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Topic: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare  (Read 15998 times)

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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #60 on: March 06, 2017, 10:41:47 AM »
I'd strongly caution people on things like this, cause that sounds like a scam & a half.


What about it sounds like a scam?  The person concerned had participated in the forum for years and many people had met him personally. 

Otherwise, from the range of responses on this thread it seems that these kinds of campaigns are common, both here and the US. 

So why the assumption that it's a scam? 


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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #61 on: March 06, 2017, 04:47:18 PM »
What about it sounds like a scam?  The person concerned had participated in the forum for years and many people had met him personally. 

Otherwise, from the range of responses on this thread it seems that these kinds of campaigns are common, both here and the US. 

So why the assumption that it's a scam?

I agree, it does not sound at all like a scam to me.  What does sound like a scam is this:

I don't have health insurance now. I haven't for most of my adult life and avoided like the plague using it when I did have it because unlike the rest of you, my doctor had to report my condition to my employer and I could be fired if I developed a medical problem that might be an issue. Cause that's how the military works.


Is he paying the tax penalty each year for not having Health Insurance under the ACA mandate?

Is he being employed illegally by hiding a medical condition, I certainly wouldn't like to think of, say, a pilot with a heart defect flying around.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2017, 04:55:38 PM by durhamlad »
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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #62 on: March 06, 2017, 05:02:04 PM »
You are right Durham Lad, I trust that sick guy a lot more than I trust that Texas2Uk is simply pointing out both sides of the argument without judging either.  Like SoS pointed out, there is a lot of subtle judging going on.

Although I can't claim to be an expert on everything said on this thread, much of it was big walls of text I had to skip. 



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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #63 on: March 06, 2017, 09:42:58 PM »
I don't have health insurance now. I haven't for most of my adult life and avoided like the plague using it when I did have it because unlike the rest of you, my doctor had to report my condition to my employer and I could be fired if I developed a medical problem that might be an issue. Cause that's how the military works.

Is he paying the tax penalty each year for not having Health Insurance under the ACA mandate?

I don't know for sure, but my guess is Texas2uk is retired military, in which case he may get his health care through the system set up for retired military people rather than by having traditional insurance like a civilian would. Again, I don't know the dude; I'm guessing.

Is he being employed illegally by hiding a medical condition, I certainly wouldn't like to think of, say, a pilot with a heart defect flying around.

I can't speak for all military people, or for what it's like today, but when I was in the US Air Force most pilots avoided doctors at all costs, as they didn't want a doctor to discover something that would disqualify them from flying.*

It's hard to make out any detail in Texas2uk's profile pic, but it looks to me like he might have been a US Army officer, and I'm sure they have similar medical qualifications to avoid.

*Just to be perfectly clear, I wasn't a pilot. I know a few of them, though. :)


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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #64 on: March 08, 2017, 01:23:46 PM »
But is Texas2UK comparing apples with apples anyway? I don't know how the US system works (or even if it varies by state), but in the UK there is also welfare state provision for people who cannot afford food or housing etc etc.

I'm not suggesting that this is perfect in any way, and of course there are people who fall through the cracks, but the intention is that part of the monies paid to the government through taxes is also applied to help people in such dire straits as well as to healthcare. The idea, and again, I'm not saying it always works, is that a person should never be without basic essentials, so there is no need to make a choice between, say, food and healthcare - both should be provided for, either via welfare benefits or the NHS.

Does that also apply in the US?
« Last Edit: March 09, 2017, 09:15:05 AM by Flibbertigibbet »


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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #65 on: March 08, 2017, 05:08:36 PM »
But is Texas2UK comparing apples with apples anyway? I don't know how the US system works (or even if it varies by state), but in the UK there is also welfare state provision for people who cannot afford food or housing etc etc.

I'm not suggesting that this is perfect in any way, and of course there are people who fall through the cracks, but the intention is that part of the monies paid to the government through taxes is also applied to help people in such dire straits as well to healthcare. The idea, and again, I'm not saying it always works, is that a person should never be without basic essentials, so there is no need to make a choice between, say, food and healthcare - both should be provided for, either via welfare benefits or the NHS.

Does that also apply in the US?

In the US people who are low income and need food are issued with "food stamps" (these days it tends to be a debit card that is topped up with money that can only be used in stores to buy groceries, at least that is how it works in Texas).  Quite independent of food needs, healthcare for the poor is provided through a benefit called Medicaid where they essentially pay nothing.  I was a voluntary tax preparer the first year I retired, in 2010.  This was a free service to low income folks and one family I did a return for had had a devastating year.  Mother with 3 young children did not work and her husband, a security guard, had a heart attack (he was in his late 40's), and lost his job which had no health insurance anyway. This was tax year 2009, prior to the ACA (aka Obamacare). It was the mother I was working with on the tax return and when I asked her how much they paid out in healthcare costs (to get her a tax break) she said, "Not a penny, Medicaid was wonderful, the hospital that admitted him and went on to do quadruple by-pass surgery charged it all to Medicaid.

Because her husband had worked for less than 6 months that year his tax withholdings from his wages far exceeded what he needed to pay and she was absolutely delighted when I informed her that she was due a refund of over $2k.
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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #66 on: March 09, 2017, 11:38:34 AM »
A volunteer tax preparer?  You are a saint.  I would rather gnaw my arm off.


