Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

I did not get too many comments on this as a blog, so I decided that I would try to post it here.  I feel that this is very important to each of us, especially to our children.

I have two pet peeves that I am looking to change.  I will probably work on these until the life has been taken away from me. 
The first one is Insurance.
What is insurance? 
The word Insurance was defined in Merriam Webster's Dictionary in 1651 as
1 a: the business of insuring persons or property b: coverage by contract whereby one party undertakes to indemnify or guarantee another against loss by a specified contingency or peril c: the sum for which something is insured2: a means of guaranteeing protection or safety <the contract is your insurance against price changes>
So therefore, we should expect to be covered through our co payments and employer contributions for medical coverage, home coverage, car coverage etc.  However, this is not true.  Our nation has become so greedy (except with the banks and the creation of money for the conglomarates), that we cannot have the protection that we need for any medical reasons other than what the insurance companies deemed necessary.  I use the term “deemed” widely.  When I became wary of the insurance industry was when I was working in the Trauma section of our hospital.  I worked for trauma surgeons.  One incident came across…a patient involved in a motor vehicle accident was severely injured, head trauma and various broken bones.  He was in a medically induced coma to help the swelling go down.  His insurance company called our office and said and I quote “we are not going to be able to cover his procedures and we deem it is not necessary to have the coma medically induced. We will only pay for his hospital stay up to three days”.  My doctors had a holy war attack on this company.  This young man, after many weeks in the hospital ended up being transferred to a rehab center to regain his walking and speech patterns.  Our hospital took the case to court.  This representatives in the insurance offices do not have the foggiest idea of any type of injury unless they have experienced it themselves.  They are reading it by their guidelines without a shade of gray area.  Let alone that they do not have any gray matter between their ears!
Now I will proceed to the next issue.
I was speaking to my daughter the other day and she said that her father was having trouble with her insurance (covered under NYS Child Health Plus…Company Fidelis).  First off, they put my name as the responsible party (I don't live up there), secondly, they are refusing to pay for her ob/gyn appointments and her birth control medicine. I will elaborate a little on this one.  Birth control serves two purposes: preventing unwanted pregnancies when taken properly and regulation of menstruation, helping to ease the severity in the pain and blood flow.  Their reason for not paying for her birth control was this “We feel that it is inappropriate for a child her age (16) to be on birth control!”
Give me a break.  Yet it is okay for those children to have a child, and the social service department which we as citizens pay into, that we can support this.  What has this nation come down to?  We are able to pay for every one's mistakes yet the medication which is ordered by a doctor, cannot be given?  What is wrong with this picture?
Next issue:
Social Security: Social Security as we know it is our money that we give toward our golden years.  This money is supposed to be kept in a trust fund.  However, by the year 2010, our government says our social security fund will be depleted?  Why?  Because our government has taken our money and has spread it around toward the immigrants so that they can make a good life here in the “the land of opportunity”.  My social security so far if I were to retire by age 62, I will get 1012 per month.
Let me break that down:
1012 less 500 for rent, brings it to 512, less 50 for gas brings that to 462 less 30 for water, brings that to 432, 200 for upkeep on a vehicle not including insurance, brings that to 232, less 150 for groceries for the month brings that to 82 whopping dollars left for the month.  This does not allow any for medications, our own input for AARP nor Medicare, nor any doctor visits should we require.  It also does not include a hospital co payment of 100 before insurance or medicare picks up.  Does anyone have any solutions to this?
All I can say is that our country has provided for the conglomorates, yet they cannot take care of the citizens of this fine country…”the land of opportunity”.

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Gina,

You have identified two distinct issues that highlight a deeper issue.
Your last sentence clearly addresses the deeper issue in that the U.S. has become a nation in which the elected government has become indifferent to its own people and we, the citizens have actually come to expect this as “business as usual.”
 
It's interesting that we indict the terrorists as having no sense of human value, while WE perpetuate and promote a healthcare system that allows individuals to die so as to increase corporate profitability (and we have inumerable reports of individuals dying as a result of denied care).

I believe the eventual demise of SS is also indicative of this indifference. And sadly, this indifference at the top seems to be inadvertently promoting indifference at all levels of society. 'Dog eat dog' and 'everybody for himself' is slowly becoming the law of the land.

