Just incase bush wins again.............

[fouroneone]

I looked into immigrating to Canada.

Fucking over $1500 just to apply for a visa, and you must have at least $10-$25,000 cash in the bank.

Guess I should start saving for November.

[kaydup]

good get the fuck out.....

[stonedcl]

Canada or Austrialia... 4 me...

[fouroneone]

good get the fuck out.....

your banking on that tax cut aren't you

[siceone]

enjoy the high taxes and the shitty healthcare

[fouroneone]

better than the high inflation and expensive health care

[siceone]

where's high inflation? and actually the healthcare in this country isn't that expensive

[bigpoppanils]

where's high inflation? and actually the healthcare in this country isn't that expensive

healthcare costs of the US are at 15% of GDP, one of the highest rates in the world. Costs rose over 9% in 2002, but it looks like that growth rate is slowing.

[daprofessional]

universal healthcare = shitty healthcare because the doctors have no incentive to work hard if they're all getting paid meagerly (compared to a nation with no healthcare where the best doctors are the expensive ones.)

and if you dont believe me try going to an HIP doctor and then one on Park Ave.

[mrmatas2277]

where's high inflation? and actually the healthcare in this country isn't that expensive

exactly...i rather pay high healthcare and know that i can have my operation done in a orderly fashion, instead of waiting months to have a procedure done...

[mursa]

If by any chance Bush win....then this country gets what it deserves .

[vicman]

exactly...i rather pay high healthcare and know that i can have my operation done in a orderly fashion, instead of waiting months to have a procedure done...

that is if you have health insurance, your employer pays for it and ultimately if your insurance company approves of the procedure recommended by your dr. they don;t want to spend thier money if they don't have to.

*********

Cost of Providing Health Benefits Surpasses Paid Leave Costs for Employers

Health care coverage for workers has become the most expensive benefit for employers, surpassing for the first time in a decade the cost of providing of paid leave, according to a study released Tuesday by the Employment Policy Foundation, CBS Marketwatch/Tallahassee Democrat reports. Researchers from EPF analyzed government data from about 8,200 private employers and found that in the first quarter of 2004, medical benefits accounted for 23% of non-wage compensation, while paid leave accounted for 22.6%. The study also found that employer spending on workers' health benefits reached $331 billion last year -- or an average of $3.80 per hour for each worker participating in a health plan -- a 51% increase over the $219 billion spent in 1998. Between 2002 and 2003 alone, employer spending on health benefits increased more than 12%, about five times the rate of inflation, the study found. The study also estimated that the percentage of workers who received health care coverage through their employers decreased to 45% in 2003 from 53% in 1999. EPF President Ed Potter said, "The private sector, as far as I can see, has essentially maxed out on what it's able to do. When you have large companies who historically have been able to pay who no longer are able to be competitive by paying the bill, you come to appreciate there's a problem here." He added, "It's such an increasing part of the overall compensation for employees that there is the inevitable consequence that wage increases are going to be affected by this" (Gerencher, CBS Marketwatch/Tallahassee Democrat, 8/6). The study is available online. Note: you must have must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this report.

General Motors Sees Rising Health Benefit Costs

In related news, General Motors Chief Financial Officer John Devine on Thursday at an automotive seminar in Detroit said that the cost of providing health care benefits to employees is the largest obstacle the company faces in competing with foreign automakers, , the AP/Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. According to Devine, GM spent $4.8 billion on employee health care benefits in 2003, and company officials expect health benefit costs to rise 8% this year. He added that GM and other Detroit automakers spent a combined $8.5 billion on health care last year. Last month at the National Governors Association conference in Seattle, Ford Motor Company Vice Chair Allan Gilmour said that providing health care benefits to company employees adds about $1,000 to the cost of every Ford car or truck built in the United States, 33% of which is related to prescription drug costs, the AP/Star-Telegram reports. Devine said, "I think we need to see some urgency" in finding solutions to rising health care costs in the United States (Porretto, AP/Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8/6).

