Let Lower Income "Pay Their Fair Share"!
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Anonymous
There are about 10 million millionaires in the US, if you strictly look at assets. If you only look at *adjusted* gross income, then the figure goes down to about 500,000. Remember, adjusted means after all the tax deductions that only the wealthy get to enjoy. Haven't found any data of non adjusted gross income. But, if you took away that NOL deduction and others like it, I'm guessing that number of million dollar income earners would go up by a lot. "By 2013 (the latest data available) it looks like the number rebounded a bit to 534,000 according to the IRS. (SOI Tax Stats - Individual Statistical Tables by Size of Adjusted Gross Income)" https://www.quora.com/How-many-people-make-more-than-a-million-dollars-per-year |
Anonymous
LOL at Medicaid being superior, better care. You should quit your job and sign up. |
Anonymous
Shows, once again, how liberals don't have a clue about Obamacare. I'm not taking about Medicaid. For those with low incomes, they get what is equivalent to a gold plan, with a private insurance company. With the subsidies they get on the exchange, the premium drops to next to nothing with a $5 co-pay. It can be the exact same gold level plan that runs $1000 a month or more. I can't afford that - I can't even afford the silver - so I'm going to have to go with bronze at about $600 a month, and a $6500 deductible before it pays a cent. NOW do you understand? The low-income gets a gold plan for free, while many in the middle class can't even afford a silver. It's really scary how the liberals supporting this program understand so little about the inequity. Haven't you read any articles about the "reversal of fortunes," where the low income now get top line insurance and the middle class can't even afford a decent plan? |
Anonymous
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I'd even take it a step further and say that in many instances, the Medicaid people ARE getting the exact same medical care - and by by the same provider - as the middle- class person paying full freight. And in some cases....BETTER.
To use myself as an example, I go for physical therapy twice a week and pay well over $100 a session. It's supposed to last three months. (This is addition to my monthly premiums.) The Medicaid patient, waiting next to me, is also getting PT - yet she pays nothing for it, and neither of course does she pay any premiums. So, we are getting the identical care, only that I will have to drop to once weekly starting in November because I just cannot afford to pay $1500 a month (sessions + premiums). The Medicaid patient can continue with the superior 2x weekly regimen. So the Medicaid patient is actually getting superior care. P.S. The patient next to me told me she was on Medicaid after I complained how my Obamacare insurance wouldn't pay out because I hadn't reached the deductible. That's how I know. |
Anonymous
Well, you were railing against free health care with no copay, which would be Medicaid. Now you are complaining about premiums that are "next to nothing" and $5 co-pays, which is not "for free". I just did a quick search and for a family of 3, a gold plan would be run about $1000 per month. The maximum subsidy you could qualify for would be $500 per month. Paying $500 per month is not next to nothing. |
Anonymous
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Paying $500 a month when you may only be making $2500 is not in the cards. Most people are struggling to stay in the bronze plans.
It is time for us to stop worrying about welfare queens and figure out what we need to do to help people get out of poverty. OP: come and serve meals at SOME, meet working poor people and get your eyes opened. |
Anonymous
You people make me SICK. Do you have any f'in idea what the middle class is going through? We have people who are getting notices that their premiums are going up by 50% - and for Obamashit plans that pay absolutely NOTHING! The middle class, required to give the poor people free coverage for every little sneeze and cough, is going to the poorhouse themselves! Don't you understand that the middle class is now WORSE OFF than the poor in terms of their access to health care? I myself have cut things to the bone in order to pay a ridiculous premium so the poor people can get medical care while I have to do without it. Can't you get this? Medicaid people get the treatments they need, and I do NOT. Why? Because Obamashit has created a system in which insurance rises to an in affordable on middle class in order to give them it all for free. I have cancelled vacations, curtailed eating out, haven't bought a stitch of new clothes, you name it. And that still doesn't allow me to afford the health insurance combined with all the medical bills I'm stuck with. I now have dug into my IRA. if Hillary wins and takes more from the middle class to give the poor, I will have to sell my house. And I'm supposed to be willing to have my life destroyed because, OMG, if a poor person has to pay a doctor $10, they might have to skip a meal? My health is suffering bigtime because I can't get the medical care I need. |
Anonymous
Well, so I'm complaining about plans for "next to nothing" and $5 co-pays? Yes, I am. Havng a low-income person pay $8 a month for health insurance and $5 to see the doctor is ridiculous when it means that someone else, maybe earning $50k, has to pay artificially inflated premiums of $1000 a month and full amount (hundreds) because there IS no co-pay - and consequently can't afford a doctor at all. (And remember, low enough, and it IS completely free.) I don't know about the gold olan crwp you looked up, but that family of three. - if low income wnough - WILL get a health insurance that requires no copays. FREE. I can't even afford a bronze plan! Have you read any articles that the middle class has switched places with the poor? The former are going without much-needed medical care, while the latter get to go to the doctor, have the exams recommended, get the medicine they need, and receive the necessary treatments. At the same time, the middle class is skipping all this. They're can't afford it. And yet, bleeding heart liberals are so intent that poor people, many of whom have miney for cigarettes, booze, junk food - continue to get off without putting in a dime even when it means middle-class people will go bankrupt as a result. |
Anonymous
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P.S. And as far as the family of three getting a free gold plan, I vas tslking about a single person. He indeed will get a free gold plan if he's poor enough. The family of three might just have to "suffer" because the middle class will only give them a lesser free plan. It's still free. No premiums, No co-pays. The middle class can't even afford the bottom bronze plan, with a $7000 deductible until anything is paid.
