Trump throwing his toys out of the pram

If those who wish to use private insurance were exempted from the proportion of their taxes which pays for the NHS, the public healthcare would be funded only by those who can't afford the private insurance - and who pay very little tax. A case of "Pull up the ladder, Jack, I've got my medical care sorted, no-one else matters."

The NHS wasn't popular with everyone when it was proposed, but it has proved a means of improving the nation's health. That is an asset to the country - the whole country, including those who buy private care. There are all kinds of indirect benefits to looking after the health of all the inhabitants.

rose I found it quite difficult to understand, but I came out of reading your post feeling that it seems shambolic and those with the least money are extremely likely to fall through the massive holes in the net.

No one does in the U.K. There might be lots of issues, largely because successive governments can’t keep their figures out of the NHS.

I think Europe also has comprehensive fair and a just systems for their folk.

We all pay in regardless of our wealth and we all get out what we need. Nothing is exempted, although the Tory government are trying.

Those who wish to do so can pay for private health, but it doesn’t nor should it exempt them from the common good.

Open Enrollment-

Usually begins around Novemer 1st and ends around December 15th-

If you plan on purchasing health insurance you have to enroll during that 6 week time frame- There are some life changing events that allow people to buy it any time, such as the death of a spouse- Otherwise, you're sh*t out of luck and have to wait until the next open enrollment period-

An exception was made during the pandemic because so many people lost their full time jobs and their health insurance along with it-

Private insurance-

By law, businesses offer insurance to their full time workers and not part time workers-

(Ive had many business owners tell me that this is why they only hire part time help other than managers)

The business pays a portion towards the monthly insurance premium and the worker pays the balance-

It isnt mandatory for the full time worker to accept the insurance offered- They can select their own from other private providers that offer less coverage and cost less-

However, the handful of companies that provide the best comprehensive coverage only offer insurance to businesses and not individuals-

However again .. even the best insurance doesn't offer 100% coverage- After deductibles are met, and monthly premiums are paid, patients are still responsible for a percentage of their medical bills-

There is no such thing as birth to death medical coverage in the US- The closest we have to something like that is only offered to federal employees- The federal government contributes approximately 72% of the cost of their montly insurance premiums until their death-

To be clear, The Affordable Care Act is a "federal statue" (a law) not "insurance coverage" -- like the NHS umbrella-

The word affordable in the Affordable Care Act was defined by the bill writer's version of the word and not each citizens financial circumstance- As a result, the individual mandate was taken to court and ruled unconstitutional-

If a person/family falls at or below poverty levels, they qualify for Medicaid-

Medicaid is both state and federally funded- It is free or mostly free- Cost varies by state as does what it covers other than what's mandated-

Here is a quick list:
www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/benefits/mandatory-optional-medicaid-benefits/index.html

Keep in mind not every medical facility accepts it-

States also have their own insurance programs, some specifically for children and some families that fall at or below the poverty line-

The poverty line is decided by the government: barely surviving- Anyone above the line doesn't qualify -- and often times not be able to afford insurance offered by the ACA-

To be continued .. ?

So if you couldn’t afford insurance according to the act, would the state pick up the tab?

What’s the affordable insurance premiums more or less expensive that private health insurance?

Was it totally comprehensive I.e. from birth to death?

Sorry to fire so many questions, and don’t answer if you don’t want to but I would like to understand why it was unpopular.

He got rid of the Obamacare individual mandate, which basically came down to paying a penalty for not buying insurance if you could afford insurance according to "the government's" definition of "afford"-

He began to address longstanding issues with China and trade in general and although he didn't fix the issues he made it a matter of national conversation and received support from both sides of the aisle for it- And as you can see, it's also now on the Biden/Harris Build Back platform-
From manufacturing to trade, our relationship with China has destroyed us- From job loss to the import of all their cheaply produced junk and the black market fentanyl that's responsible for thousands upon thousands of deaths and contributing to the ongoing, escalating drug epidemic in our country-

He gave the ignored portions of this country a voice- If nothing more- Having been looked past decade after decade, administration after administration- They need jobs, and jobs are what he promised- And what some of them got- However, what all of them got was his language- Their shared understanding of social rot- But, unfortunately, also the support of it, in all of it's ignorant glory- In other words, just because everyone isn't destined to be doctors or lawyers doesn't mean the alternative need be gun toting, white supremists- His message to them needs mending, but it was a conversation starter- He has nearly half the country's support-

He has done a lot for veterans in the area of fast tracking their access to healthcare and mental health-

I hope the above is enough to at least begin to consider and credit-

Interesting rose

I didn’t follow the Trump presidency except to read his tweets with incredulity.

So I’d be interested to understand what he did for the less well off, that has attracted so much following.

Thank you rosecarmel It is good to hear your take on this.

