Just need to vent...

That's nice. I wonder if there will ever be such a thing in the USA. Or at least a way to have affordable health care. I wonder if there could be something done to do the same to housing and retirement. There is more than one way to skin a cat. The problem is too many people want to more of a share of the cat's skin I guess, and then blame everyone who doesn't or isn't able to grab enough skin for themselves.

I mean, there's no reason to be alarmed. If we go to the hospital for something major they can't refuse to help us. But I just don't like the idea of owning big money.

In the end we all end up paying for other people's health care in one way or another, or they end up paying for our own health care. This is regardless if it's considered socially acceptable, as in the case of Canada, or condemned as being irresponsible for not making enough money, as in the case of the USA. Only those who have paid the same or more towards health care than what their medical costs would have cost outright are the ones who can say they paid their fair share. So far in my case I believe we're ahead, having paid more than we've taken.

I'm looking for another job. I've already put in my two week notice. Now to get some letters of recommendation and update my resume.

 

Is this through the ACA? I don’t know what state you are in but that sounds very high.

 

Yes it is. Well, through the Connect4Health Colorado site. As far as I know, it's the only way to get health insurance other than through an employer. I did input my numbers for the next year a little on the high side. I guess I could go redo it and put in low numbers and also see how the current year pans out by doing my taxes ASAP so I can see if I need to pay back or will receive back any money for what I've paid this year. I've been paying over $500 per month with the federal help covering the rest through the Connect4Health Colorado site for this current year.

Insurance tends to be expensive here in the mountains of Colorado. I've been told it's because lots of people that live here do risky sports, like extreme skiing, mountain biking and the like. This in turn causes people living here to be more of a risk to insurance providers, causing rates to be higher here than other parts of the country.

It's a similar story with car insurance because of icy roads, lots of wildlife, and lots of people in large SUVs and pickups with with custom solid 14 gauge or thicker bumpers that go 100mph and pass on blind corners because everything here is a back country road or mountain pass where you hardly see any highway police.

 

1968 i was in jr high. Broke bones during school sports. Mom took off work & we went to OUR dr. Not strange for the time, HE got us in - just a minute after arrival. HE took the xrays on HIS machine & a couple minutes later showed me pic's of the broken bones. HE did the plaster cast & had us return in 6 weeks.
Nowdays?
YOU can't go to YOUR md for broken bones. No - you go to urgent care or the emergency room now days & likely sit there, & wait & wait & wait to get in.
YOU don't get xrays from YOUR md anymore ... that's work to be outsourced to some other biz ... maybe next door or maybe a few blocks away, but not in YOUR doctor's office anymore.
YOUR doctor seems to only do checkups & such. Heck your doctor may not even be a physician. Most are either a D.O. or PE. ... not to bash their work.
The more socialized medicine gets for us, the worse it gets. Friend's uncle in Canada died waiting for cancer treatment. Not the first I'd heard of that bad scenario. Yeah, not a fan. Some do like it. Certainly not all. The more socialized it gets, the less we get.
One might look at it like bread lines in communist china. There's only so much to go around. Now with millions more here suddenly entering the country, there's likely to be less medical treatment to go around.
End of private medical insurance? Tell LeBron james, or your congressman - they should wait & wait & wait to get in to be served.
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Millions more suddenly here probably included your family at one time, as it did mine. He, President Biden, was and probably still is, ready to sign the bill. What’s the holdup?

 

Now I can't go to either (without incurring a debt I may never be able to pay off). What's the solution?

Who are "we/us?" I guess if we poorer people in a country didn't get any health care that would help make better health care available to the rich and wealthy. Then again, if people had no choice but to pay each one for his own health care, then maybe prices would come down. I really don't know. All I know is that it's expensive enough to have to choose between health care or food and shelter, and that's not even an exaggeration.

 

if you move to canada, do you get free health care?

 

One does not simply move to Canada (Aragorn meme goes here). They have rules:

Immigrate to Canada - Canada.ca

If you are on one of the desired lists, in ya go. Permanent residents and Citizens apply for health care.

