Good news! More and more Democrats are signing on to support Bernie Sanders's Medicare For All bill! Kamala Harris is in, Elizabeth Warren is in, Sheldon Whitehouse is in, Jeff Merkley is in, and Cory Booker is co-sponsoring. And as of last night, at least 11 more top Senate Democrats are in too! Hi there
ROFL! I don't want to judge how someone who has just lost everything they owned reacts in a situation like that, but some of those folks were pretty mean to some of the volunteers. I guess it just could have been stress, but jeez!
Vermont also has a small population,limited business tax base and an aging population. Most of the healthcare providers are paid less than elsewhere and it's one of the reason we have a shortage of practioners aincluding GPs (which are I. Shortage nationwide) to specialists. If I recall, the GM plan never got off the ground and was a product of the State Legislature and then Governor Peter Shumlin, not Sanders. It could never have succeeded without Federal support, Vermont simply lacks thee resources and has greater costs proportional to the size of the population. Now if California tried it, maybe things would be different. In the end though, it has to have federal support because individuals can't afford to pay the taxes required to provide the service at the same time they are a paying increasing amounts of money for private insurance.
He may be sponsoring it, but rest assured people with a greater aptitude for planning will be responsible for designing the actual blueprints. Unless the Dems aren't really sincere, in which case we're fucked anyway.
"Now if California tried it, maybe things would be different."
Funny you should mention that, California has trotted out a proposal and it is expected to cost as much as the entire current state budget. New York is running into the same thing. And Colorado put it on the ballot last November, and it failed by a margin of 79% - 21%. That is not a typo; single payer couldn't crack 25%, in a blue state no less. That's what happens when you actually work out the costs rather than, you know, assume they'll take care of themselves.
The size of the state isn't the issue, the issue is cost per capita.
"individuals can't afford to pay the taxes required to provide the service at the same time they are a paying increasing amounts of money for private insurance."
You do understand that the single payer would be REPLACING the private insurance, right? They wouldn't be paying both at once, and whoever told they would deserves an extended swirlie.
The problem remains medical COSTS, and responsible legislators would be focusing on regulating medical providers. Sanders is not even the tiniest bit responsible, and I'm starting to have my doubts about his new pals.
The sharks there were quite happy to be getting all the evil gubmint Obamamoney help they could get, though. Maybe we could call tornadoes the "Flying Fickle Finger of Fate?"
Are you talking about medicare part D, or part B? I'm a pharmacist, and I have never seen part D outright deny insulin, full stop. They may require a different one (the same type made by the other company that makes insulin), or if it's really crappy insurance, the vials instead of the pens, but never have I seen a plan that just doesn't pay for any insulin.
eta: actually, I don't think I've ever seen part D deny pens vs. vials, only some of the medicaid programs.
As pharmacist, I've tried to figure out how people could do that every year, but there just doesn't seem to be a way to do it. You never know how much the insurance is actually paying toward the drug (the little thing on the receipt at the pharmacy is how much they saved you from the cash price), so you can't even keep track yourself. There's some info we can see in the pharmacy (at least here at the big W), but I don't think we can tell when the gap is coming up, just that the price you're being charged is being applied.
I haven't had it happen in a while, but I used to occasionally have an old old (I am a young old) complain about the gap and "that damn obamacare". I would then have to remind them that part D was put in place by Shrub II, and it was a gift to the drug companies. Also too that the ACA is slowly closing the gap. As long as the thugs continue to fail to repeal, the gap will eventually close. Now we just need to get the ability for medicare to negotiate drug prices and it'll be real insurance.
tl;dr: medicare part D sucks frequently, but it's better than when there was no medicare drug program, when my heart was broken on a daily basis.
I am not diabetic, so I only know what several people standing in line at the pharmacy told me on multiple occasions, and they said their Part D plans did not cover insulin. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
I have Medicare and also have a private supplemental plan and prescription insurance, so I know how that part works. To qualify for Medicare I had to pay into Medicare for many years when I worked. I pay three monthly fees.
My point was that people who are perfectly satisfied now with the plan they have will not want to change in any way and that could cause a lot of resistance. We already saw this when the ACA began and some people lost their cheap, substandard plans that didn't actually cover anything. They were better off, but didn't know it. That emotional resistance is why I suggested Medicare should at first be offered as an option.
How do you think those people and their current should be handled during a transition to Medicare for All?
Stress can cause a lot of snarling. I snarl at my cats when I have a migraine and they dare to exist near me. Fortunately they ignore it, so I hope the volunteers can too.
Right now, I'm worried about my Dad. Mom's gone, but he's still kicking, and he needs mycophenalate (sp?) and Aetna has decided they don't wanna pay for it anymore. They SAID they told him, and he did get a letter about it... well after the enrollment period was over! He's exhausted all his "in the system" options for getting them to change their minds, and they refused. So he's paying full price for his meds, and they're cheaper than the insulin was, but only by about $200...
IMO, just let them keep on doing what they're doing now, if that's what they prefer. It works for us in Australia, & I can't think of any good reason not to do the same in the US. And I agree with you about the emotional issues, which were a huge problem with the ACA roll-out.
We did. It was especially hard for me, because I don't like taking lip from anyone, especially when you're trying to help them. God bless the volunteers in FL. Edited to add: I'm sorry to hear that you get migrains. They are terrible.
