Health Savings Account-Health Savings Account Info

Karen asked:


http://www.burtonreport.com/InfHealthCare/BritNatHealthServ.htm

The British National Health Service

There exists in England today a sometimes uncaring, often unresponsive and typically disrespectful health care system. This system, as well as other global socialized systems, not created in regard to the patient’s best interest, continue to be considered as worthy of emulation by many in the United States government. This continues to be a very much ill-advised initiative. The latest “buzz” in health care is “evidence-based medical practice.” Well, let’s examine the evidence:

There is little question but that the American health care system is inordinately expensive. Perhaps value is being received because longevity and quality of life have progressively increased and patient satisfaction remains high. There is also little doubt, however, but that we could do a much better job of improving service and decreasing overall cost by replacing HMOs with MSAs (Medical Savings Accounts) and getting serious about a paradigm shift to a truly preventive mode.

Before rushing to adapt another failed system the United States needs to carefully assess what we have now. “Queuing-up” has been part of the British persona for many decades. It’s not, however, part of the American mind-set. Standing patiently in line for rationed goods and maintaining a “stiff upper lip” have been an unenviable “badge of courage” which has been the signature of our British cousins in the past. There is also an almost unique phenomenon in Britain which relates to the remarkable degree of trust automatically given (traditionally) to all professionals (government, law and medicine). In health care this explains a long-time supercilious attitude toward patients not counteracted by appropriate medical oversight. The really tough question for the new millennium is: how long will England continue to tolerate the chronic disrespectful behavior and continually declining quality and service of its “Health Service”?

The British prescription for health care continues to be typified by the phrase “Take A Seat.” There is a remarkable complacency among a population which readily accepts the notorious British National Health Service (HNS) waiting lists for necessary hospital treatment. As the 20th century ended there were 1.12 million ever-suffering souls patiently waiting for needed hospitalization. This appears to be the price for “free care. One usually gets what one pays for. There is no doubt but that disabled Americans would be a great deal more impatient regarding their desire for prompt quality service than our British cousins.

The British Health Service continues to announce that the official list of those waiting for care is shrinking. This is simply not so; what has happened is that waiting lists to get on waiting lists have been created. After waiting to be seen by a family physician a British patient incapacitated with a spine problem may have to linger for more than a year to see a specialist. It is up to the specialist to determine the urgency of the case and to order any specialized tests. After the wait for the tests and the results (often a process of months) the next wait, of about a year, for surgery begins. Are things getting better? As of May, 2001 all indications were that the British National Health Service continued to “languish from bureaucracy, demoralization and capricious medical fads” (clearly not a formula for success). ( Lawlor S: Britian’s Nationalized Medicine Needs Doctoring, The Wall Street Journal Europe, May 3, 2001).

Are things better in Canada? A 1998 study by the Fraser Institute located in Vancouver suggests not. Fortunately our Canadian neighbors have the opportunity to opt-out and “escape” their Federal Health Program by bolting across the border. On August 30, 2001 the Wall Street Journal reported that the British National Health Service had nearly one million patients waiting for treatment (40,000 of these waiting for surgery for over a year) and they have officially announced that henceforth the NHS will start paying patients to travel across the English channel for treatment in the European Union countries.

Socialized health care systems typically address the best interests of the state rather than the individual. The urge by these political entities to cling to unworkable and discredited policies is the stuff of legend. Tight financial controls in Japan have kept their medical costs to about 7% of their Gross National Product (GNP). The Japanese, however, also only get what they pay for. In the United States in 1996 26,200 patients were treated with defibrillators as a life-saving device. Japan (with half of the United States’ population) treated only 100 such patients because such devices are rare in Japan. Many other important medical devices such as cardiac stents and other sophisticated implants are also not usually available. Because of artificially low, government mandated, physician

Leroy Leroy

Business Owner asked:


FSA = use it or lose it.

Why would you buy into an FSA

HSA = rollover year after year

Please explain to me the benefits of an FSA over an HSA.

Brendon Lascody

Rachel M asked:


My mother has battled health problems for years (Crohns and Essential Thrombocytosis). She never qualified for SSD becuase she hadn’t worked in many years (stay at home mom). 2 years ago she was able to go back to work. Recently she had to take FMLA becuase of vascualar problems (surgery, therapy) and now physically can not work.

