Talk about your flashpoint! Everyone has an opinion about the health care crisis and all they want to do is shout each other down. I have my own and since this is my forum, here is my opinion! Although this is very a complex problem, I don't believe that 2000+ pages are necessary to put together a bill that can address our needs. First let's agree that everyone knows we need to fix this, and we also know that what is going on now is political posturing. So let's try to get beyond this. Getting the existing problems under control is an absolute necessity, and doing so will require a multi-pronged approach of reforming Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Immigration.
Medicare: a general overlook. Most elderly look at this as their absolute right…after all they paid into this program all their lives, and now at sixty two or sixty five they feel it's their just due, but consider this, 40-45 years ago FICA was a very small deduction because salaries were quite a bit lower. As wages increased so did the deductions up and until the $120,000 wage cap is reached (at which time any income over this amount is not subject to the Medicare tax.) Even at, say, 7% accrued interest on the amounts paid in are not that significant; an operation, hospital stay, expensive prescriptions, possibly physical therapy or nursing care can easily wipe out everything a person has paid into for their entire working lives. Now at sixty two - sixty five a large portion of our elderly population have another good 10-20 years of, unfortunately, slowly deteriorating health. As you can see, this problem alone has already bankrupted Medicare. Now about that income cap, it must be removed. It is unfair as it shifts more of the burden on the middle class.
Also one of the things that has bothered me for years has been watching actors on television making pitches for companies, usually insurance companies, stating things like,"if you are on Medicare like I am…" Why are they on Medicare? As I have stated I believe there should not be a ceiling limit on Medicare taxes, income, all income should be taxable, while lower family incomes should be the deciding factor on being able to qualify for this benefit. This Medicare deduction should just be considered a necessary existing tax on the wealthy, sorry Michael Moore, but you really did ask for it. Share the pain! I also get incensed when I hear people say that they really don't need Medicare, but since it is available, what the heck, they might as well take it. If someone hands you cash, grab it, morality be damned. So many people are barely making ends meet trying to pay their portion of medical expenses and not having to resort to eating catfood while you will draw yours to use for something frivolious. Where is your conscience? WAKE UP PEOPLE! This nation is in pain and sinking fast. And yes, I am talking to every man and woman of this country.
"Now is the time for all good men (and women) to come to the aid of their country"... hackneyed and trite yes, but relevant.
Medicare's billing errors are killing us (the taxpayers), affecting the quality of our healthcare and our economy, and we are paying the price for these errors. Too much red tape and too many hands in the pot. It is time we simplify this boondoogle of a program, not only for the elderly and handicapped who now depend on it, but also for the overworked and underpaid professionals who take care of us.
As many are not aware, Medicare puts a cap on what they will pay for each procedure. These payments are already inadequate and the payments have just been cut again, leaving many physicians and therapists disheartened and disillusioned; and with so much of their income based on an increasingly aging (Medicare) population, well, this, as you can see, is causing a generation of future doctors and nurses to question whether they want to saddle themselves with the tremendous burden of loans necessary to become a doctor while at the same time significantly delaying their income producing years.
Healthcare professionals sacrifice so much to achieve their goal and their commitment to our health is undeniable, especially primary care doctors, who are the most overworked and underpaid of all. These selfless doctors are the ones who see us regularly, they know our names, our histories and interact with secondary care for us. They are our number one defense against illness, and with Medicare's paltry payments to these doctors, it forces them to take on more and more patients to make ends meet, the results being that they can barely take enough time with each of us (to our determent,) Couple this with expense of running an office, their own charity with indigent patients and outrageous insurance premiums to protect against lawsuits (but torte reform is for another blog,) many are now thinking about retiring or going into research. I know, four of my doctors are considering their options.
See even this small portion of overhauling will need more than a few weeks or even months. There are no quick answers, we didn't get into this mess overnight and now that everyone sees the necessity of reworking such a huge entitlement program we could take the time and produce a healthcare program that would, indeed, be the model for all nations; after all, people now come to our country to receive treatment, because even in its existing form, we have the best healthcare can offer. We all know we want everyone to have not just adequate, but really good healthcare. We, whether Democratic, Republican, Independent, or whatever, know having healthcare as a good thing, but we simply cannot begin to add people to our current healthcare system (or the one just passed by Congress and signed into by President Obama) while we are bleeding so many doctors.
This is just one facet of the problems we face. So, any ideas? Why don't you give these problems some serious thought, discuss it around the dinner table or in the car with your children and then blog me at thetruthtzar.blogspot.com/2010/04/"here's-to-your-health_27.html with your serious suggestions. We can "build it stronger, better and cheaper," so let's hear from you and please keep it civil...because hopefully we can get suggestions from some of your children get them involved; plus I just don't like to hear inappropriate language, the kind that would get grandma to wash your mouth out with soap (homemade lye soap!)
