Paul Ryan's Health Care Reform Plan
Preface
I first wrote this hub while Paul Ryan was running for Vice President as Romney's running mate. The following material is based on the plan that he had at that time. His current plan is similar but is more robust about state's rights and entitlements.
After participating in several forums about Paul Ryan and his plan, I went to his web site and downloaded his 65 page plan. The first 34 pages are the introduction to the plan, followed by each category of the plan and a summary of each category. This hub summarizes his Health Care Reform Plan.
Organization of the Plan
The plan is called A Roadmap to America's future and is organized into the following eight categories.
- Title 1 - Health Care Reform
- Title 2 - Medicaid and SCHIP Reform
- Title 3 - Medicare Reform
- Title 4 - Social Security Reform
- Title 5 - Simplified Income Tax
- Title 6 - Business Consumption Tax
- Title 7 - Job Training Reform
- Title 8 - Budget Process Reform
Title 1 Health Care Reform
The plan proposes a $2,300. tax credit for individual filers and $5,700 for joint filers per year. Here is how it would work: At the beginning of a year or at the end of the year, you would file for a refund on your tax return for the eligible amount. The payment is made directly to the health plan you have chosen that best suits your needs. If you don't spend all the money on your health care, you get to keep the difference. If your health care costs are higher than the eligible amount, then it is up to you to make up the difference.
It should be noted, this plan does not apply to those already on medicare or in the military.
The plan is portable and can be carried from employer to employer if you change jobs. There will be high risk pools at the state level for those who would otherwise be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. State base exchanges will give each person an opportunity to choose the plan that best fits their needs.
Inflation Adjustable
The refundable tax credit is adjusted for inflation specifically, by an average of consumer price index and the percentage of increase in the medical care component of the consumer price index
Interstate Purchasing
Individuals who live in one state will be allowed to buy a more affordable health insurance plan in another state. Health insurance providers would be able to sell their polices in every state.
State Based Exchanges
This plan would require the states to contract with health insurance companies to run the exchanges It would prohibit state exchanges from discriminating on pre-existing conditions. The plan would have the following features:
- Auto enrollment
- High Risk Pools- each state will ensure pools are funded to help low-income folks from paying excessively high premiums.
My Take on His Plan
It seems to me that if he is going to run his plan in parallel to the current medicare plan. That is, if you are currently on medicare, this plan will not affect you. However running two plans together seems like it would require more federal government not less. He is also requiring the states take over many of the responsibilities of the plan. But those requirements have to be overseen by some watchdog group, again the federal government. Also if your medical costs are more than the refundable tax credit (voucher), the balance would have to be paid out of pocket.
Your comments are much appreciated.
Related
Comments
I'm all in favor of interstate purchasing of Health insurance. It is long past time to reduce the 50+ Insurance commissioners with their 50+ sets of rules, regulations and requirements, to only one set. If, however, I can live in Minnesota and buy an Iowa policy but my health care provider has to then abide by two different sets of rules it's a no go from the get go.
Yikes! Here I am, a small government guy proposing a national Health Insurance Commissioner. I may have to go lie down for a bit ... But I do think that if we had nation-wide competition for health insurance a GEICO like provider would emerge and that would help alleviate costs to individuals. And that can't work with 50 different sets of rules.
Full disclaimer here, the Ryan plan won't affect me. I turn 65 in December and I already have my Medicare card in my pocket. But I wish it would. I would like to have the option.
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Hi Dave: Good to hear from you again. I've been on medicare for five years now and I love it. It's getting even better under Obama care, because the cost for drugs is coming down and quality of health care is going up. I get a complete free comprehensive physical every year now. The donut hole is being closed and that means less out-of-pocket expenses for drugs. By 2014 it is supposed to be completely closed. Thanks for dropping by.
peoplepower73
''I've been on Medicare for five years now and I love it. It's getting even better under Obama care, because the cost''. What kind of Medicare plan are you so happy about? Can you explain part A, B and D plans or any other plan? March 23, 2010 President Barack Obama is applauded after signing the health care bill
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/09/study-c...
Check these links and make a comment.
Obamacare – Anatomy of Government Fraud
https://hubpages.com/politics/Obamacare-Anatomy-of...
