 80's and lost almost her entire savings and house based on caps. Medicare is just like the medicine for profit system in the USA. It will eventually bankrupt you if you live long enough. It's enough to make you SICK. So much for the evils of socialized medicine. The GOP needs to stop banging the drum on this issue and feasting on the bones of the dead, suffering, and terminally ill...
That's why we need a GOP President to dismantle the few gains we've already made in health care reform. NOT!!!!!
It's been said before, but when we take Congress off their cushy taxpayer-funded retirement and healthcare and put them on Social Security and Medicare, they'll fix these programs overnight.
Which gains are those? Higher premiums? Drug shortages? Endless schemes to deny elderly heath care. Fewer employees covered by employers? Increased cost of medical appliances from new taxes?
Thanks nibor for responding first. Where are those "gains" Hank? I didn't realize exponentially higher costs or no insurance at all constituted a "gain."
This is a real problem, insurance is supposed to spread the risk among us all. That is the idea of insurance. But the cost of healthcare is so great, the premiums just do not work for all people. Two solutions, make healthcare government run and subsidized or change the way healthcare is done to reduce costs. Currently, the AMA has a corner on the doctor market and how things are done. Let's face it there may be other ways to get the same results. We really need to think outside the box on this one. Why do we need to go to the doctor for tests, why not have preventative tests done at one clinic and only referred to a doctor if the results are out of certain ranges. We need to get our heads around other ways to deliver healthcare.
All of my income goes to bills, food, gas, and taxes. I have not had health insurance for 15+ years and the 4 doctors visits during that time was paid out of my pocket - I never took any free medical care (pay as I go). Back when I used to have insurance my deductable was 2,500 just so I could afford the premiums, but our country's healthcare system is so much worse of a scam today - even if you pay top dollar, it still won't cover all and you'll be paying it off forever. If I get seriously ill I'll just die naturally, since most of us will have to work till the day we die anyway.
My mother is 94, in a nursing home, paying over $5,000 a month, and hating every minute of it. When my doctor started in, telling me all the tests I should have as a health precaution because I'm over 50, I told her I wasn't interested, because I'm not looking for longevity of life. My spouse and I pay over $8,000 a year for catastrophic health insurance, and have never used it, with a $5,500 deductible. We receive hefty yearly increases in our premium as well. It would be a real hit financially to put out $5,500. should the need arise, and at this rate, we'll soon have to go uninsured. I've already lived longer than the majority of people on this planet, and with 7 billion and counting, this planet could do with one less. When the time comes, there won't be any fighting it. I'm not going to leave my family financially bankrupt either, if I have any input into it. Not that I'll feel so bad leaving this horribly wacky world, the way it's become. We've managed to make life a survival struggle everyday...
Reply to Trainsarebetter: I'm with you. Your comment may sound morbid to some, but truly...death is inevitable so why bankrupt yourself and your family to avoid it? I won't do it.
If I am ever diagnosed with cancer or any other disease or condition that requires lots of medical treatment and money just to keep me alive for a few more months or a couple of years, I won't do it. I prefer to live out my best days knowing I have not put a burden on anyone else by trying to extend my life. I am 69 and if I were young, I would probably feel differently.
And yet Republicans think that Americans should not get health care. Bring back the plague and pestulance. Vote Republican.
Healthcare had nothing to do with the plague
That's OK. Rocco has nothing to do with intelligence.
Republicans think everybody should have health care. But why should they pay for yours? Why should anybody pay for yours? What gives you the "right" to somebody else's earnings? What makes you so much better than everybody else that they should have to pay your bills? Are you a king or queen or something?
Let me guess - you want other people's money to pay your bills, but you are not greedy. Yea right!
taxed--okay, fine. Why do all of us have to pay for your police services? Why do all of us have to pay for the roads you drive on? Why do all of us have to pay for the air traffic controllers who make sure that the planes you fly on do not collide? Why do all of us have to pay for the public school system that you went through?
More importantly, why do you think that the present health care reform bill involves other people paying for anyone's health care?
People are required to buy their own health insurance--remember? Otherwise, they get fined. How is the fact that people are required to buy health insurance suddenly being translated into "they" are "paying for yours"?
Let's remember that Republicans came up with the idea of an individual mandate (and McCain supported this during his run for office) during the Clinton administration and put it into force in Massachusetts under Romney. The idea is that people have to take responsibility for their own healthcare and shouldn't sponge off others by going without insurance and using the emergency room (and defaulting on the bill) if they get sick.
Again--exactly how does any of this translate into using other people's money to "pay your bills"?