In 2010, I had good union health insurance. Obamacare was...

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https://twitter.com/DuBarryPie/status/1 ... 1684119553

Sometimes it's mind boggling that the USA even considers itself a developed nation & is recongized as such by the rest of the world. Wtf, America?

If the calm and rational Progressives did not have to drag the kicking and screaming Regressives along with them into the future, our respective countries would be much better places.

The current situation is very much like intelligent, educated, and enlightened parents trying to get their children vaccinated while those same kids engage in a collective melt-down.

Poor people get free health care.

Middle Class/Rich people have a reasonable, maximum total yearly deductible.

Like, if I need 5 million dollars in care, the most I will pay in deductibles is $6, 600 in one year.

I pay like $20,000/yr in premiums.

The lower middle class are the ones who have it hardest.

They likely struggle to pay premiums and cannot afford $13, 200 / year (2 people) or say $20,000 (2 adults + 2 kids) in deductibles , so maybe $30,000 - $40,000 total yearly cost of premiums + co-pays + deductibles (for a catastrophic year).

WHICH poor people?
I've been on social Security Disability for 12 years now
and the current rate is about seventeen dollars per month below the poverty level for a household of 1 as determined by Dept of H and HS, https://aspe.hhs.gov/2021-poverty-guidelines

And my Medicare runs about 100 a month
And Medicare Rx was about fifty-six dollars a month.
And Medicaid was saying I had to "spend down" a hundred and seventeen dollars a month before they would cover me.

And then in 2019 after a decade on Medicaid they suddenly said, "Oh that 300 a month you have been documenting that your parents have been giving you for the last decade, well this time you don't qualify for Medicaid any more. Adios amigo, have a nice life."

So,
now there is commercial supplimental insurance which was $160 and change per month but just jumped up to $190 and change per month.

And, some evil capitalist corporation said, "Oh wow, you are that poor? Okay then, we'll take NO premium for a replacement for Medicare Rx coverage"

AND NOW After the last 4 doctor appointment with the University of Missouri healthcare system AND after the insurances paid,
I have 2 bills totaling $190.84

So,

Again,

WHICH POOR PEOPLE GET FREE HEALTH CARE

You think paying $26,600 in after tax dollars/year is reasonable?

I'm a snooty European. I don't consider the US developed. I consider it an empire that's feeding on its republic to pay for its expansion.
Most people in Rome were slaves, the peasants of Medieval empires were still peasants, and the British factory workers were no better off than the Indian peasants the British ruled over.

Developed countries are just empires that have collapsed some time ago.

My parents' healthcare plan is expensive because of their age, and because it covers private-room hospital stays. It costs literally about a tenth of that. (Sure, there's the weirdness of exchange rates and all, as usual when making these comparisons, but still.) I pay about a third of what they do. It's a decent-enough plan, but definitely not a fancy one. I have some 10 or 20 different blood tests done two or three times every year as ordered by my doctor. I have no idea how much they cost, I just show my membership card. I had my brain scanned in all sorts of ways once, and I've gone through three overnight sleep studies. No idea how much any of it cost, I just show my membership card.

Here in my corner of the globe people tend to believe everything is automatically better up north. Well... clearly that's not the case, and clearly the propaganda works at convincing people to the contrary.

the working class have [until PPACA] always had it hardest. they don't qualify for medicaid, lots of their jobs don't have health care benefits, private health insurance is beyond what they make. most veterans also have it tough because they are specifically excluded from coverage [thanks to trumpy who decided to enforce that provision upon election] under PPACA.

Prices are hugely inflated for sure, however, that's life in America.

"Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that provides free or low-cost health coverage to millions of
Americans, including some low-income people, families and children, pregnant women, the elderly, and
people with disabilities"
https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/606

It depends on your state, your circumstances, your income ...

Even without inflated prices, $26.6K/year of after tax dollars is a MASSIVE chunk of change!

dirty little secret about us is that the 1% pays less in taxes, individually, than any of the remaining 99%. less because they can afford fancy CPAs and such to steer around taxes. like leona helmsley [BIH] said, "only the little people pay taxes." warren buffet made enemies among his class by admitting his help paid far more of their income in taxes than he ever did. same for health care, the 1% doesn't have to pay a dime for their health care, it is a corporate perk.

Don't worry though, their savings will trickle down eventually, right about the same time as China will become an egalitarian utopia.