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=25156

***************

[vicman]

9M Fewer People Received Health Insurance Through Employers in 2003 than 2001; Public Health Insurance Program Enrollment Grew in Same Years, Study Says

[Aug 03, 2004]

Between 2001 and 2003, nearly nine million U.S. residents younger than age 65 lost employer-sponsored health insurance, largely because of the economic downturn and the increasing cost of providing such coverage, according to a Center for Studying Health System Change report released Tuesday, the Scripps Howard/Detroit News reports. For the report, HSC researcher Bradley Strunk and colleagues examined results from a national representative survey of 25,400 families, including about 46,000 people younger than age 65 (Bowman, Scripps Howard/Detroit News, 8/3). According to the report, the percentage of people with employer-provided insurance decreased from 67% in 2001 to 63.4% in 2003 (MacDonald, Hartford Courant, 8/3). Most employers did not "drop health care coverage on a grand scale" during the study period, but some made health benefits "less attractive or more expensive for some low-income employees" by tightening eligibility requirements and raising employees' premium contributions, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the report, young adults were the group most likely to decline employer-sponsored health coverage, with the percentage of them accepting such insurance dropping from 91.4% in 2001 to 89.9% in 2003 (Fuhrmans, Wall Street Journal, 8/3). Enrollment in Medicaid and SCHIP largely offset the decline in employer-sponsored coverage, with the percentage of people younger than 65 enrolled in the two programs rising from 9% to 12% over the study period, the report says.

Coverage for Adults, Children

Declines in employer-provided health coverage occurred among all age groups but were "particularly pronounced" among individuals ages 19 to 39. The share of people in that age group with employer-sponsored coverage fell from 64.9% in 2001 to 59.4% in 2003, the Hartford Courant reports (Hartford Courant, 8/3). About 50% of the coverage decline for that age group was offset by growth from 5.5% to 8.3% in the share of people with public health coverage during the two-year period. The share of children younger than age 18 who had health coverage through a parent's employer dropped to 59.5% in 2003 from 63.4% in 2001; the percentage of children with public insurance coverage increased from 17.6% in 2001 to 24.1% in 2003. The report also says that the proportion of children in families with annual incomes below 200% of the poverty level who were enrolled in public health insurance programs increased from 37.9% to 49.3% during the study period (Scripps Howard/Detroit News, 8/3). The share of workers with employer-sponsored health insurance and incomes less than 200% of the poverty level fell from 37.4% in 2001 to 32.5% in 2003, according to the report.

Ethnic Groups

Latinos were the least likely to receive health benefits from their employers, according to the report. The percentage of Latinos with employer-sponsored health coverage declined from 46.7% in 2001 to 39.7% in 2003 (Hartford Courant, 8/3). Over the same period, employer-sponsored coverage among African Americans decreased by 3.1%, and it fell by 2% among whites (Wall Street Journal, 8/3).

Explanations

The report, "Trends in U.S Health Insurance Coverage, 2001-2003," was released as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Covering Kids & Families campaign to enroll eligible uninsured children in Medicaid and SCHIP (Covering Kids & Families release, 8/2). "While the economic downturn reduced employment and accounted for much of the decline in employer coverage, the rapidly rising cost of insurance ... likely contributed to the decline as well," Strunk said in a written statement (Appleby, USA Today, 8/3). "Health care costs -- and health insurance premiums -- continue to outpace workers' incomes by a large margin. Such rapid growth will continue to strain employers and make private insurance less and less affordable," Strunk added. HSC President Paul Ginsburg said, "Clearly, public insurance programs provided a safety net for millions of people -- especially children -- who otherwise probably would have lost coverage as the country moved through a recession and a jobless recovery" (Hartford Courant, 8/3).

http://www.hschange.org/CONTENT/694/

[sasser]

9M Fewer People Received Health Insurance Through Employers in 2003 than 2001; Public Health Insurance Program Enrollment Grew in Same Years, Study Says

[Aug 03, 2004]

Between 2001 and 2003, nearly nine million U.S. residents younger than age 65 lost employer-sponsored health insurance, largely because of the economic downturn and the increasing cost of providing such coverage, according to a Center for Studying Health System Change report released Tuesday, the Scripps Howard/Detroit News reports. For the report, HSC researcher Bradley Strunk and colleagues examined results from a national representative survey of 25,400 families, including about 46,000 people younger than age 65 (Bowman, Scripps Howard/Detroit News, 8/3). According to the report, the percentage of people with employer-provided insurance decreased from 67% in 2001 to 63.4% in 2003 (MacDonald, Hartford Courant, 8/3). Most employers did not "drop health care coverage on a grand scale" during the study period, but some made health benefits "less attractive or more expensive for some low-income employees" by tightening eligibility requirements and raising employees' premium contributions, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the report, young adults were the group most likely to decline employer-sponsored health coverage, with the percentage of them accepting such insurance dropping from 91.4% in 2001 to 89.9% in 2003 (Fuhrmans, Wall Street Journal, 8/3). Enrollment in Medicaid and SCHIP largely offset the decline in employer-sponsored coverage, with the percentage of people younger than 65 enrolled in the two programs rising from 9% to 12% over the study period, the report says.

