a very good read for those not yet on medicare

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bambooboy
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Post by bambooboy » Sun. Mar. 31, 2019 6:52 pm

as someone that has been on medicare just about 10 years i could not have explained it this well. https://townhall.com/columnists/brucebialosky/201 ... e-n2543901

 
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Post by rberq » Mon. Apr. 01, 2019 7:27 pm

That is NOT well explained, it is a superficial and slanted description of Medicare written from a political perspective. I would be the last to say Medicare is perfect, but it has worked well for me and my wife, so far. In my opinion, Medicare is needlessly complicated and confusing, but overall does a satisfactory job of paying medical providers reasonably and preventing them from screwing the patient.

 
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Post by bambooboy » Mon. Apr. 01, 2019 8:43 pm

I think the whole point of this article is the wack jobs in your party are running on Medicare for all like it's a free program.


 
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Post by KLook » Mon. Apr. 01, 2019 9:57 pm

I think the whole point of this article is the wack jobs in your party are running on Medicare for all like it's a free program.


LOL!! and a +1!!!

Kevin

 
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Post by rberq » Tue. Apr. 02, 2019 8:38 am

bambooboy wrote:
Mon. Apr. 01, 2019 8:43 pm
I think the whole point of this article is the wack jobs in your party are running on Medicare for all like it's a free program.
So you have gone from calling the article a good explanation of Medicare, to admitting it is simply a political argument.

Just doing the numbers roughly in my head – what I paid for private insurance and what my employer paid, and what I and they paid into Medicare, and what I pay now for Medicare – private insurance was more expensive and the benefits were not as good. Of course Medicare is not free, but paying for private insurance is not free either. So for similar money, which is the better buy?

 
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Post by bambooboy » Tue. Apr. 02, 2019 9:42 am

quote (So you have gone from calling the article a good explanation of Medicare, to admitting it is simply a political argument) just pointing out how out of step your party is.what was the amount of dollars needed over a 10 year period,93 trillion $. don't know about your area but in many parts of the country many doctors will not take medicare.imagine every body on medicare, how many will not go to school to be a doctor so the govt can tell them what they will be paid.


 
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Post by rberq » Tue. Apr. 02, 2019 1:04 pm

bambooboy wrote:
Tue. Apr. 02, 2019 9:42 am
... in many parts of the country many doctors will not take medicare.imagine every body on medicare, how many will not go to school to be a doctor so the govt can tell them what they will be paid.
I have heard that said, but haven't seen it here, though one of these articles says Maine is WORSE off than the country in general. You have put your finger on one of the strengths of Medicare, that it protects patients by pretty much telling doctors how much they can charge. You are right, though, that's a double-edged sword, because if it drives doctors out of practicing medicine, it becomes a long-run problem. But so far, the docs seem to be doing OK, and I haven't seen any willing to live in MY neighborhood and tend a coal stove . ;)

KFF (Kaiser) is a highly respected healthcare group. Forbes is also well thought of.
The Kaiser article below talks about primary care physicians, where Medicare acceptance is very high. I would have expected that high-paid specialists would be more reluctant to accept it, but the Forbes piece says acceptance is even higher than for general practitioners. "among specialists, 99 percent of general surgeons and 98 percent of orthopedic surgeons take new Medicare patients"

https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/primary- ... -snapshot/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2013/ ... 6a78f54816

P.S. I'm only trying to carry on a rational discussion here about Medicare. If you just want to shout "your party this" and "your party that" at me, then I'll stop.

 
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Post by bambooboy » Tue. Apr. 02, 2019 2:26 pm

rberq wrote:
Tue. Apr. 02, 2019 1:04 pm
I have heard that said, but haven't seen it here, though one of these articles says Maine is WORSE off than the country in general. You have put your finger on one of the strengths of Medicare, that it protects patients by pretty much telling doctors how much they can charge. You are right, though, that's a double-edged sword, because if it drives doctors out of practicing medicine, it becomes a long-run problem. But so far, the docs seem to be doing OK, and I haven't seen any willing to live in MY neighborhood and tend a coal stove . ;)

KFF (Kaiser) is a highly respected healthcare group. Forbes is also well thought of.
The Kaiser article below talks about primary care physicians, where Medicare acceptance is very high. I would have expected that high-paid specialists would be more reluctant to accept it, but the Forbes piece says acceptance is even higher than for general practitioners. "among specialists, 99 percent of general surgeons and 98 percent of orthopedic surgeons take new Medicare patients"

https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/primary- ... -snapshot/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2013/ ... 6a78f54816

P.S. I'm only trying to carry on a rational discussion here about Medicare. If you just want to shout "your party this" and "your party that" at me, then I'll stop.
I'll probably stop when your party lets the private sector do what it does best with out interference from a party looking for votes only.

 
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Post by KLook » Tue. Apr. 02, 2019 8:55 pm

Sorry, but I have a Dr. that wont take insurance at all. I have doled out over $1000 in the last 3 weeks with more to come soon. But I have a GREAT Dr. not some hack that is uninterested in my health as he is underpaid.

Kevin

 
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Post by gaw » Wed. Apr. 03, 2019 10:17 am

The main point is that Medicare is not free or necessarily cheap. You pay 2.9% of your wages for life to get 15 years of “coverage” before you die and then you have to pay for part B monthly as well as any other supplemental plans.

If you take an “average” American today making the median salary of about $30,000 annually they will pay $39,150 into Medicare over 45 years. If those payments were put into I bonds at today’s rates over 45 years they would be worth about $76,590. That turns out to be $425.5 a month for part A and another $135.5 per month for part B for a total of $561 per month for basic coverage. This may not sound bad and if you are healthy that’s about all you need but you have a lot of out of pocket exposure should you get ill.
The scenario I laid out above is only using static figures from today. Thanks to inflation a young person today will see much larger figures by the time they hit 65 and I hope most people will aspire to make over $30,000 a year at some point in their lifetime.

The best insurance is the one you don’t need just like the best doctor is the one you don’t need and the same for hospitals.

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