Today, Americans are facing dramatically increased health care costs, with millions losing coverage and one in three cutting back on daily living expenses to cover medical bills.
Is there anything about America's health care system that is not confusing and crooked? All of it - health insurance, Medicare, the myriad health plans I am part of through retirement, all of them are confusing to me. I do not understand the jargon and I know through experience that the jargon is deliberately confusing. They state on their correspondence things that are not even relevant to my insurance or care. When I ask why they put that sentence prominently below the balance they say, oh we used to do it that way but not any more. Then why is the sentence there?
When I was working, HSAs were offered for, I believe, catastrophic care, but I did not know they were also tax shelters. Omg.
Thanks for pointing out another trump GOP pay to play scam. Another idea with original good intentions becomes a tax loophole for the wealthy. Standard GOP mantra of save the wealthy and kill the poor and middle class, both literally and figuratively. And one thing to add to your review of the GOP HSA scam, those on Medicare are not allowed to setup an HSA. So if someone on Medicare has high out of pocket costs, they are not eligible for an HSA, but elon musk is eligible and profiting off the backs of the taxpayer again... The Epstein Class propers as the workup class suffers.
I see these mfers have gotten more creative. Years ago when HSAs were relatively news I got my first taste as a public employee. You were eligible if you had the highest deductible plan (catastrophic care by another name). There was one big difference from this plan: It was “Use it or Lose it.” A penalty for lower earners who didn’t guesstimate their eligible medical expenses correctly. HSAs do nothing for people who have an unexpected diagnosis' or injury. On the other hand it prevented higher earners from “gaming the system.” Of course the HSA corporations make much more money now under this scheme.
Again - thank you for excellent research and clear writing that makes my blood curdle and boil. I wish all Americans would read this article today! So important to see the ways income inequality (and grift) is working to the bane of most of us. Many thanks for your work.
While these accounts (like 401ks too) help the wealthy, they also help the top maybe 30% of Americans. I'm sure a lot of readers here (such as myself) have an HSA or 401k. These are effectively tax breaks for people who have enough money to save anyways.
I'm of the opinion that we won't get to a truly fair system of universal healthcare or guaranteed income until sacrifices are made not just by the top 1% but the top 10% and top 30%. These little tax breaks are nice for us (an extra grand or two at tax time) but can be abused by the ultra rich for much larger savings.
Many of us will need to sacrifice these nice-to-haves to create a system that works better for us all.
As long as there are politicians who are on the take you will have corporations funding legislation that is in their self interest. This administration may be the most bold in its transactional nature but it is hardly the first. I think for all of us healthcare coverage is the “wild card” in our lives that scares the most people. Even if you could wave a magic wand I doubt the solution would not leave some people or many people hung out to dry. One need only look to other government funded insurance programs and their abuse by participants and providers to not be skeptical that the “easy fix” is anything but. Stop propagating the myth that government funded healthcare is the solution because the key factor, humans, won’t cooperate. If you said free health insurance but you can’t consume coffee or caffeine how big of a riot do you think would happen? How much of America would be up in arms that you have the nerve to tell them what to do? We are the wrong species to practice socialized medicine.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION The federal government should pay 100 percent of the cost of providing public k-12 educations to illegal immigrants and the children of illegal immigrants including those children born in the United States of America. The federal government should pay 100 percent of the cost of Medicaid for illegal immigrants and the children of illegal immigrants including those children born in the United States of America. The federal government should pay 100 percent of the cost of food stamps and other anti-poverty programs for illegal immigrants and the children of illegal immigrants including those children born in the United States of America. The federal government should pay 100 percent of the cost of jailing illegal immigrants and the children of illegal immigrants including those children born in the United States of America. Local governments and state governments should send bills to the federal government for the previous things and the federal government should pay them because the federal government is responsible for keeping illegal immigrants out. An important component of national security is border security. Democrat members of Congress, Republican members of Congress, Republican Presidents, and Democrat Presidents have not cared enough about border security.
