Years ago I worked for a guy who had been the CEO of some small health care related company (not “insurance”) sold it, and retired early.
Then his wife got cancer, and her care ate up all their savings, and she died anyway. He had to go back to work in sales, which is where I met him. He had lost all of his money, but he still had some nice suits, and some nice jewelry, and a good watch, so he always looked like a million bucks, and he had that CEO confidence, so he sold very well.
But he should have been retired and enjoying his grandkids, except our health care system destroyed what was left of his life.
Just until America collapses
Every empire’s days are numbered, but I don’t think I can count that high.
Next Tuesday then?
So the medical system is putting an elderly person to work and on the road at that.
So if he crashes and injure himself and another person the insurance company can get money from 3 different incidents two of which were avoidable.
I bet they are in their offices saying, “TRIPLE KILL”
I bet they are in their offices saying, “TRIPLE KILL”
I can hear this phrase.
M-m-m-m-monster kill
kill - kill - kill
DooOOMINATING!!!
Fine example of necrocapitalism.
That’s not in the article at all, like yes he got fucked by the insurance company and the hospital and just life in general but he paid off all that debt built up an IRA with several hundred grand in it, owns 20 acres of property, and traveled around the country
He is currently driving for uber so they can maintain a higher standard of living and so they can leave money for their children
How old is the president? That job is a lot harder to. He should be fine for another 10-15 years at least.
Who did you vote for, Jeff?
WHO DID YOU VOTE FOR, JEFF‽
As if both parties aren’t in the pocket of the insurance industry.
Obamacare was Romneycare first.
yep
Extremely weird comment when you have no idea about his political views. It doesn’t really matter how the guy voted either, it’s a sad story about a couple being fucked over by the US medical and insurance cartels, and it is needlessly cruel to gloat over it.
No, it absolutely does matter. I am tired of these “we owned the libs” idiots giving each other high fives when a transwoman can’t compete in swimming and then suddenly crying bitter tears after they have no healthcare coverage.
I refuse to even consider feeling bad for somebody if they voted for exactly what they got.
so if that information won’t be provided, I will hold out judgement and ignore the article
That just makes you an asshole.
But not wrong.
He’s a wrong entitled brat whose depth of critical thinking is circlejerking around a failed 2 party system, in which both parties are pro capitalists and want private healthcare.
why should that person be having empathy for some conservative pos who voted to defund healthcare specifically so he could vote against LGBT rights and against women’s rights? this guy could be a cool dude, but he may not be. I need not have sympathy for my enemies.
it means I am focusing my energy on things that are known to be worthwhile, or at least more likely to be
a >50% chance that the person in question is an asshole and undeserving of any sympathy means playing the odds
people get respect when they demonstrate they deserve it
Assuming you voted for fascist-light party, you also voted for this… These issues predate Trump and are fully supported by the “we are capitalists” party.
yep
i want to be your friend. can i run away to canada and do canadian thing with you? i’m not sure what people do in canada… but i want to learn…
Why don’t you tell us?
I don’t know. that’s why I’m asking.
It seems like you already made that conclusion.
People like this have no excuses for not becoming national heroes.
She was sent home a day after because we couldn’t afford it.
This is standard normal American thing. Can’t pay the bill? Die, scum! This isn’t new. This isn’t Trump. This is America, always has been. Be proud of it!
I’m so happy that I don’t live in that hell hole
Owns a home and a six figure retirement account balance. Tiny violins.
While this (perhaps hypothetical) individual is definitely much better off than most people, they’re still closer to poverty than being in the wealth class. Seriously anyone who makes a million dollars a year USD or less is closer to poverty than being rich. We shouldn’t be taking our frustration out on people who are doing slightly better than ourselves. We should be fighting the billionaire class, and the political leaders who are in their pockets.
Well the best we have is democracy.
…Which, for the people out there with bad fucking comprehension and inference ability, means that you DO have to get these people to vote with us instead of against their own best interest.
The middle are the people holding up change.
But the news is telling me to hate…oh wait.
Got out of SIGNIFICANT medical debt, too, by saving $10 at a time. This story literally makes no sense. I bet this guy doesn’t even exist and it’s AI to advertise for Uber and dunk on the lazy libs.
Businessinsider is almost as much of a joke as Forbes lately
that’s just sad. At 76, he should be rejoicing in retirement. It’s pretty fucked up. :/
My grandparents are going through it too. Grandma had a stroke. Grandpa can’t afford the medical bills. They apparently had to get divorced so that insurance would help, so I’ve heard… but yeah. They had to fly my youngest brother into town so that he could care for my grandma while my grandfather works.
I’m sorry. It’s not fair. I wish your family well
Owns 20 acres of land in New Jersey, claims poverty.
All the old people who are getting into trouble because of life, have had their whole lives to stear politics into a more social direction to prevent all of this from happening.
Reminder that GenZ swung Trump.
It’s pretty hard to stear politics in a more progressive direction when the society you live in is uneducated as fuck and uneducated people turn into conservative voters.
I mean they also raised gen z so.
All I ever hear from Americans is complaining everything is shit, there’s nothing they can do, nothing will ever change because others need to do it and not them which will never happen.
