Did you realize if you requested your tax refund be direct deposited

[napi21]

your "tax incentive check" will also be direct deposited? The reason I posted this is because I didn't know that until tonight! I saw it on one of the news reports. The first incentives will be to those who filed electronicly and had their refunds DD to their bank. Paper checks will be a few weeks later.

It caught my eye because I had been wondering how the IRS could be that stupid to pay the postage to print and mail paper checks when most tax returns are filed electronicly. It's CHEAP to process transactions via electronic transmission. I was happy to hear somebody in this admin was actually thinking for a change!

[rurallib]

1. Our government is not that stupid. They ARE stupid enough however

to borrow anther $100 billion from the Chinese and charge it to your kids and grandkids.

[Olney Blue]

2. None of my business, but how do you plan to spend your check?

[napi21]

10. I'm using it to help pay some past due medical bills. Thanks to the

increased copays, even though we have good insurance, we owed $2,500 in copays for a trip my hubby had to make to the ER for a suspected heart attack. They did all the tests, and kept him overnight to monitor his condition, but we received additional fees due from 8 different sources, from the ambulance, ER, Heart Center, anesthetist, etc. I can accept the $100 ER fee is you aren't admitted to prevent misuse of the ER, but the rest of these copays are BS!

Sorry for the rant.

[DesertFlower]

13. a little off the subject, but

hubby needed an MRI on his foot. he had it done at the hospital and they charged over $3,000. if he would have had it done at the radiology place it would have been less than $500.

[napi21]

15. Did your GP recommend this test? If so, why didn't HE tell you about

such a big difference? I admit I was a bit purturbed when I went to my GP because of a severe cough and fever, and he had me go to a radiology clinic for an xray. I KNOW he knew I had pneumonia while I was in his office, but I think he played the CYA and insisted on the damn xray. Yes the xray confirmed the pneumonia and he called in a prescription, but I had NO IDRA if he had sent me to the hosp. the costs would have been so much bigger! If I were you, I would call your GP and ask why he didn't tell you about the alternative in advance.

[DesertFlower]

19. it was the foot doctor. he made the

appointment for my husband. i don't know if he even realized how much more the cost was. the funny thing is the insurance only paid the hospital about $500 out of the $3,000 -- the negotiated rate -- so we're not responsible for the rest. we already had satisfied our $700 deductible on another medical expense.

i think he wanted it done at the hospital so he could get it done faster. he got the results the same day. i think at the hospital they keep some slots open for the doctors or for patients who need an MRI on an emergency basis. there might have been a wait to get it done at the radiology lab.

he was worried that the infection had gone into the bone.

have you ever been hospitalized? they charge ridiculous amounts even for an aspirin. i had an appendectomy 15 years ago and they supplied my medications. charged about $15 a pill. i said next time i'll bring my meds from home.

[napi21]

21. I have been in the hospital, but thank God only twice in recent years.

I also have a very close friend in another state who is the Director of Accounting for the largest hospital conglomerate in the US. I already KNOW why an asprin costs $15. It's hard to explain in a short paragraph, but it's because of the unpaid costs the hospital system has to assume for the unisured who they are required by law to treat through the ER.

The simplest was I can explain it is this: If you raise tomato plants to sell as seedlings, and each dozen cost you $1.00 to get to market, and you plant 1,000 dozen, your cost is $1,000. BUT some are going to die. Lets say 25% die, so your marketable product is 750 dozen seedlings. You have to make SOME profit, so if your cost is still $1,000, you need a profit of 10%, and you only have 750 seedilings to sell, you have to charge $1.46/dz instead of $1.10/dz to cover the seedlings that died. The hospitals have to do the same thing. Costs are incurred for every patient, but there are some who cannot pay anything, so they have to spread those costs they can't recover amoung those who can pay.

That's why we need socialized medical care. If everyone were covered by medical care, that craziness wouldn't exist. YES we would ALL have to pay into that system, but if would be much less than we who pay are now paying, and there wouldn't be anymore of those stupid copays for anyone! If some people wanted insurance coverage for cosmetic surgery, or private nurse care, they could buy it outside the standard system. I'm really hoping we will see something like that, but I doubt I will see it in my lifetime!

[DesertFlower]

22. thanks for the explanation.

i'm hoping for socialized medicine too, but i don't think i'll see it either.

[Olney Blue]

17. Don't blame you for ranting. How's hubby doing?

[napi21]

18. He's ok. They finally determined his symptoms were caused by

stress on the job. He's taking 6 different meds, and of course that's another story, but all seems to be ok now. Thanks for asking. I'm just hoping the Dems can force a decent HC plan through in 2009. Hubby is retiring in Oct. 2008, and I will be eligible for SS at the same time. I know everybody seems to think that "medicare for all" would be the answer, but you need to check the nedicare benefits before you say that. There are still a lot of copays that low income people can't afford, and the feds aren't really paying the Drs a fair rate. It's NOT the panacea you think it is.

