Who did you vote for, Jeff?
WHO DID YOU VOTE FOR, JEFF‽
As if both parties aren’t in the pocket of the insurance industry.
Why don’t you tell us?
I don’t know. that’s why I’m asking.
Extremely weird comment when you have no idea about his political views. It doesn’t really matter how the guy voted either, it’s a sad story about a couple being fucked over by the US medical and insurance cartels, and it is needlessly cruel to gloat over it.
I refuse to even consider feeling bad for somebody if they voted for exactly what they got.
so if that information won’t be provided, I will hold out judgement and ignore the article
They just wanted cheaper eggs.
The best healthcare in the world is what these Republicans and blue dogs say.
Maybe it is for those who can afford it.
The title is hella misleading. This guy is doing really well. Why was this posted??
She was sent home a day after because we couldn’t afford it.
This is standard normal American thing. Can’t pay the bill? Die, scum! This isn’t new. This isn’t Trump. This is America, always has been. Be proud of it!
I’m so happy that I don’t live in that hell hole
Capitalism is super cool.
Trash country is trash.
Spent his whole life voting against the evils of socialism. I want to barf in his cab.
How do you know that? Article doesn’t seem to mention his voting habits, and his wife worked for an environmental testing company, doesn’t sound very Maga or even remotely Republican to me
Where does it say anything about how he voted?
Right there in the statistics, probably.
If you’re talking about the false assumption that boomers all vote Republican, then sure.
What percentage of boomers vote Republican? Is it a minority or…
It’s a slight majority, like 53:47.
Boomer construction manager, do the math. Boomers have fought healthcare reform their whole lives because other people get sick.
Oh, so it doesn’t and you’re just making a wild assumption. Cool.
@grok define prejudice
What you’re doing here is literally the definition of a straw man argument.
Owns a home and a six figure retirement account balance. Tiny violins.
Pull himself up by his own bootstraps
All the old people who are getting into trouble because of life, have had their whole lives to stear politics into a more social direction to prevent all of this from happening.
Reminder that GenZ swung Trump.
It’s pretty hard to stear politics in a more progressive direction when the society you live in is uneducated as fuck and uneducated people turn into conservative voters.
All I ever hear from Americans is complaining everything is shit, there’s nothing they can do, nothing will ever change because others need to do it and not them which will never happen.
That way it will never change, if no one does anything and everyone is just perfecting their victim role.
Go educate people, get into politics, fight fake news, kill a health insurance CEO, etc.
Trump was the progressive candidate in that election. He offered change, Kamala didn’t. Kamala was the ‘business as usual’ candidate.
If the D offer up a candidate on a change platform, they’d get the votes. But they didn’t. Hopefully they do in '28.
I think you should look up the definition of progressive.
Change doesn’t mean progress.
You’re not wrong, but that generation has some wild variance in politics and leopards eat everyone’s faces if you let them
So the medical system is putting an elderly person to work and on the road at that.
So if he crashes and injure himself and another person the insurance company can get money from 3 different incidents two of which were avoidable.
I bet they are in their offices saying, “TRIPLE KILL”
I bet they are in their offices saying, “TRIPLE KILL”
I can hear this phrase.
DooOOMINATING!!!
M-m-m-m-monster kill
kill - kill - kill
that’s just sad. At 76, he should be rejoicing in retirement. It’s pretty fucked up. :/
My grandparents are going through it too. Grandma had a stroke. Grandpa can’t afford the medical bills. They apparently had to get divorced so that insurance would help, so I’ve heard… but yeah. They had to fly my youngest brother into town so that he could care for my grandma while my grandfather works.
I’m sorry. It’s not fair. I wish your family well
That’s sad. Not just sad, but inhumane. As a species we are closer to our destruction.