What programs are available to assist her (if any) with benefits and/or finances)? I am her daughter, and supporting her has drained my savings account, not sure what else to do at this point.

Side note, previously when she was stay at home mom, my father had a good job, which he has since lost. That is why my mom need income and benefits.

Trent Pemberton

Tom S asked:


(1) Trillions spent on TARP, bailing out the private and public banks and insurance companies (Bank of America, AIG, Fannie Mae, CitiGroup etc). We get higher banking fees, deceptive loans and credit cards, closing equity lines of credit, and 0.25% interest in our “equity builder” savings accounts in return.

(2) A trillion or more, to be spent over 10 years on a publicly run health care system. Can the government do a better job than private insurance companies? What about pre-existing conditions? Will we still be scared to go to the doctor (and get over-billed)?

(3) Or the stimulus package. 30000 jobs created for a trillion dollars. Cash for clunkers, $8000 for first time home buyers, and we all see $13 more in our weekly paychecks?

So which is the best use of our money?

Ailene Lane

$so fresh so clean$ (3 for 3) asked:


Republicans:
pros- low taxes, national security, pro business, promotes self-savings accounts
cons- promotes war, anti abortion, uses religion for advantage, weak on education

Democrats:
pros- health care, social security, programs for poor, economy, pro-choice, education
cons- raises taxes, too much spending, weak on border security, slow passing policies, make promises and don’t keep them, too contradictory

Kerry Henrikson

Water Over Gold asked:


When CBO said the first healthcare bill would raise costs, Democrats claimed CBO didn’t look at all the *potential* cost savings. (Schumer, D-NY, even said the projection was “wacky”)

But when CBO uses THE SAME SCORING SYSTEM to say this current bill would *potentially* cut costs over time, Democrats hail it as proof this roughly $900 billion bill reduce the deficit and save people money.

What do you make of this?? Isn’t the CBO simply PROJECTING (guessing based on information available) and then the politicians spin the news to their advantage??

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=akyC7XoVI7EU

“Our preference far and away is for a bipartisan bill,” Schumer said. “If we can’t come to a bipartisan agreement, the Finance Committee will report out a Democratic bill.”

The New York senator said the CBO’s assessment that health-care costs would rise under legislation being considered by congressional Democrats doesn’t take into account savings from preventive care and efficiencies in the system.

“CBO’s scoring is a little bit wacky,” Schumer said of the nonpartisan agency’s estimates. “They are not quite fair because they don’t measure the cost savings down the road, just the immediate spending.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=akyC7XoVI7EU

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that Majority Leader Harry Reid’s 10-year, $848-billion bill would produce a net reduction of $130 billion in federal deficits in its first decade. Perhaps more significantly, the legislation would continue to give back over the next 10 years and beyond, the budget umpires said, because “added revenues and cost savings would probably be greater” than the cost of covering uninsured Americans.

The budget office put a big asterisk on its forecast, using words like “imprecision” and “uncertainty” to describe the long-range projection. It noted that, overall, health care spending remains on an unsustainable path.

However, the bill would not make matters any worse, and maybe even a little better.

With President Barack Obama pledging to tamp down ruinous health care costs, Democrats took the new CBO estimates to the bank, while skipping over the caveats. At a noontime rally with supporters, Reid, D-Nev., said the legislation would “save lives, save money and save Medicare.”

Standing shoulder to shoulder with other Democrats, Reid evoked a Democratic president who had tried to overhaul health care — Harry S. Truman — and said the bill “is not just a milestone in a journey of a few months or a few years. We have been working to reform health care since the first half of the last century.”
zap…………….I know what bill passed. THE POINT: CBO (the same people that scored the first) are scoring the second as well.

Carrie

WinonaGal asked:


This is purely an exercise to examine for yourself how much our government is already taking from you.

Here is a little checklist, but please feel free to add something I might have forgotten.

