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- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
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How will your health care costs be covered in CR? Can you move there and still have coverage under our system if you fly “home” when you need major medical care? I wonder if the ex-pats living there abuse the system in this manner
Now, for anyone who wants to scream “off topic”, please recognize that I am discussing this with the OP. His thread. His choice. For anyone else- Your choice is to STOP READING right now if you suffer from the mental defect of being unable to tolerate diverging conversations
WC, I apologize - this is a long read.
Stock prices, other than the fiduciary obligation to maximize shareholder value, have little to do with premiums charged There is some influence but they are not the major driver of increasing coats
First of all, insurance companies are not incentivized to reduce payer premiums. The public has not recognized that profitability of the insurance company has very little to do with premium dollars in vs premium dollars out. The profitability of the insurance company is based on “assets under management”, so the insurer wants to charge high premiums and then use the money to make more money before paying the doctors. That’s why you can walk in to any medical facility and pay a lower “self pay” charge than what the insurance company has negotiated. That’s a problem politicians on both sides have been paid to sweep under the rug.
Second, the premiums, by default, had to skyrocket when they allowed people to insure their already burned down houses. The insurance companies were told they could no longer assess their risk(pre-existing consitions) and in exchange the government said it would offset the loss of business that would occur when people couldn’t afford the premiums by paying a large portion of those soon to be outrageous premiums, based on income level. The cost of covering preexisting conditions was spread across the board, and that pool of people tends to be much older - thus the significant jump in costs
Why did the government agree to this HORRIBLE one sided deal with the insurance companies? Because the folks running government at that time desire a system that creates legions of government dependent citizens.
I wonder what the model would look like with uniform premiums regardless of age (costs don’t increase with age, and therefor higher for younger people than at present) with a subsidy to cover the higher premiums based on income. The subsidy for income threshhold would tend to cover younger folks, but wouldnt necessarily vanish with age if a person decided he or she enjoys being a government dependent.
That might help to address the fact the 45-65 crowd trying to cram money away for retirement are being **** dry by health insurance premiums that increase with both age AND inflation, much more so than prior to the ACA - unless you qualify for a subsidy in which case you arent making enough to save anyway. Large corporate employees and government workers are the exception here because of their benefit packages, but small business owners are getting KILLED by the ACA
Either way, none of this works to control costs until the issue of insurance company profitability from assets under management is better understood, acknowledged, and somehow addressed.
And the prescription drug thing is also an important piece, but we cant stymie innovation by trying to limit profits.
Bank. I'm not far enough along in my prep to know how I'll secure healthcare coverage. It might be I just get a catastrophic policy with high deductibles and pay as I go for the rest.
As for the correlation between healthcare cost and publicly traded companies, I think you're incorrect. I think it's at least as big as the fact we have so many unneeded and expensive tests done in this country. If you're insured doctors will prescribe far more expensive tests than are needed because the profit margins are huge. Really even those expensive tests are tied to corporations wanting/needing to squeeze more money from the system.
Meh. It’s complicated, but I disagree. The private market is offering alternatives in these arenas. You can get blood work done at private labs now. MRIs are another example. Northside Hospital had to reduce their charges from $1500 for MRIs because of a company here that setup doing strictly MRIs for $550. The doctor who owns it does a full video explanation when he reads the results. I think he does two every hour on each machine. I know for a fact Northside Hospital changed their prices because of these type companies because I personally know people in their finance department who told me the private MRI companies were causing the hospital’s MRI machines to sit idle so they did a price match.
I lived in Central America for 5 years & think C.R. is overrated & overpriced.
It is absolutely beautiful and the weather is amazing!
theft is an issue from what locals have told me. You want to stay towards the cities where technology is their biggest producers.
Food is great and attitudes are better.
tiger, where would you suggest ? I've considered The Granada area of Nicaragua but it is hot and noisy. I had a long conversation with an American expat who now lives in Granada and rents out houses to other expats. There is a small town in the mountains of Nicaragua near Costa Rica that has a strong American population that I'm waiting to hear back on.
Bank, I'm sorry but corporations have to grow if their core goal is increasing their stock prices. It's just a shell game till that very basic fact is addressed. The ACA just moved cost to premiums because the underlying reasons for cost growth were not addressed.
I know another couple who spends the Winter in Bolivia. They rent a nice place for essentially the cost of living in a North Ga mobile home park. Actually less, if I remember correctly.
It’s too bad you aren’t in to fishing and hunting and have another friend in the same predicament. You could enjoy the financial benefits of “gay marriage” without the sex. I have a hunting/fishing buddy who is divorced. I’ve already sold him on the idea, if anything ever happens to my marriage. Call it a “shared cost of living” arrangement. We would build two duplexes with separate master suites - one out west (probably Idaho) and one near the coast - and agree to share one 4wd truck, a really nice boat (or boats), and an RV for longhaul hunting and fishing trips. He works for the government so I get to go on his health insurance plan and become the beneficiary of his pension. And NO - the marriage will never be consummated.
Im not hoping it ever comes to this but it made for a great laugh over a bottle of scotch.
Bank. I had a non-relative make roommate for 2 months in 1987, it was a horrible experience, never again.
I might at some point but and rent out an apartment in a separate area with a private entry though. My preference would be a level headed, culturally conservative, non-prostitute female.
I’d rather have a pet snake.
@WCDawg Ignore the folks who have no clue and react to you just because you don't think very inside the box and aren't afraid of different ideas.
I lived in Guatemala for two years when I did Peace Corps. Here are my observations about living in Central America:
Ecuador is incredible. I lived there for a few yrs in my 20s. The people are incredible, the food is good, and the coeds are great. Not sure about healthcare. They are dollarized there or at least were 15 yrs ago. I’m sure I was looking at it in a different perspective in my 20s vs retiring there but Ecuador has a lot to offer.
Correction: CR has no standing military. They rely on the U.S. for defense. But as Tico's will point out they don't have any enemies and their last war with Nicaragua was well over 100 years ago.
Didn't UGA have a sort of satellite campus in CR at one time? It seems like I saw a documentary about that a few years ago.
Only problem with Ecuador is that the Statists were starting to take hold, but then two weeks ago Ecuador withdrew from Unasur. The country’s future is up in the air if Socialism really takes hold, but it seems like maybe sensible minds have stemmed the pink tide.
I would not go to Nicaragua or Venezuela right now at all. Belize; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Copan, Honduras; Panama; & Colombia are all better options than Costa Rica IMHO.
I don't get your reasoning tiger. Costa Rica isn't the bargain it once was, but it's relatively inexpensive, it's friendly, it's very stable, it's beautiful, it's a healthy place and it has a great climate in The Central Valley.
WC, checkout Belize. They are english speaking and use the dollar. Pretty cheap as well.
Whoa! Beneficiary of his pension? A sham marriage to commit insurance fraud is one thing. How does getting his pension factor in? Must have been an especially tasty bottle of scotch. Don't ask, don't tell. (Don't tell)