We need to be worried about illegal immigration, terrorism, crime, diseases, and harm to our food supply. Our country should significantly increase LEGAL IMMIGRATION in the future especially educated immigration and skilled immigration. Our country should let in more immigrants who are able to create jobs in our country. Our computer industry has benefitted significantly from legal immigration over the years. We might not have much of a computer industry if it were not for people like An Wang and Andy Grove. It should be easier for LEGAL IMMIGRANTS to become citizens of the United States of America. Illegal immigrants should have to register with the federal government and the state government of the state they work in. If a business hires an illegal immigrant who is NOT registered to work in the United States of America, the federal government and the state government should hit the business with fines. Illegal immigrants should receive photo IDs that includes their fingerprints. Illegal immigrants should pay a higher social security tax and a higher Medicare tax than citizens of the United States of America. Illegal immigrants should pay a higher income tax than citizens of the United States of America. Illegal immigrants should pay a 5 percent WORK IN THE USA tax collected by employers that would be split between the federal government and the state government. Only ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS should pay the WORK IN THE USA tax.
An illegal immigrant should have to live in the United States of America for at least 10 years after the passage of this law before the person may become a citizen of the United States of America. An illegal immigrant should have to pay social security taxes for at least 25 years after the passage of this law before the person is able to obtain any benefits from Social Security. The federal sales taxes would tax some of the money being earned in our underground economy by illegal immigrants and others. I recommend people read "Hiding in the Shadows The Growth of the Underground Economy" by Friedrich Schneider and Dominik Enste. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/issues/issues30/index.htm 2025 Having a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants may help increase birth rates, increase the numbers of people who want to be soldiers, improve funding for Social Security and Medicare, help reduce the national debt, reduce poverty I wrote a pathway to citizenship plan for illegal immigrants in 2009 on New Geography. 2025 You are more likely to be raped and murdered by a person born in USA than an illegal immigrant.
Many of the hardest working people in our country are illegal immigrants. Many of them had ancestors living in North America long before Trump's ancestors came to USA. 2025 Moving illegal immigrants into the regular economy would likely increase the tax revenues of local governments, state governments, and federal government. Immigrant, children of immigrants have started many Fortune 500 companies.
30 years of Americans with Disabilities Act Appeals backlog means people can wait years for their cases to be heard. By then, it's often too late. www.cbsnews.com
People in their 20s, 30s, 40s are more likely to become disabled than die. Less than 5,000 died on 9/11. Over 100,000 have died waiting to see an Administrative Law Judge for Social Security disability because Congress has refused to employ enough ALJ. ALJ are Tribunals inferior to US Supreme Court which Congress has the power to employ. GAO discussed Social Security Disability backlog in 1997.
The Social Security tax should be placed on all wages a person makes in a year including stock options - difference between bought at and sold at. Companies should not match on employee wages above $100,000 a year. We might not want employee match on employee wages above $50,000 a year. This may lead to lot more people buying eggs and other things from family farms.
I would like to buy frozen banana yogurt and frozen banana and chocolate ice cream from family farms sold in supermarkets. I would also like to buy t-shirts and bags that promote family farms in supermarkets.
Federal government and state government should stop taxing money people get from Social Security. Tariffs, graduated sales taxes negotiated by Congress as part of trade agreements may be used to help reduce national debt, Global Warming, human trafficking, inflation while increasing the buying power of money and help fund Social Security, Medicaid, food stamps. The power to regulate value of money and the power to tariff belong solely to Congress andf may not be shared with President. Our founders did not want a President who ran a huge domestic business empire to regulate the value of money and have power to tariff.
I read over 32 years ago on a bulletin board at UNH from a life insurance company that black men live shorter lives than white men and thought about the harm our current Social Security system is causing to black men.