 

isaac is desirable

 

TBH I shouldn't complain. I could improve my situation by being willing to move elsewhere. Another suggestion I got was to move to Flint Michigan and apply for a job at the GM plant. Housing is cheap there and I could get full benefits. But I choose to stay here close to my aging parents and where I feel it's a healthy environment and community for our children.

 

Maybe it's that this scam legislation was deliberately drafted so anyone w/ ½ their ability to comprehend understood it'd give amnesty to the millions & millions of illegal aliens. Rejection was expected & hoped for to simply give bad optics. No one fell for it. Immigration is great when people are vetted for their skills. The First Act of Entry being illegal? That's a skill the USA doesn't want.
.

 

I think you are right about who gets good health care. You are also right about getting a job with decent benefits. That was always an important consideration for me even though I have not yet gotten back even a small portion of premiums I have paid over many decades. Some people forget the underlying principal of insurance; everyone pays so that some have abundant coverage when they need it.

To be honest, I never gave notice before I had something else lined up. Sounds as risky as having no insurance.

 

Have you checked for jobs at schools and government agencies, etc. post office. I know someone who works at the dump. He seems to have plenty of money. Bus drivers, garbage truck driver make good money now. Some little government office with the county or something, anything, but you get the health and retirement benefits.

 

I think you heard misinformation and believed it. Maybe this is what we are talking about. Honestly, I don’t care. My goal is seeing the thing leave office under our Constitution. I don’t want to know anything about him or what he does in the meantime. Works great, others are doing it also. Why feed the biggest troll on the planet.
Unraveling Misinformation About Bipartisan Immigration Bill - FactCheck.org

 

Yes, I just started looking. For the record I work at a public school, but they subcontract my job, so no benefits from the company I work for.

School bus driver is one job on the list, and I have both a Class B CDL and passenger endorsement. But I don't think they'll give me anything more than 20hrs, so no benefits. I used to work as a school bus driver but one day they decided to cut wages, hours and benefits and now there are two, maybe three bus routes (driven by clerical and administrative staff that wasn't supposed to have to drive the buses) when there used to be 11 routes because nobody wants to work there. Still I might ask what the hours and pay would be now that they say they're desparate. Maybe if I could combine that with kitchen work at a school to get full time status.

Propane truck driver is also available, but I don't have hazmat or tanker endorsements. I'm investigating how to get those.

Lots of government jobs. One is kind of a juvenile facilitator's helper. Must be fluently bilingual, which I am. But mostly they are looking for police officers or jobs that require degrees that I don't have, and I'm not the kind of guy who could carry around a gun.

There is temporary work helping with low income financial assistance cases for heating homes. That could get me by until April or May. I'm unsure if they'd offer health insurance though.

Lots of construction and snow removal jobs. I do question my strength at this age. I did try to get back into hanging drywall a couple of years ago and about had a heart attack from exertion. But no construction or snow removal job will provide health insurance, so it would need to pay enough to make it feasable, and at my age I don't see that happening.

Not in the wanted ads, but there are a few fast food places and super markets that might offer health care benefits. But the last time I worked at one I made minimum wage and had to work 2 years before benefits would kick in. Maybe an autoparts store would have benefits too if they're hiring at some point.

Another option could be a custodian at the local hospital.

 

Things are different in fast food and retail. Everybody gets at least $15 and most can have insurance right away. The issue is the coverage - often specific hmo networks only.

 

"I did try to get back into hanging drywall a couple of years ago and about had a heart attack from exertion" Ufda. One cannot let such things go without follow-up medical testing.

I am among millions who had 'sudden chest pains'. A week later I had a stent in left descending cardiac artery. It works great with support by additional daily meds. Living long enough to experience new things is #1, sir.

 

Don't like my post. Attend to your personal health.

 

Ya, I used to make $3/hr in Denver, no tips, so $15 is 5 times that. But then again, $15 is also minimum wage here now. At full time that would be around a $1,000/month wage cut from what I currently make.

As far as HMO networks, it is the same with the insurance I have for this year. That, and someone bought up all the hospitals and clinics in my area so they are all one and the same now. Another reason why prices have gone up perhaps as now there is no competition unless you want to drive at least an hour and a half from here, assuming those haven't been bought up as well.