ROFL! I don't want to judge how someone who has just lost everything they owned reacts in a situation like that, but some of those folks were pretty mean to some of the volunteers. I guess it just could have been stress, but jeez!
Vermont also has a small population,limited business tax base and an aging population. Most of the healthcare providers are paid less than elsewhere and it's one of the reason we have a shortage of practioners aincluding GPs (which are I. Shortage nationwide) to specialists. If I recall, the GM plan never got off the ground and was a product of the State Legislature and then Governor Peter Shumlin, not Sanders. It could never have succeeded without Federal support, Vermont simply lacks thee resources and has greater costs proportional to the size of the population. Now if California tried it, maybe things would be different. In the end though, it has to have federal support because individuals can't afford to pay the taxes required to provide the service at the same time they are a paying increasing amounts of money for private insurance.
He may be sponsoring it, but rest assured people with a greater aptitude for planning will be responsible for designing the actual blueprints. Unless the Dems aren't really sincere, in which case we're fucked anyway.
"Now if California tried it, maybe things would be different."
Funny you should mention that, California has trotted out a proposal and it is expected to cost as much as the entire current state budget. New York is running into the same thing. And Colorado put it on the ballot last November, and it failed by a margin of 79% - 21%. That is not a typo; single payer couldn't crack 25%, in a blue state no less. That's what happens when you actually work out the costs rather than, you know, assume they'll take care of themselves.
The size of the state isn't the issue, the issue is cost per capita.
"individuals can't afford to pay the taxes required to provide the service at the same time they are a paying increasing amounts of money for private insurance."
You do understand that the single payer would be REPLACING the private insurance, right? They wouldn't be paying both at once, and whoever told they would deserves an extended swirlie.
The problem remains medical COSTS, and responsible legislators would be focusing on regulating medical providers. Sanders is not even the tiniest bit responsible, and I'm starting to have my doubts about his new pals.
The sharks there were quite happy to be getting all the evil gubmint Obamamoney help they could get, though. Maybe we could call tornadoes the "Flying Fickle Finger of Fate?"
Are you talking about medicare part D, or part B? I'm a pharmacist, and I have never seen part D outright deny insulin, full stop. They may require a different one (the same type made by the other company that makes insulin), or if it's really crappy insurance, the vials instead of the pens, but never have I seen a plan that just doesn't pay for any insulin.
eta: actually, I don't think I've ever seen part D deny pens vs. vials, only some of the medicaid programs.
As pharmacist, I've tried to figure out how people could do that every year, but there just doesn't seem to be a way to do it. You never know how much the insurance is actually paying toward the drug (the little thing on the receipt at the pharmacy is how much they saved you from the cash price), so you can't even keep track yourself. There's some info we can see in the pharmacy (at least here at the big W), but I don't think we can tell when the gap is coming up, just that the price you're being charged is being applied.
I haven't had it happen in a while, but I used to occasionally have an old old (I am a young old) complain about the gap and "that damn obamacare". I would then have to remind them that part D was put in place by Shrub II, and it was a gift to the drug companies. Also too that the ACA is slowly closing the gap. As long as the thugs continue to fail to repeal, the gap will eventually close. Now we just need to get the ability for medicare to negotiate drug prices and it'll be real insurance.
tl;dr: medicare part D sucks frequently, but it's better than when there was no medicare drug program, when my heart was broken on a daily basis.
I am not diabetic, so I only know what several people standing in line at the pharmacy told me on multiple occasions, and they said their Part D plans did not cover insulin. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
I have Medicare and also have a private supplemental plan and prescription insurance, so I know how that part works. To qualify for Medicare I had to pay into Medicare for many years when I worked. I pay three monthly fees.
My point was that people who are perfectly satisfied now with the plan they have will not want to change in any way and that could cause a lot of resistance. We already saw this when the ACA began and some people lost their cheap, substandard plans that didn't actually cover anything. They were better off, but didn't know it. That emotional resistance is why I suggested Medicare should at first be offered as an option.
How do you think those people and their current should be handled during a transition to Medicare for All?
Stress can cause a lot of snarling. I snarl at my cats when I have a migraine and they dare to exist near me. Fortunately they ignore it, so I hope the volunteers can too.
I wonder if now would be a bad time to suggest that Texas follow through with their secession plan?
Only to the secessionists, of course.
Right now, I'm worried about my Dad. Mom's gone, but he's still kicking, and he needs mycophenalate (sp?) and Aetna has decided they don't wanna pay for it anymore. They SAID they told him, and he did get a letter about it... well after the enrollment period was over! He's exhausted all his "in the system" options for getting them to change their minds, and they refused. So he's paying full price for his meds, and they're cheaper than the insulin was, but only by about $200...
IMO, just let them keep on doing what they're doing now, if that's what they prefer. It works for us in Australia, & I can't think of any good reason not to do the same in the US. And I agree with you about the emotional issues, which were a huge problem with the ACA roll-out.
Maybe don't non-comment that medicare doesn't cover insulin if you don't really know. That kind of thing scares people.
We did. It was especially hard for me, because I don't like taking lip from anyone, especially when you're trying to help them. God bless the volunteers in FL. Edited to add: I'm sorry to hear that you get migrains. They are terrible.
typical I am a girl and I am a victim. She set up teh server and she lied about it. I know accountability is only for males in your world.