"Medical costs still burden many despite insurance; Mass. survey finds people in debt, skimping on care" by Kay Lazar, Globe Staff | October 23, 2008
Dr. David Himmelstein, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a primary care doctor at Cambridge Health Alliance, is cofounder of Physicians for a National Health Program, an organization that pushes for national health insurance. He studied personal bankruptcies nationwide in 2001 and found that about half of them were linked to a medical issue, and in three-quarters of those cases, the debtor was insured.
While medical debt is burdening a sizable number of Massachusetts residents, the pain is greater nationally, where the percent of uninsured is about five times greater, according to the latest US Census. A national poll released this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a California-based nonprofit that researches health policy, found that about a third of Americans surveyed reported that their family had problems paying medical bills in the past year and that almost one in five said they had medical bills of more than $1,000. --more--"
Single payer like Canada, France, or England, nothing less. We got TRILLIONS for WARS and BANK HANDOUTS, but can't take care of our people, 'eh?
Healthcare costs for retired Boston city workers are expected to top $3 billion over the next 30 years, and the city is coming under increasing pressure to start setting aside more taxpayer money to cover the costs.
Over the last two years, city officials have placed $45 million into a reserve fund to cover future health insurance premiums, less than half the $111 million a city consultant said Boston would need this year to be on pace to meet the obligation.
They only need a few billion, huh?
The long-term bill for retiree healthcare costs is a product of the city's promise to continue paying its retirees' healthcare until they die, even after they reach the age of Medicare eligibility. The city pays 75 to 85 percent of the premiums, while the retirees pick up the rest.
Tyler's group has urged the city to begin requiring eligible retirees to enter Medicare, which would substantially reduce the cost to city taxpayers. But the move would be unpopular with employee unions, which favor the options available under the city's health insurance and whose retired members could face larger out-of-pocket costs under Medicare. --more--"
Yeah, just SHOVEL THEM OFF to the FEDS!!!
Yup, EVERYBODY LOOTS EVERYBODY here in AmeriKa!!!!
