Many articles and blogs (including mine) detail moves that should be made to reduce our staggering cost of health care. “Born-Again” insurance industry lobbyist and author Wendell Potter has written about 3 well-known and touted ideas that have been implemented but that haven’t helped reduce the cost of insurance or health care. They’ve for the most part helped only the insurance industry.
Flip-flopping presidential candidate Mitt Romney has introduced his plan to reform the health care system. His new proposal is in stark contrast to his Massachusetts plan.
Romney would give Americans a tax break to buy their own health plans, regardless of whether their employers offered coverage.
I’m OK with that but what do people that are uninsurable do? I don’t see provisions made for people that are willing to take on the obligation of individual health insurance but can’t because of pre-existing conditions.
That’s what a new study put out by Cornell University says, anyway. If that’s true, think how much of a dent we as a society could make in our healthcare costs just by taking better care of ourselves….watching what we eat, exercising enough, etc. And that 21% figure only stems from obesity. Many of us who aren’t obese, still have health care costs that are caused by our lifestyle choices.
If you want to read the entire article, click here.
The deadline for filing 2011 income tax returns is Monday, April 17th, not the usual April 15th. This gives you a couple more days to reduce your income tax bill.
If you’ve established a health savings account (HSA), you can deposit money to it through this Monday and still reduce your federal 2011 taxes. Unfortunately, your HSA contributions are not deductible from your California income taxes, but they’re deductible in some other states.
Your HSA contributions are deductible up to $3,050 for individuals and up to $6,150 for families. If you’re 55 or older, you can contribute an additional $1,000.
If you don’t have an HSA but want one, why not establish one now? Even if you can’t take advantage of it for the 2011 tax year, you can position yourself to pay less taxes in 2012.
Have you ever longed for something (or for someone) and once your wish becomes reality, regretted it? That’s what could happen to opponents of Health Care Reform.
Here’s an insightful article on what could happen if this occurs…
I read a very informative article in the LA Times today. Even if health care reform doesn’t survive the scrutiny of the Supreme Court, some of its consumer benefits may remain in force in California.
Former insurance industry spokesman Wendell Potter has penned an entertaining but all-too-true blog on how health care reform opponents distort the spirit of health care reform. Potter wrote the tell-all book Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans.
Read Potter’s comments here.
I just watched CNN’s Brooke Baldwin interview a self-employed business owner from West Virginia that attended today’s Supreme Court hearing. This gentleman (named David Klemencic) railed against how the individual mandate that requires him to buy health insurance. He said that he didn’t need health insurance.
When Baldwin asked Klemencic how he’d pay his medical expenses if he got cancer, he said that he’d to use his IRA, plus his family and friends for funds.
Within a minute after saying that he’d made non-insurance provisions for paying for a catastrophic illness, Mr. Klemcic then asserted that he couldn’t afford to buy insurance. How does this man reconcile these statements? How within two minutes can he say that he has the financial ability to pay for a catastrophic illness and then say he can’t afford health insurance?
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of people like David who let their emotions color their view of reality.
A leading opponent of ObamaCare just filed bankruptcy partially due to unpaid medical bills. Mary Brown didn’t want to be forced to buy insurance. Somebody other than herself is now having to foot her bill. I couldn’t have made this story up….
Obama administration lawyers were quick to point out that Brown’s own situation is now a good illustration of the “uncompensated care that will ultimately be paid by others.” Adds a health law expert, “This is so ironic. It just shows that all Americans inevitably have a need for health care. Somebody has paid for her health care costs.”
In case you’ve ever wondered why Rick Santorum is so vehemently opposed to health care reform, look where some of his most ardent contributors come from:
http://tinyurl.com/7otbzpz