I hope monkeys take over the world. they at least would have a better chance at forming a agreeable and domestic society that isn’t run by narcissists that are grossly overpaid and have the power to put wealth in the pockets of people down on their luck(*) and who form a unjust hierarchy that classes people by their fortune and therefore prevents some people to afford housing or medical bills, and which the rich people are afraid that they will have to give some money up to pay for simple tasks like repairing roads and constructing buildings. So, naturally, the people that are living paycheck-to-paycheck have to “chip in” and “do their part in this great American economy” while trying to keep financially afloat and survive. Maybe monkeys will see earlier on that this is not the solution. Monkey for president.
*
(did you know that was my wife whom you decided to-whaaa?!) from Hamilton original Broadway cast and recording by Lin-Manuel Miranda and others, on Amazon music. as you can tell I have an Alexa and listen to Hamilton quite a bit.
Nobody commenting is reading the article.
The headline suggests that medical bills drove them into poverty so much so that he’s had to be driving for Uber at 76. Thats not the case, and the article lays it all out.
It looks like about 25 years after the medical bills wiped them out financially, they recovered financially:
I really didn’t want to retire in my 60s, but we were getting older, and my wife wanted me to be spending more time at home. When I retired, I had some equity in my home and around $300,000 in my IRA. I also started to fund an IRA for my wife, which I built to mid-five figures. This allowed us to travel extensively within the US for the first few years. But a part of me felt like we probably weren’t going to live that long anyway because everybody around us was dying.
We should be celebrating two things:
- the fact that the ACA passed into law and that what happened to this couple in the 1990s can’t happen again under today’s law
- the hard work they did rebuilding financially to have over $350k in savings + home equity and have have a comfortable retirement to be able to afford extensive travel they did in retirement.
Except that the Republicans in congress have refused to allocate funding for ACA subsidies, which means this WILL happen again. This is a lesson from the past about the sort of outcomes we have to look forward to.
Except that the Republicans in congress have refused to allocate funding for ACA subsidies, which means this WILL happen again.
If you read the article you’d know the ACA benefits point I mentioned has nothing to do with subsidies on insurance premiums. It has to do with prior to the ACA insurance companies could deny coverage for preexisting conditions.
I did read the article, and that’s true, but insurance companies have been using that as an excuse to drive up premiums at record rates for years now (and making very healthy profits as a result, no pun intended). In my state, the exchange prices went up an average of 21% this year due to the loss of ACA subsidies. It doesn’t help a lot to know that they are legally required to offer you coverage if you can’t afford to pay for it.
I’m in my early 50s. Over my life, I’ve been very diligent about saving, and I expect to have what I thought would be enough to retire in my 60s. But I’m looking at the cost of health care going forward and I’m very concerned that I won’t be able to afford it.
I did read the article, and that’s true, but insurance companies have been using that as an excuse to drive up premiums at record rates for years now (and making very healthy profits as a result, no pun intended).
I don’t disagree that health insurance companies (and their business practices) aren’t serving Americans well. However, as the article lays out the couple had the ability and will to pay for insurance premiums. The issue during the 90s was that any gap in coverage would mean health issues found during the gap wouldn’t be covered even when paying new premiums. That was fixed with the ACA. I was commenting on the article and their situation.
In my state, the exchange prices went up an average of 21% this year due to the loss of ACA subsidies. It doesn’t help a lot to know that they are legally required to offer you coverage if you can’t afford to pay for it.
I’m in my early 50s. Over my life, I’ve been very diligent about saving, and I expect to have what I thought would be enough to retire in my 60s. But I’m looking at the cost of health care going forward and I’m very concerned that I won’t be able to afford it.
I agree with everything you said here. Republicans are poisoning that portion of the ACA unrelated to the article. I’m also doing the same math you are about making sure I have healthcare until Medicare kicks in. For many, health coverage will be the defining metric to when we can retire. Some of us are discussing that exact topic in a different Lemmy community.
If I was staring down cancer like that, just fucking kill me. Quit the game before my family pays through the nose for my inevitable death.