Limousine liberals who don't have to experience the financial hardships their socialism is placing on the middle class don't know what they are talking about. Read the other thread on Obamaczre premiums going through the roof. Maybe you need YOUR eyes opened. |
Anonymous
A family making $30000 a year (the $2500 a month you mention) gets a bronze plan for free. If they kick a little bit, they can get a silver. |
Anonymous
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Let's add some data here.
The U.S. poverty level is a measure of how many Americans are in poverty as measured by their annual income. 14.8% of the U.S. population is in poverty in 2014 as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. The poverty level is not a measure of whether the individual or family lives in poverty because welfare benefits are not included as income in the Census Bureau reporting. Welfare benefits boost most low-income Americans out of a poverty status. Therefore, it is estimated that probably less than 3% of the U.S. population actually live in poverty. These 3% of Americans do not participate in the welfare system due to a variety of reasons such as poor education, disability, mental illness or addiction to alcohol or drugs. A homeless person on the street is obviously living in poverty even though the welfare programs available to them would prevent it. This is one of the tragedies of our current complex welfare system - it often misses those most in need. Moreover, analyzing the poverty gap in 2014, $177 billion would have been required to give directly to each family or individual to raise their income out of poverty, yet government expenditures were $361 billion on 13 entitlement programs not including social security. Census Bureau Measure of well being The Census Bureau reports the following statistics regarding the well being of all households in America that are in a poverty status[ii]. Overall satisfaction with housing - 93% Living space is greater than one room per person – 81% Household is food secure – 73.5% No unpaid essential needs (rent, mortgage, utility, phone, doctor and dentist payments) – 68% Household has the following amenities: Refrigerator – 98% Stove – 97% Television – 96% Microwave oven – 93% VCR – 83% Air Conditioning – 83% Cell Phone – 81% Clothes washer – 69% Clothes dryer – 65% Computer – 58% Dishwasher – 45% Last who makes up the population we are discussing? The poverty rate in 2015 for: Adults not working 32% Single moms - 28% Black Americans - 24% Hispanic Americans - 21% All Children - 20%, Single dads - 15% All Americans – 13.5% Seniors - 9% Married couples - 5% Full time working adults - 2% Rate of poverty compared to education: No high school diploma 30.6% High school diploma 12.9% some college 9.6% College degree 4.5 % Lastly, let's examine the impact of Obamacare on a family of four making above the subsidy threshold of $47,000. Income: $47,000 Health insurance premiums (15,000) Deductibles (6,500) Co pays (1300) Net $24,200 which is below the 2015 established level of poverty $24,237 for a family of four. |
Anonymous
PART of what we need to do is not perpetuate this idea that the poor - let's say low-income - get their every medical need paid for completely by people who cannot afford their OWN care as a result. It encourages the demanding and entitled attitude I've seen one too many times. What we need to do is encourage pride and self-esteem that comes from giving back in some small way. Some of you are saying that these people can't even afford $10 to see the doctor, and another person told of a country where food stamp recipients were required to volunteer (and the demand for food stamps dropped as a result). So...how about "earning" that $10 doctor visit by volunteering at a soup kitchen? Or even spending an hour vacuuming the doctor's office? (Doesn't have to be done at the time of the visit....they could earn vouchers.) Of course, it's voluntary, and the person could always just pay the $10 instead. If the example with the food stamps is any indication, it's likely that many poor people would choose to pay the money rather than contribute efforts. But for those who DO want to contribute, just think of how much better they would feel about themselves. (Bonus: Maybe the volunteering would lead to a job or otherwise gsin them some marketable skills.) P.S. This would only apply to those able-bodied and mentally able. The truly incapacitated should of course get free care. |
Anonymous
Your analysis was really great except for one mistake. The threshold limit of $47k only applies to a single-person household. For a family of four, I believe it's around $100k. Other than that, great analysis. I took a lot from it, but especially striking was the fact that odds of living in poverty drop from 1 in 3 to around 1 - in 10 simply by finishing high school. |
Anonymous
Also striking was how well people in poverty actually live (with all the government aid)! Let's stop crying how bad they have it and give at least some compassion to the middle class who are struggling to be self-sufficent. |
Anonymous
| ..... Considering over a billion people in the world live on less than $1 per day, no free education, unsafe water, no access to healthcare. |