Trump: Don't worry, and try not to die, unless you're a Democrat

Something poor old DonDiego missed responding to earlier:

Kevin Lewis stated: "DonDiego echoes Boilerman's contention that people should 'prepare for life' and be able to see the future so that they will know if they will have a serious accident or develop a life-threatening condition. That preparation must of necessity include setting aside several hundred thousand dollars to not only pay for the treatment necessary, but also to be able to survive financially for several months or even years."

This is exaclty WRONG.

One cannot accurately perceive the future and "know they will have a serious accident or develop a life-threatening condition."

That is why medical insurance exists.  Precisely so if one ever does need it one get needed medical treatment without

i. personal impoverishment and

ii. the need to set aside several hundred thousanfd dollars.  

Pre-Medicare the health insurance DonDiego references cost Three times as much for seniors as it did for younger people.      Or about 30k in today’s money.    So DonDiego would spend over a half million dollars in premiums between the ages of 60 and 80....and if lived to the rip old age of 90 it would be several hundred grand more.    

Ah, the good ole days before Socialism. 

DonDiego doesn't seem to understand that medical insurance, in today's for-profit environment, is no guarantee that you'll receive adequate care, or any care at all. In an earlier post, I outlined half a dozen things that can go wrong even if you do have insurance.

He also doesn't understand that there are tens of millions of people who have been denied insurance or will be thrown off insurance rolls, because they have preexisting conditions---his orange hero has destroyed the previous protections afforded to such individuals. Because, y'know, it's something that Obama did.

I was being sarcastic about knowing the future--Boilerbaby seems to think we all should be able to.

Don Diego and Boiler don't get how modern medical insurance works. The average premium share an employee pays on an employer plan is 1k per month. The average out of pocket cap on such a plan is $17,500.  If you have a family member that has a chronic condition you are expected to out-pocket $29,500 a year at a bare minimum.

From my experience, with a chronic condition, there are a lot of things not covered under any plan. For example, my Obamacare policy only pays for 60% of the cost of oxygen even after all out of pockets have been met so that alone is another $4,800 a year.  In addition, a lot of the more expensive medications aren't covered under any plan's formulary and those are out of pocket as well. 

The bottom line is unless you have millions of dollars in reserve it is impossible to plan for a family member that develops or is born with a chronic condition that needs ongoing treatment.

I note if you make 80k a year and pay 40k off the top as medical costs with insurance, you still pay taxes like you make 80k. 

Yeah, Trump's bigly wonderful tax breaks for the rich included a complete destruction of the medical expenses deduction! That ass-fucks everyone who has substantial out-of-pocket medical expenses that exceed the increase in the standard deduction (about $6,000--which we all know can be burned up in a single day's stay at the hospital).

That pretty much slipped under the radar amid the larger discussion of tax breaks for the rich and corporations. Itemized deductions were meant to treat fairly people who had unusual, non-recurring large expenses, like casualty, theft, medical, etc. Trump destroyed every single one of the itemized deductions--even the mortgage interest deduction!--and he had the gall to crow that he was helping Joe Taxpayer!

Of course, Boilerbaby and Don are utterly ignorant of all this.

Not everyone has the opportunity to do that. Not everyone has the funds or the time. Not everyone is smart enough. It's not just a matter of hard work. Not everyone can obtain a university education. Not everyone has a dearth of family obligations. Not everyone is healthy or physically able enough. Not everyone is mentally or emotionally ready or able to earn a degree.

It's a tired old conservative shibboleth. Just work your butt off and you, too, can pull off a Horatio Alger. Unfortunately, life isn't nearly as simplistic as Boiler thinks it is.