When can I get Medicare?

[Lindsay Richards]

85 % of Americans say they are happy with their healthcare. A large majority do not want the government to take it over and screw it up.

[Route 66]

Folks, we're getting talking about the government in general, which is not permitted by our no politics rule.

Let's get back to Medicare.

Thanks!

[JMonroe]

My 2 cents.

Problem with health insurance is we've gotten away from 'catastrophic' coverage to wanting regular checkups and every asprin covered. Over time various interests convinced our state governments, in many cases, to mandate coverage for a lot of things once considered "alternative" or holistic. As example, I paid chiropractic bills, before the State of Wisconsin mandated coverage, at $10 to $15 per visit. Within a year of mandated coverage a 'regular' visit would be $45, not counting many 'new' procedures and tests. A first visit could now rack up $500 to $800 in charges. I'm neither challenging nor endorsing the chiropractic profession, just making an observation. This is but one historically excluded item to have been added to the mandates in the last 30 years I've been in the business. Industry pleas to allow the customer to choose, or decline coverage for these mandated coverages, with a comensurate premium, have usually fallen on deaf ears in legislative bodys.

To the point of pre-existing conditions, without taking sides for or against any particular circumstance shared in this forum. If a company could not exclude pre-existing conditions the system would collapse. Generally healthy people, a category I was sure I fell into until a few years ago, would simply choose not to participate in any private or group plans until diagnosed with an 'expensive' illness. In this scenario I, for example, may have chosen not to participate in my emplyer's group plan for the first 53 years of my life. After all, I could afford to pay for my infrequent visits and regular care. The day I was diagnosed with near fatal pulmonary embolism I would have called my local agent and asked to have been immediately added to our group policy. This is what we refer to as "adverse selection". In effect, allowing people to purchase insurance only when the need is a virtual certainty. Insurance only works when a large pool of people are willing to share the risk. Some will 'win', and will recieve many times what they've paid in premiums in services, other's will 'lose', by never needing medical care. If only the sick are paying premiums...

We don't need more regulation, we need less, topped off with tort reform. Remove the middle man (government) between the insurance customer and the insurance provider. Remove the incentive to file 'nusance' law suits with the expectation that the insurance company will deem it 'cheaper' to pay a claim without merit than to pay the court costs. (My personal tort reform plan has always had three parts. One, eliminate contingency fees. I've seen many an attorney pocket thousands of dollars for simply writing a letter of representation to the insurance company. Two, institute a true 'loser pays' system. You can have your day in court, but if the decision goes against you, your adversary has the right to expect full recovery of all expences and costs to defend himself. Lastly, the attorney representing the loser is jointly liable to the 'winner' for those costs. This would clear the court dockets, tomorrow! It will also never happen)

Its a complicated issue. In a nutshell, I've come to the conclusion that when our government shifted from working to guaranty equal opportunity to, instead, working to provide equal outcomes, they started digging the hole. Each attemp to fix what they did last time simply makes the hole deeper. Then comes the fix for the fix, then the fix to that fix...........

[desertrv]

Tomorrow is the day I put the paperwork in for Social Security. I will be 62 in May. I am taking the early benefits. I am a retired military guy, paid ss and medicare the entire time. I have tri care prime benefits until I reach age 65. I am also retired from the fed govt. I did 17 yrs and paid into the civil service retirement and bought my military time which added yrs to my civil service time. Here is the kicker: I will have a 40% offset to my social security because I am a retired civil servant. Keep in mind I paid dearly, just like most every one else. At the age of 65 my tricare prime, which I pay a monthly premium, will go away. I then will go to tri care for life, or revert back to my fed govt insurance program, and have to buy medicare part B. Yes I have insurance and will hopefully do so until I leave this earth. If my wife survives me, hopefully she will have coverage also. A lot of people assume that the military retired and the govt retired have it made, I am here to tell you that is not always the case. Thank the good Lord I was a senior guy in both of my careers or I would be living a little different than I am now. I am grateful for what I am getting and will be very glad to start drawing social security. It will probably pay for 3 weeks of the monthy rv space. That means I will be able to goof off a little more. I could go on about this for days. Thanks for letting me vent a little. I love this country or I would of chosen a different career.

[Ron & Dee]

Originally Posted by desertrv

. . I love this country or I would of chosen a different career.

THANK YOU AND ALL OF THE MILITARY FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY


I do hope they get this Lawyer thing and malpractice under control.

Several years ago I had a good primary care doctor that had to drop out of practice due to the high cost of malpractice insurance

Ron

[desertrv]

I do hope they get this Lawyer thing and malpractice under control.

Several years ago I had a good primary care doctor that had to drop out of practice due to the high cost of malpractice insurance

Ron[/QUOTE]

I agree, I think things are way out of control. I did sign up for Soc Sec today. My claim was accepted and due to having the offset for govt service I will not know my $ for 5 days.

[Ron & Dee]

Originally Posted by desertrv

I did sign up for Soc Sec today. My claim was accepted and due to having the offset for govt service I will not know my $ for 5 days.

Jim,

You did the right by signing up at 62. I did the same thing and started enjoying my retirement a few years early.

I'm glad I didn't wait

Ron

[vegascouple]

Don't juries have some responsibility for insane awards that they hand out?

[mick]

Having read some of the responses to this thread, I have come to a conclusion.

People make choices, then look for ways to avoid the pitfalls of those choices.