What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[Luke]

Just hope you don't get cancer or something else costly, I guess.

How kind of you, I guess.

[dsheinem]

Just hope you don't get cancer or something else costly, I guess.

How kind of you, I guess.

I meant that like "(I guess your plan is) just to hope you don't get cancer or something else costly." But yeah: the internet and inflection.

[prfsnl_gmr]

But the ACA is a debacle.

I don't think that it's fair to blame the ACA for the high cost of health care (and the resultingly high cost of health insurance). That certainly existed well before the ACA's passage and implementation. That said, the requirement that all Americans purchase insurance or pay a penalty is - in essence - a wealth transfer from the youngest, healthiest (and generally poorest) members (i.e., you and most of the other members of this forum) of our society to the oldest, sickest (and generally wealthiest) members. (Social security has the same effect. The brunt of the tax burden is borne by young wage earners, and the benefits are transferred to the oldest - and often wealthiest - members of our society without regard for need.) I understand that the goal of the act is to keep medical costs from rising at a rate that is much higher than inflation, but with an aging population, I am not sure how we can sustain the model contemplated by the current version of the ACA. I wish that the act would have included a "public option" (or a "just buy medicaid or medicare" option), and I think that the inclusion of such a feature would have accomplished the act's goals far better. (Since the federal government and the various state governments can insure people very efficiently, however, such an option would have been terrible for private insurers, and I understand - pragmatically - why it was not included in the act.)

Hopefully, the ACA will eventually allow our country to move toward a health care system that has some of the best features of systems in other developed countries. Moreover, it has at least started to reform a system that was very badly in need of systemic changes. (I will concede that the ACA has been poorly implemented to date, and I really hope that the Obama administration can improve the act's implementation very soon.)

[the King]

Luke,

Have you looked into a HSA? Over the years this is the most affordable option I have found. Plus if you are young and healthy and don't go to the doctor often the money you put into the account will roll over and eventually get back while also covering your butt in case something does happen.

[Luke]

I meant that like "(I guess your plan is) just to hope you don't get cancer or something else costly." But yeah: the internet and inflection.

I knew exactly what you were getting at, but the "I guess" made me tear up with laughter. Jump inside my head, jump back out and say that isn't hilarious.

Luke,

Have you looked into a HSA?

Yup. Great suggestion, but my internest isn't covered. The guy knows me inside and out (no jokes please) and he and his team is all I really want.

[spiritplx]

Hey Luke, I'm sure you've already looked into it, but any chance you'd qualify for COBRA (at least until you can figure something out long term)?

[prfsnl_gmr]

Yup. Great suggestion, but my internest isn't covered. The guy knows me inside and out (no jokes please) and he and his team is all I really want.

An HSA is simply an account where you can set aside money for future medical expenses on a pre-tax basis. Depending on your HSA, the money you set aside earns interest, and most HSAs provide you with a debit card that you can use to pay for health care costs. (It is a lot easier to use an HSA debit card to pay for your health care than it is to deduct health care costs on your tax return.) Finally, you do not necessarily have to be covered by health insurance to open an HSA.

Since you will be paying "cash" to your internest, he or she should have no objection to seeing you if you have an HSA, and if you are planning on going uninsured and can predict your annual health care expenses with some degree of accuracy, opening an HSA might save you some money.

[fastbilly1]

Smile - Had a friend of mine suggest I go to the shindig next week for Star Wars Episode 7 casting.

Ticked - Despite the call being for people who are younger than me, I do get mistaken for the age group if I do not have facial hair. But a friend of mine in Chicago said the line for the shindig there was stupidly long outside the property. That and I actually think it is a marketing scheme.

Smile - leads me to work harder on the scifi project I already have in the pipe.

[dsheinem]

Smile: Batkid - http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/e ... foundation

[emwearz]

I got fiber internet installed this week.



My wireless .11n adapter is only 150mbps, so I need to pick up a .11n at 300mpbs to get the full 100/40 speed from my line.