Americans are deeply unhappy with the country’s health care programs and costs. And rightly so. As one author observed, “A recent survey showed that only 17 percent of respondents in the United States were content with their health-care system . . . Why the discontent? The superficial reasons are simple enough to describe: the system is hugely expensive, very bureaucratic, and extremely patchy. The expenses first: U.S. health care costs a third more, per person, than that of the closest rival, superrich Switzerland, and twice what many European countries spend. The United States government alone spends more per person than the combination of public and private expenditure in Britain, despite the fact that the British government provides free health care for all residents.”
The United States pays more for health care per capita than any other industrialized nation — and even then, Medicare is not a comprehensive, pay-for-everything national health program like those of many nations and United States per capita health care costs continue to escalate rapidly.
Here’s what you need to know about health care costs as you plan for retirement.
Americans age sixty-five and over spend four times more on health care on average than do Americans under the age of sixty-five. At the outset of this decade, the average per capita health-care outlay for a person under the age of sixty-file was about $2,800. For people over the age of sixty-five, it was $11,089. And for Americans ages eighty-five and older it was $20,001. Clearly, health care outlays are likely to get substantially larger as you age. You need to plan for them.
U.S. health care expenses have grown mightily. U.S. health care expenses have dramatically escalated each year as new medications, new treatments, diagnostic tools, and health care innovations have come onto the market.
For example, the median nationwide cost for a hospital stay — excluding physicians charges — was $11,280 in 1997; by 2004 it was almost double at $20,455. The average total cost for treating a heart attack climbed 40 percent in just seven years. All in, health care costs have escalated fast and the increases are gaining momentum.
Health care costs are likely to continue to grow unabated. Unlike in other countries, no laws meaningfully curb the continual climb of health care and drug costs in the United States. For example, many Americans continue to import drugs from Canada because Canadian prices are significantly lower. This is true even though the new Medicare Features introduced in 2006 offset the cost of pharmaceuticals for U.S. retirees. To curb the cost of medicines, Canada prohibits drug companies from advertising on its television channels. In the United States, on the other hand, the very legislation that created the new Medicare drug benefit (Part D) expressly prohibits the federal government from attempting to negotiate lower prices with drug companies.
Count on it: medical costs are sky-high and likely to keep climbing unless there is a radical overhaul of the system.
More and more corporations are cutting back on health care benefits as medical costs soar. Recent statistics show companies cutting health care benefits and requiring employees and retirees to pay more for them. As one survey of corporate benefit trends concluded, “[Benefit] reductions have become not just common, but expected, with the only question now being of how much more of a reduction in benefits and or an increase in cost will be directly placed on individuals . . . In the end . . . individuals, either as taxpayers or consumers, will need to pay the bill.
I believe this trend will gain greater momentum over the next decades. It will be part and parcel of the continuing erosion of employment benefits — like the demise of traditional pensions — that is taking place throughout the country. Just like pensions, more and more health-care expense is going to become a do-it-yourself responsibility because heath care insurance costs are simply becoming too great for companies to shoulder competitively.
Taken all together, you can count on: (1) higher and higher health care costs, (2) more health-care-benefit cutbacks by U.S. employers, (3) the need to factor large health-care expenses into your funding plans, and (4) the need to buy supplemental health-care insurance to shield your savings from cost attack.
Of course, these views will not come as a surprise to most folks. Recent polls show that — immediately after the foremost financial concern of having enough money for retirement — the next great concern of most Americans is health care. More than half of adult Americans are “very worried” or “moderately worried” about being able to pay for serious illness or catastrophic health-care expense.
Copyright © 2008 by Jim Schlagheck
The above is an excerpt from the book Cash-Rich Retirement
by Jim Schlagheck
Published by St. Martin’s Press; March 2008;$24.95US/$31.00CAN; 978-0-312-37740-3
Copyright © 2008 by Jim Schlagheck
Author
Jim Schlagheck is an author, banker, longtime advisor to the ultrawealthy, and the coproducer of the public television series Retirement Revolution. He has written numerous articles on investing, retirement, and finance, and is also an acclaimed speaker who describes better ways for retirement readiness to audiences of wealth-management professionals and lay investors nationwide.
