Healthcare

I consider myself to be an average american. Someone that works for a living, and makes enough to get by as long as something doesn't go wrong. More and more these days it is becoming the situation here in America.

I was looking at a friend's status message and reading and making comments throughout the day. It was a comment on socialized health care and how they think it might be best for those that want to take advantage of the program pay the extra taxes, while leaving the taxes of those that have private health care where they stand now. I can see how that might be an opinion of alot of different people, from all walks of life. (I myself really don't want to pay extra taxes either!)

But rather than making an obscenely long comment on my friends status I decided to put my thoughts on another forum, where those that want to continue the discussion may do so, as they see fit.

I live in Tennessee in an area which I can honestly say is not wealthy in many ways. There aren't many jobs here and the ones that are available only pay minimum wage. Many companies have been forced to lay off people that have worked for them with much dedication, merely because they have no other choice.

I have been seeing this even in the company I work for, and unfortunately since I work for a non for profit organization that gets all their money from federal and state run programs, I fear the situation will get worse, instead of better. This is another issue I feel strongly on and I plan on addressing that in another blog post all together. This one is for healthcare.

This post is going to get rather personal on my end, but I think that maybe some people don't understand how the finances break down for many americans.

A Break down

My husband and I work for the same company and have the same benefits provided to us, and not long ago was our annual enrollment date for our benefits so the numbers are still really fresh in my head.

These are the numbers for local health care, in our town.

Our medical insurance costs 575 per month for a single person, and 1250 a month for a family. If my husband and I were to get insurance from our employer, most people would think that it would be more cost effective for us to get two single plans rather than one family plan. Looking at just those numbers I would think that myself.

After paying those premiums every month we would then need to pay for our deductible. The deductible for a single person is $2000. The deductible for a family is only $3000. That would be a savings of $1000 if we chose the family plan and actually met the deductible. (Most in my company rarely do, I have asked around.) We then have to pay those HUGE deductibles, and for families like ours, that rarely see the doctor, because we are in good health would probably never even come close to paying those huge fees.

I can think of only two years in my life where this system would have actually been beneficial to me.

Healthcare in their network, an hour a more away.

Instead of being $575 a month it now goes down to $475 a month for a single person, and $1100 a month for a family. Your deductibles stay the same. Now instead of driving maybe 10 minutes, you are driving an hour each way at the minimum. I don't know about the rest of you but me, if I'm not feeling good, there is no way I want to travel that far just to see a doctor.

My finances and how they weigh in.

My husband and I net about $2100 a month. If we both get the single plan, (which would be a tad cheaper from the paycheck) our insurance costs would leave us at about $900. Out of that $900 we have to pay our rent of $400, which would leave $500, our car payment $200, which would leave $300, our car insurance of $50, balances out at $250, and doesn't even take our electricity, water, phone, or food into consideration.

My electric bill for this last month was $133, because our place is all electric and it's winter, you do the math.

Do I believe in socialist health care??

I'm not sure that I want a socialist healthcare system, I have visited Canada, and I do have some friends living there, so I know that their system still leaves much to be desired.

For example, my friend needed surgeries on his knees, but because he was a younger gentleman, and in no danger of dying from his painful affliction he waited over a year to be able to have that surgery.

And yes here in the states we do have programs for those that can't afford health insurance, or the insurance just isn't cost effective. There is just one large problem with this, because I have checked into it in the past couple months because my husband has been having problems with his blood sugar just dropping out from under him, and having those tests done, even though they are extremely routine, are costly.

When I went to our local office that handles such things I was turned away, not because I make too much money because there is a program where you can get health insurance but you have a premium you pay, just like if you were getting insurance from an employer.

The reason I was turned away is because my husband and I don't have any children living at home. We as a nation, take care of families with children, but if you have none you are pretty much SOL.

My standpoint is there has to be a better way, so every american can have access to health care that is cost effective. Do I want everyone to pay higher taxes so I can see a doctor when I need to? Not really, I would have no problem paying an insurance premium, but maybe one that was on a sliding scale to my household income, a certain percentage. They do this with child support and take it directly out of your paycheck before you even get it in your hands. Why couldn't they do something like this with healthcare?

Then maybe the taxes wouldn't have to go up so much, because part of the financial burden would then be on the individual using the insurance not not solely on the tax revenue of the american people. If this was the case whether your premium was $5 or $500 the program would be close to self sufficient.

I could easily pay three or four hundred dollars for a premium, I wouldn't have much extra, but if something did happen where I NEEDED to have surgery or just plain got really sick I would be able to see a doctor.

Again, I'm no expert, and these are just my thoughts, but I thought maybe it would help some people understand where a large portion of Americans stand. My family, all of us, fit into this bracket. My parents, my siblings, my husbands parents, and his siblings as well. Most of our friends as well. I know a lot of people actually live from paycheck to paycheck, hoping and praying every day that nothing goes wrong and throws a wrench in the whole works.

Hopefully I didn't babble your ear off, and you find this interesting to read, I did find it interesting to write and I think I will keep putting more topics in my blog. Feel free to comment and discuss in the comments section. I look forward to reading your thoughts as well.

Sincerely,

Crys