Unfortunately, the solution can only be complete and total collapse. Democracy is the rule of the majority and when a large majority (millions) cannot access basic health and security, then we will finally have “change we can believe in.” Simply because we will finally demand it.

I believe we are progressing in that direction (a little slowly at first, but the pace is accelerating) and I gleefully look forward to total and complete collapse.

As the myth goes “from the ashes of destruction the phoenix will rise” and from the ashes of our institutional destruction the collective consciousness will evolve in leaps and bounds. And we will again look to each other and remember what we are really here for.

Amen…..

Peace Angels,
mikeS

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

gina and Mike, such a painful situation in the meantime though, and no telling when it will finally improve.

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Mike Yes what you say is unfortunately true.  When I was growing up and decided that I wanted a job, I looked at my paycheck and I knew what all the deductions were except FICA.  That is what my father explained to me that this is what I put into “security” for my retirement.  As social security is supposed to be a trust fund and a trust fund as executers to disperse the monies when needed, however, I found out that this was a tedious battle.  I got sick about six years ago, and I was out of work for a year.  My short term disability expired and I was forced to partake of our social service system temporiarly.  I did what I was told and I did apply for Social Security Disability.  Well, lo and behold, in March of 2008, I received a letter from social security here in Florida, that my hearing for short term disability was scheduled.  My illness was in 2001.  It took them 7 years to get a hearing together to decide if they were going to be able to disperse MY money!!!
As for insurance, I do have insurance from my employer yet I do not like using , nor do I want to go to the doctor's because I know that what I have paid into my insurance, is not even a smidgen of what the bill is going to be.  You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Nicole:  Before I depart this world, I am going to make sure that my children and my grandchildren will have what is due to them.
Hugs to all.'
Gina

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Their reason for not paying for her birth control was this “We feel that it is inappropriate for a child her age (16) to be on birth control!”

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

How the government Lies About Social Security

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Gypster,
Thank you so much for that link.  OMG.  I never imagined it was quite that large.  I knew it was bad, but oh my.  What can we do?  I already have an IRA, do I really need this and how can we “voluntarily give this so called deduction to our credit”?  Any ideas.

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Unless you are self employed, you really don't have the luxury of not paying towards SS. Really, my suggestion is to understand why the state really should not be relied upon for anything and spread that understanding to others. Since the state is an institution of violence and deception. For example: If you don't pay your taxes, you will get threats and penalties. Then, the state will take away your car, your home, your possessions and quite possibly haul you away at gun point like a violent criminal.

It's a great source of frustration, I know. I am really ticked off every quarter when I have to whip out my checkbook and sign away about 30% of the money I EARNED, when I know damn well where it goes. It does NOT go to roads and public works, nor social security or into our schools. Not the Federal income Tax. It goes into the pockets of Haliburton, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and the various Oil, Big Farming, Pharmaceutical, and Technology Industries. That's where it goes via war and useless technology -relatively useless, when we have so many problems at home, people going hungry or without proper shelter/health-care, etc- yet we shoot rockets to Mars, an obviously DEAD planet. For what purpose do we go there? How does this improve the lives of human beings?

Really the best thing we can do with our time is to think and emote about the positive things happening in our lives, which raises our energy right away. THAT is how we really get out of these things. But also we should run reconnaissance here and there so that we know what is going on with the state so that we may evoke REAL change. It will NOT come from any state. it will come from us and us alone.

I hope this helps. Feel free to message me. :)

…think love and peace…

Love,

gypster

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

gina and gypster, thinking love and peace! 

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

I agree with the original post about Social Security.  It is my money thay is supposed to be in a trust fund for my returement, yet it is used towards the general fund,and the surplus is spent every year on everything except my returement.

I take a bit of an exception to your position on insurance, however.  I understand that Insurance Companies exist to make a profit, not to dispense the  level of medical care needed for a full recovery; and often these two things are mutually exclusive.  The reality is that they are a business, not a philanthropic organization or a charity.

However, as a Libertarian, I do not see my healthcare as a responsibility of the Federal Government, nor do I consider it a “right”.   I would feel much better if the government stuck to protecting the rights given to us in the Constitution, and not dallied in other areas where they can bring their ineptitude and wasteful ways to bear on yet another Federal “solution”.