Here this nice Video about health care
On June 6th, tens of thousands of people came together to organize for health care reform by attending thousands of Health Care Organizing Kickoff events in all fifty states. These events were an opportunity for Americans to voice their support for President Obama’s three principles for health care reform. Go to www.barackobama.com/HealthCare to read the principles and to add your voice to the growing chorus for reform in America. Together, well win health care reform the same way we won the …
I take that back about Baucus he has to be the Dajjal !
part two
If you make more then € 3,600 a month there is no increase in your insurance cost. And if you make more than € 100,000 a year you are free to choose any private for profit health insurance.
If you loos your job, you are still covered.
Only with a single payer not for profit insurance is that possible. Also Germany fights with high health car costs, but no one would ever eliminate the not for profit insurance
Just look to other countries, take my home land Germany. Everybody is insured with 7,5% of your salary. With 7,5% you can go to any doctor, you are covered world wide, your kids are covered, your spouse is covered if she is not working, you are covered when you retire. Even your dentist visit is covered.
You pay 7,5% and your employer pays additional 7,5%. Remember General Motors, half of their porofit went to health insurance! Doctors and Hospitals are still all private.
all this ignores the basic right of the INDIVIDUAL to choose their health care. it is not the government’s right to force people to pay for what they, not the individual, chooses.
I think its not completely the Unions fault but I think that without the Unions in the way, cars would be priced a lot more competitively than their Japanese counterparts.
Also, I disagree with those who say that Unions have become weaker. In my opinion, they become stronger every year and with every member they sign up, not to mention the 100's of political lobbyists they have on their payrolls.
Unions were initially created to serve the worker, with little to no benefit to the actual union administrators. Now the tables have turned, and in order to keep their cozy administrative jobs, union heads figure out how to bilk companies for more benefits year after year until we reach the mess we have today (i.e. paying workers to not work)
YES. Unfortunately, the current presidential candidates up for election will never address this issue. They are too busy going after non-issues like banning gay marriage, abortion, immigration, and global warming – things that have never changed, can't be changed, or shouldn't even be considered because they wouldn't make a damn bit of difference to the average american.
The current tort system is paralyzing medical research because people are afraid of making a drug like Celebrex that could hurt someone. Mistakes are necessary for progress to occur. It kills any chance for our kids to be kids because parents and teachers alike are terrified of lawyers suing if a kid gets hurt playing the way I did when I was young. And most importantly, consumers get their a-s-s kicked because when frivolous lawsuits against companies are settled out of court (since that is the least expensive way to handle it, even if the company is in the right), they pass the costs of that crap down to our lot.
It is a huge problem in our country and nobody will ever talk about it because it doesn't sell headlines like the aforementioned non-issues do.
Why would the insurance industry and conservatives be afraid of competition from a two option system if it was a voluntary system and they did not have pay extra tax and they could keep their private system? Win Win!!!
Whatever the final health care program looks like, I refuse to have my tax dollars pay for abortions.
Baucus you remind me of the history of the Roman’s around the time of Jesus Christ ..I ask the USA to Pray the Divine Mercy Prayer to send BAUCUS home @3PM each day …
Max, your family must be so proud of you. You sold out your country and those who elected you for $400,000 +. Hope you use some of that money to buy a red light to hang outside your office. You sold seats at the table. How much for a seat for single payer? I know what you are, now I am just negotiating.
The way to make it more fair for everyone is to take away the health care from all elected officials and they can buy it from the health care cartel that WE THE PEOPLE HAVE TO BUY IT FROM.
The private greedy healthcare industry payoff the congress to pass the regulations that allow them to charge what they charge. If the Gov. got out of it the comsumer would be controlling cost not congress. They are promising you healthcare but say nothing about driving down cost. Gov. Healthcare will cost more then private does now.
Ok just dont say it will not work!! Come up with some ideas that will help to drive down cost. I know you free market guys are all about driving down costs. Maybe we can outsource our health insurance industry to China.
Bac is a dumb ass
I thought I’d mention that there is a neat little cartoon here on Youtube about Single-Payer (HR 676). I could watch it a million times. I really like it. It’s called, “Don’t Be A Chicken.” Also, there is a video where Dennis Kucinich holds a meeting to discuss HR 676 and what it consists of.
