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Health & Fitness

Health Care Reform: There is so Much 'Hype'

Health care costs for an elderly couple keep going up.

There is so much "hype" on Obamacare proposals.  Hospitals and MD's are stuck with costs from uninsured patients and inadequate reimbursements from Medicare. Costs are pushed off on uninsured patients with assets until they are forced into bankruptcy.  Meanwhile for-profit private insurers are charging more in premiums and denying more claims while executives are paid more. There are no easy answers. 

But surely requiring more people (young drivers and motorcycle owners for one category) to purchase medical insurance and requiring more transparency from healthcare insurers regarding ratio of premiums charged and claims paid may have merit.

Health savings accounts may not be adequate.

Be informed, be alert!

Health Care Costs for Dick and Joan Wayman 2011:
 
Medicare Premium                                          $100 each per month
Pharmaceuticals United Health Care                     40 each per month
Medigap United Health Care                               210 each per month
Total Each                                                       $350 each per month
 
Total $700 X’s 12 months = $8400 for two
Amway (former employer) Benefit Health Savings Account is $2100 for two beneficiaries) = $6300 total annual costs for both.
 
Note: Amway (former employer) health savings will not increase while United Health Care  premiums  increased by 27 percent.
 
Dick fell into a donut hole for an additional pharmaceutical cost of $5,000+ in 2010 for an estimated $11,300 in health care costs for 2011. Over-the-counter vitamin and mineral supplements were not included in that estimate.
 
In addition, we invested $180,000 in an annuity that earns 3 percent annual interest that can be used tax-free for long-term care that would last about three years each at current costs.

Medicare and other insurers do not pay for assisted living or skilled nursing care.
 
My sister, Shirley, and her husband, are rapidly depleting their savings at an alarming rate for her husband's care in assisted living.

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