Lastly, I believe someone in an earlier post mentioned that self-employed people do not have to contribute to social security.  On the contrary, they must contibute twice as much- they must pay the 7.65% that is deducted from all of our wages, and they must also match the 7.65% that our employers contribute.

Steve

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Steve,

However, as a Libertarian, I do not see my healthcare as a responsibility of the Federal Government, nor do I consider it a “right”.  

Interesting position and i'd like to understand more on your views. Are you saying that all individuals do NOT have a “right” to healthcare? In other words, life-saving cancer treatment is entirely contingent on ability to pay for that treatment or ability to afford insurance that will pay? Should some be allowed to die for failure to pay? Is this considered “free-market” libertarianism?

I certainly agree that government need keep out of individual's lives, however, I only hold to this position in relation to civil liberties. When it comes to basic human rights I do believe government has a responsibility to its citizens. I believe healthcare is a human right.

however, I'm open and welcome other perspectives, since the health insurance issue hits home for me.

What say you, Steve?

Peace Angels,
mikeS

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Hi Mike, and thanks for disagreeing with civility.
You are correct in that I do not cosider access to healthcare as a right.  Please kep in mind that my family grew up in the Ozarks, and instilled in me values that may differ from many others.  I still recall as a child when my dad was unempoloyed and refused to apply for Unemployment, because he would not accept money that he had not earned.    Anyway, back to the topic…….. if I were to consider health care as a right, how would I define health care?  Our society tends to view it as dramatic intervention after the fact, yet the biggest factors in our health overall are lifestyle issues.  Diet and exercise, for instance.  Should access to, or ability to afford fresh  fruits and vegetables be part of our right to healthcare?  I'm not asking this facetiously, but just pointing out that if we say there is a right to healthcare, we must then decide what is healthcare and what is not, and are in the same position as the insurance companies are today.  

From a Federal persepctive, the Constitution grants very limited powers to the Federal Government, and reserves all other rights to the States.  The Feds have the right to tax, enter into treaties with foreign nations, and regulate interstate commerce. That is pretty much it.  The “interstate commerce' clause has been absurdly exploited to rationalize the expansion of the Fredral Government,  to cover such things as kidnapping and the number of migratory birds that a hunter can shoot, too name just a few.

That does not mean that I think sick people should be left to die in the streets.  Hospitals can treat them and then raise funds to cover the cost of indigent care, and individuals, churches, or other institutions can voluntarily give money to cover the cost.

But as for me, I do not look toward any other individual or institution to pay my way.  If I get sick and cannot afford my treatments, then all that hope is that I will reach around deep inside myself, find some dignity, and die with it.

These are my thoughts and values, and I don't ask anyone else to adopt or agree with them,

Not my most lucid post, but I've been at work for about 60 days straight and rational thought is becoming a bit of a strain :) 

A long and healthy life to you, Mike.

Steve

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

I believe that we should have the right to not have hindrance to health care by bloated, greedy insurance corporations that use the government to levy their will upon the populous. Then, a more egalitarian way will emerge automatically. It is human nature.

Steve, I am Libertarian too, although I may be more anarchist than most… I would like an eensy-weeny state, please, if at all.

Peace and love :)

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Steve,
Your views are well pointed out and respected.  However, I do have one question to you.  You made this statement:
I still recall as a child when my dad was unempoloyed and refused to apply for Unemployment, because he would not accept money that he had not earned. Could you clarify this for me.  Did your dad work prior to being unemployed?  The reason I ask is that He did earn that money because it is taken out as a deduction on the payroll, unless back in his time, it was not considered a deduction. 
Now as for insurance and healthcare, you are right to say that the government should not waste time on minute items, such as which toenail should be filed first (if you get my drift.  LOL).  I do consider myself entitled to medical insurance through my employer which I do pay a certain amount a week.  I know what is covered and what is not covered, therefore, I make sure that when and if I need to see a physician, I have all my eggs in one basket so as not to delay the situation.  However, there is this Cobra plan.  My friend and her husband pay over 700.00 a month for medical insurance and in March, that plan ends.  That is a ridiculous amount of money to pay for insurance and not get the basics covered.  Even with their perscription plan, her monthly prescriptions are well over 200.00.  I went to the ER in December for an eye injury, my co pay is 50.00.  I had two prescriptions to fill…the total cost of those two prescriptions was over 80.00.  The eyedrops was just an ounce and it was 62.00 and that was with my prescription card.  That amount was almost half my paycheck for the week.  Is that right?  I cannot believe that our great government cannot insist that the insurance companies lower their rates according to the income level of all concerned.  It would make better sense.  They are fast to collect the buck, yet not to happy to release it and we have paid into the system.  I respect your views completely and understand them, but there has to be a way that we can simplify the cost of insurance so that everyone can have it.
Love and hugs
Gina

