krizzy

I've not seen a doctor in the USA for over 7 years...you do get over stuff...even if it takes a little longer...

Bob

have to add the info you have yourself as I don't think anyone's started it...

Mass has something, but it's shite, though by law everyone has to have insurance in this state...and Maine also has something for the poor and old, but again, it's shite.

scrubbedexpat099

Good healthcare will be the province of the very wealthy, look at the numbers, just a question of how long.

Giantaxe

Not that I wish to defend US healthcare - it's an absolute disgrace that they spend so much and still have so many people excluded - but I will happily take my chances with Medicare over the NHS. But I readily admit that I will almost certainly be in a position where I can afford supplemental insurance to cover the Medicare gaps. What worries me a lot more is the decade before one is eligible for Medicare coverage - a time when the probability of needing significant healthcare is rising fast and where the probability of getting affordable individual coverage is slim.

Elvira

I don't know how old you are, but if you are under 45, chances are that Medicare won't be worth having by the time you hit retirement. Medicare Part D was brought in to appease the powerful Baby-Boom Generation, but the whole system is not sustainable in the long run.

We are only just now at the start of an obesity and diabetic epidemic which, unless people en masse dramatically change their lifestyles, will bring the health care system to a collapse.

Celsius

If you think you're going to alive at retirement age then that's reason enough to start making plans about retirement. The State, British or American, may not have sufficient funds, if you think you'll end up relying or leaning on them during your retirement years.

krizzy

Mass health is good Bob...my grandson has it and he is covered for everything 100%...when baby was born his mother used Mass health she got 7 days in her own room a nurse for baby and a room for my son to stay in....she had a midwife call on her for 2 weeks after and it was all covered by Mass Health...trying getting that on private Ins...

scrubbedexpat099

I was thinking the same.

You know what the system is now, and maybe for the next 5 years, but if you are talking about 10, 20 or 30 years from now, well...

Where is the money coming from to pay for it.

Too many vested interests to change it completely, most likely a horrible bastardised version of what is currently available.

And how can you know there will be gap insurance or what it will cost, unless you do not intend hanging around very long.

Irn-bru

Thanks for worrying about me
That's why I say we plan for tomorrow. Whether we are in the US or the UK we have to have private means of pension which we will be starting soon (501k whatever that means) also we have my OH work pensions.

Taffyles

This is so true- our local Publix is staffed mainly by 75 and 80 year olds. My friend from Scotland has been over for a few weeks and can't get over the amount of elderly people working, or the amount of beggars we see on the roads- its been an eye-opener for her.

My elderly Mum (living in Wales) was laughing yesterday about the 12 items on her prescription- all free of course...I dread to think what that prescription would have cost here, even with insurance.

Giantaxe

There are many reasons elderly people work, the major one of which in the US is the abysmally low savings rate in general. With the demise of defined benefit pension plans, this is only going to become more pronounced over the next couple of decades. Otoh, is it really bad that older people need to remain in the labour force?


Difficult to tell without knowing the total cost of the drugs. Worst case scenario is something like $3850 plus 5% of anything over that amount.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicar..._beneficiaries

Giantaxe

A fair, point and one that also applies to completely tax-funded systems such as the NHS. Otoh, given the staggering percentage of GDP the US spends on healthcare, the problem is clearly more pronounced here. The one potentially saving grace for the US is that it's level of immigration means that it isn't seeing such a large shift in the ratio of young to old that most Western European countries are.

scrubbedexpat099

Legal or illegal?

The number of those likely to be in the higher tax brackets is small, most is poor often with families, a net drain.

NHS is not quite completely tax funded but obviously has major issues as well.

The NHS needs major reform, perhaps just concentrate on core issues. The US system, dunno, my guess is that the coverage available will be whittled away to remain in budget, even if that budget includes a large amount of waste. Probably make it means tested as well.

Taffyles

[QUOTE=Giantaxe;4526030]There are many reasons elderly people work, the major one of which in the US is the abysmally low savings rate in general. With the demise of defined benefit pension plans, this is only going to become more pronounced over the next couple of decades. Otoh, is it really bad that older people need to remain in the labour force? [end quote]

Yes I think it is bad that many HAVE to work to pay for their prescriptions etc. Many have had to sell their houses and live in mobile homes to get by - talk to some of them. One old gent I was talking to at the checkout is a retired college professor- who 20 years into retirement can no longer live on his pensions etc, so he's bagging groceries. How much do you have to save to fund 25+ years of comfortable retirement in this country???

Giantaxe

I think that's bad too. The point I'm making is that there are many other reasons than having to pay for prescriptions that older people work in the US. And the major reason is a lack of saving for retirement at all.