On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:53:02 -0400, Keith Nuttle
wrote:

Vic Smith wrote:


Of course the "expense" of this Medicare plan is going as more and more
people opt out of the government managed insurance and go to the private
companies who participate in this plan. They get the same insurance
that the government provides plus they are treated as human not numbers
when they need assistance.

If this plan is eliminated, the cost of the government manage health
care will have to go up just to provide the additional staff to manage
the accounts now managed by the private company.

Didn't know that.
Many of the twists and turns aren't even being discussed.
I was surprised to learn that my dad, who's on Medicare, is still
paying close to $300 a month on supplementals.


I'm predicting they'll end up with gov subsidies for private health
care insurance, as they're already doing with the unemployed

Companies pay into the the unemployment fund per the number of people
they employee. Governments subsidizes it when the government uses the
money for other purposes, or when Government policies or actions cause
high unemployment. Example: the job loss caused by congress's action at
the end of September 2008.

What I was talking about is the gov started giving subsidies to those
who lost their job so they can maintain COBRA coverage. The employer
is out of the picture there. Don't know what the costs are, or how
many are using the subsidy. When you're unemployed, it's not easy to
pay health insurance premiums.
In '74 I took a leave of absence from IH to attend college, and paid
the full IH premium to keep my family insured. Even back then it was
eating most of my GI bill, which was close to $400 a month, so I had
to go back to work part-time to stay in school.
But then it was fairly easy to find a PT job with health benefits.
Not now.

The unemployment agencies are a perfect example of why we don't want the
government in our health care. I was on unemployment for several
months. During that time I never was able to get a phone call through
to a real person. I tried their email address and got an automated
response telling me to call the phone number that I had been trying for
days. If you have a problem with a government agency that needs
special handling you are SOL. Why do you think that most congressmen
have a special constituent assistance tab on their web pages.

Depends where you live, as that's state gov. I was on unemployment in
Illinois in '82 during the Great Reagan Mini-Depression and had no
issues after the initial wait-in-line- to sign up.
After that it was check in the mail every week I was on it, and fill
out a form to mail in once in a while. I hear they do direct deposit
now, but don't quote me.

--Vic