Suzi, I'm afraid the government is letting the insurance companied run a muck. Even my DH military insurance is going sky high and not covering near as much. They are even taking away the supplement insurance telling us that we have to get regular insurance making them a secondary/supplement insurance. This way they don't have to pay as much. When DH retires he will get medicare/ tricare for life. Tricare for life is free but you have to have medicare or they will not cover you but this is another 12 years from now and that could all change as they've changed in the past two years charging more for insurance.
I went over dad's insurance and found myself lost, it's not clear cut. It has gone up, deducible and medicine. He does not have a supplement and have wondered if he should get a more health insurance cause he has been in and out of the hospital 3 times in less than two years but I'm afraid I'll making the wrong decision for him.
Sorry I don't have an answer to question but it helped me to vent.

Government has been in the pockets of the drug firms for years. It will take a better person than ANY of the current candidates, to change that trend.

Yes, people will, in the future, have to make a decision to either go bankrupt, or die. Many will simply be forced to choose the latter.

Take some solace, though, from the fact that there are way too many people in the world already, and the world population is expected to DOUBLE by 2050.

Hanging around, unnecessarily, is bound to become a discouraged activity.

OH MY MY MY Rick, your are always so cheerful LOL.
Well, they wanted to make it so we live longer and now that we do they want to make our life hard.
Did they not think ahead of time as to what they'd do with millions of old baby boomers? Dare I say they spent our money ahead of time with all of their funding welfare, WIC, on and on and on and on....
Guess they live in the moment, only looking a few years ahead not 50 or 100 and think what could come out of this and their still doing it.
I myself could be the type to think that DH and I will be fine in our golden years, set financially because of both mine and my husband inheritance but I don't look at it like that, no money is safe who's to say something may come up and it's all gone. I don't count my chickens before they are hatched and then I wait to make sure they make it to maturity.

Golden years aren't so golden for the average person. More like nickel than gold.

The situation isn't much better in the UK, where they have national health care, so don't be too discouraged about the US situation. (They actually do little for some kinds of conditions, because they are so costly to treat.)

Japan has one the most aging populations in today's world, but then they have a burgeoning population, just the same.

Being cheerful is for those with no cares. I am an ordinary person, who has lived life's ups and downs, and have only what I have been able to earn for myself. I look at the world for what it is, and not what it should be. We are not likely to see what it should be, anytime in the predictable future.

There isn't much, that humans do, that makes sense in the larger picture, anyway.

We already live longer than our personal income and wealth will support, so why they want to make it possible for us to live longer, I haven't any idea.

Old age today, is more about living beyond our physical abilities, anyway. 200 yrs. ago the average life span was 58. At that age, you could still be physically able to work, still incomplete control of your faculties, and still have the respect of younger people.

Today, we live so long that we become senile, physically incapacitated, blind, deaf, and deal with all manner of physical limitations.

You really do have to ask...."what is the point"?

Live life now. Old age is not living, and you must live life fully before you reach that point. Once you reach that point, you are not living.....you are waiting to die. It matters little, whether you can afford medicines and health care, by then, as they will simply keep you alive, they will NOT give you a life.

The world cares not, about how we would like it to be.....it is what it is, and we must accept its reality.

Those who see through rose colored glasses, call a realist a pessimist, because a realist does not live in a fantasy world.

I don't think euthanizing old people is gonna fly Rick. I'm hoping the yoga,martial arts and weight training will pay off when I'm older. PJ

They shoot deer, don't they?

I have to agree with you Rick. I'm watching my dad slipping in and out daily, never knowing what the day will bring. Some days are good then other days are bad. He knows it just a wait game at this point and I hear the hurt in his voice wishing it was over and not have to endure any more. I see a plea of help in his eyes saying why can't it just be over, I'm tired and it's taking everything just to go about everyday living. Simple as going to the restroom without having to take something to make you go and in his case also not urinating right, going 6 hours without going pee leaves him with a lot of anxiety.
It's not a quality life but I can say that dad and I have had a lot of good times together these past two years getting on a higher level in our relationship. It is very draining on me and sometimes I'd like to pull my hair out, cause I can't do anything to help him other than what any human can do for another.
This is way I've always hoped that when I go it's just that I'm gone exit stage left, much like my uncle did.
Here today gone tomorrow with no real health problems that dragged him down. He past of an Aortic aneurysm.

There is a part of me that recognizes, that I have to make that decision for myself, when the time comes. Others are not permitted to make that decision for me, so it will be up to me to make it, while I still can.

