To Those Who Think People 65+ Can Easily Afford Interim Insurance Until Age 67: MAKE

[WinkyDink]

SOME PHONE CALLS.

CAPITOL BLUE CROSS.
AETNA.
STATE FARM.
PICK YOUR POISON.

ASK: "How much per month for an Individual Health Insurance Plan right now, today?"

[uppityperson]

1. 2 of us 10 yrs younger, $10,000 deductible, $400/month for us both

If we were to get SS now, that would be a good portion of it. Insurance isn't cheap unless you work for a company, and even then it isn't. But as individuals, outrageous. k&r

[Lil Missy]

2. Easy. They don't retire until age 67. And we are talking about being phased in over several years.

[WinkyDink]

6. Wow. You are HOW OLD, and WORK WHERE? Try construction. Teaching. Waitressing.

Oh, and "phased in"? NO INDIVIDUAL HAS AGE 67 "PHASED IN".
All this plan does is give the perps time to get out of Dodge.

You hire a lot of old people, do you? But I hope you DO work until you are 67....whether you want to or not.

[CBGLuthier]

7. You may be nominated for most apt username with attitudes like that

[COLGATE4]

23. K&R

[City Lights]

8. Are you hiring? eom

[Gormy Cuss]

12. That works if you have a job with an employer that won't lay you off before that age.

In the two years I've had two friends out of five in the age category of 60-65 who were "made redundant" by their long time employers. In one case, the person was able to be added to his wife's employer group plan. It took him nine months to find a new job at one half of his former salary and the job doesn't have health benefits. In the other, it was COBRA for eighteen months then nothing because there were no individual plans that would take her on. She had three years until age 65 and although she has highly marketable office support skills, a year of pounding the payment has yielded nothing other than rejection letters claiming she was overqualified, which is code for we assume that you'd want too much money even though we never asked.

[Marrah_G]

14. You are assuming they will work at the same emplyer until 67?

[awoke_in_2003]

25. and also assuming...

they are physically capable of working two more years. We really need to purge some people who claim to be dems from the party.

[EFerrari]

17. People in their 50s can't find work as it is. n/t

[lumberjack_jeff]

18. You get to pick when you retire? Lucky you. n/t

[jtown1123]

19. Wow it's so easy! I had no idea. Thank you for that helpful comment. I never knew I could control

not getting laid off.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[suffragette]

26. And what about all those employees "phased out" by employers?

[eridani]

27. You are contemptible. Have you bothered to give a single thought to those who are

--forced out of the workforce permanently at age 55 and above? And some are even saying that 45 is the new 55.

[Mojorabbit]

28. I have friends in their mid 50s

that have worked construction all their lives. They can't find work now and no one would hire them if they could at their age when there are much younger workers out there and so few jobs. I don't expect them to find steady work again as the construction business will probably be moribund for the next decade. I don't know what they are going to do. We all are hiring them to do small jobs to help them keep going but it is not enough.

[JAnthony]

41. I didn't see your "sarcasm" icon...so you're serious?

Some people at 75 can do a full day's work, 5 days a week. Some people in their early 60's have to cut their hours because they are not healthy or strong enough for a full work week.

Let's see what it's like for you when you get there.

[madrchsod]

3. i doubt i could find anyone who would insure me for...

568 per month. that amount is what i get from social security.

[sybylla]

33. At 56, my dad couldn't even get private insurance.

He was healthy. His doctor wrote letter after letter advocating for him with company after company. Didn't matter. Unless he had a job with insurance, or is wife did, he wasn't going to get insurance. Period.

That was 10 years ago. The health care reform act should keep that from happening to anyone else. But there was little in that bill stopping an insurance company from charging unaffordable rates to the "undesirable."

You are probably too correct in your assessment of the situation. Raising the Medicare age is bullshit.

[Raven]

4. I had private insurance and it was $800/month 5 years ago. n/t

[HockeyMom]

5. IF any of them will even insure them at all

Pre-existing conditions. How many Seniors have those?

[Contrary1]

42. Diabetes, Asthma, Glaucoma, and a history of cancer...

The insurance companies are lining up as I type, underbidding each other, in an attempt to have me as their member. :sarcasm:

I'll be lucky if I can pick up even a crappy policy for less than $700. a month.

[Shagbark Hickory]

9. OR just go on line and enter in an age or DOB and you'll get prices. nm

[mmonk]

10. It's madness but there are plenty who sip from nectar of delusion.

[Vinca]

11. The reason Medicare came about in the first place was the lack

of insurance companies willing to cover older people at any price. And that was decades ago when big insurance wasn't all for profit. It's highly unlikely any company would offer coverage no matter what the delusional Republicans might think.

[dana_b]

13. and include a pre existing condition

which many 65 y.o. have. Impossible or so insanely expensive that it's not possible to purchase anyway.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. No need. If you don't have one the Insurance Companies will invent one for you.

[Raksha]

16. K & R

[jtown1123]

20. Two years ago (age 22) policies for me cost $400 a month. Perfectly healthy not a smoker

I cannot imagine how much a 65 year old would have to pay. I'm guessing about a $1000...

[flamingdem]

21. I agree. We need to call constantly to the point that the calls get to be news

on a regular basis on this issue.

[PA Democrat]

22. Big K & R. Self-employed people will be screwed as well.

This will cost a self-employed person tens of thousands of dollars in lost benefits.

[Dream Girl]

29. You do know this would be over twenty years?

The age would increase one month per year beginning in 2017, it's not like it would be happening tomorrow. IT would go up to 67 in something like 2029

[Dragonfli]

30. Are those people lesser human beings simply because they will be older in the future instead of now?

I don't get the bullshit rationalization that future seniors somehow do not bleed when pricked as current seniors do.

You are cold and dead inside to the pain of others, please seek help.

[Bluebear]

31. +++++

[jtown1123]

35. +1000. As if future seniors will somehow be drastically different than current seniors n/t

[Bluebear]

32. Absolutely NO!!!

[RegieRocker]

36. Logic? Point?

[Lil Missy]

37. Thank you! Most seem to think this will happen tomorrow.

[Skidmore]

39. In 2029, that would put a lot of today's people who are around 60 into their 70s.

Do you think that we are getting jobs now to pay for this? Even now, for those of us who have been unemployed through no fault of our own, are not really being hired. Not really. If you are seeking a job, you don't get hired now unless you are currently employed. Factor the notion into your head that you can't pay for insurance when you don't have income. It doesn't matter what year the age increase comes into being, it only compounds an already existing problem. We need some real solutions out here because this is one problem that won't go away. I don't know how old you are but if your main job is just sitting behind a keyboard, you need to consider the fact that there are still millions of people who do intensely physical labor. The body doesn't hold up so well and you don't get good health care still unless you have really good income or a cadillac health care plan.

[raccoon]

34. K&R. nt

[mfcorey1]

38. I currently pay 591.00 a month for just me at age 61. Cigna

[Doctor_J]

40. I think those DUers are the ones who listen to hate radio all day

no other explanation

[woo me with science]

43. You're missing the important point.

They don't care.