Quote:
Originally Posted by chelsea24
My husband won't be 65 until August. He can't wait! I hate to hear him say this. It's like he's burning daylight or wishing his life away! Why???? Because we pay $1,700 a month for insurance! And it's bad insurance at that! I still have several years to go before I'm 65, but I just see him wishing his days away so at least one of us is on Medicare! That sucks!  I'm all for Universal Healthcare! |
We could not wait to become teenagers. Then to be 18. Then 21. How about 62? And then 65.
Mr. B. and I each have access through our former employers. But we watch our contributions to the premiums rise rapidly with each renewal. And we know that retiree insurance not provided under a contract can be cut off. Sometimes we wonder when that shoe might drop.
But at least, for now, we have access to decent, recognized group plans. But that does not make me any less concerned about the enormity of the health care issue. It's a big picture. And we are all in it.
We have friends who are working hard and working tired, trying to at least get one to Medicare before they can retire.
I bet stress related health issues might decrease if people could retire at an earlier age without having to lie awake wondering how to pay for health insurance -- if they can even get it.
The people I know are not looking for a free ride. They just wish that there were somewhere they could buy a "ticket to ride" at a reasonable price.
Access to good plans. Affordable access. Just let us buy into that plan DC has. At a reasonable cost. Or buy into Medicare early. Access to affordable retiree health insurance would not only help out with stress issues that can lead to physical health issues, but retiree health plan access would open jobs to younger people. And it would help business, too.
I know there are many our age who take retiree health insurance for granted because they have retired from jobs where the access to good coverage goes with the territory. That seems short-sighted to me.
Anyway, the solution does not need to be an either/or. The knee-jerk reaction to the fear of socialized medicine has allowed politicians not to solve this problem. They just push that socialized medicine button and people freak. And they freak loud. Push that either/or button and make the problem go away. Go away for those in DC who have their bloated behinds all covered, at our expense, in more ways than one.
And while the problem has been pushed to the back burner for all this time, greed has run amok in the health insurance business, just like the banking business. Talk about some bonus-reaping CEO's.
Make affordable access to good group plans available for buying into. Middle ground. Why is that so hard? And lives would be changed for the better. And it would help the economy. More disposable income. Business would get a break. And more people could retire and move to The Villages.
Boomer