Chumps.

[AVG-JOE]

Is there a difference between making a ' good living' and making a

"PROFIT"?​

Me? I have nothing against PROFIT per se... depending on the product generating the profit.

I do however question the role of profit, especially extreme profits, in the health care industry overall, and I full on resent its role in the private bureaucracies that track the money.
The Insurance Industry produces exactly nothing except for profits and paperwork designed to protect those profits, including bought and paid for legislation.
Don't look at me in that tone of voice - we all know it's true.



What if I could just buy in to Medicare A & B while I'm working, at a rate based on my age?

Did you ever stop and wonder WHY insurance companies agreed to Medicare for the old and the disabled in the first place?

Since the tax payers are going to be ultimately responsible for my healthcare when I'm old, doesn't it make sense for me to put my "health care dollars"* in to Medicare now?


* Health care dollars in the form of insurance premiums paid by me and enhanced by my employer, currently flowing from me to a private bureaucracy at a rate of $400 per month for AVG-WIFE and I, with claims filed since 2008 < $3,000 total. Both of us are facing pretty good health and all we're paying for with our 'health care' investment is a marketing meeting in Aruba.

Chumps. Every fucking one of us.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Enhanced value provided by my employer.



Whose bright idea was it to make health insurance an employment benefit?

How many of you are tied to a job because of health care?
If we all had the option to start our Medicare at a rate based on age, we'd have so much more freedom in the employment marketplace.

 

[dblack]

Enhanced value provided by my employer.



Whose bright idea was it to make health insurance an employment benefit?

How many of you are tied to a job because of health care?

Health insurance as a benefit of employment is 'offered' for pretty much the same reason any other benefit is offered - to make employees dependent on their employer as much as possible. The current move, to shift this dependency from employer to government (while still funneling profits to private insurers), is the next step in creating centralized control over the population. Regardless of who is pulling the strings, there seems to be a dedicated push to bring all the necessities of life under centralized authoritarian control.

 

[AVG-JOE]

It's 'offered' through employers because of legislation in place that creates closed markets.

Can you imagine being forced to buy property insurance and car insurance only from companies approved by your employer?

I reiterate...

 

[AVG-JOE]

My attitude toward profit in general truly is capitalistic... if a chick writes an app that every boy and girl is willing to pay to install on their device, she should be able to bank a bazillion. Kudos!

Nah... I've got nothing against profits per se... I just think that profit being the driving force behind certain industries, like health care and banking*, is making us look stupid from space.


* Banking. Not necessarily 'Investing'. For investors, the sky should be the limit, ass-u-me-ing industry appropriateness and community goodwill.

 

[Amelia]

Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance and Health Reform

The authors begin by discussing the history of ESI. While its origins can be traced back to 1929, when a group of Dallas teachers contracted with a hospital to cover inpatient services for a fixed annual premium, the link between employment and private health insurance was strengthened by three key government decisions in the 1940s and 1950s. First, during World War II the War Labor Board ruled that wage and price controls did not apply to fringe benefits such as health insurance, leading many employers to institute ESI. Second, in the late 1940s the National Labor Relations Board ruled that health insurance and other employee benefit plans were subject to collective bargaining. Third, in 1954 the Internal Revenue Service decreed that health insurance premiums paid by employers were exempt from income taxation.

 

[auditor0007]

Enhanced value provided by my employer.



Whose bright idea was it to make health insurance an employment benefit?

How many of you are tied to a job because of health care?
If we all had the option to start our Medicare at a rate based on age, we'd have so much more freedom in the employment marketplace.

The Swiss have a system very similar to where we are headed. The only difference is that insurance companies cannot make any profit on basic plans, only on supplemental plans that offer extras. The other big difference is that everyone purchases their own insurance; employers are not permitted to make insurance a benefit. For those who are low income earners, the government subsidizes their premiums.