Barack Obama Elected President!

[Jess]

You know, I wish Clinton would have gone after Bin Laden too. In hindsight, I wish we never would have armed the Afghanis during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. My problem right now is that we are investing so much in Iraq and have given our efforts in Afghanistan short shrift. I agree with Obama. Our efforts should be in Afghanistan.

[Wales2004]

Look yesterday I learned that there is definitely nothing new under that sun.

I should probably stick to the people who aren't so tightly wound.

[Wales2004]

I think we'll be sharing the bench today so I'll be glad to make room for you.

And no GGL....you won't be the one today or the next day or the day after that.

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

Is Casey gone again?

[Wales2004]

No. He can't leave because he's the most entertaining person in this thread.

[SnCCorinthos4ever]

Is someone able to explain the Health Care system in the US to me.

My head just spins when McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden talk about it.

Especially this $5,000.00 thing. I just don't get it.

Here in Australia I have 2 different types of Health cover.

The first one is Medicare, which as an Australian citizen is my right to have. It covers me for visit's to my regular GP and also pay's for part of a hospital stay in conjunction with my private health cover.

My private health cover is a provider of my chosing and the level of my cover is also what I want it to be.

I do pay for both and of course the more cover I get with my private cover the more I pay, but when I do my taxe's I can claim a 30% rebate of the total amount that I have paid to them over the year.

With Medicare I pay 1.5% of what my taxable annual income is after I have taken all taxable deductions away.

But then I think that it may be good here others will think HUH.

[Greg's GL]

Just saw this on Yahoo.

Onus on McCain to turn race around

Here's an excerpt. Sounds like SSDD to me. He's been doing this since Day One.

Doesn't that sound interesting. Not.

[Greg's GL]

I will do the best I can to explain how health care works in the US today.

Medicare is usually only available to retired persons. And even then, it doesn't cover all of their expenses. Most retirees have to have a "secondary insurance" (private provider) to pay all their health care expenses.

For the poor, there is a Medicare health insurance system that will cover the basics. However, like with Medicare, most people will need secondary insurance to cover all expenses.

Most people in the US get their health insurance through their employer. For instance, the employer will pay X dollars/month for an employee and individual employees will pay X dollars per pay period (usually every 2 weeks) for their insurance. These plans vary depending on your employer. If you decide to take advantage of this "benefit" through your employer, you are limited to the options you have for coverage. For instance, in my company, you can pay a higher monthly fee for increased services and lower GP visits. Or you could pay less per month and have lower coverage and higher co-payments for GP visits. All of these plans have a deductible that must be met per year and a yearly limit on out-of-pocket costs (mine is currently at $4000). So, I will have to meet my deductible ($2000) before the insurance will contribute any money toward my medical expenses. Once that deductible is met, the insurance will pay something like 50% of costs, up to my yearly out of pocket maximum.

This is highly dependent on an individual's employer. Some have better benefits, others less.

If someone chooses not to take health insurance coverage from their employer and decide to get coverage on their own, they will pay upwards of $300/month for their individual plan or $1000 for a family plan - on the open market, without the "benefit" of a group health care program through the employer.

Hope this helps.

[Wales2004]

I honestly haven't taken much notice of the health care positions except that I have seen a few ads.

What came up in the debate(s) is that McCain wants to give everyone a $5,000.00 tax credit which would be used to pay for the plan they choose. Their employer would no longer pay anything toward the employees plan. Biden had the estimate of the employer's portion at $12,000.00 which would mean the employee would have to kick in the $7,000.00 difference plus play taxes on the plan. This is what I got from it but I may be wrong on this and I don't recall seeing this in the fact checking that I skimmed through yesterday but I will go back and check that article when I go through the papers tomorrow.

[SnCCorinthos4ever]

Thanks for that Greg, I get it a bit more now.

With my insurance I have out of pocket expense's as well ie I have to pay the first x amount of dollars, but my one also had a reward system against it where for every year you don't use it for anything major you get points and these points can be used towards your out of pocket expenses. I have been with this provider since 1990 and have not had anything major until last year and my out of pocket expense was only $60.00 as the hospital billed both my provider and Medicare for the balance.

[Wales2004]

Op-Ed Contributor

Everything You Heard Is Wrong

By STEVEN PINKER

Published: October 3, 2008

[Greg's GL]

Cool. I tried to explain it the best I can, but like I said, our health care system is highly dependent on what your employer is offering to it's employees. I like the idea of a "point system" and being able to carry forward what you don't use one year into the next. It sounds very good to me.

The biggest problem here in the US is that if someone is not employed, they are dependent on the Medicare program which is wholly inadequate, IMHO. Unless someone is in a position to pay a little extra for secondary coverage, it doesn't work on any level.

As Wales explained, health costs as payroll deductions are not currently taxed. The costs are taken pre-tax, but McCain wants to change that wherein you are taxed for your payroll deductions, but he will give you a "tax credit" for the difference. He claims that you can then continue on with your employer's health plan, but will have the option to buy one on the open market if you so choose. I do not like the sound of it at all.

[Greg's GL]

dp

[Wales2004]

They should include dental coverage in health care plans because I think dental problems sometimes contribute to health problems as well. I don't see why dental and vision is separate from some plans.

[cct]

I don't give credit to Clinton, Bush, or any President for being responsible for Bin Laden's attack on 911, just as I give zero credit to Bush or the Democratic Congress for keeping us free of home attack since then. I hate when people pull this crap out of their a*s...

Reminds me of a joke:

Girl: What's that?

Guy: OH, that's Tiger Spray.

Girl: But there aren't any tigers here in NYC.

Guy: Works then, doesn't it?