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

But as for me, I do not look toward any other individual or institution to pay my way.  If I get sick and cannot afford my treatments, then all that hope is that I will reach around deep inside myself, find some dignity, and die with it.

That is so sad Steve.  I hurt for you with that statement.  I have CVID, as a result, I am indigent.  I had to quit my job due to my deteriorating joints.  There is no cure for my disease, only treatment to keep me tickin'…….

I give myself infusions weekly to stay healthy and alive…these treatments cost $20,000 a month.  I know that this is obscene, but, there it is.

I have to take other meds, expensive antibiotics, etc….If it was not for my TNcare, I would be a dead girl walkin….I believe that I have more value than that.

I have gone back to school to do something with my life, to contribute to the whole.  I sincerely hope that I can pay for my treatments myself oneday, or ultimately, the state keeps me alive long enough for a cure.  I'm staying sober and helping others, I'm a wife, mother and grandmother, daughter, sister, friend and ultimately, one of God's kids…I have no death wish…..I would be such a sad ungrateful little person if I did.  The insurance is there for people like me, its what I decide to do with my life to pay it back and forward too! ;-) 

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Missy, you beautiful person, you. Thanks for adding this wonderful perspective,

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

I have asked 2 lawyers and 2 accountants whether or not someone who is self employed (such as myself) should have to pay SS tax. I have not paid it since 2006 and these people agree that I do not need to pay. I do not employ anyone, either and operate as a LLC, so that is probably why.

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Apparently, this is covered under SE tax, so everyone's right (except the thieving government)! hahaha :D Get your hands OFF my property!! :D :D

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Steve and Mike, some great questions and thoughts here. Steve, I thought your point about the prevention side of health care an excellent one, given our serious lifestyle issues here in North America.

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Gina, my dad did work before he was laid off, but unemployment is a tax upon employers, not a deduction that was taken out of dad's check.  According to his values, this was not his money, and therefor was charity. He considered it an insult to even offer it to him.  He lived in a world hard for most of us to imagine today  They had no electricity, just a well for water….he told me that houses were not bought, but built.  When his dad bought land, they dug rocks to build a foundation, and cut trees to make a log home.  He lived a hard life and developed some hard rules to live by.

Here is a fact that i find fascinating.  Did you know that for the average American, if you look at all of the healthcare dollars spent in our lifetime, that two thirds of that lifetime of dollars are spent in the last six months of our lives?  Are we so afraid of death, and so willing to cling to any thread of life, regardless of the quality of that life, that we are willing to suck up vast resources of healthcare for just a few more weeks of breathing?

Would we, as a society, be willing to give up just one half of a year of life expectancy, so that we would then have triple the amoung of healthcare dollars to be spent on youth, expectant mothers, and sick people that had a good chance of a long and productive life given sufficient healthcare resources?  To cut those $700 COBRA payments by two thirds?

MY family is very long lived, with most of my grandparents living into the mid to upper 90's.  Personally, I 'm willing to cut my life expectancy from 99 to 98 and a half, so that young people with a chance for a future could have those healthcare dollars, instead of wasting them to give me a few more months.

Steve, who at 54 is just past the halfway mark :)

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Steve,

Would we, as a society, be willing to give up just one half of a year of life expectancy, so that we would then have triple the amoung of healthcare dollars to be spent on youth, expectant mothers, and sick people that had a good chance of a long and productive life given sufficient healthcare resources? 

That would be a personal decision contingent on numerous factors including religious belief, etc. But that decision would not be even available to me if, in fact, I could not access 'medical services' (more specific than “healthcare”) because I could not afford access, while others more wealthy and prosperous than myself, could partake of such services. Your argument seems to be a choice between some sort of voluntary euthansia so that others may live. Why shouldn't all who need such services have access? Taxes used to provide needed services to those who pay the taxes seems fundamental to me, although it is the antithesis of our current form of government.

