Retirement?

[Erik88]

I agree with Dave. I don't see how the free market is going to fix this. We are an extremely unhealthy populace.  When I was in Europe, their most overweight person would be considered "average" here in East TN. We all sit way to much, and we don't even try to eat healthy. Hell, those that do try to eat clean get ridiculed for being vegetarian.

"chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and heart disease, have increased. As of 2010, the health care costs of people with at least one chronic condition are responsible for more than 85% of health care spending. Almost half of all Americans have at least one of them. They are expensive and difficult to treat.7  As a result, the sickest 5% of the population consumes 50% of total health care costs. The healthiest 50% only consume 3%"

https://www.thebalance.com/causes-of-rising-healthcare-costs-4064878

 

 

 

[DaveTN]

16 minutes ago, alleycat72 said:

She has to choose SS or my plan at retirement. She'll choose my plan and her contributions will be rolled into my retirement. At that point she'll get 49% of what I receive.

So she will get benefits from what she paid? What you are doing is a choice, right? So I assume that will give her more money, and will continue if you die before her?

[Alleycat72]

5 minutes ago, DaveTN said:

So she will get benefits from what she paid? What you are doing is a choice, right? So I assume that will give her more money, and will continue if you die before her?

When I die, her part will convert to 100% until her death. 

[DaveTN]

5 minutes ago, alleycat72 said:

When I die, her part will convert to 100% until her death. 

So the two of you together will get 149% (your pension and her getting an additional 49%) and when you die hers goes to 100%? Is that better than her drawing SS? I'm just curious because I have never heard of anything like this, and would like to understand it. Is your pension government? 

[Alleycat72]

3 minutes ago, DaveTN said:

So the two of you together will get 149% (your pension and her getting an additional 49%) and when you die hers goes to 100%? Is that better than her drawing SS? I'm just curious because I have never heard of anything like this, and would like to understand it. Is your pension government? 

Yes 149% for us both. At my death she will receive just my portion (100%). It's significantly more than SS and it's private. We predate SS and are exempt. We do pay in more than SS, but not much more. It is also not tied to one company. If my company goes bankrupt or stops existing, retirement will not be affected. Everyone in my class of work pays into the same retirement regardless of the company they work for or State they work in. It also allows my wife to pull her extra pension plan without penalty. She just can't pull from SS.

[gregintenn]

45 minutes ago, DaveTN said:

How is the free market not doing its job now? I think you can see from what’s going on now you can’t tell the poor to “get a job”. In a free market, the insurance companies will charge you whatever they like. Is that not what’s happening now? How will that help the people on this forum that say their rates are ridiculous, or that they can’t afford insurance?

The government now dictates what plans can and cannot be sold. Do you realize that you and I are paying for things we don’t need such as maternity coverage? Insurance companies cannot sell across state lines. There are many more examples.

Without all of this type regulation, insurance companies would be much more competitive.

[DaveTN]

20 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

The government now dictates what plans can and cannot be sold. Do you realize that you and I are paying for things we don’t need such as maternity coverage? Insurance companies cannot sell across state lines. There are many more examples.

Without all of this type regulation, insurance companies would be much more competitive.

Maybe. But that helps the working class that can pay the premiums. What about the working poor and those living off the government? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve not turned into nice guy. But those people are electing democrats because they are making a lot of noise about providing free quality health care for them. And if Biden gets elected I suspect that may well happen. Not only will you being paying for that in your insurance premiums, but your income taxes and property taxes are going to sky rocket. Jobs will be lost, further increasing your “share”.

[Chucktshoes]

1 hour ago, alleycat72 said:

Yes 149% for us both. At my death she will receive just my portion (100%). It's significantly more than SS and it's private. We predate SS and are exempt. We do pay in more than SS, but not much more. It is also not tied to one company. If my company goes bankrupt or stops existing, retirement will not be affected. Everyone in my class of work pays into the same retirement regardless of the company they work for or State they work in. It also allows my wife to pull her extra pension plan without penalty. She just can't pull from SS.

Sounds like somebody’s been workin for the railroad all the live-long day. 

[gregintenn]

1 hour ago, DaveTN said:

Maybe. But that helps the working class that can pay the premiums. What about the working poor and those living off the government? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve not turned into nice guy. But those people are electing democrats because they are making a lot of noise about providing free quality health care for them. And if Biden gets elected I suspect that may well happen. Not only will you being paying for that in your insurance premiums, but your income taxes and property taxes are going to sky rocket. Jobs will be lost, further increasing your “share”.

We simply can't afford to be all things to all people. I just cannot understand how I can support my family yet others cannot. There isn't anything special whatsoever about me. I live with the choices I've made. I expect others to do the same. Is that asking too much?

[btq96r]

3 hours ago, gregintenn said:

The way to fix it is to remove government interference and let the free market do what it does. I know...good luck getting that done.

Healthcare is one of those things where a free market solution isn't practical.  You might be talking about things like selling insurance across state lines, coverage mandates Obamacare brought, but those are minuscule issues on the whole.   The government is actually one half of the inequitable way the system is being propped up; the other being younger folks paying premiums above what they consume for commercial coverage.  Insuring the elderly, who consume much more medical services than the young, at an affordable price point just doesn't work out.  So, the government needs to do it by taxing the population at large. 

It's one thing for some items like standard primary care physician visits, and small routine procedures that don't take a lot of time or resources to be put onto an open market where competition can be healthy.  But larger surgeries, more complicated patient management, and a lot of imaging costs money in time for those performing it, and the equipment used.

Medicare sets a lower rate than physicians want, but not one that would necessarily close their doors unless they had profit to chase elsewhere.  Hospitals might not be able to be as concierge as they're becoming if we expanded Medicare, but they could still function.  Medicare for All isn't going to be pleasant to the system, but take the cries of woe from the medical industry, their lobbyists, and all associated with a jar of salt, because they can still make it work, I think.

At that point, we'd probably have to regulate any healthcare provider off of publicly traded markets so that they don't have to worry about shareholder value in the form of rising stock price from market expansion or dividends.  They should be investing that money in staff, equipment, or lowering costs instead of pleasing T. Rowe Price, Vanguard, & BlackRock account managers.

[DaveTN]

31 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

We simply can't afford to be all things to all people. I just cannot understand how I can support my family yet others cannot. There isn't anything special whatsoever about me. I live with the choices I've made. I expect others to do the same. Is that asking too much?

I don’t think its asking too much. But as you can see, there is a very large percentage of the population that thinks they should have what those of us that have earned our own way have. Those people are socialists and have very good chance of taking over Congress and destroying our country. Sometime after the election we will know for sure, at least for the next four years. No, there is nothing right or fair about it. It’s been posted here before and I remember hearing it constantly as a young man that the Communists said they will take this country without firing a shot. I used to laugh that off. I’m not laughing now; you are watching a very good attempt. Only the voters can stop it.