Folks the man I would like to elect for president, is the one that does allthe following:
Think outside the box; Why isn"t GWB doing his level best to promote a 4 day work week?
To understand "It is, what it is"; When will we understand that we are paying an arm and a leg for medical treatment (sometimes literally). When is it time to forgo an increase in the minimum wage and force all employers to provide at least some level of health-care insurance?
Lastly, to understand that if you worry about the pennies the dollars take care of themselves.
Why do we still need Saturday mail delivery? What does it cost?
Thanks
mr-pirk
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A proud owner of a Flying Vee. Bestowed by the fine Gentleman VC1111 himself.
I would favor employers being forced to provide some floor level of health care only if that health care was purveyed with a high deductible such as $2500 per person, or at the very least $1000 per person.
Doing so would accomplish a number of things. It would put pressure on the skyrocketing cost of health care because the providers would get screamed at in clear and certain terms by the patients that are forced to open their eyes and see what is being charged (and now being paid on their behalf by whatever plan they have).
It would also force each person to consider the consequences of failing to take responsibility for what they eat, what activities they participate in (if you know that a ripped hamstring will cost you a grand, you just might not engage in certain things if your "out of shape" to do so...and thats just one example), and in general how they take care of themselves, what amount of excercise, etc.
Lastly, it would reduce the financial burden, which people in general are so quick to shift to "the employer."
I can also make powerful arguments as to why the "employer" should be completely and totally removed from the equation altogether.
VC, I agree with the high deductible.
I believe the employer should be involved because they have the strongest interest in making sure the program would be run efficiently. The government has no interest in being efficient and the medical industry makes more money running things as they have.
For many employees, as long as someone else is paying, they don"t care about the cost.
That is why I say the program should be managed by and provided by the employer.
If I had my way about it, there would be some method of joining the employers into several large groups to oversee/manage the providing of healthcare for employees.
The groups would be large enough to have some real bargaining power with the insurance companies and medical providers. There should be several large groups so that the employee has several to choose from as to the level of deductibles and payroll deductions.
There should be enough management groups as to cause at least some level of competition in recruiting people to be insured, that should provide some level of protection for the employee"s interests.
Thanks
mr-pirk
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A proud owner of a Flying Vee. Bestowed by the fine Gentleman VC1111 himself.
Wow, thanks, Kevin. I can't believe you actually agreed with me on something.
Stranger things have been known to happen VC ...
I pay out over $50 per week for the health insurance that my employer gives me access to , and I'm frankly grateful that they do considering what the alternative is . The other day my Son got the bill for his daughter's recent ambulance ride to a hospital 10 miles away , $1,100 . Her problem turned out to be a simple case of gastritus(gas bubble in her colon) , the mileage portion of the bill alone was $330 . As a shipping manager I find that level of price gouging appalling .
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Kevin Haendiges
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http://hunting-indiana.com
Mr. Pirk I see what you're saying and I can agree that if the employer is to pay the freight he or she will naturally be pro-active in the process.
I am a bit soured on this subject because group health insurance is something that is almost totally taken for granted by an employee these days, when at one time it was considered a benefit.
When the cost rises, the average employee doesn't really want to hear about it. They don't want to share in the cost let alone the increases and they clamor for lower deductibles and co-pays. That approach is largely why the cost can continue to spiral upward unabated.
But don't get the wrong idea; I'm am of the opinion that medicine and educational needs should be among the highest financial priorities in every household. Still such important expenses must be managed and appropriately rationed.
As to Saturday mail delivery, the question of whether we need it or not is an interesting one. I think we could live without it, but I'd be the first to notice and complain if a mailorder purchase took a few days longer to arrive.[8D]
Kevin glad to hear things turned out okay for your grand-daughter. I always hate those times when I know that one of my family or friends is in an ambulance for any reason.
Hmmmmm, seems a lot of you are talking about the healthinsurance I have now !!!! High deductable.
The company splits the cost of about $600 a month with us, BUT..........
We have a $4000.00 deductable per year per family, the insurance would pay 100% of any expenses after that.
Now the plan we have is a sort of a variable rate also.
a younger employee that is in good health can take a higher deductable, and pay less than the $300.00 per month if he plans on staying healthy.
We have a certain amount taken from our checks, PRETAX and put into a HSA savings account. Wether we use that money or not is entirely up to us. It is also an interest bearing account of about 3.75%.
However, if you do decide to use it, you can only use it for medical expenses to be eligible for the pre tax deduction. We will NEVER pay taxes on that money if we use it for medical.
Its still my money, I just don't pay taxes on it. I try to max it out for the year !!!!
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It' s a dog eat dog world, and I' m wearing Milkbone underwear
If you pay taxes or buy health insurance or pay to go to the hospital, you are already paying for healthcare for everyone.
The difference is that people who are broke either have Medicaid or go to the emergency room when they get sick.The hospitals expect to be paid, but if they are not paid they write off the bad debt and tack on the cost to other services.It's called cost shifting, and it's the reason that anyone actually paying for a hospital stay has to pay such an outrageous amount.
The lack ofuniversal health coverage is the reason that the US pays nearly twice as much as other developed countries but has some of the worst health, like high infant mortality rates and lower average age at death.
On top of everything else, the single single biggest cause of bankruptcy is medical bills while insurance CEO Bill McGuire made $1.6 billion in stock options over the last 10 or 15 years.
Saturday mail-delivery
