Get'n old enough

[Frank616]

Yeah, well I start collecting this year too.

Frank.

[Qqmike]

Ha! Collecting ... soc sec?

"You bet" is better than the young people saying "No problem." Saying "no problem" makes it sound like there IS a problem!

[Frank616]

Ha! Collecting ... soc sec?

Yep!

We sold the business (auto detailing and paint repair) three years ago, and I officially retired then. I LOVE retirement! Didn't get a boatload of cash, but enough to keep us until we started collecting -- my wife a few months ago, and me in a couple of months.

Frank.

[Qqmike]

Didn't get a boatload of cash, but enough to keep us until we started collecting ...

That's what counts! Got friends who did similar, and their main problem was buying health insurance at high rates (maybe for just one of the spouses, under 65, etc.). Retirement = Choices. (Auto-detailing/paint repair sounds interesting.)

[Frank616]

their main problem was buying health insurance at high rates

One of the great benefits of the high taxes we pay here in Canada is government funded health care -- with perks. The lack of that in the US is also why we pay such stupid prices for health insurance when we travel to the States most winters. So, yeah, I know what your friends are up against. We only pay that for a couple of months -- not a whole year.

[Teunis]

Indeed, same story here from The Netherlands, our health insurance is valid all over the world but due to their extreme expense we need a special deal when travelling to the USofA.

To give an indication, as a single I get full coverage for €115 per month.
Full but the first €800 is my own risk, for a slightly higher monthly charge I could go to a €350 risk.

Our health service is very good but some of the extreme treatments only available to millionaires in the US are usually missing.

[vinnywright]

this is one thing I am mad as heck about ,,,,,,their is no reason the US could not have some kind of health insurance for everyone like most of the rest of the civilized world.

VINNY

[Teunis]

Thing with affordable health or any other insurance is you to spread the risk by having all contribute. As long as there is a significant part of the population that for whatever reason don't see the need because right now healthy, believe it's a commie plot, hate anything government etc. you are having a hard time to keep that price in check. Over here once per year a government led group sets a maximum price and content for the minimum coverage, you are obliged to take out insurance and you are free to pick any commercial or cooperative insurer that you trust best. Significant is the insurer can not refuse you entry. Most people take this minimum, some pay extra for alternative treatments like acupuncture, holistic or reincarnation (yes!) therapy.

[Qqmike]

this is one thing I am mad as heck about ,,,,,,their is no reason the US could not have some kind of health insurance for everyone like most of the rest of the civilized world.

There is a good reason in USA: idiots. GOP. Greed. GOP is anti-everything, especially social programs, but also science, evolution, women's right's, fair pay, food support for elderly/needy, national infrastructure support/maintenance ... this list could go on for a big thick paragraph. Yet, those same politicians and their constituents use Gov't services as much as and sometimes even more than other people (liberals). If all this sh* doesn't lead to a violent revolution in America, you can count your blessings. I know my post will trigger the same old sh* from the opposing side, but things are not changing in USA, some things are getting worse, like gov't gridlock from the Idiots. What does the rest of the world think of us acting like this?

[MoonRise]

2 things people fail to realize about the current system. The last point will be the reason it doesn't work well.

1. The current system was agreed upon by a good many from both parties.
2. Both parties made sure they didn't have to be a part of it. Imagine how well it good have been if they had to place themselves in it.


@Q: I'm a centrist. I believe there is a compromise for any issue. The problem today from both parties is it's their way or no way. There is no compromise. THAT is why we are now failing.

[Qqmike]

@Q: I'm a centrist. I believe there is a compromise for any issue.

Yes, me, too, mostly. Somewhere in the middle, plus/minus some reasonable variance. The problem is that the GOP let the Right Wing-nuts run their show. Now look what they have on their hands. We are witnessing the demise of the Republican Party.

[MoonRise]

true enough!

[vinnywright]

@Qqmike & @MoonRise ,,,,A BIG +1

VINNY

[GreyGeek]

Retirement: Every night is like Friday night and every day is like Saturday!