Some of the changes I think Social Security needs to make is because of what I read 32 years ago. Many people pay into Social Security for over 40 years and die at 60 years old when have three children over 30 years old and their families receive little for funeral costs. People who work dangerous jobs are less likely to live to 60 years of age. How many black families have 2 or men per generation who pay into Social Security for over 30 years and die before receiving any money? The current Social Security system killed my father and millions of others by working them to death. They were not able to retire when they should have been able to retire because of the current Social Security system.
My dad had a heart attack in 2010 and died in 2019. If he had been able to have a Social Security retirement/investment account, he might have been able to retire at 50 years old.
SOCIAL SECURITY RETIREMENT/INVESTMENT ACCOUNTS
Social Security should allow people to invest up to 25 percent of their Social Security taxes into retirement/investment accounts and have this money used to pay for Funeral costs Life insurance Short term disability insurance Long term disability insurance
Gold
Silver
Index
mutual funds
Government bonds
For themselves, family members, others.
Government bonds including bonds that are used to build and run food banks, supermarkets in food deserts, homeless shelters, houses on Native American reservations, high quality affordable public housing apartments that are NOT in public housing towers, public k-12 schools, free child care centers, free elder care centers, free job training, etc.
The bonds, free child care, free elder care, free job training will likely increase tax revenues for local governments, state governments, federal government.
Life involves risks. Each person should get to decide if want to have Social Security retirement/investment account. If people put money into Social Security retriement/investment account need to realize this may reduce amount of money people get if become disabled and when retired.
CHANGING SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY When people first apply for Social Security disability, they are able to get attorneys for a percentage of past due benefits.
When people have Social Security Disability and Social Security says person is no longer disabled, person should be able to get an attorney for a percentage of monthly benefits during the review process and Social Security should hold onto attorney fees during review process.
Medicare should start when first qualify for Social Security disability. People should be allowed to buy into Medicare for all. They should not have to buy into Medicare for all.
People should be allowed to buy into Medicare for All. People should not have to buy into Medicare for All. USA should never have just government run health care. When the Democratic Party controlled the US House of Representatives in the 1960s and 1970s, the Indian Health Service tried to exterminate Native Americans via forced sterilizations of Native American females.
Congress should pass a law that says that if you do not pay for health care you have agreed to pay for by x date you have to get health insurance and pay a penalty fee.
You might want to support getting March in Rights of Bayh Dole Act used to reduce prescription drug prices, high tech, medical equipment based on federal government research spending.
The Bayh Dole Act has never been enforced dealing with prescription drugs.
I believe a lot of people have died because they were not able to afford drugs based on federal government research spending.
March in Rights of Bayh Dole Act allows government to license patents to other companies when the prices of products based on federal government patents are high.
It is called the Bayh-Dole Act. Unfortunately, no one is enforcing it.
Bayh-Dole is a provision of U.S. patent law that states that practically any new drug invented wholly or in part with federal funds will be made available to the public at a reasonable price. If it is not, then the government can insist that the drug be licensed to more reasonable manufacturers, and, if refused, license it to third parties that will make the drug available at a reasonable cost.
The idea behind Bayh-Dole is to protect taxpayers' investment in drug research and development. After all, the American public pumps more than $20 billion a year in taxpayers funds into health-related research and development, making it the single largest investor in the pharmaceutical industry. These dollars have led to the development of numerous new drugs.
I get Qvar from Canadian Med Center. I can get a three month supplu of the medication for little bit more than 1 month at Hannaford.
Healthcare plans for this household have a higher per plan premium and deductible than the max cap on these accounts. Nor so they allow one to deposit monies in amounts sufficient towards coverage of unexpected medical expenses. These accounts are poorly designed and offer very little tax incentives
This is the clearest explanation of yet another gift to the wealth class that I have read. This is by far the most informative use of this platform.
Thank you Judd.
Of course this company has a stupidly inaccurate name like HealthEquity. There's nothing equitable about its proposed reforms.