That way it will never change, if no one does anything and everyone is just perfecting their victim role.
Go educate people, get into politics, fight fake news, kill a health insurance CEO, etc.
Trump was the progressive candidate in that election. He offered change, Kamala didn’t. Kamala was the ‘business as usual’ candidate.
If the D offer up a candidate on a change platform, they’d get the votes. But they didn’t. Hopefully they do in '28.
I think you should look up the definition of progressive.
Change doesn’t mean progress.
You’re not wrong, but that generation has some wild variance in politics and leopards eat everyone’s faces if you let them
Rich like Elon musk ,get richer but people like me get poorer! Not fair , Elon musk like people get rich by exploiting and stealing right of other people
There are no real get rich quick schemes, but we live in a world of get richer quick schemes.
Nobody commenting is reading the article.
The headline suggests that medical bills drove them into poverty so much so that he’s had to be driving for Uber at 76. Thats not the case, and the article lays it all out.
It looks like about 25 years after the medical bills wiped them out financially, they recovered financially:
I really didn’t want to retire in my 60s, but we were getting older, and my wife wanted me to be spending more time at home. When I retired, I had some equity in my home and around $300,000 in my IRA. I also started to fund an IRA for my wife, which I built to mid-five figures. This allowed us to travel extensively within the US for the first few years. But a part of me felt like we probably weren’t going to live that long anyway because everybody around us was dying.
We should be celebrating two things:
- the fact that the ACA passed into law and that what happened to this couple in the 1990s can’t happen again under today’s law
- the hard work they did rebuilding financially to have over $350k in savings + home equity and have have a comfortable retirement to be able to afford extensive travel they did in retirement.
Except that the Republicans in congress have refused to allocate funding for ACA subsidies, which means this WILL happen again. This is a lesson from the past about the sort of outcomes we have to look forward to.
Except that the Republicans in congress have refused to allocate funding for ACA subsidies, which means this WILL happen again.
If you read the article you’d know the ACA benefits point I mentioned has nothing to do with subsidies on insurance premiums. It has to do with prior to the ACA insurance companies could deny coverage for preexisting conditions.
I did read the article, and that’s true, but insurance companies have been using that as an excuse to drive up premiums at record rates for years now (and making very healthy profits as a result, no pun intended). In my state, the exchange prices went up an average of 21% this year due to the loss of ACA subsidies. It doesn’t help a lot to know that they are legally required to offer you coverage if you can’t afford to pay for it.
I’m in my early 50s. Over my life, I’ve been very diligent about saving, and I expect to have what I thought would be enough to retire in my 60s. But I’m looking at the cost of health care going forward and I’m very concerned that I won’t be able to afford it.
I did read the article, and that’s true, but insurance companies have been using that as an excuse to drive up premiums at record rates for years now (and making very healthy profits as a result, no pun intended).
I don’t disagree that health insurance companies (and their business practices) aren’t serving Americans well. However, as the article lays out the couple had the ability and will to pay for insurance premiums. The issue during the 90s was that any gap in coverage would mean health issues found during the gap wouldn’t be covered even when paying new premiums. That was fixed with the ACA. I was commenting on the article and their situation.
In my state, the exchange prices went up an average of 21% this year due to the loss of ACA subsidies. It doesn’t help a lot to know that they are legally required to offer you coverage if you can’t afford to pay for it.
I’m in my early 50s. Over my life, I’ve been very diligent about saving, and I expect to have what I thought would be enough to retire in my 60s. But I’m looking at the cost of health care going forward and I’m very concerned that I won’t be able to afford it.
I agree with everything you said here. Republicans are poisoning that portion of the ACA unrelated to the article. I’m also doing the same math you are about making sure I have healthcare until Medicare kicks in. For many, health coverage will be the defining metric to when we can retire. Some of us are discussing that exact topic in a different Lemmy community.
That’s sad. Not just sad, but inhumane. As a species we are closer to our destruction.
I hope monkeys take over the world. they at least would have a better chance at forming a agreeable and domestic society that isn’t run by narcissists that are grossly overpaid and have the power to put wealth in the pockets of people down on their luck(*) and who form a unjust hierarchy that classes people by their fortune and therefore prevents some people to afford housing or medical bills, and which the rich people are afraid that they will have to give some money up to pay for simple tasks like repairing roads and constructing buildings. So, naturally, the people that are living paycheck-to-paycheck have to “chip in” and “do their part in this great American economy” while trying to keep financially afloat and survive. Maybe monkeys will see earlier on that this is not the solution. Monkey for president.
*
(did you know that was my wife whom you decided to-whaaa?!) from Hamilton original Broadway cast and recording by Lin-Manuel Miranda and others, on Amazon music. as you can tell I have an Alexa and listen to Hamilton quite a bit.
Currently the most advanced primate after us are the chimpanzees and well bad news…
The best healthcare in the world is what these Republicans and blue dogs say.
Is it a coincidence that the money has the top of a pyramid on it? It’s a fucking pyramid scheme. Of course it’s awesome if you’re on top.
Maybe it is for those who can afford it.
Doubt
I mean it’s keeping our president alive against all odds.
It is the best. If you pay for it