IRS to play major role in Health-care system ( penalty/ tax)
CBO estimates that 4 million people will pay the penalty
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Jon: You're back: Thank god, my wife and I have not had to use parts A and B, only D which is the drug prescription program that George W put in place without any funding and budget accountability. But that Obama accounted for it in his budget. Each month $104.00 is taken from our social security to pay for medicare. For doctor visits, there are no copays. We get free eye exams each year including prescriptions and for an additional $26.00 each, we get teeth cleaning and X Rays twice each year. We have noticed a significant decrease in cost of drugs compared to when Bush started this and the donut hole is decreasing. Because of that, our out of pocket expenses have decreased. There are many folks that were in the donut hole for years, but now that it is decreasing and will be gone in 2014. I wanted to answer the first part of your question, but I will check out your links. Gotta run...thanks for dropping by.
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Jon: I read your links. Fox news - I guess I proved them wrong about nothing free. Of course I pay $104.00 per month for medicare, but I would pay that whether there was Obama Care or not. Ryan's plan will not remove medicare for those already on it. Lionsden - I would like to see his sources. Azcentral - I guess we just have to wait and see. I'm happy with what I have. It's an HMO; I wish it was a PPO, but that's the trade-off. The best insurance policy one can have is to stay healthy.
peoplepower73
You and your wife pay for Medicare insurance $104 ea. If you did not choose a Medicare advantage type of plan ( HMO ) you would have original Medicare which pays about 80% to the provider. Under this plan one needs to buy a supplement plan to cover the other 20% to pay the provider. Now in most of the supplement plans bought, a co-pay is required because if one did not have a co-pay, the premiums would be much higher. A pre- existing condition (like diabetes) will increase the premiums. The advantage plans in most cases don’t require a monthly payment. The payments depend upon what healthcare requirements for the chosen plan. ’’ It's getting even better under Obama care, because the cost for drugs is coming down and quality of health care is going up.’’ NOT TO SURE
Obamacare – Anatomy of Government Fraud
http://lionsdenmedia.hubpages.com/hub/Obamacare-An...
IRS to play major role in Health-care system ( penalty/ tax)
CBO estimates that 4 million people will pay the penalty
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/07/07/...
June3.2011 NO changes for 55 & over ( roughly 10 years from today unless Congress raises the retirement age )
Ryan and Van Hollen Debate Medicare Proposals 6/3/11 '' THE TRUTH ''
http://foxnewsinsider.com/2011/06/03/ryan-and-van-...
The President's Speech Distorts the Truth
http://www.facebook.com/notes/paul-ryan/the-presid...
The Democrats object to a voucher system that will be between the insurance company and the buyer. Check this out. What the government ( Medicare) is doing today , the advantage plans, is a type of a voucher system. The selected insurance ( only a select few ) companies contract directly with Medicare to provide the Medicare services for your health. When you sign up for an advantage plan ,Medicare will send on a monthly basis a certain amount of money for your care to the insurance company, hence in most cases there are no monthly premiums that you pay. Obama and the Democrats complained that the insurance companies were making huge profits. In other words the insurance companies managing your health was a lot cheaper than Medicare being in charge.
Now consider Ryan’s plan. Instead of the government giving the money ( A VOUCHER) to the insurance companies, the government gives it to the recipient ( citizen ), who will benefit if they are healthy. The buyer can keep the savings of which can be put into a healthcare account, for one’s benefits rather than the insurance companies. In the private market ,competition is the game and the choice is for the people. Keeping in mind that Ryan’s plan is to save Medicare for those paying in now so that Medicare will still be there for them in the future.
Your comments, please.
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Jon: With Ryan's plan if you exceed the voucher amount, you pay out of pocket. That could be catastrophic if one needed major medical procedures. I'm not going to look at your links because I'm a happy camper. It's not perfect, but there are always those trade-offs in life. Thanks for the comments.
peoplepower73
I suggest you check your plan out. the insurance companies max payouts are $ 6600, MEDICARE payments to insurance companies. ( check it out ). the government foots the bill, after that magic number please verify if that is correct.
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Jon: I received, this week, the 2013 AARP Medicare Complete Plan insured through United Health Care. It's $6,700. for 2012, but $3,400. for 2013. Thanks for the heads up.
Great share peoplepower, Ryan plan is just another slippery slope. One should avoid hasty conclusion until they carefully apply the principles of economics to this plan. There is a hidden outcome to this plan which needs to be explored! Sounds realistic, but where have this plan tested (state, country etc) before. To present this is one thing, but as we know to execute it is another. Over the years we have seen Government, put forward all these colorful proposals just to get elected, but after election guess what happen --- nothing!