Happy Thanksgiving to you too.

varian

"rosecarmel* are you happy about the prospect of a Joe Biden presidency?

No- Not so far-

Personality wise I prefer Biden- Policy wise, I'm wondering why Biden hasn't already begun to credit Trump for the portion of his platform that he adopted- I find that equally as "embarassing" as Trump's unwillingness to concede-

Build Back and MAGA are similar- In many ways- And it's about time Biden acknowledges that fact-

Trump didn't have to be rabid- Or underhanded- But Biden doesn't have to be pompous and evasive- We had enough of that from the Obama administration- But it doesn't stop us from acknowledging his accomplishments-

If Biden, and Kamala, truly intend to unite the country they're going to have to be transparent- They'd of never won without support from the Left- And that's a fact-

We've got a Congress arguing over what should or shouldn't be included in Stimulus Sausage when all of us would benefit from another serving of generic, twelve hundred dollar checks because food insecurity has already doubled while they fiddle in their Congressional Kitchen because THEY can AFFORD to-

Happy Thanksgiving to us!!!

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, led by Chris Krebs (a Trump appointee) has thoroughly checked out claims that the election had been compromised and rejected them all, concluding that this was the most secure election that hed ever taken place in the USA.

www.cisa.gov/rumorcontrol

As a result Chris Krebs has been fired by Trump. He found out from a tweet.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54982360

"rosecarmel* are you happy about the prospect of a Joe Biden presidency?

I wish you could "experience" our imported, overly fertilized-forced, cellulose excuse for produce-

With the greatest respect, I think I'll take a rain check on that...

It isn't up to the government to replace industry- It's up to the government to revisit regulation, deregulation and trade-

I wish you could "experience" our imported, overly fertilized-forced, cellulose excuse for produce-

He did say he would build a wall

Here's just one example- Coal mining began to decline in the 1950's- 70 years ago- And no other industry was introduced to replace those jobs in coal mining regions-

Surely, rosecarmel, what you are asking for here, i.e state sponsored replacement industry, goes against the whole American ethos of self reliance and freedom from state interference?

Many of us know about dire poverty in the US, yet the Trumpistas kept pointing to increased employment and lower taxation as though this had cured all the poverty problems.

But until the whole US ethos changes I can't see any improvement for those in poverty.

Both sides have gravitated towards promises not kept-

People need honesty, transparency- They need to hear ideas presented as such instead of pretense-

There's nothing dignified about standing behind a podium and lying- I don't care if it's a Democrat or a Republican- Ive listened to both stand up there and spin-

They need to be specific-

They need to broadcast meetings they have so that the people can monitor their course of action and contribute to the discussions they're having with the exception of classified, security exhanges-

How any of them can stand up there exuding the confidence they do while working families struggle to keep food on the table is .. Im trying not use a curse words for descriptions ..

And we, the people, need to be honest too- Trump's MAGA is very similar to Biden's Build Back- And it isn't a coincidence-

I would love to see Biden be the bigger guy and give Trump credit for what he got right, because it would "Build Back" bridges that have collapsed-

Biden is parroting Trump- Almost verbatim-

rose in the 70s we had coal and steel industries. Thatcher closed them and just like USA there was never anything to replace these industries that offered either a job for life and a community.

The motor industry did provide some relief, but the disaster that is brexit is ensuring that this is looking very uncertain.
So we have a very unbalanced economy in the U.K. and wealth is largely centred in the South East of England, although there are areas of severe deprivation even here.

The gap between the wealthy and the poor is growing ever bigger and we are in the disgraceful position of having 30% of our children in relative poverty and 26% in absolute poverty. And notably, most of those children live in working households.

The right wing in England are attracting these folk and they gave Johnson a big majority last year, together with the Brexit vote.

This March to the right will get worse if the issues aren’t addressed.

Another example- The pandemic stimulus package- It was an upside down pyramid- Those that needed it the least received the most and those needing it the most, the least-

Here's just one example- Coal mining began to decline in the 1950's- 70 years ago- And no other industry was introduced to replace those jobs in coal mining regions- How many administrations have come and gone over the course of 70 years, all making promises that never came to fruition?

Clearly it's not just the right making empty promises-

For the most part, those that labor physically have been considered ignorant, know nothings until they are needed- When needed they have a fleeting moment in the sun when their collective wisdom and knowledge is appreciated and freely given before they are tossed to the side-

Same with steel- With automotive- And so many industries that jumped ship for Mexico and China- The money flowed up- And now one man has a considerable chunk of it-

Biden in press conference.

Those who consider he is too senile need to watch and listen.

You are so wrong in that opinion.

The aim of the right is to make the rich richer, even if that rests in the poor getting poorer. Why does that appeal to poor folk?

Because they admire those on the right for being wealthy? Which they want to be.