Medicare: a general overlook. Most elderly look at this as their absolute right…after all they paid into this program all their lives, and now at sixty two or sixty five they feel it's their just due, but consider this, 40-45 years ago FICA was a very small deduction because salaries were quite a bit lower. As wages increased so did the deductions up and until the $120,000 wage cap is reached (at which time any income over this amount is not subject to the Medicare tax.) Even at, say, 7% accrued interest on the amounts paid in are not that significant; an operation, hospital stay, expensive prescriptions, possibly physical therapy or nursing care can easily wipe out everything a person has paid into for their entire working lives. Now at sixty two - sixty five a large portion of our elderly population have another good 10-20 years of, unfortunately, slowly deteriorating health. As you can see, this problem alone has already bankrupted Medicare. Now about that income cap, it must be removed. It is unfair as it shifts more of the burden on the middle class.
Also one of the things that has bothered me for years has been watching actors on television making pitches for companies, usually insurance companies, stating things like,"if you are on Medicare like I am…" Why are they on Medicare? As I have stated I believe there should not be a ceiling limit on Medicare taxes, income, all income should be taxable, while lower family incomes should be the deciding factor on being able to qualify for this benefit. This Medicare deduction should just be considered a necessary existing tax on the wealthy, sorry Michael Moore, but you really did ask for it. Share the pain! I also get incensed when I hear people say that they really don't need Medicare, but since it is available, what the heck, they might as well take it. If someone hands you cash, grab it, morality be damned. So many people are barely making ends meet trying to pay their portion of medical expenses and not having to resort to eating catfood while you will draw yours to use for something frivolious. Where is your conscience? WAKE UP PEOPLE! This nation is in pain and sinking fast. And yes, I am talking to every man and woman of this country.
"Now is the time for all good men (and women) to come to the aid of their country"... hackneyed and trite yes, but relevant.
Medicare's billing errors are killing us (the taxpayers), affecting the quality of our healthcare and our economy, and we are paying the price for these errors. Too much red tape and too many hands in the pot. It is time we simplify this boondoogle of a program, not only for the elderly and handicapped who now depend on it, but also for the overworked and underpaid professionals who take care of us.
As many are not aware, Medicare puts a cap on what they will pay for each procedure. These payments are already inadequate and the payments have just been cut again, leaving many physicians and therapists disheartened and disillusioned; and with so much of their income based on an increasingly aging (Medicare) population, well, this, as you can see, is causing a generation of future doctors and nurses to question whether they want to saddle themselves with the tremendous burden of loans necessary to become a doctor while at the same time significantly delaying their income producing years.
Healthcare professionals sacrifice so much to achieve their goal and their commitment to our health is undeniable, especially primary care doctors, who are the most overworked and underpaid of all. These selfless doctors are the ones who see us regularly, they know our names, our histories and interact with secondary care for us. They are our number one defense against illness, and with Medicare's paltry payments to these doctors, it forces them to take on more and more patients to make ends meet, the results being that they can barely take enough time with each of us (to our determent,) Couple this with expense of running an office, their own charity with indigent patients and outrageous insurance premiums to protect against lawsuits (but torte reform is for another blog,) many are now thinking about retiring or going into research. I know, four of my doctors are considering their options.
See even this small portion of overhauling will need more than a few weeks or even months. There are no quick answers, we didn't get into this mess overnight and now that everyone sees the necessity of reworking such a huge entitlement program we could take the time and produce a healthcare program that would, indeed, be the model for all nations; after all, people now come to our country to receive treatment, because even in its existing form, we have the best healthcare can offer. We all know we want everyone to have not just adequate, but really good healthcare. We, whether Democratic, Republican, Independent, or whatever, know having healthcare as a good thing, but we simply cannot begin to add people to our current healthcare system (or the one just passed by Congress and signed into by President Obama) while we are bleeding so many doctors.
This is just one facet of the problems we face. So, any ideas? Why don't you give these problems some serious thought, discuss it around the dinner table or in the car with your children and then blog me at thetruthtzar.blogspot.com/2010/04/"here's-to-your-health_27.html with your serious suggestions. We can "build it stronger, better and cheaper," so let's hear from you and please keep it civil...because hopefully we can get suggestions from some of your children get them involved; plus I just don't like to hear inappropriate language, the kind that would get grandma to wash your mouth out with soap (homemade lye soap!)
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