Americans are drowning in a sea of debt.
Late last week, MSNBC reported that the savings rate in the third quarter of 2005 was negative. This is bad news.
As a nation, our financial preparedness seems especially worrisome, with the U.S. personal savings rate dropping to a negative 1.2% in last year's third quarter.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
In his radio address on Saturday, Mister Bush said that health insurance should be treated more like home mortgages.
This is how Paul Krugman described the lastest atrocity from the regime. You can read the entire column at the link I've provided. http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/...
On the radio, Mr. Bush suggested that we should "treat health insurance more like home ownership." He went on to say that "the current tax code encourages home ownership by allowing you to deduct the interest on your mortgage from your taxes. We can reform the tax code, so that it provides a similar incentive for you to buy health insurance."
Well, let me ask you, what happens if you don't pay your home mortgage? They take away your home.
What happens if you don't pay your health insurance premium? They take away your healthcare.
What's causing such levels of debt? Home mortgage payments? Unaffordable college tuition? Out-of-control consumer spending? Yes. Yes. and Yes.
Add another huge item to the list, medical care--even among insured Americans.
Since the business model of the for-profit insurance industry is to take your money then deny you care, even Americans privileged to have essentially worthless insurance are drowning in medical debt. Because as we know, every dollar the insurance industry pays for your health, goes against their bottom line. They're in business to provide a return on investment, paying for our healthcare is not good for the bottom line.
Stacy Fentress will say goodbye to her boyfriend this year. While he pursues a doctorate, she will be living with her parents in Tennessee.
Fentress, 29, has thought seriously about pursuing a doctorate, but her academic and life goals are on hold. She first has to pay off an $85,000 debt.
. . .Shortly after she earned her master's degree, Fentress had medical problems that required a scan of her stomach. Her insurance didn't cover the $5,000 procedure, which she charged to her credit card.
http://www.cnn.com/...
It's much, much worse then the spectre of isolated or individual Americans spending with profligacy only to encounter hard times. Medical debt is destroying huge numbers of American citizens!
In fact because healthcare has become so unaffordable except for the rich, the credit card industry is marketing credit cards to be used exclusively to charge healthcare.
Some doctors and hospitals are teaming up with financial-services companies to market credit cards to patients, reducing healthcare providers' dependence on bill collection, and causing more low- and middle-income consumers to pay interest on their medical debts.
http://www.boston.com/...
This is also known as pay to play and in the United States, if you're unable pay for healthcare, then frequently you won't be invited to play.
While hospitals in Massachusetts are not pushing such credit cards, they are attempting to get patients to pay up front for services not covered by insurance, and are routinely asking them to provide credit card information before they receive treatment.
How many people do you know who have not received medical care or been denied health care for lack of funds? It's happening all across America.
Patients can be turned down for elective procedures if they don't pay in advance, but hospitals are required to treat emergency cases. The state doesn't keep statistics on the number of people denied elective procedures because of financial reasons.
The safety net? "It's made of plastic."
According to the results of a national survey released last week , about one-fifth of low- and middle-income households with credit card balances cited significant medical expenses as a reason.
A survey analysis -- by Access Project , a nonprofit medical consumer advocacy group, and Demos , a public-policy research organization -- said the number of patients using credit cards to pay their medical bills is expected to rise as employers increasingly shift insurance expenses to workers who already face larger insurance co payments and higher deductibles for medicine and treatment.
"The healthcare safety net is made of plastic -- its called 'credit cards' for many people," said Mark Rukavina , director of Access Project, which is affiliated with Brandeis University. "It's a pretty frightening prospect."
You're going to hear more crap like this from Mister Bush on Tuesday night.
We need to fix these problems, and one way to do so is to treat health insurance more like home ownership. The current tax code encourages home ownership by allowing you to deduct the interest on your mortgage from your taxes. We can reform the tax code, so that it provides a similar incentive for you to buy health insurance. So in my State of the Union Address next Tuesday, I will propose a tax reform designed to help make basic private health insurance more affordable -- whether you get it through your job or on your own.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/...
As I said, if you don't pay your mortgage, they take away your house.