Wrong - If you have a wireless or landline phone, you’re paying for millions of people to get a free phone. The cost is deducted from your monthly bill. The average deduction is around $2.50 per month.
That used to be try and how the system was meant to be however they are millions of people who never pay into the system but get thousands of dollars in entitlements every year. That's why the system no longer works when more is going out than is coming in. One example alone - illegal immigration cost North Carolina taxpayers more than $2 billion annually. That amounts to $578 annually for every North Carolina household headed by a native-born or naturalized U.S. citizen. These costs are for welfare, medicaid and education without any money being put into the system.
ACA on the other hand is completely open-ended. And the more "socialized" it becomes, the less incentive for anyone remotely connected to the plan to attempt to contain costs. That's the scary part.
that's the phone company. The government is not forcing companies to take part (the last I researched it, it was not mandatory). The phone company is getting a kickback. they past the cost onto the consumer. ONCE again, how is this any different than farmers getting subsidies to artificially keep prices low.? For example the big cell phone program Lifeline. The feds tell the big cell phone guys, if you give low income folks who meet federal welfare standards, X amount of service (and that service can be text, talk or any combo the cell phone provider decides on), we will give X amount of tax breaks. Now yes, they indirectly pass the cost onto. MY QUESTION IS THIS. HOW IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE DO NOW?? When some one goes to the hospital and cannot pay, how do you think it gets paid for? Do you think the hospital, doesn't bill them out of the kindness of their hearts? When some one gets food stamps, where do you think the money is coming from? When a senior gets a SS check, where is the money coming from.
Please stop pretending that all of a sudden we are now footing the bill for people. Our entire system is built on person X getting benefits paid for by person Y.
Of course there are millions of people who don't pay into the system. There were millions of people back in 1937 when the checks first went out that had not paid into the system.
And most people take more money out of the system than they put in. YOUR employee puts in a chunk of change. So EVERY BODY is getting a piece of some thing at the expense of some one else.
I don't know enough on illegal immigration to say what's going on, but I have read that the situation you mention has been a problem in many areas.
GUMBO, I think the entire retirement Health care is open ended. I will get most of my HC cost covered by my pension from a private company. Now granted my company is huge and not likely to go under but the reality of it is that at any time they can cut benefits. They have most definitely reduced them over the years. The thing is, in this country most of these plans are already very much "socialized". My company's profits of today are going to the cost of folks that are already retired. so very much I'm working for Retiree Joe and Jane to pay their health care cost.
A guy that has retired from my company 10 years ago, has definitely seen his out of pocket hc gone up. now this hypothetical guy has a couple of recourses. Hopefully he's saved and can absorbed this cost, but if he can't and he's on a fix income, some thing gives.
So I think for us the problem remains, how do we effectively plan for retirement especially if we want to go before Medicaid kicks in when at any time our health care cost can be so variable.
But I think one of the issues is that no one is addressing the real problem which is why are health care cost skyrocketing in the first place. As we've seen with many of the post above it's much easier to say I can't retire because some poor person is getting free cell phone usage worth 2.50 LOL.
I think it will always be a losing battle if health care cost keep rising 10-15% annually. I read a report about how happy every one in Washington was because hc cost only rose 9.5% !! Seriously? That's good news?
Edited: these are just my ramblings. I am not advocating nor speaking out against centralized medicine. I've heard too many convicting reports.