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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #67 on: March 09, 2017, 08:47:44 PM »
I know when Obama care first started I was so exited I thought finally I would be able to get healthcare, I had not had it since I was a teenager. When it first started you went to the website and filled in your details. Come to find out at the time I was bringing home just over $1200 per month to support myself and son(food, rent, phone, petrol, car payment) I was told I would have to pay $258.00 a month just for myself to have health insurance, I was not eligible for help with the cost and so still could not get healthcare and I had to pay the $1000.00 fine each year because I did not have insurance. It is ridiculous that in America you are forced to go to the A&E if you get sick enough because you can at least make payments. And for me with chronic bronchitis and frequent bouts of pneumonia it was only option I had.


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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #68 on: March 10, 2017, 11:38:06 AM »
What ?  If you are too poor to afford health care you have to pay a thousand dollar fine?  I'm s that for real?


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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #69 on: March 10, 2017, 04:57:41 PM »
What ?  If you are too poor to afford health care you have to pay a thousand dollar fine?  I'm s that for real?

I assume that if you are too poor and end up on Medicaid that you don't get fined.  However many Republican led States did not expand the income levels for Medicaid up to the bottom of the income level that qualified for ACA subsidies. So, many are in that dead zone where they can't afford insurance, but earn too much to get Medicaid so get fined for not having insurance.

Prescription coverage for the elderly on Medicare has a similar deadzone.  I have a friend whose wife has COPD and needs lots of meds each year. To begin with the prescriptions are subsidized then once past a certain $ amount he has to pay full price for a while until he hits a maximum $ amount and then they are subsidized again.  It's known as the "Part D Donut Hole" and there are calculators to try and figure it out

https://q1medicare.com/PartD-DonutHole-CoverageGap-Calculator.php



You couldn't make this stuff up...

It's the American way, the best government money can buy.
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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #70 on: March 10, 2017, 05:52:54 PM »
I assume that if you are too poor and end up on Medicaid that you don't get fined.  However many Republican led States did not expand the income levels for Medicaid up to the bottom of the income level that qualified for ACA subsidies. So, many are in that dead zone where they can't afford insurance, but earn too much to get Medicaid so get fined for not having insurance.

Prescription coverage for the elderly on Medicare has a similar deadzone.  I have a friend whose wife has COPD and needs lots of meds each year. To begin with the prescriptions are subsidized then once past a certain $ amount he has to pay full price for a while until he hits a maximum $ amount and then they are subsidized again.  It's known as the "Part D Donut Hole" and there are calculators to try and figure it out

https://q1medicare.com/PartD-DonutHole-CoverageGap-Calculator.php



You couldn't make this stuff up...

It's the American way, the best government money can buy.

My parents can't afford it and they had the $700 fine. But I'm not sure if they paid it or not...
The usual. American girl meets British guy. They fall into like, then into love. Then there was the big decision. The American traveled across the pond to join the Brit. And life was never the same again.


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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #71 on: March 10, 2017, 07:24:07 PM »
My parents can't afford it and they had the $700 fine. But I'm not sure if they paid it or not...

It is actually a tax payment so if they filed taxes it is hard to see how they could avoid it. The IRS can garner wages, take money directly from your bank account etc.
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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #72 on: March 10, 2017, 10:27:33 PM »
It is actually a tax payment so if they filed taxes it is hard to see how they could avoid it. The IRS can garner wages, take money directly from your bank account etc.

Well, considering the government doesn't audit every single person every year you could just lie on your taxes and they wouldn't catch it until you were audited. I doubt my parents wold do that, but you could.
The usual. American girl meets British guy. They fall into like, then into love. Then there was the big decision. The American traveled across the pond to join the Brit. And life was never the same again.


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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #73 on: March 11, 2017, 08:56:19 AM »
Well, considering the government doesn't audit every single person every year you could just lie on your taxes and they wouldn't catch it until you were audited. I doubt my parents wold do that, but you could.

Employers are required to submit a 1095-C  to the IRS, copy to the employee, that indicates if they were enrolled in an insurance plan and the dates they were covered. If you worked for several employers during the year then you'd receive multiple 1095-Cs. The instructions are not to file them with your return as the IRS computer system will have the data so the IRS knows the number of days you are covered by employment.
https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/individuals-and-families/heres-what-you-need-to-do-with-your-form-1095c

I've not done government or individual health insurance myself but understand they will also issue 1095's to the IRS (1095-A or 1095-B)

With the latest proposal in Congress for replacing the ACA the bill is 66 pages long and includes 6 pages on how to prevent big lottery winners from gaining access to the health insurance subsidies.

Of course I'm sure the IRS doesn't chase down every miscreant.

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Re: Americans begging for money to pay for basic healthcare
« Reply #74 on: March 11, 2017, 09:08:09 AM »
Employers are required to submit a 1095-C  to the IRS, copy to the employee, that indicates if they were enrolled in an insurance plan and the dates they were covered. If you worked for several employers during the year then you'd receive multiple 1095-Cs. The instructions are not to file them with your return as the IRS computer system will have the data so the IRS knows the number of days you are covered by employment.
https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/individuals-and-families/heres-what-you-need-to-do-with-your-form-1095c

I've not done government or individual health insurance myself but understand they will also issue 1095's to the IRS (1095-A or 1095-B)

With the latest proposal in Congress for replacing the ACA the bill is 66 pages long and includes 6 pages on how to prevent big lottery winners from gaining access to the health insurance subsidies.

Of course I'm sure the IRS doesn't chase down every miscreant.
Ah, very interesting. I had no idea.

Thank for the info!
The usual. American girl meets British guy. They fall into like, then into love. Then there was the big decision. The American traveled across the pond to join the Brit. And life was never the same again.


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