Universal Healthcare question for everyone

[Zincwarrior]

Sure we can....I've been paying cash for procedures at hospitals and clinics all my life.

Good to be rich.

 

[cnm]

Good to be rich.

Don't want people getting free stuff after all...

 

[Stryder50]

What rubbish. Try accessing it.

Huh?
You sayin' I should try accessing our welfare system or the medical services it provides?

I worked private sector the majority of my life, now retired, so have that Medicare thing. Which only Part A is provided via my employment taxes. Parts B, C, & D I have to shop private insurance supplements for. I don't qualify to collect 'welfare'.

I know most Kiwis are a bit cocky, but you are toppin' out there.

 

[Stryder50]

Don't want people getting free stuff after all...

TANSTAAFL = There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

Nothing is 'free' - some one (else) pays.

 

[dblack]

I'm really curious how you justify having a "right" to have me pay for your mistakes ???!!!

I was mocking the idea - those the rolled eyes.

 

[Stryder50]

I was mocking the idea - those the rolled eyes.

OK.
My misread.
Sometimes tongue-in-cheek is hard to see on the internet.

Consider my post for general information to many and all. It's matter and perspective I've presented a few times in the past, will be handy to have a recent post to use on other and similar threads.

 

[Oddball]

Good to be rich.

I'm not rich...I'm as middle class as they come...That's the point.

 

[Markle]

I don’t know what doctors pay is under universal healthcare, but I don’t see doctors flocking to the US from Canada and UK for more money.

I look at my doctors offices and see how many employees are involved in billing, insurance claims, negotiations with insurance companies, collections

You don’t have that with universal healthcare

No, with UH you have deadly long waiting lists. Canada has legal euthanasia, and England did have the Liverpool solution. Both accomplished the same end.

Canadian doctors do flock to America, as do the best and brightest from virtually every other country in the world. Why do the wealthy from many countries come to the US for significant health treatments?

And...

 

[AzogtheDefiler]

I agree, it is.

Now, WHY is it 37K.

I can't speak for MA, but I can speak for IL.

When I went to UIC back in the day (which was the 80's, not the 70s) tuition was only about $1500 a year. Or about $7000 in today's money.

The rest of the U of I system was supported by the state. So tuition was relatively low.

Those state subsidies have largely disappeared, and the burden has been shifted onto the students. So today's tuition and fees at UIC are $18,000 a year for in-state students.

Further, all the universities are engaged in kind of an arms race with amenities and infrastructure, to make them more attractive.

Mostly fees and our feckless Senators just shrug. It’s close to $80k for out of state students

 

[AzogtheDefiler]

so yes or no, did you join the military?



Or fund it the same way every other government agency does.

With deficits?

My dad is ex military. He asked me not to join. I regret it. Such is life.

 

[Darkwind]

yes Dark one, but the reason is often due to having inadequate coverage here.....~S~

The coverage will be inadequate, regardless if it is private or public.

 

[AzogtheDefiler]

I am OK with insurance but it needs to be separated from the employer based model. It should only be for catastrophic condition like auto accidents or sports injuries, cancer, diabetes, etc.

Rest should be free markets.

If you’re fat and have a poor diet, I should not have to fund your medical issues.

 

[Stryder50]

I got a "free" education by joining the Army... something you'd never have the backbone to do.

If, according to you, Medical Professionals are a necessity, then we should be paying for their schooling.

Sometimes you don't see the illogic of your own position.



They are only "losing" money because Repukes have required them to cover pension costs for the next 50 years.

Postal Service losing money because of congressional mandate not low prices, expert says

According to James O’Rourke, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, the postal ser...

news.nd.edu

But, according to James O’Rourke, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, the postal service’s money troubles have little to do with low prices and much more to do with a stifling congressional mandate.

“The Trump administration is mistaken about its claim that the postal service is losing money ‘every time they hand out a package for Amazon and other Internet companies,’” O’Rourke said. “The current agreement with Amazon, and presumably other online merchants, is, at the very least, a break-even arrangement. The reason the postal service is losing money is because of a congressionally mandated retirement healthcare funding program that no other government agency is required to observe. This creates a $6.5 billion annual shortfall that could easily be avoided.”