I don't have any health insurance but I do for my Daughter. It is called U Care. I pay a small fee each month for it, but I can't get it only my daughter. It has worked wonderfully for her.
It did with Truman, LBJ reforms, Nixon and Clinton now Obama
You can bet if a white candidate had belonged to such a church, 60 minutes, 20/20, CNN, etc. woulda been tripping over each other to examine it top to bottom with 'exclusives' day in and out until that white candidate quit.
Mac3805 is right, all through these administrations, we had people wanting Single-Payer, but the Corporations stopped it. Maybe it’s because I’m old enough to know and care about what’s going on now, but I believe people have become more wise to the Corporate/Congress games and are going to fight harder than ever before to, hopefully, get it this time!! We need to show them that their smoke screen aint gonna cut it anymore!!!
I'll keep it simple. You had your turn for 8 years and look what happened. Sit back and enjoy the ride. By the looks of the last election, if you don't like what Obama is doing, you can go to Alaska or Texas, cause the Rest of us ain't going no where!! Obama for 8 years straight. In fact for now on, let get rid of the republican party and just have the Democrats, Independents, and Green Party! America is not for Republicans. If I was president I would promise that if all republicans moved to Alaska or Texas, I wouldn't tax ya. You would just have to promise to stay there.
Democracy is a natural impulse to act, these 5 people should have been heard, quickly but at least hear their opinion, they are citizen or are they not aloud to speak out loud in a public office ?
STRIKING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN—PRIVATE & PUBLIC—HEALTH CARE:
PRIVATE:
Places the INSURANCE COMPANY between YOU & YOUR DOCTOR. The Insurance Company DECIDES what treatment they will authorize & pay for … or what claim they will deny & cancel the policy.
PUBLIC:
Your DOCTOR is the one who DECIDES what treatment YOU require. NO profit involved. NO more red tape. NO begging with Insurance Company for approval.
All SENATORS in Congress have a GOVERNMENT run PUBLIC PLAN !!
Wow…I hear crickets! No democrats or liberals refuting this? Oh that's right – they're all googling "Alaska" and "trooper-gate."
Why were the single payer advocates exclluded from the health care hearing in the first place?
HeisenbergSleptHere, what do you believe? The current care people get from private insurance? It’s going to have to be one way or the other; either the private, greedy insurance stays in control and continues to deny care, or we, the people fight for and make the government grant us Single-Payer health care. At least, with Single-Payer, if you are not happy, you can go and buy a plan with private insurance, as long as it doesn’t copy Single-Payer. So what’s the problem?
It did have traction, but was stomped out. Go check it out for yourself. It happened in the 1930’s, I believe, and even as recent as the 90’s. What do you think happened with the Clintons? The news and commercials were flooded with scare tactics (especially from the 80′ up until now). The sad part is Hilary decided that if she could not beat them, she would join them and make a few mill while she was at it. Really sad. More people have woke up now and see Single-Payer DOES WORK!!
Sen Baucus you are a paid off lying son of a bitch. Listening as you struggle to read your opening remarks, that someone else composed for you, truely shows how clueless you are. The people in Montana that keep re electing you are truly pathetic if you represent the best that state has to offer. Your JOB is TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE THAT VOTED FOR YOU FROM THE ASSHOLES THAT ARE SITTING AT THE TABLE BEFORE YOU. You seem to have it backwards.
SINGLE PAYER DESERVES A VOICE
Because our senators and congressmen have been bought and sold by the insurance and pharmaceutical companies and doctors unions a long time ago.
The only way to make most people happy (you cant make everyone happy) is to have a public option. Most people are not looking for a free lunch but if we had a public and private system we will have competition for both to be cheaper a better. The public option can not be free to people with jobs but it will be less then the private system with its high overhead of CEO pay, shear holder payouts, administrative costs, advertisement, political contributions and so on
*sigh* So many opinions, so few facts (offered up by the respondents).
Fact, the day after the November elections, CNN Headline News reported that the leader of al Qaeda in Iaraq as well as the "president" of Iran both commended the people of the U.S. for having voted in the Democrats. Can't help but wonder why either of them would say that. What then, does that mean and where might it lead?
Fact, during the Clinton years (the feel good administration), lots of people were suddenly made poorer: Enron, World Com, White Water investors and employees.