Real estate taxes
state tax
social security tax (it is a tax but I welcome this one)
city tax (some have some don’t)
sales tax (depending on where you live, it’s as much as 8% on everything other than food, right?)
meal tax
earnings on your savings accounts, investments, etc.
gasoline tax
heating oil tax
inheritance tax
car registration (it’s a tax even if they call it something different)
entertainment tax (movies, campgrounds, hotel, etc.)

I’m up to, easily, about 50% of our annual income so far, how ’bout you?
I even purchased a small iced coffee yesterday at Dunkin Donuts and paid $2.23 for it, when I looked at my sales slip I paid 18 cents of that in tax. Just on one iced coffee, wow. How many coffees might you buy, or beverages? My, doesn’t this add up.

So, when are you going to say that it’s all too much?
And some people want even BIGGER government?
Now, I want you to examine what are you, personally, getting for what you are spending? Do you feel that the government is giving you something in return for what you are paying? Is it enough to say what you are paying is worth it?

Now, let’s examine some new things that are coming up. Health care and Cap and Trade. Can you imagine, if possible, how much more people will be spending than they already are? Do you firmly believe that both of these programs will not hit your personal pocket?

Your comments please.
I forgot tax on cell phone and land lines! They get you with a communications tax and also on your cable tv bills.
Correction, someone said SS tax was 1%, it’s more like 7.45 or something like that.
Also, when my dad died, mom didn’t have time change his IRA account beneficiaries afterward, the account was willed to her and she just didn’t get to it. She didn’t expect to die 4 months and 6 days later and they hit us with probate tarrifs of 19K on a 48K IRA accound. Can you imagine?
Are we sickened enough? Do you really want cap and trade and do you really want Obamacare? How much more blood can they **** from you?
I think of one trip on Air Force One costing 250K for the wasteful photo op trip to NYC and then the photos were never used. I think of $100 each steak dinners for Obama and his cronies on us at the Whitehouse. I think of members of congress buying not one, not two but three private jets so they can travel. I think of how people get private cares, meal allowances and vote their own raises. I’m not just picking on Obama, each president has had their perks. He’s just in office right now.
How come this man gets cooks, housekeepers, limos, planes, chauffers, and governors get that too (unless you live in Alaska as Sarah Palin stopped it there).
Are you tired of it now?

Jessia Bonsignore

girl1985 asked:


Hey all, I currently take home about $2100 a month depending on commission (i do insurance). I am 25 and live at home, debt free, and have $35,000 in my savings account and $6,000 in my checking account right now. I wanted to move out and rent an apartment but everyone is telling me to buy a townhome/condo because it’ll be cheaper. Any thoughts on this? My car payment is currently $291 (its a lease that is up next june then I am definitely getting a cheaper car) and my auto insurance is $100. I pay about $45 in gas every 2 weeks. My father pays my phone bill and we have group health insurance so I do not pay those bills. I spend about $150 on groceries a month. Based on all this plus rent, utilities etc. could i afford to move out? I know HOA fees can be expensive and utilities but I really want to move out!!!!I am actually meeting with my bosses tomorrow to discuss a raise since my 2 year review is tomorrow. any advice would be greatly appreciated

Bobby

luggz17 asked:


I’m trying to help grow my online business anyway I can. I would love introduce my online business to the rest of the world and help others save money while making money.

go to: www.quixtar.com

click the register button on the top right hand corner of the page.
my IBO# is 5108088
the key is: ALE

After completing the form remember your access # is you login # used to access your page. There is a toll free # on the page, if you need to request any info about your account. You can always email me at luggz17@yahoo.com and I can forward you your access # but that might take longer. Thanks for your help. Enjoy your savings.

Graham Carstensen

[O]peration [I]raqi [L]iberation asked:


I have a full time job and I support myself. I have a car, my own residence, and get health insurance through my employer. I’m not on welfare and I get by on my own paychecks. I have a savings account and a positive net worth (except for maybe if you count my car note), and I don’t have any credit card debt. I’m not in college, and I’m white.

Yet I’m a staunch liberal. I believe in trickle up economics. I don’t buy into blaming the victim. I would rather have “big government” than “big conglomerates”. I don’t mind paying taxes as long as they get reinvested in the country and not spent on war and on interest to foreign creditors. I do not believe that the answer to soaring energy prices is more tax cuts.

Why is that?

Waldo Schellenberge