My wife and I pay about $500/mo for Medicare and Humana supplemental health insurance. She had open heart surgery and hip replacement surgery during 2015. The total bill came to about $350K. After Humana discounted a lot of the services, and after Medicare paid for most, Humana shelled out about $100K. It has cost my wife and I about $10K. We went to her cardiologist for an appointment at 9AM. He didn't show up until 11AM. He apologized for being late and explained why. He was on call for heart problems in the ER. An "undocumented" alien who supposedly couldn't speak English walked into the ER around 11PM pointing at his chest. Ten hours later he walked out with three months worth of heart meds worth several hundred, after having been given an echo cardiogram and other heart diagnostic tests. Total bill was around $15K. He walked out without having to pay a dime or even give his name. Ad that to the big pharma thieves who sell 5 cent pills for $50 each and the rip off is complete.

When I was 19 and in the first month of my freshman year, less than 90 days after I quit working at a place where I had worked for a year and had BC&BS. The emergency appendectomy and one week in the hospital cost $750.50. Everything. One bill. Doctor, hospital and medicine. Insurance paid every penny. That was when they used one amortization pool, the entire US population. Then, in 1972, Halderman walked into Nixon's oval office and told him about a new health insurance plan, an HMO, (health maintenance organization) which paid people to stay well rather than to heal them after they got sick. Nixon bought it, Congress stuck their nose into the health insurance business, and it has gone into the toilet. That is what happens when government gets involved. Toilet seats suddenly cost $600.

With the HMO's, which didn't become very popular and most doctors don't recognize them, the insurance companies break the amortization pool into age groups and health groups and drop a group if treating members of that group become too expensive. The older you get the more often you get sick as the body grows old and breaks down, so seniors are on the short end of the stick.

Qqmike: There is hardly a dimes worth of difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. We have, essentially, a one-party system. Bill Crystal's dad, a neocon, once said "...the two parties should almost be identical, so that the American people can 'throw the rascals out' at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy ..."

And, that is exactly what is happening. Think there is a big difference between FoxNews and the other alphabet soup media? Then how come reporters can switch between them with impunity and write Left leaning articles on one station and right leaning on Fox? How can the Republicans be so far "right" but give Obama everything he wants, even if it is unconstitutional? How can Trump hobnob with the Clintons last year and attack them this year. Ditto for the Clintons. When did he earn his conservative chops? He is certainly no Raegan. Over 90 million Americans of working age are not working. In 11 states there are more takers than makers, with the ratio running from 1.53 in New Mexico to 1:1 in Ohio.

Three years ago over 21% of all Americans were getting some form of government assistance. It has gotten much worse since then. Two years ago over 35% of Americans received "means-tested" government subsidies (welfare).

It doesn't matter who gets elected this cycle. With over $16 Trillion in debt the country is circling the toilet drain.

[Rufus]

Hey, you have your take on the issue. But I can tell you, we here in Romania lived a good ammount under a text-book socialist regime, with all the "blessings" included. The state ran everything, there was socialist healthcare, state-owned factories, all the "joys". Guess what? It bankrupted and turned us all into people who had to fight for survival.
I do not live in the USA, but from where I am standing the free-market, free-enterprise, individual liberty system looks pretty darn good.
You want to see where the state-run health-care system leads to when there is no longer a demographical ascendent trend? Come and live in Romania for a few months... It's a pain in the ass if you have to be in the hospital or God forbid you should need surgery...
So before you curse at the GOP or at the free-market take a look at the end of the road for the left-side road... It is not pretty at all.
Socialism does not work. It's been tried over here for decades, thank God it fell on it's ass in the 90's... We are now free and enjoy the fruits of the free-market, although Romania is still not rid of all the socialist-ghosts... Health-care and Schools are two areas where there is massive lack of political will to allow private enterprise and private capital to manifest...
Myself and many in my family and in my country have allways looked at the USA as to a beacon for freedom and normal politics during the communist era and after.

Having said that I do hope I have not offended anyone - I know how political talk can get