Just Saying…

mikeS

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Mike, I did mean this as a personal choice, not one mandated upon society.  I think living wills are a step in this direction.  I have made it clear in my will that if my best prognosis is that I will stay alive but be confined to a  bed, that I do not wish for medical treatment to continue.   You said that people not covered by insurance now cannot make that choice, which is true, but if we could cut the cost of healthcare by 2/3, a lot more people would be able to afford healthcare.  Thinking from the heart, I wish everyone could have all of the healthcare they need.  The reality is that it is too expensive for society to bear.  Just because someone pays $1 in taxes to the governement does not entitle them to $10 worth of healthcare.

I see nothing depressing or sad, nor do I equate it wish a “death wish”, for a terminally ill person to say “enough is enough.  Let me die in peace and give this expensive care to someone that will gain a long and healthy life from it.”

Steve

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

…Just because someone pays $1 in taxes to the governement does not entitle them to $10 worth of healthcare…

As a former card-carrying member of the state and national Libertarian Parties, I have a question for you, Steve…

Say two people have identical health insurance policies, paying the same premiums to the same company. Is the insured person who gets sick and needs $100,000 medical care “ripping off” the insured person who doesn’t?

OK, OK, I know you’re going to respond by saying that this is a voluntary gamble, and all participants choose to sign a contract, so I’ll present another scenario: If my neighbor and I are forced to pay taxes at the same rate, and the police arrest a kidnapper and return his child, or firefighters extinguish a fire in his home, is he getting some kind of a “hand-out” which I am required to pay for?

…Thinking from the heart, I wish everyone could have all of the healthcare they need. The reality is that it is too expensive for society to bear…

Another question: If something seems too expensive for “society” to bear, how do we expect individuals to bear it? Do we just shrug off the 18,000 people who die unnecessarily each year in the U.S. simply because they lack access to affordable health care? Would arguing over the accuracy of that number put our minds at ease?

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Hi Mike,

By saying that paying $1 in taxes does not entitle one to $10 in healthcare, I am not saying AN INDIVIDUAL’S use of a service cannot exceed their premium or tax paid. I was simply addressing the apparent belief that ifI pay “some” taxes then I deserve and have a right to “unlimited” healthcare. The math just doesn’t work.

Our current system is too expensive for either society or an individual to bear, which is why I suggested that we need to look at how our limited health care dollars are spent. If I am 90 years old, and half of my organs have failed, do you think it makes sense to spend $250,000 a month to keep me alive? It is easy to say that life is priceless, but I am reminded of the story of the Little Red Hen. It is easy to say life is priceless until it comes time for someone to write the check, then all you hear is how high taxes are and how much insurance companies charge for premiums. I am not suggesting some state enforced euthenasia, but I think that we can each have the courage to not ask the healthcare system to spend money on us unnecessarily, in an individual effort to reduce costs.

Lastly, I am not at all clear on your distinction between a “necessary” and an “unnecessary” death. Why must death be avoided at all cost (cost to someone else, mind you)? Perhapsit is myview that death is just a new birth into the next experience that makes me puzzle over why a fortune should be spent to prolong my life for a few months, when all quality has left my life. Does not avoiding my “unnecessary death” simply ensure the unnecessary deaths of many others because I have, in my humble opinion, wasted a fortune in limited health care dollars?

I understand that my opinion is not particularly popular, but I think it is logical. However, life, death, and logic has never been a popular combination :)

Regards,

Steve

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

I don’t really want to be involved in this discussion, but I just wanted to point out one issue. Why does it always come down to money? Money isn’t the issue. Considering how much the world’s nations spend on millitary and black ops, there is more than enough money. The issue is priority. So, why is war, national dominance, and political ideology more important to our global society than basic needs such as healthcare?

I don’t expect an answer. My only point is that we could offer everyone excellent healthcare if we collectively wanted to, but the issue is that we don’t want this. Even thoughwe can argue why we don’t collectively want this, its the basic fact, the dead rhinoceros on the table.

Marmalade

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

I wanted to add that I’m not blaming the government(s) as representative of our collective will.