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mackyi: I agree with you having a plan is one thing. Turning it into legislation is another. Candidates can say anything to get elected because they are never held accountable for what they pledge. Thanks for your comments and for dropping by.
Davesworld
'' I already have my Medicare card in my pocket''
Which Medicare plan did you choose??? The insurance companies contracted by the government to provide Medicare insurance are pushing the Medicare advantage plans?The advantage plans may look similar to the voucher ryan plan with the acception that the money is going directly to the insurance companies instead of the insuree. check it out and comment.
June3.2011 Medicare -no change 55 over
Ryan and Van Hollen Debate Medicare Proposals 6/3/11 '' THE TRUTH ''
peoplepower73
''Each month $104.00 is taken from our social security to pay for medicare. '' Medicare don't pay for all the costs, Medicare cuts payments to providers 20% and then only pays 80% of the cut. who is paying the 20% that Medicare cuts?
Can you clarify your post?
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I watched the video and there was nothing that Paul Ryan said that was convincing for me. He said medicare will be bankrupt and that the providers are being under paid. He nothing to say about part D being unfunded. He doesn't believe in raising revenue to pay for costs because he thinks costs can be lowered by competition. That dog don't hunt. That's what got us in this mess was unfettered competition that allowed the insurance companies to raise premiums with out any ceiling. You say that in Ryan's plan the money goes to the insuree. I don't believe that it is true, the voucher goes to the insurance company and is put into an account for you.
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The insurance companies and the providers negotiate the cost and the payment structure. Medicare doesn't start the negotiation by cutting 20% of the bill and then only pays 80% of the costs and then leave 20% for you to pay. My bills show a negotiated cost. You are playing a shell and pea game.
Peoplepower73
Your hub is very interesting. Here is what I know, If not for Medicare, my husband and I would be homeless. If my husband's accident in 2005 happened under the Ryan plan, we would be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, with no way to pay. The hospital would have probably let him die.
I do not trust Ryan's plan for anything, he is evil, and greedy.
Thank you writing this.
Shyron
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Shyron: Thanks for reading this. I was going to delete it since Obama won the election. I didn't think anybody was interested in his plan. I'm glad your husband and you are O.K. Ryan is just part of the game the Republicans have to privatize everything and make the super rich and corporations even richer. Thanks for dropping by and I will leave this hub up. There may be others who are interested in the contrast between Obama Care and the Ryan plan. You might think about telling your story to Obama at whitehous.gov. They are very interested in case histories.
Ryan and his fraud team are trying to pretend there is a change in their party but its just a lie. They decided to spend 10 million dollars to convince minorities that you should vote for them. I do not need any care but because I care about other people. Obama care is still better then anything else. Even more stupid is Ryan’s plan to balance the budget. They will do anything to keep Corporate America and the wealthy from paying taxes.
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Sanxuary: Thanks for reading this. I created this hub when Ryan was running with Romney. I need to update it to his current plan.
If you call them conservatives instead of republicans and the GOP and then it all makes sense. They want to change the people's thinking, but not their message. They can't change, that's why they are called conservatives. They want to hold the status quo or go backward, but never change. They say they will always stand on principal. Therefore they will not change. However liberals by nature welcome change and adapt to change. Until conservatives can do that, it will be the same message over and over again. The culture is changing and the world is changing. If they don't adapt to change, they will not survive in their present form. And they are not going to do it by getting the people to buy their message. Their message is out of date. Thanks for dropping by and your comments.
peoplepower73
An update on the behind the scenes.
2/14/13
Having It All for Free: 19 Things Obama Says Won’t Add to Deficit
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/02/havin...
Summary of President’s budget 2013
The 2012 deficit is now projected to be $1,211 billion, reduction results primarily from lower projected spending for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and net interest, partially offset by lower projected receipts
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BUDGET-2013-MSR/pdf/B...
6/21/12
Billions of Dollars Are in Play Over Health Care Law
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/health/billions-...
Medicare is WAISTING more than $8 billion on an experimental program that rewards providers G.A.O. Calls Test Project by Medicare Costly Waste
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/health/policy/ga
Obamacare is still being written, it has 20,000 new regulations since it was signed by the President. What started out as 1800 pages than 2600 pages, now is 20,000 pages.
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Jon: Good to hear from you again.
An update on the behind the scenes.
2/14/13
"Having It All for Free: 19 Things Obama Says Won’t Add to Deficit
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/02/havin...
