Kathleen Sebelius: I'm Not Signing Up For Obamacare

[ABikerSailor]

I'm getting tired of hearing the same stupid shit from all of you. Government employees should, and in most cases do, receive health insurance from their employers, which in this case happens to be the government. It's the same as working for a private company that offers health insurance. The exchange was set up for those who don't have insurance. This stupid song and dance is getting old from you idiots.

Sure, your argument would be more... hmm I don't think "persuasive" would be the correct word here ---"interesting"... Yes, interesting, if you didn't refer to others as "idiots." Just how fair is it that they get one form of healthcare while they inflict this disaster on the uninsured?

There is no disaster. This is what insurance costs. It's just that most of you have little or no clue as to how expensive it really is because most of you get insurance through your employer and they pick up the bulk of the tab.

The one mistake I do think they made is allowing the policies for younger people to be so cheap while pricing policies for those over 60 extremely high. If you are over 60, I don't think you can find a plan for under $600 per month, and that comes with a high deductible. If you want a gold plan at that age, it's going to cost you close to $1000 per month.

Here is the thing that people need to understand. We are currently spending $8500 per year per person on healthcare in the US. That is $8500 for everyone, including illegals. To figure this out, all you need to do is take the total estimated dollars being spent on healthcare in 2013, which is approximately $2.7 trillion and divide that by the approximately 315 million people living in the US. I used $8500 because it is rounded off, but the actual amount is a bit higher. Now to understand how all this computes, you have to understand that this is what we are spending for every single year of our lives, so if the average life expectancy is 78 years, we have to multiply the $8500 per year by 78 years. This gives us the total amount we can expect to spend on healthcare during our lifetime in today's dollars, and that amount is between $650,000 and $700,000 per person.

Now look at that number, almost $700,000 and tell me how many people you know who can afford that over their lifetime. That is three times the amount the average person will spend on what is supposed to be the largest purchase they will ever make, which is their home. Of course, the cost of a home is usually split between a husband and wife if they both work, but the healthcare bill of nearly $700,000 is not split, it's doubled. So a married couple is going to spend about $1.4 million over their lifetime on healthcare. This is why insurance companies cannot sell plans that only cost $100 or $200 per month and cover everything. This is why deductibles end up being so high before insurance actually kicks in to cover everything 100%. This is why we need to have an honest discussion about how we are going to reduce costs in the long term, because the truth is that what we are facing currently in health care costs is just unsustainable. On top of individuals not being able to afford it, it is making it much more difficult for businesses to compete globally when their competitors do not have nearly as large of an expense because their global competitors are not responsible for covering employee healthcare.

The reason health care is so high is because of big Pharma and the industry of medicine.

I mean................a saline bag for IV only costs about a dollar to make, yet they charge you anywhere from 40 to 80 bucks for the same bag that only costs them 1.

Same thing with the drugs.

The only reason big Pharma charges so much money, is because people don't want to die, and that is the reason they can command such large prices.

I mean....................why are Canadian drugs or generic ones so cheap? And..............why is it that they keep trying to ban them from coming into the U.S.?

It's because those in charge of big Pharma want to see their profits keep coming in, even if it means letting those who can't afford their prices die.

 

[auditor0007]

Sure, your argument would be more... hmm I don't think "persuasive" would be the correct word here ---"interesting"... Yes, interesting, if you didn't refer to others as "idiots." Just how fair is it that they get one form of healthcare while they inflict this disaster on the uninsured?

There is no disaster. This is what insurance costs. It's just that most of you have little or no clue as to how expensive it really is because most of you get insurance through your employer and they pick up the bulk of the tab.

The one mistake I do think they made is allowing the policies for younger people to be so cheap while pricing policies for those over 60 extremely high. If you are over 60, I don't think you can find a plan for under $600 per month, and that comes with a high deductible. If you want a gold plan at that age, it's going to cost you close to $1000 per month.

Here is the thing that people need to understand. We are currently spending $8500 per year per person on healthcare in the US. That is $8500 for everyone, including illegals. To figure this out, all you need to do is take the total estimated dollars being spent on healthcare in 2013, which is approximately $2.7 trillion and divide that by the approximately 315 million people living in the US. I used $8500 because it is rounded off, but the actual amount is a bit higher. Now to understand how all this computes, you have to understand that this is what we are spending for every single year of our lives, so if the average life expectancy is 78 years, we have to multiply the $8500 per year by 78 years. This gives us the total amount we can expect to spend on healthcare during our lifetime in today's dollars, and that amount is between $650,000 and $700,000 per person.

Now look at that number, almost $700,000 and tell me how many people you know who can afford that over their lifetime. That is three times the amount the average person will spend on what is supposed to be the largest purchase they will ever make, which is their home. Of course, the cost of a home is usually split between a husband and wife if they both work, but the healthcare bill of nearly $700,000 is not split, it's doubled. So a married couple is going to spend about $1.4 million over their lifetime on healthcare. This is why insurance companies cannot sell plans that only cost $100 or $200 per month and cover everything. This is why deductibles end up being so high before insurance actually kicks in to cover everything 100%. This is why we need to have an honest discussion about how we are going to reduce costs in the long term, because the truth is that what we are facing currently in health care costs is just unsustainable. On top of individuals not being able to afford it, it is making it much more difficult for businesses to compete globally when their competitors do not have nearly as large of an expense because their global competitors are not responsible for covering employee healthcare.

The reason health care is so high is because of big Pharma and the industry of medicine.

I mean................a saline bag for IV only costs about a dollar to make, yet they charge you anywhere from 40 to 80 bucks for the same bag that only costs them 1.

Same thing with the drugs.

The only reason big Pharma charges so much money, is because people don't want to die, and that is the reason they can command such large prices.

I mean....................why are Canadian drugs or generic ones so cheap? And..............why is it that they keep trying to ban them from coming into the U.S.?

It's because those in charge of big Pharma want to see their profits keep coming in, even if it means letting those who can't afford their prices die.

Pharmaceuticals are only one of the problems in a long list within our system. The fact is that Americans subsidize the rest of the world when it comes to drugs. Big Pharma makes enough profit in the US by charging such high rates, while every other country puts caps on how much they can charge. Since they're already making a profit on sales in the US, selling at a much lower price outside of the US is just gravy to them, and those sales also become profitable.

The only way this will ever change is if we end up with a one payer system where Big Pharma is told that we will only negotiate to pay as much as the average worldwide rate. That would force these companies to charge more in other countries as they would have to reduce how much they charged here.

 

[ABikerSailor]

I agree with a single payer program.

But, those making a lot of money on the health of the public seem to disagree.

I wish they didn't.

How much money does a person REALLY need?

 

[Neotrotsky]

Kathleen Sebelius: I'm Not Signing Up For Obamacare

she knows it sucks