Just consider how much people spend on entertainment and luxury goods. How many people would be willing to walk, bike, carpool, or take public transportation on a daily basis if it meant a poor children had quality healthcare? How many people would be willing to live in an apartment instead of a large house in order for poorpeople working minimum wageto havehealthcare?

My guess is not many. What is it in human nature that makes us self-centered? And why does this self-interest (despite the theories on democracy and capitalism)so rarely translate to collective value for the majority?

Once again, no answers are expected. I have my own speculations, but it doesn’t really matter. Human nature isn’t likely to change. This discussion is mostly moot. There will never be universal basic human rights… unless there is a total shift in the collective consciousness… could happen.

Marmalade

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Well, I’m gonna give you an answer anyway, Marmalade…

You are absolutely correct about the money issue. Not doing the right thing because it’s “too expensive” is a cop-out. It’s all a matter of priorities. And by the way, there is much that can be done to reduce the cost of medical care on a day-to-day basis – without getting into ethical debates over how much care to give to patients who are not likely to recover from their illness.

The part of your reply that I don’t agree with is “…we could offer everyone excellent healthcare if we collectively wanted to, but the issue is that we don’t want this…” If we took a popular vote on having universal health insurance for every U.S. citizen (like the Conyers plan, H.R. 676), it would pass by about 2 to 1. Unfortunately, a couple of hundred lobbyists for the powerful insurance and pharmaceutical industries matter more to Congress than the 169 million voters in this country.

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Mystic Mike - You could be right.

However, I have doubts that popularvotesactually represent collective will. People will answer yes to many things when its just an abstract hypothetical possibility. Besides, popular votes aren’t how our representative democracy works and so the very notion of a popular vote is a hypothetical.

The second part is if there would be a popular vote for it whichwould signify a collective will, then why doesn’t everyone demand that it be enacted? Is our collective will somehow being suppressed? If so, that is a rather sad situation that collective will is weaker thanelite’s minoritypower.

I should add one last point. I’m not a complete cynic. I see the generational shift happening and it makes me very curious if not ourtright hopeful. The Millennials are the first generation to growup in a paradigm of global world.

Generation X is a small generation and hasn’t had much effect on society so far partly because the Boomers being almost double in numbers. Still, both of these generations have been more self-oriented. The Millennials are a very group-oriented generation.

Most significant, the Millennials are equally as large as the Boomers. With the Boomers retiring, Millennials will have a massive effect on society. And we have a president that seems willing to engage this age group.

Speaking of the new president, did you hear how he is disempowering lobbyists? That is a positive sign of hisability to make hard decisions.

Marmalade

Re: Insurance and Social Security...Pet Peeves

Man, I don’t know what is happening with the posting section. All I have right now is the title of my topic and a blank outline. Anyways, I did not know how much of a stir I was causing and I do apologize for that. However, there are so many views and opinions. To start off with, Mike, your views are quite unique to say so. Euthansia, is not an option here. My point is…we just bailed out the auto industry and the banks with money…new money…that the Federal Mint printed so that the banks can survive and for what? To give us more of a headache and now we have to pay that back in our taxes! If they took that money that they freely made and invested it in the healthcare system for those of us who cannot afford it, there would have been plenty left over to bail out the banks!I need to ask this question (and it is on a tangent), why would we bail out the banks and not the citizens who bring the business to the banks. We give them the business, make their stock go up and split, make millions of dollars for their CEO’s, yet, they are the first ones that get the “handout”. Why?

I know I just posted this in the wrong area, should have been at the end of the thread but with this new site, I can’t get anywhere. Suddenly I can’t post to topics.

Back to the subject matter at hand. You pointed out that Social security is a tax. Your father and my father and his father and grandfather worked very hard. Part of that money that was taken out and put into unemployment is “their money” even if it is half. They earned it. It was a choice that was made. In order for us to collect what is rightfully ours, either by way of unemployment, social security disability, medicare, medicaid and any other federal programs in which we put into in some form or the other, we have to have a hearing in order to see if we are “eligible” for it. It is our money, which was worked for long and hard. Yet we can’t get it without a hearing to explore and explain our reasons for obtaining it. If someone has an answer, I would be willing to hear it. I love you guys.

Gina