Ok, so something like 27 million Americans don't have health insurance.
Why not?
They may not have jobs.
They may not have the kind of jobs that offer health insurance.
They may just not care about not having health insurance.
Many millions of those people without health insurance are youngsters making the quite rational choice that they wont need it. Chances are, if you're young, you wont.
As noted yesterday, in the mid-2000's we here at Casa de Stroock purchased our own health insurance. Many people did the same. To save money they bought Catastrophic Plans.
Ok, so what's that?
When you go to the doctor in America, the insurance company offsets the cost slightly with something called a co-pay. That means you go to the doctor, you give them $30 bucks, the insurance company pays the rest. There is also something called a deductible. Again this is the insurance company offsetting its cost by making you responsible for an upfront payment. The size of that deductible depends on what kind of plan you have. Basically a Catastrophic Plan came with a high deductible, say $5000, but with much lower monthly rates. In essence you rolled the dice with a Catastrophic Plan. If you had the sniffles you were on the hook for the bill. If you broke a leg, you would be on the hook for some of that bill. If you got cancer you'd be on the hook for the first $5000 but the insurance company picked up most of the rest.
Yes, Europeans, this is complicated, there's no getting around that.
Obamacare killed Catastrophic Plans by requiring people to insure themselves as mandated by the government, so people had to pay for all kinds of services they didn't want. Why? So the Feds had the cash on hand to pay for the rest of the Obamacare enrollees. In essence Obamacare taxes the productive to benefit the unproductive.
William Stroock (as in Stroock's Books)
Showing posts with label Healthcare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Healthcare. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Monday, December 17, 2018
American Healthcare for Euros
Ok, European readers, you may be wondering what this healthcare debate in America is all about. You may be wondering why there is any debate at all.
To recap, a brave Texas judge struck down Obamacare, Barrack Hussein Obama's enema to the American healthcare system. The most vile part of that vile law was the Individual Mandate, which required people to have health insurance. We rank the Individual Mandate up there with the Indian Removal Act and the Fugitive Slave Act.
One of the quirks of modern American life is the lack of National Health Insurance. This is a result of the Second World War actually. During the war demand for labor was massive but there was a huge labor shortage resulting in a fierce competition for workers. Prices were frozen. So companies offered to pay for health insurance.
Today old Americans have Medicare, poor Americans have Medicaid, everyone else has insurance through their employer or buys it themselves.
You Europeans may be wondering what that costs.
Well it ain't cheep.
When Mrs. Stroock was a consultant we bought insurance for the (then) three of us and it cost $1253 a month. I know becuase I was the one writing the checks.
When Barry O took office about 40 million Americans didn't have insurance, about 80% of us did. Obamacare tried to rectify that. As the numbers at the link show, it failed. Last year 27 million Americans didn't have insurance.We'll get into that tomorrow.
If you guys want to begin to understand the complexities of the problem, read the explanation at the link.
To recap, a brave Texas judge struck down Obamacare, Barrack Hussein Obama's enema to the American healthcare system. The most vile part of that vile law was the Individual Mandate, which required people to have health insurance. We rank the Individual Mandate up there with the Indian Removal Act and the Fugitive Slave Act.
One of the quirks of modern American life is the lack of National Health Insurance. This is a result of the Second World War actually. During the war demand for labor was massive but there was a huge labor shortage resulting in a fierce competition for workers. Prices were frozen. So companies offered to pay for health insurance.
Today old Americans have Medicare, poor Americans have Medicaid, everyone else has insurance through their employer or buys it themselves.
You Europeans may be wondering what that costs.
Well it ain't cheep.
When Mrs. Stroock was a consultant we bought insurance for the (then) three of us and it cost $1253 a month. I know becuase I was the one writing the checks.
When Barry O took office about 40 million Americans didn't have insurance, about 80% of us did. Obamacare tried to rectify that. As the numbers at the link show, it failed. Last year 27 million Americans didn't have insurance.We'll get into that tomorrow.
If you guys want to begin to understand the complexities of the problem, read the explanation at the link.
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Vichy GOP
So with Paul Ryan's Obamacare repeal and replace bill its hard to avoid the conclusion that the Speaker doesn't get it.
In a lot of ways this is not his fault. He's the same generation as I, and he came of age in the era of Newt and W, Heritage policy papers, Weekly Standard movement journo pieces, and a slew of policy-wonk ideas. Paul Ryan has certainly loaded this bill up with those.
This reminds me of previous failed GOP big idea bills, W's Social Security plan of 2005, the immigration reform bill of 2006, the debt ceiling fiasco of 2011, Marco Rubio's own attempt at immigration reform in 2014; all loaded with ideas none of which will work.
Frankly Paul Ryan's bill is a surrender document. All that remains is for the Dems to ad their bits ala No Child Left Behind.
Fortunately both the GOP squishes like Senator Collins of Maine, and hardliners like Senator Paul of Kentucky pronounce the bill DOA.
President Trump is a deal maker of course and I suspect this bill will be negotiated and marked up to acceptability. But I've always been an optimist.
Look, Mr. Speaker, this isn't about tweaking medical delivery systems or medical savings accounts. This is about repealing the most vile piece of American legislation since the Fugitive Slave Act. You got the power, use it.
The Dems wouldn't hesitate.
In a lot of ways this is not his fault. He's the same generation as I, and he came of age in the era of Newt and W, Heritage policy papers, Weekly Standard movement journo pieces, and a slew of policy-wonk ideas. Paul Ryan has certainly loaded this bill up with those.
This reminds me of previous failed GOP big idea bills, W's Social Security plan of 2005, the immigration reform bill of 2006, the debt ceiling fiasco of 2011, Marco Rubio's own attempt at immigration reform in 2014; all loaded with ideas none of which will work.
Frankly Paul Ryan's bill is a surrender document. All that remains is for the Dems to ad their bits ala No Child Left Behind.
Fortunately both the GOP squishes like Senator Collins of Maine, and hardliners like Senator Paul of Kentucky pronounce the bill DOA.
President Trump is a deal maker of course and I suspect this bill will be negotiated and marked up to acceptability. But I've always been an optimist.
Look, Mr. Speaker, this isn't about tweaking medical delivery systems or medical savings accounts. This is about repealing the most vile piece of American legislation since the Fugitive Slave Act. You got the power, use it.
The Dems wouldn't hesitate.
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