If after "Reform" everyone has Health Care coverage will we still have to pay Medicare?

[Winterblues]

Social Security and Medicare are taken out of paychecks automatically. If everyone has Medical coverage, what need is there for Medicare? Would those payments automatically go toward the New Plan?

[Abq_Sarah]

1. Medicare isn't going anywhere

[Winterblues]

3. So people will be forced to pay for both?????

They will demand we pay for Medicare through payroll deductions and pay by mandate for health care insurance as well. I somehow don't think that is going to go over very well.

[napi21]

5. You pay for both now! If you havew HC ins. wether it's through your employer

or on your own, you still pay into the medicare program that will cover you at age 65...but even then it's not free! $96 is deducted from your SS check every month.

[HughMoran]

6. And paying less than we already pay for both NOW is bad why?

I swear, this country is full of morons that ALL failed 5th grade math.

:eyes:

[Winterblues]

11. Yes everything is perfect for all you that have care at the moment

I will not pay less after having to buy health care insurance and pay medicare deductions as well. I currently do not have and can not afford Health care Insurance.. I can not expect you to understand such a situation you have it because someone else is paying for it for you.

[Barack_America]

17. Not sure I'm following you here.

The basic premise of insurance is that you pay before you need to use it. Sometimes you'll need it earlier or more frequently than predicted (i.e. you get more than you pay in) and sometimes you don't and the insurance company makes a profit.

You are paying in advance for your Medicare insurance so that you're not assessed a huge premium when you're retired and don't have the income to pay it. Spreading out the payments make the premiums more affordable for Americans.

The fact that you don't have insurance now and you can't afford to get it is exactly the problem with our health care system today and is why we need to revamp the system to drive costs and profit margins down. As for what the public option will cost and what govt. subsidies will be available to people who still can't afford it, we will all have to stay tuned and pressure our lawmakers to make sure they're siding with us and not the insurance companies.

[sinkingfeeling]

23. There are very, very few employers paying 100% of employees' insurance today. I worked for IBM for

30 years and they did do that under a self-insured plan for the first 20 years I was there. As a retiree, they would charge me $361 a month for my 'fair share' of the premium.

In your case, you would probably choose the public option and receive help from the federal government to have insurance.


Edited to add word

[Abq_Sarah]

7. Medicare

Is the insurance you will use when you reach age 65, unless you are wealthy enough to afford private insurance at that age or have your medical plan tied into your pension. You pay into it all throughout your working years so it will be there when you reach retirement age or become disabled.

[ashling]

9. Anybody who has insurance now is already paying both

a vigorous public option will also have the benefit of helping to hold the line on costs.

[Winterblues]

12. No they are not... Their employer is paying their bill..

What if that were to change and those costs were to fall on you completely?

[ashling]

15. Not all health insurance is employer provided

And those that do don't usually "pay for it" (as in 1005) but only provide the opportunity for you to purchase it by paying a portion of it. Many smaller businesses either do not provide it, or provide something that is too expensive for their employees to purchase.

Employers will still be able to provide this benefit if they so desire.

[endarkenment]

25. No change.

1) the vast majority of employer based health insurance is a shared cost. The employer typically pays a majority of the premium costs, but employees pay a substantial portion (e.g. 20%.) In addition, and increasingly since 'managed care' got going, employees pay additional fees 'co-pays' for service. Your theory that 'the employer is paying their bill' is not a good one.

2) under all of the mandate systems employer based health insurance remains just about the same as it is now.

So what the heck are you talking about?

[stray cat]

2. Medicare stays - its part of any plan and contributes to coverage

[abluelady]

4. You Make a Very Good Point

If we were to go to single payer, Medicare would not be needed. Any other plan will not ensure coverage for all, so Medicare will stay in place. Personally, I don't see how the public option is going to handle all the problems that are now part of health care in America. For instance, we are told we can keep our current insurance if we lose our job. How do we pay for insurance without a job? If you're not 65, you will be in the same jam you are now with trying to buy health insurance. Perhaps the insurance company will not be able to deny you for pre-existing conditions, but nobody is talking about the cost of premiums. Right now I pay $800 a month. If I didn't have a job, I'm pretty sure even if was cut in half, my unemployment benefits wouldn't be able to cover it.

[HughMoran]

8. Ummm, what the fuck do you think people like me are doing now?

Have you ever heard of Cobra?

I am on Cobra because I lost my job. I pay every month what my mine and my employer's portion were. Can it be any worse than this?

[abluelady]

10. That's My Point

What the Dems are supporting will not help you or me. I can't afford Cobra. My costs now are $800--they almost double when I needed Cobra.

[endarkenment]

26. actually most of the proposals will help you

as they provide a subsidy that makes individual purchases affordable.

[napi21]

13. Apparently the cost of ins varies greatly depending on where

you live. My husband changed jobs back in 2000. COBRA would have cost $800+ per month, and even though he was getting a check from the new job, we couldn't afford COBRA for the 3 months until his new coverage took effect. I finally got an individual policy for myself through BCBS at $137/mo. and Ron had to go with single coverage COBRA because he had a pre-existing condition at a cost of $260/mo. Still a lot of $$ but for 3 months we handled it. $357/mo. was deducted from his new paycheck as his portion of the family plan ins.

I don't know why there's such a big difference in premiums in different States. I've heard it has to do with State mandates of what must be covered by the ins. co's. I'm not sure that makes sense to me. Every time some new question comes up, I understand better why any Federal HC bills are so very complicated.

[abluelady]

16. My Husband's Last Job was in Louisiana

He was let go after 30 years and part of the package he received was health care for himself until age 65. I was given the opportunity to buy Cobra--it was $900 a month for me alone and I had no pre-existing conditions! Of course we couldn't afford it.

eta: This was six years ago, too. Imagine the cost today!

[Cleita]

14. Which is why we need Medicare to be extended to everyone. Everyone will

pay into it and everyone will benefit from Medicare coverage. It's really simple once you get the insurance and PhRMA companies out of the way.

[Winterblues]

19. That is the ONLY real answer

All the rest of this is just Corporate bullshit designed to enhance their bottom line and not provide for the general welfare of the nation as our Constitution suggests is the purpose of Government.

[Oregone]

18. Yeah, Id hate to have to keep paying for an ultra efficient non-profit socialized insurance system

Yah realize every dollar spent on Medicare saves 30 to 50 cents from what would of been spent on private insurance. Medicare IS cost-control. We need to shift everyone on it, rather than defund it and get people off of it.

[Winterblues]

20. Bingo

Do you expect for that to realistically happen? I don't...

[Oregone]

21. Expanding it would be more pragmatic, incremental and sensible than the "public option" reform

So if they can pull of creating a whole new untested public insurance division (mind you, one that will not kick in until 2013, be self-sufficient, and only cover 12 million people), it would take fewer tricks than you may imagine to simply lower the age of Medicare a few years.

[damntexdem]

22. Everyone would have coverage because the aged, and some disabled, had Medicare.

Medicare is part of the picture. In fact, the best bet for a public option would be 'Medicare available to all.' Even better would be 'Medicare FOR all' -- in effect, a form of single-payer.

[endarkenment]

24. There is no current legislation to replace medicare.

What are you talking about?