Kool your jets, Rambo Charlie-Joe.

1. Not everyone who wants to join the military can.

My dad, during WWII joined the Navy out of high school, but was only in for less than two weeks before discharged due to back injuries from playing football in HS.
I had similar during the '60s('Nam years) with doing Civil Air Patrol during my HS years, with plan to go into the Air Force, only to be medically disqualified.
Point is, not everyone who doesn't serve in the military is "never have the backbone to do." as your un-called-for snarky, broadbrush insult implies, so bilge it.

2. As for the "free" education by joining the military, that's partly why the pay and benefits are low to start, lower than on the outside civilian world would be, because after doing your time you get some of that college paid for. I say 'some' because last I knew, there was a pro-rate depending on the amount of technical training one gets, that would be transferable to civilian job market demands. That aside, it still barely covers tuition and books, IF you don't pick an expensive college to go to. My older son, who joined the Army while still in high school, and went to Iraq as infantry, (c. 2004, 1st Cav - Baghdad, CIB, etc.)found he still had living expenses he would have to cover for out of his own pocket ~ part to full time working on the side, when he did the college=G.I. Benefit pay scheme.

3. As for medical professionals, IIRC, some do get their "schooling" paid provided they do several years service in uniform afterward. Similar to those who do ROTC while in college.

4. As for the Post Office, my experience about 26 years ago as "temp" shows more than just that 'pension issue' is the cause/fault. At that time I had passed the entrance test one takes, but so had many more than the PO needed. I was offered a "part-time, temporary" job at a bulk mail processing center - where periodicals, packages, some 2nd-3rd class, etc. mail is sorted and routed. Basket carts of mail comes in from local post offices, we then sort into other basket-carts per zip code for reroute back to the distant bulk centers and local Zip=POs. This tended to be a night shift since the incoming was at the end of a work day, and the out-go needed to be at destination for the next morning sort and delivery.

So here's the situation we "temps" faced.;
A. The job would not last more than 180 days within a year's time-frame.
B. Pay rate was about a third of regular pay, no benefits.
C. Our job performance would have no positive effect/impact on our placement on the hire list, or positive 'points' for hire.
D. "Poor" job performance (subjective judgement of our supervisor) could count against and/or disqualify us for future consideration and offer of hire to a permanent position.

Bottom-line was we would have to hustle and sweat our asses off while working. Meanwhile the 'permanents' could get away with about a third (or less) the volume of work, mail moved, in their shifts. There was about a third of the crew made of we "temps", point being that the PO would need about twice as many, or more, "Permanents" on payroll to do the work that got out due to us 'slave labor' "temps'.

Point 1 is that the co-workers, the already "permanent hire, regular"s, union members, had "union protection" and could slack off, leaving up to let us 'temps' take the load and cover for them.

Point 2 is that the problems then, and most likely now, within the USPS have more to do with management and operational process/procedures than with funding.

There are ways and means by which USPS could operate and perform more efficiently and profitably if unhooked from the dominating "civil servant ~ guv-mint worker" mindset and methods of management. i.e. a performance, piece-work pay, results based, pay scale system. Don't expect such in the near future. However it isn't impossible, just improbable.

When I was pre-school back in the 1950s, 1st class stamp was @ 3cents. Today it is about 250% more. Way beyond inflation rates totaled.
1956:

Cost of a Postage Stamp in 1956 Adjusted for Inflation

A first class mail postage stamp cost $0.03 in 1956. How much is that worth in current dollars when taking inflation into account?

www.amortization.org

2025:

USPS Postage Rate Changes for January 2025

USPS Rate Changes effective January 19, 2025

savepostage.com

....
$0.03 to $0.73

Have we seen a 250% increase in quality and/or quantity of service out of the USPS ???
............
This situation has nothing to do with the "Repukes", but everything to do with the socialist/communist based: "the world owes us" mindset degradation of the Leftists, DeomocRATs, and other parasitic freeloaders who have rejected 'for-profit' and productivity incentive economics and social~government systems in favor of "rape and pillage while we still can" selfish and greed common to the DemocRAT~socialist~Leftist mental illness!