You won't have to worry about this. The republican congress won't pass any his proposals.
Summary of President’s budget 2013
"The 2012 deficit is now projected to be $1,211 billion, reduction results primarily from lower projected spending for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and net interest, partially offset by lower projected receipts
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BUDGET-2013-MSR/pdf/B...
I don't have the time to read the minutiae in this document. It's overwhelming.
6/21/12
"Billions of Dollars Are in Play Over Health Care Law
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/health/billions-...
This link doesn't work.
Medicare is WAISTING more than $8 billion on an experimental program that rewards providers G.A.O. Calls Test Project by Medicare Costly Waste
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/health/policy/ga
"Obamacare is still being written, it has 20,000 new regulations since it was signed by the President. What started out as 1800 pages than 2600 pages, now is 20,000 pages."
I think you have your 2,000 and 20,000 mixed up. I checked the actual law and it is 2,416 pages. I did it by seeing how many pages would print. Here is the link. http://www.healthcare.gov/law/full/index.html
peoplepower73
Any link ending in . gov is not likely to be accurate. The whitehouse giving information to the media is 40% distorted. The Administration lacks credibility. The Arizona governor was on the tube, complaing about the number of illegals let lose were far more than what she and the public were told.
I'm finding many of certain links related to Obama and the government have been censored.Take it for what it is.
jon e
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Jon: Have you been able to verify the 20,000 page document?
peoplepower73
''verify the 20,000 page document?'' On a cable news channel, a stack of the healthcare law was piled and stood over 8 feet.The commentator said the healthcare bill is now 20,000 pages and has 20,000 new regulations. I doubt that any of the .gov links will advertise the true numbers of the bill to date.I seen the so called pile and heard the comments.
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JON EWALL: Can regulations be added without congress' approval? I don't believe this. What was the cable news channel? That's 20,000 new laws with one page per law. Give me a break!
peoplepower73
Since you called me on it, I checked and found it came from the floor of the Senate. Obamacare’ Regulations Printed and Stacked High
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/11/mitch-m...
http://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p...
Mainstream media is threatening our country's future
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/29/mainstre...
11/04/09
WAKE UP AMERICA TO 2000 PAGES OF HOCUS POKUS
http://hubpages.com/hubtool/edit/947597
http://hubpages.com/hubtool/edit/947597
A Obama quote ‘’I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits -- either now or in the future,” the President said at a joint session of Congress. “I will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period.’
IN 4years he has added $6 trillion, he has a lot of CREDIBLTY?
You are on the ball!
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Jon e: That's a prop that was put up at CPAC by Mitch McConnell. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/15/mitch-mcc...
peoplepower73
The prop is not the issue , the issue is that the law is still being written.
''Can regulations be added without congress' approval'' Not really except that the Democrats had 100% control of passing the bill. That deffinetly is not how our government making laws was set up.Bi partisan compromise was AWOL in passing the bill. In order to pass the bill the Senate and the House used a tactical move requiring a simple majority in lieu of the 60 vote rule .In time, Obamcare will open many other issues not in the best interest of the people.
Partial list of taxes and fees in health overhaul
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I'm sorry, but I don't believe anything that comes from fox news. They have no credibility with me.
peoplepower73
That's your choice but you are missing the news clips of Obama'S LIVE UNCUT statements the last 5 years. The President distorts many facts and in some instances may be lying.That's ok, the mainstream media don't report the misques anyway.
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Yesterday marked the 10 year anniversary of the Iraq invasion. 4,400 of our troops are dead, countless thousands wounded and maimed, countless thousands of Iraqis killed and displaced; the cost over 2.2 trillion dollars unfunded. All of this was based on the false pretense of WMDs that didn't exists and the Bush, Cheny, Rumsfeld crowd knew, so they cooked the intelligence. Which is worse, the accusations that Obama may be distorting some facts or the Iraq invasion that was one giant lie that we are still paying for in blood and treasure?
peoplepower73
Place the blame not on bush or Congress, who voted to go to war but on the people working inside the intellegence part of our government. NO PRESIDENT would send our young men and women into battle knowing they might not comeback without due cause.
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The intelligence community told them there were no WMDs, but they forced them to change the intelligence to make it look like there were. When Colin Powell gave his presentation at the UN, he knew the intelligence was cooked. He used drawings of the chemical trucks. They didn't even have any recon photos. I"m not very smart, but even I knew that was BS.