Coverage for Adults, Children

Declines in employer-provided health coverage occurred among all age groups but were "particularly pronounced" among individuals ages 19 to 39. The share of people in that age group with employer-sponsored coverage fell from 64.9% in 2001 to 59.4% in 2003, the Hartford Courant reports (Hartford Courant, 8/3). About 50% of the coverage decline for that age group was offset by growth from 5.5% to 8.3% in the share of people with public health coverage during the two-year period. The share of children younger than age 18 who had health coverage through a parent's employer dropped to 59.5% in 2003 from 63.4% in 2001; the percentage of children with public insurance coverage increased from 17.6% in 2001 to 24.1% in 2003. The report also says that the proportion of children in families with annual incomes below 200% of the poverty level who were enrolled in public health insurance programs increased from 37.9% to 49.3% during the study period (Scripps Howard/Detroit News, 8/3). The share of workers with employer-sponsored health insurance and incomes less than 200% of the poverty level fell from 37.4% in 2001 to 32.5% in 2003, according to the report.

Ethnic Groups

Latinos were the least likely to receive health benefits from their employers, according to the report. The percentage of Latinos with employer-sponsored health coverage declined from 46.7% in 2001 to 39.7% in 2003 (Hartford Courant, 8/3). Over the same period, employer-sponsored coverage among African Americans decreased by 3.1%, and it fell by 2% among whites (Wall Street Journal, 8/3).

Explanations

The report, "Trends in U.S Health Insurance Coverage, 2001-2003," was released as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Covering Kids & Families campaign to enroll eligible uninsured children in Medicaid and SCHIP (Covering Kids & Families release, 8/2). "While the economic downturn reduced employment and accounted for much of the decline in employer coverage, the rapidly rising cost of insurance ... likely contributed to the decline as well," Strunk said in a written statement (Appleby, USA Today, 8/3). "Health care costs -- and health insurance premiums -- continue to outpace workers' incomes by a large margin. Such rapid growth will continue to strain employers and make private insurance less and less affordable," Strunk added. HSC President Paul Ginsburg said, "Clearly, public insurance programs provided a safety net for millions of people -- especially children -- who otherwise probably would have lost coverage as the country moved through a recession and a jobless recovery" (Hartford Courant, 8/3).

http://www.hschange.org/CONTENT/694/

Ummm.. Siceone... Mr. Matas....

[mrmatas2277]

i have health insurance and it IS provided to me by my job...odds are i prob. need health insurance more than most on this board...again, i rather have the American health care system over Canada's...

[mursa]

i have health insurance and it IS provided to me by my job.

...that explains it .

Once YOU have to pay for health services , you would prob change your mind .

[vicman]

i have health insurance and it IS provided to me by my job...odds are i prob. need health insurance more than most on this board...again, i rather have the American health care system over Canada's...

the point was that if you have the $$$ and you have insurance provided by your job you don't have to worry about it. but not every employer can provide every employee health coverage, small businesses struggle with this. further, there are lots of people who can not afford to buy health insurance nor can't even afford to pay out of pocket to improve their current package provided to them by their employer.

while i do agree that the quality of available services are better here, that still doesn't answer the question that less and less employers and people can pay for health insurance and it equally doesn't address the needs of those who simply don't have it.

there is also the question of the cost of drugs. imagine a person living with AIDS whose insurance doesn't cover the cost of those drugs. or seniors who have to pay out of pocket for their meds and 40% of their income goes to pay for thier drugs, while at the same time you can get the same stuff in Canada much cheaper and of equal quality.

[mrmatas2277]

...that explains it .

Once YOU have to pay for health services , you would prob change your mind .

yea bro...but i still pay for it...its provided to me by my job, but it does come out of my check...and i wouldnt change my mind, i rather be here PAYING 100% for my healthcare, then waiting months in Canada for a procedure...

[mrmatas2277]

there is also the question of the cost of drugs. imagine a person living with AIDS whose insurance doesn't cover the cost of those drugs. or seniors who have to pay out of pocket for their meds and 40% of their income goes to pay for thier drugs, while at the same time you can get the same stuff in Canada much cheaper and of equal quality.

i rather take this form of healthcare...the price of medicine (insulin/bloodpressure pills/etc) might be cheaper in Canada, but again...i am not waiting months on end for an operation that i need...

[bigpoppanils]

after a year of paying for heatlh insurance ($330 a month) i am finally getting health benefits.

and yes, you do get a different perspective once you pay for your own health coverage.

[sobeton]

after a year of paying for heatlh insurance ($330 a month) i am finally getting health benefits.

and yes, you do get a different perspective once you pay for your own health coverage.

I'm self employed and I must agree. when you’re writing that check every month paying the full cost of health coverage, it gives you a completely different perspective on health care.