Fact, during the Carter years, Welfare fraud ran rampant. Inflation ran unchecked and the auto industry layed off thousands upon thousands. Bankruptcy was at an all time high. Very few to almost no one got any wealthier.
Fact, Lincoln was a Republican and was extremely hated — enough to get him killed by a sore losing Democrat. The Democrats (who all hated him so) couldn't have cared less about saving the union OR about freeing the slaves.
One cannot help but wonder then, why so many minorities would choose to vote for the party that wanted them to remain enslaved. Could it be because of all of the "free" government handouts (socialist programs)? How many success stories have we heard come out of those programs? *success being measured in one's ability to get off the program and become self-supportive* You can thank the democrats.
Should the democrats raise minimum wage, how quickly will it be made useless by the increase in goods and services? Note, the money for the wage increase has to come from somewhere. Out a monkey's butt perhaps?
While I would NEVER recommend that anyone vote straight party line on anything, I think historically, by and large, the democrats have proven themselves to be very selectively forgetful and myopic.
I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.
Ronald Reagan
If only Ronald Reagan knew we would have a socialist running America he would have never said that.
These are very dark days for America!
We have had too many decades of self-serving lifetime careerist members of Congress (both parties, both chambers) who have been setting their own Pay, Perks, and Pensions (and Pork, Big Time), and who have legalized their own bribery as they accept arm loads of cash from armies of lobbyists, then obediently deliver their votes as purchased.
You got it!!!
PUBLIC HEALTH PLAN:
ALL Americans are now paying in HIDDEN TAXES the cost for medical care for the “UNINSURED” who must use the Emergency Room.
With President Obama’s Health Plan ALL AMERICANS will be covered. These HIDDEN TAXES will disappear.
WHY is a … “PUBLIC GOVERNMENT PLAN” … good enough for all REPUBLICAN SENATORS in Congress … but NOT good enough for ALL AMERICANS who choose this option over a Private Plan??
AGAIN we see the blatant REPUBLICAN LIES & HYPROCRISY !!
I couldn't trust them before the convention
HSA's make healthcare much more affordable for the rich, and do absolutely nothing for the poor.
The basic notion of a HSA is that you should pay for most of your own medical care yourself, without any insurance. Really what they are is insurance plans with extremely high deductibles (often $10,000+).
The money you spend is then deductible on your taxes. This means that a rich person, paying a high marginal income tax rate, gets a 35%+ discount on medical care, while a poor person gets 10% or even nothing for a discount. So in effect, medical care is cheaper if you're richer.
What HSA advocates are really saying is that the problem with health care is that people have too much insurance. A very curious position to take.
Didn't have time to read the whole thing, but what I read was excellently written.
I don't even believe in "The Bible", but it seemed wierd that it was referenced in a way that lead to masturbation..
Good literary usage..the masturbation just takes a little away from it, in my opinion. Also..not everyone does believe in "The Bible"; those who don't know the story might not understand the literary usage…even though it's not a bad one.
EDIT:
In my opinion…forget about "the wider audience" and keep the "x-rated words". If the story the words are used in, is good, which it seems to be, you'll find an audience. Write the story in whatever way you relate to it best.
I forget who the quote is from, but..
"The only writers who write about all people and times, are those who write about thier people and time."
…something like that.. I'm not looking it up now, but I think you're smart enough to get the point. Stay true to yourself, and you'll have an audience.
I'll read it, at least.
Good work, I'll have to finish it later.
We pay 16% of our GDP for healthcare that doesn't cover everyone and is very selective care while other countries pay only 8% of their GDP, seems everyone should be on board for decreasing that. I think they just like to say it's red when it's blue.
Sounds like a TRUE nightmare to me.
I will pray that God makes the resources available for you to find the answers to your doubts and worries. I hope you open your heart to him and receive his forgiveness and salvation. With his love and peace in your heart your worries will subside. He will guide you and give you answers. He will provide a path. Why not give him a try. He works when the world fails you. He is there when the world abandons you. He is your friend when no friend can be found. He listens and cares and wants to help you. Jesus grant him this. Amen.
† Equitable Prayer Warrior †
WELL SAID!!!!!
There will be a lot more in the days to come…..