We have seen such in their recent choices for POTUS: Clinton's, Obama's, and Biden's !

 

[Oddball]

I am OK with insurance but it needs to be separated from the employer based model. It should only be for catastrophic condition like auto accidents or sports injuries, cancer, diabetes, etc.

Rest should be free markets.

If you’re fat and have a poor diet, I should not have to fund your medical issues.

Before employers started picking it up as a fringe benefit, it was known as "hospitalization insurance".....All it covered was catastrophic events.

 

[Stryder50]

Looks like in above I structured some form of "quote" mode and editing without knowing how I did.
Doubt I can correct now, especially not knowing or understanding how such happened, so let it ride.
Hopefully most reading will get my message and meaning.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Yes, congress does. SHOP plans are obamacare.

How will Members of Congress and designated staff obtain health coverage? - OPM.gov

Welcome to opm.gov

www.opm.gov

House of Representatives and Senate offices will provide health coverage to Members of Congress and designated staff through the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). SHOPs were established to administer group health benefits to employees of small businesses. Given the location of Congress in Washington DC, OPM has determined that the DC SHOP, known as the DC Health Link Small Business Market administered by the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority, is the appropriate SHOP from which Members of Congress and designated congressional staff will purchase health insurance in order to receive a government contribution. For more information, please visit OPM's webpage for Members of Congress.

No, members of Congress and their staff do not get their health insurance through OPM. Instead, they must purchase health insurance through the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). The DC Health Link (DCHL) Small Business Market is the specific SHOP that members of Congress and their staff can use.

The Affordable Care Act requires that members of Congress and their staff obtain health insurance through the SHOP or through an Affordable Insurance Exchange.


Members of Congress and their staff who are no longer eligible for an FEHB plan will still receive a government contribution toward the cost of their health insurance premiums.


For more information, you can contact the following offices:

• Senate Benefits Section: (202) 224-1093
• House of Representatives Office of Payroll and Benefits: (202) 225-1435
• House of Representatives Office of Members' Services: (202) 225-3644

• Changes in Health Coverage - Insurance - OPM
  Members of Congress and Congressional Staff Under final rules issued by OPM to implement a provision of the Affordable Care Act, M...
  
  OPM
  
  
  
• As a Member of Congress or designated congressional staff, why am ...
  As a Member of Congress or designated congressional staff, why am I no longer able to be covered by an OPM-contracted FEHB plan? S...
  
  OPM
  
  
  
• How will Members of Congress and designated staff obtain health coverage? - OPM.gov
  
  OPM
  
  
  
• Show all

I stand corrected. I did not know about the change.

 

[Stryder50]

Before employers started picking it up as a fringe benefit, it was known as "hospitalization insurance".....All it covered was catastrophic events.

Actually, IIRC, medical insurance as an employment benefit started about early World War Two as a way to offset "Wage and Price Controls" of 1940-41 by FDR/Federal Guv-mint during the build-up of the USA "Arsenal of Democracy". Manufacturing companies getting "Defense/Military" contracts, and needing to expand and get more workers, began offering medical insurance since they all could only offer about the same wage and other benefits.

By the time WWII ended, such had gained traction to become expected by labor/workers, hence more and more companies became locked in to providing some form of medical insurance on top of wages, vacation pay, etc., to attract and retain workers/employees. Kinda snowballed from there.

 

[Zincwarrior]

I'm not rich...I'm as middle class as they come...That's the point.

Middle class can't pay cash for med care.

 

[AzogtheDefiler]

Before employers started picking it up as a fringe benefit, it was known as "hospitalization insurance".....All it covered was catastrophic events.

Let’s go back to that

 

[Oddball]

Middle class can't pay cash for med care.

Yes we can, liar.