Remember shock and awe? We were supposed to get in and get out. Bush declared the war was over very shortly after the invasion. That was the plan we were supposed to be seen as liberators. They didn't have a clue. as to how the country was organized. They thought they could overwhelm them and get out almost unscathed like his dad did in Persian Gulf 1. His dad knew that saddam maintained the balance of power because his party, the Sunni's were the minority. The Shite's were the majority, but they were under his rule
There was a cause, it was to protect Israel from Saddam's, missiles, nuclear and chemical weapons. Almost all the neocons under Rumsfeld had ties to Israel. They were the ones who wanted the war and convinced Bush and Cheny to invade Iraq. Bush and Cheny thought it would be a good idea because we would end up with control of the oil.
peoplepower73
''but they forced them to change the intelligence to make it look like there were'' WHO IS THEY?
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Bush, Cheny, Rumsfeld and the neocons: Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, Scooter Libby and their underlings.
peoplepower73
A couple new items to be aware of
26/13
Obamacare Will Cause Medical Claims Costs To Jump 32 Percent: Study
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/obamacare...
26/13
Obamacare Will Cause Medical Claims Costs To Jump 32 Percent: Study
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/obamacare...
The health-care law "includes the largest set of tax law changes in more than 20 years,
IRS. The agency will have to hire thousands of workers to manage it, requiring significant budget increases
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/07/07/...
How Will the New Health Law Affect Your Premiums?
http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2013/0...
Insurers warn of overhaul-induced sticker shock
peoplepower73, I see one of the comment about the Iraq War. All their lies are caught on tape, Scheming to Make a Case for War. This is even better than the 47% tape of Romney.
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JON EWALL: What I got from all these articles is that there are so many variables and the phasing in the programs that the jury is still out as to the effects of Obama Care. Do you think if Ryan Care is implemented, it will be a slam dunk and that it will reduce costs for the clients? It's a voucher system that runs in concert with medicare for the elderly. Part of it will be under federal control and part of if will be under each individual states control. That will be no easy task to implement.
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Shyron E Shenko: Yes, these people have no conscience. I don't know how they sleep at night. But then again, if they have no conscience, I guess it make it easy. Thanks for the comment.
peoplepower73
''2013 AARP Medicare Complete Plan insured through United Health Care. It's $6,700. for 2012, but $3,400. for 2013.''
peoplepower73
Ryan plan ‘’It's a voucher system that runs in concert with medicare for the elderly’’
‘’That will be no easy task to implement.’’ ’’the jury is still out as to the effects of Obama Care’’
The law is still being written even after Congress approved the unfinished bill, a travesty of a corrupt government.
Today the medicare advantage plan and a couple of others is a voucher plan. The government sends a sum of money to the insurer monthly to cover the applicant. The big difference is that the unused portion goes to the insurer . In Ryans plan, in like your healthy situation would go to your personal health savings plan not to build up insurers profits.Present medicare recipients are not effected by Ryan’s plan.
COMPETIVE BIDDING
4/18/12
Pilot 'competition' effort saved Medicare $200 million-Competitive Bidding
A year long experiment with competitive bidding…..
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2012/04...
Medicare is WAISTING more than $8 billion on an experimental program that rewards providers G.A.O. Calls Test Project by Medicare Costly Waste
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Ryan's plan proposes a $2,300. tax credit for individual filers and $5,700 for joint filers per year. Also if your medical costs are more than the refundable tax credit (voucher), the balance would have to be paid out of pocket.
If you are good with that great. I'm satisfied with medicare advantage has. They take $104.00 from my social security and my wife's and the we have no co-pay for office visits and lab fees. I'm not going to read everyone of your links. It takes too long. But I will leave them up for others to make up their own minds. I know you are trying to convince me that Obama care is no good, but we are satisfied with it. I have one prescription drug that I pay zero on. I doesn't get any better than that!
Paul Ryan lives in his own little world where everyone has money oozing out of every orifice. He needs to be demoted to doing what he was doing before he became a House member from WI. I believe he was a waiter and a trainer. Neither requires much gray matter and I think he must have been perfect for those jobs.
We should have had an extension of Medicare to everyone instead of ObamaCare. The bureaucracy is already in place and working well. My main objection to ObamaCare is that there are no cost controls built into the program. That's the reason it's costing so much. There is still too much profit to insurance companies included, yet doctors are not being paid what they should be under Medicare. How does it make sense to pay obscene profits to private insurance companies, but pay doctors so little?
