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US Workers Are Highly Taxed If You Count Premiums

peoplespolicyproject.org

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Re: US Workers Are Highly Taxed If You Count Premiums

#481

Post by tathougies »

smueller1234 wrote: post #394
tathougies wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd probably also find the amount of amenities provided by universities ridiculous. I mean we had a free olympic pool and rented puppies to pet before finals. Its no wonder it costs so much

I found a stark difference in German and American higher education that the German higher education system treats you like an adult, including accountability for your own schedule, whereas in comparison American universities appear an extension of middle school. Carefully created and controlled curriculum, etc. That's in no way a statement about the academic merit in either direction, of course. This is very much ali…

Thats right. I had a similar experience as an american exchange student in london. The college didnt baby sit you and extra services cost money

Re: US Workers Are Highly Taxed If You Count Premiums

#482

Post by Spooky23 »

vonmoltke wrote: post #459
Spooky23 wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It happens with high deductible plans. When I had back surgery I was with a public employer PPO. Total out of pocket was like $300 for about $500k of procedures. Half the people in my recovery PT were selling cars and emptying 401ks to make the mortgage.

> It happens with high deductible plans. I never said it doesn't happen, which seems to be the strawman most people are responding to. However, there is a huge gap between "it happens" and > happy if your cost for seeing a doctor is less than 4 digits which I indicates this is common and typical.

It depends on who you are and what you do. My health insurance costs more than what a typical minimum wage workers gross compensation.

Re: US Workers Are Highly Taxed If You Count Premiums

#483

Post by [deleted] »

swebs wrote: post #429
antientropic wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's taking about external migration (refugees and illegal immigrants), not internal migration under the EU's freedom of movement. Of course, the latter was a major factor in the Brexit referendum, so I wouldn't say it's not a major problem for the EU...

What's even the point of the distinction if the EU is not adequately restricting immigration from those other countries? The point remains the same: people from poor countries are mass migrating to rich countries with the most social programs. This is a major problem for the EU.

[deleted]

Re: US Workers Are Highly Taxed If You Count Premiums

#484

Post by mattlondon »

bodono wrote: post #467
mattlondon wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation needed. I dont think that the NHS is utter garbage - sure there is room for improvement, but it seems that it is not "garbage" at all according to recent research: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-06/NHS... That report has some very interesting charts. E.g. Figure 9 shows that almost 25% of people in USA skipped going to the doctors due to cost, or almost 20% of people in USA skipped pre…

A good citation can be found in the one you provided: Under Key findings: Its main weakness is health care outcomes. The UK appears to perform less well than similar countries on the overall rate at which people die when successful medical care could have saved their lives. Among its strengths, the NHS does better than health systems in comparable countries at protecting people from heavy financial costs when they ar…

Nowhere in that report does it say it is "garbage", as you suggest it is.

Yes it is not as good as some other wealthy countries, but it is by no means "garbage", e.g. on page 35: "The results show that although the UK does well by global standards, it performs poorly compared with the other developed countries in our comparison group". "..does well by global standards.." completely contradicts the idea that it is "garbage".

There are some interesting comments in the document suggesting that some of the health outcomes might actually be social which was news to me an quite interesting - e.g. the british "stiff upper lip"/"keep calm and carry on" might be causing people to defer medical help, or that the large income disparity could be skewing it. Interesting & worrying stuff.

Re: US Workers Are Highly Taxed If You Count Premiums

#485

Post by munk-a »

tathougies wrote: post #207
munk-a wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Both countries do not benefit from it, otherwise they would view these wars as just and support them. The political machines in both countries support these wars and force the populace into them - in part (in the US at least) by being a two party system without any way to politically express a desire to not go to war, one party is more hawkish but both parties are full of hawks. As an American I am happy to say,…

> otherwise they would view these wars as just and support them So the claim is that it is only possible to benefit monetarily from things that are ethically sound?

No, the point is that a subset of the populace benefiting monetarily isn't equivalent to a country benefiting. People can rationally say that acquisition of wealth is not the sole goal of existence.

Re: US Workers Are Highly Taxed If You Count Premiums

#486

Post by munk-a »

silotis wrote: post #192
munk-a wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, this comment missed a big point - the money wasn't spent on Social Security, the money has been borrowed by other agencies and expenditures that owe it back. That's like saying "Oh man, your job isn't paying you enough money, you should quit." 'But I make 80k, that's plenty!' "Oh, you uh did, until I stole all but five dollars." 'Oh darn, guess I'll quit then.'

I'm well aware that the money was dumped into the general fund and spent on other things. That doesn't change the fact that the money is gone, so saying that the trust fund has $3 trillion doesn't really help with SS's fiscal viability.

If the US government was instead a group of private corporations then the balance for SS would be positive due to the assets they have in the form of debts, just because there isn't cold hard cash there doesn't mean the money doesn't exist - the only way to get to that point is to consider the other parts of the government as bad borrowers and assume the debt will need to be written off.

Re: US Workers Are Highly Taxed If You Count Premiums

#487

Post by lhorie »

sbov wrote: post #370
lhorie wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My taxes pay for the doctor's time, the nurse's time, the receptionist's time, etc. And that is entirely fair. It does not pay for clerical workers in different companies to be sending paperwork back and forth to satisfy some systematically complicated pricing structure, because such a thing does not exist. And it certainly does not pay the salary for the CEO of CollectiveHealth or whatever your provider is. > The fa…

> and in the other I hear stories of people getting a surprise 4-digit bill in the mail three weeks later, after already paying through the nose for insurance. Lol. I wish. For me it was 5 digits. Closer to 6 than 4. And I had a $1,800/month premium for a family of 4. Spent multiple hours per week for months on end playing phone tag for the hospital and insurance company until it got resolved. Hospital billing also t…

Ouch. Sorry to hear that :/

Re: US Workers Are Highly Taxed If You Count Premiums

#488

Post by dre85 »

My understanding is that in the US there are even companies which can be hired by hospitals and other care centers to "optimize" the codes before the final submission to the insurance. I take this to mean that they can ensure that you're using the right codes and also probably try to maximize the payout.

Re: US Workers Are Highly Taxed If You Count Premiums

#489

Post by petronio »

zrail wrote: post #455
petronio wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I left the US recently with a few thousand in an HSA (a pre-tax account designated for healthcare expenses). I have no idea how I'm going to get that out of there now.

You can keep it there and withdraw it after 65 penalty free (have to pay taxes like a traditional IRA) or you can pull it out now and pay taxes plus a 10% penalty.

Probably better to withdraw and eat the penalty then, inflation will make it worth peanuts by the time I'm 65.

Re: US Workers Are Highly Taxed If You Count Premiums

#490

Post by petronio »

AQuantized wrote: post #381
petronio wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, if we assume the previously posted £10,000/year, and three years for a Bachelor's they'd have a £30,000 debt. Assuming no interest, since it's only the amount over £25,725 that's taxed they'd have to average £25,725+((£30,000/30)/.09), or £36,836.11, over 30 years to fully repay, which I think is a much more reasonable number outside of HCOL areas. I'm not sure if they account for inflation or have any fixe…

Interest rates vary depending on how much you earn. https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay It's basically inflation + 3% if you're earning more than £45k/yr+.

That makes a lot of sense, thanks.
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