If I wait too long, I will be physically unable to make the choice, and if I act too soon, I will deny myself some quality time I may have.

It is a matter of timing.

If I wait too long, I will be physically unable to make the choice, and if I act too soon, I will deny myself some quality time I may have.

Can't you do this through a lawyer? Have it setup so that when the time comes they do as you wish.
I've got to look into this someday cause I do not want my kids taking care of me. I will go into a home of some type.
Hopefully a good home. The list is long for my reasons for not wanting my kids caring for me but now that I'm taking care of my dad I know how hard it is on a person and don't want to do it to my kids.
My granny had Alzheimer's for two years she didn't even know who her own kids were, They had to set picture of them out when they were young and they'd point moma thats me and she'd say OH. My dad lived next door for 45 years and when he'd go over she'd ask him where do you live. It was hurtful to see granny this way. My uncle was in charge of her and I know she didn't get the best of care but my hands were tied. I pray that I don't get Alzheimer's or leave this world before it happens if I should have it.

Barb

Hi ALL!
Im not posting much these days..sooo many 'situations' Im trying to cope with..but let me explain...
I work at an Insurance Co. that is self-funded. I have been here for 19 yrs. in March. I have seen the Medicare go thru so many changes...meaning..things they use to pay for they won't IF you have another Ins (supplemental).
I think Govmnt has really hit the Ins. industry hard..but what they are not hitting hard is the cost the Hospitals and Doctors charge...
This is what makes Ins premiums so high..
When I first started working, if you took your child in for their immunizations it would cost average of $150.00 for everything...
These days...they break every single charge down...office visit, to inject the imm. the imm. itself..and again inject the imm. another imm. etc...the average cost now for a regular well child visit is $650.-$800.00 (sometimes more)
Same as a hospital stay..if you take one of their regular tylenol they charge you on average between $12.00-18.00 per pill!
Sick office visits have soared from an average of $75.00 when I first started to average of $120.- $450.
and prescriptions have gone too far!!!
Medicare is able to only allow so much for these charges which is majorly lower than the actal charge.. (example: office visit: Dr charge $125.00 Medicare will allow $48.00, and pay 80% of that) but Ins. company's do not have this same right...IF all Ins. companies were to be able to allow the same thing Medicare allows, medical would be so much less expensive...I don't mean to cheat the great Dr's or Hospitals, but their charges have gone to the extreme now days...I see it everyday..and Im absolutely dumb founded..and Ive been there so long, I would think nothing would surprise me anymore...you should just sit and look at a hospital itemized billing...
I do agree there is nothing out there that ppl can afford when they are on Medicare or more so when they retire and or not yet on Medicare (age 62).....its very scary!! My mom and dad are going thru this right now..and it is so sad to me!
Why don't we fight the medical offices and hospitals to quit quadriple charging for everything, and then have the ability to fight soaring ins. costs...
sighhh....its very sad to see this every day...
Anyway...Im sorry If I offended anyone I really am not on the side of expensive insurance..but Im really not on the side of nothing being regulated for cost towards doctors or hospitals....
I know long post..
Hi EVERYONE!
Dena

Hi Dena,

Yes, but that isn't the whole story either.

Today doctors are paying huge malpractice rates, and the cost of everything they do and provide has escalated dramatically as well. From wages for office help, to the cost of an anesthesiologist during surgeries, to supplies, infection control items (a major difference from just 10 yrs. ago), and other things.

The problem is basically, that all pricing is based on a percentage of markup, and for every dollar of increased costs, the markup is 2-3 times that cost, to provide for a profit. (In any business, and medicine is still a business.)

Drs. have the same increases in property taxes, energy costs, and personal taxes, that we all do, as well.

Medical tuition costs have also been skyrocketing, making student loans HUGE, by the time they get through school, and frankly almost everyone of them has student loans to pay off, at today's tuition rates.

So, while they may have some room to cut their fees, it is probably a lot less than you think, and for younger doctors, considerably less than you think.

Medicine has simply become too expensive, overall, and people will have to cut their use of medical services, to bring the cost down. It is really that simple. Demand exceeds supply, keeping costs high.

Wow am I behind.
I absolutely agree with you Rick...I should know about the malpractice insurance. My brother n law was a Dr. and he could not afford to run his own practice because of the malpractice insurance being so out of control...Im not sure that there is a right answer anymore...sighhh
Happy belated Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!
Dena