[DesertFlower]

20. i'm 66. i was eligible for medicare when i reached 65.

i didn't take it. i have much better coverage through my husband's employer for less money. the thing is when i do take it they will charge me 10% more for every year i didn't take it. we kinda figured out the costs and figured we're better off even when the time comes that i will have to pay more. hubby is only 60. he plans on working at least another 5 years. we'll deal with it then.

but doesn't it suck? if you don't take they penalize you.

yes. besides the medicare you have to take a supplemental policy to cover what they don't cover and then a drug plan. medicare's drug plan is a crock of shit. they make you think it's free. it's only free if you're really poor and don't have assets of more than about $11,000.


glad your husband is okay.

[napi21]

23. That's NOT TRUE! My husband was 65 last Sept. He applied for SS

but declined medicare because he is still covered by his insurance at work, and so am I. You are confusing Medicare with the NEW drug coverage. Even with the new drug coverage, if the policy you now have is equal to or exceeds the gov't plan, you don't have to take theirs and you will NOT get a penalty. IF your current plan is "not as good" as the gov't plan, then you must buy one of the Part D insurance plan coverages. That's where we are. The drug coverage hubby has at work has a cap of $5,000/yr which makes it a non-compliant plan. I checked all the plans available for the cheapest per month cost because hubby's meds never even come close to reaching the cap of $5,000 that his employer has on their drug plan. I pay $16.60/mo for insurance I know I most likely will never use, but we also won't ever be penalized.

As far as "medicare" which is the hospital coerage, as long as you have SOME insurance coverage, you do NOT have to take medicare, and there is NO PENALTY.

[DesertFlower]

24. wow. thanks for that info.

i'm automatically enrolled in medicare part A which i think covers the hospital. there is no charge for that.

[napi21]

25. Yes you are. You need to contact your current insurer and find out

who THEY consider the primary because you are actually double insured and one will be the primary. My hubby's company said THEY were the primary on both the hospital & the drug insurance, and medicare would pick up the difference between what the hospital charges were and what we still owed. BUT (and you know there's always a but) Medicare will only pick up the difference IF you are an inpatient. I always thought an inpatient was someone who was kept overnight. WRONG! I was told that you have to be kept more than 24 hours!!!!! These damn people play with every word I've ever learned! Anyway, if your illness is serious enough for you to be hospitalized for 24 hours or more, medicare will pick up what you owe as copays, and trust me....everybody charges you separately! The ER, the anesthetist, the xray tech, the resident Dr., the ambulance if you had to use them. I felt like I had a bunch of new penpals!

Anyway, call your insurance provider for your drug coverage to find out if they have a cap. If they don't you don't have to buy the Part D insurance until you lose the coverage you have. Part A is always considered the secondary.

[Lugnut]

26. You are correct.

I've been eligible for Medicare since 1995 due to disability but I was covered by my husband's job related insurance coverage. I will not be penalized next year when he retires and we both switch to Medicare.

[DesertFlower]

27. i was eligible since 1992 because of disability

but never took it. when i turned 65 they automatically enrolled me. i had to fill out a form saying that i was declining it. that's when they started telling me about 10% penalties.

[rwheeler31]

3. hmmm

and eveyone has joint accounts?

[Tashca]

9. oh man

That reminds me......we had that return sent to my wifes account.

so much for that new Mercedes I was gonna get.........

[madeline_con]

4. I have an issue. If the lady who prepped our taxes

received a check a couple days later, can't she do that with the incentive check?

If not, can't I request direct deposit for this one?

Every yahoo in the neighborhood knows they're on the way, And I hate to have it in the mailbox for anyone to take. :(

[AlCzervik]

6. Did your accountant efile for you?

Our accountant prepared the return, we signed the docs, i dropped off the efile thing to her, she filed it and i mailed the checks to the ira, if i were getting a check back i think i would get it directly and it would not be deposited into my account. If i were getting a refund i would want the check myself.

[napi21]

12. I'm not positive of this, but if you had to pay additional tax, you

wouldn't have provided your bank account info to the IRS (because you weren't getting a refund) so they would have no option but to send you a paper check.

[AlCzervik]

14. thats kind of what i thought, i'm not getting a refund anyhow.

[Why Syzygy]

7. Pretty sure you'll be getting a check.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=177937,00.html

[dflprincess]

5. They were stupid enough to mail everyone information about

the "economic stimulus" check telling them all about it. That must have cost a bundle.

They even had to mail people like my mom, whose Social Security is low enought that she hasn't had to file taxes in years, a 1040A form & instructions on how to fill it out so she could get her check.

Mine is going into my savings account.

[DesertFlower]

11. amazing, wasn't it?

i won't be getting one because we made too much money. cashed in stock options which raised our income.

[Crabby Appleton]

8. Paper checks a few weeks to a few months later

depending on last two digits of SSN


http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=180250,00.html

[RC]

16. I pay in every year. Why should I let them use my money for nothing.

So I get a check in the mail.