Sorry I forgot to say I'm voting this hub up, useful, and awesome because every one of your hubs that I've read so far are that and more. Will share with my followers also.
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Aunt Jimi: That's true about insurance companies. They place themselves between the doctors and the patients and hope you don't need the doctor's services. It's all based on risk management. If the risk is too high, they raise the premiums. Their real job is to increase their bottom line to their stock holders and board of directors.
Kaiser Permanente has a commercial that says: "We hope you thrive." The translation: We hope you never file a claim!
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Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I loved your hub on Michelle Bachman. I posted it on my facebook page as well as sharing it with my followers on hub pages. Have a great week.
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Walt Kienia: Here is the link to every thing you wanted to know about Obama Care but were afraid to ask. I'll let you be the judge. http://www.healthcare.gov/ Thanks for the comments.
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What does that mean and what is it in reference to?
We all know that anything that has to do with the IRS and taxes ends up costing us money. Just like the time when Bush gave all Americans money the next year it had to be paid back at tax time. I dont agree with anything that is tax related because in the end we lose. Right now through my hospital I have good insurance but that doesnt mean we will keep it. It's sad that Americans work their whole life and end up basically we will all be in poverty when we retire if we are able to retire at all.
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Author Cheryl: I've been retired for all most six years, but I don't consider myself in poverty. I consider it upper middle class poor! What is really sad is that congress makes and imposes all these health care laws on us and they don't even have to abide by them. I believe it they were subject to the same plans as we are, they would change in a hurry. Thanks for the comments and for dropping by.
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I have limited my Amazon book selection to one book per Hub Pages Style Tips.
Thank you peoplepower73 for leaving this up. I wrote my husband's "Count Down to a Miracle" story here on HP and I will send it to the White House as you suggested.
When I was laid off in 2007, I went for almost 2 years without insurance, because Cobra was $1,000 a month, just for me, And I did pay it until I got another job and still had a hard time getting insurance of any kind.
I appreciate this so much your leaving this hub up.
Shyron
When I read "Roadmap to America's Future". In my mind I see Bruce Willis in one of his movies walking on broken glass.
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Shyron: I'm so glad you find this hub useful. I thought It was not featured because it was out of date. But I found that HP said I just had too many Amazon books selected. That was easy to change. But maybe this is still relevant as the political spectrum is always changing. I'm so sorry about your insurance situation.
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Shyron: Too Funny!
I thought this was a very interesting and insightful article regarding Paul Ryan's Health Care Reform Plan. I actually enjoyed reading everyone's comments and input that has taken place over the past several months. Being Canadian, we have a different perspective on Health Care issues so I found it rather interesting. Thank you for sharing. (Voted Up) -Rose
I went to the mail box after my last post here and there was a bill from the hospital ER where my husband took me for my migraine. I wonder if you could guess how much the bill was.
You would be even happier that you have Medicare. My bill for about 4 hours was $1850.37.
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Hi Rose: Thanks for the comments and reading other's comments. I'm somewhat envious of the Canadian health care plan. Maybe you should do a hub summarizing it, so that we Americans would have some reference to what other plans are like. Thanks for votes and sharing.
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Shyron: That in itself would give me a super headache! I hope all works out well for you. Thanks for your comments.
Yes, peoplepower73, it would be a good idea to write something about our healthcare system here in Canada. I think there are a lot of misconceptions by our good neighbours to the south about our system here. I think we are perceived as having inadequate care, services and long wait times which could not be farther from the truth. Imagine this, Canadians have free hospital stays, free surgeries and free medical visits with GPs and specialists. We are also covered for other things depending on situations like home care, medical equipment and so on. We have top notch medical facilities and hospitals and we have some of the best doctors in the world and that is not an exaggeration. As far as long wait times go, it is a bit of a myth because the most serious cases are taken immediately and wait times are not extremely long. We are also covered with certain out of country medical issues. Also, most employers provide their employees with benefits for prescriptions, dental and so on. Some may have to kick in a few dollars towards it each month but most benefit packages are covered by the employer completely. It is true that our cost of living is a little higher than the USA and we do pay more in taxes but the benefits outweigh the negatives. If you look at other countries in Europe such as the Scandinavian countries they pay a lot in taxes, however, their social net is even better than ours. This is our healthcare system in a nutshell, lol. I could go on and on. Take care. -Rose
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Rose: There you go, you have the start for a very informative hub page that would be of benefit for everybody. It would be a myth buster on health care for Americans. Thanks for the summary.
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