Is there anything about America's health care system that is not confusing and crooked? All of it - health insurance, Medicare, the myriad health plans I am part of through retirement, all of them are confusing to me. I do not understand the jargon and I know through experience that the jargon is deliberately confusing. They state on their correspondence things that are not even relevant to my insurance or care. When I ask why they put that sentence prominently below the balance they say, oh we used to do it that way but not any more. Then why is the sentence there?
When I was working, HSAs were offered for, I believe, catastrophic care, but I did not know they were also tax shelters. Omg.
Yet another classic example of corporate socialism. The US Treasury directly giving up revenue to subsidize private, for-profit businesses.
Thanks for pointing out another trump GOP pay to play scam. Another idea with original good intentions becomes a tax loophole for the wealthy. Standard GOP mantra of save the wealthy and kill the poor and middle class, both literally and figuratively. And one thing to add to your review of the GOP HSA scam, those on Medicare are not allowed to setup an HSA. So if someone on Medicare has high out of pocket costs, they are not eligible for an HSA, but elon musk is eligible and profiting off the backs of the taxpayer again... The Epstein Class propers as the workup class suffers.
@Dr. Amy Acton These HSAs will probably be touted In Ram’s campaign. This is a great article to pull Democrat talking points.
An EXCELLENT article and so important to spread! DEMOCRATS-DAMN IT help spread this information!
The profits made from health care scams are what makes reforms that are simple and obvious impossible to implement. Like medicare for all.
I see these mfers have gotten more creative. Years ago when HSAs were relatively news I got my first taste as a public employee. You were eligible if you had the highest deductible plan (catastrophic care by another name). There was one big difference from this plan: It was “Use it or Lose it.” A penalty for lower earners who didn’t guesstimate their eligible medical expenses correctly. HSAs do nothing for people who have an unexpected diagnosis' or injury. On the other hand it prevented higher earners from “gaming the system.” Of course the HSA corporations make much more money now under this scheme.
Again - thank you for excellent research and clear writing that makes my blood curdle and boil. I wish all Americans would read this article today! So important to see the ways income inequality (and grift) is working to the bane of most of us. Many thanks for your work.
While these accounts (like 401ks too) help the wealthy, they also help the top maybe 30% of Americans. I'm sure a lot of readers here (such as myself) have an HSA or 401k. These are effectively tax breaks for people who have enough money to save anyways.
I'm of the opinion that we won't get to a truly fair system of universal healthcare or guaranteed income until sacrifices are made not just by the top 1% but the top 10% and top 30%. These little tax breaks are nice for us (an extra grand or two at tax time) but can be abused by the ultra rich for much larger savings.
Many of us will need to sacrifice these nice-to-haves to create a system that works better for us all.
Had no idea these HSA accounts are vehicles for HNWI to divert taxes & also serve the wealthy as an investment vehicle. Maddening 🤨
As long as there are politicians who are on the take you will have corporations funding legislation that is in their self interest. This administration may be the most bold in its transactional nature but it is hardly the first. I think for all of us healthcare coverage is the “wild card” in our lives that scares the most people. Even if you could wave a magic wand I doubt the solution would not leave some people or many people hung out to dry. One need only look to other government funded insurance programs and their abuse by participants and providers to not be skeptical that the “easy fix” is anything but. Stop propagating the myth that government funded healthcare is the solution because the key factor, humans, won’t cooperate. If you said free health insurance but you can’t consume coffee or caffeine how big of a riot do you think would happen? How much of America would be up in arms that you have the nerve to tell them what to do? We are the wrong species to practice socialized medicine.
part 2
Wrote following in 2009 on New Geography
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION The federal government should pay 100 percent of the cost of providing public k-12 educations to illegal immigrants and the children of illegal immigrants including those children born in the United States of America. The federal government should pay 100 percent of the cost of Medicaid for illegal immigrants and the children of illegal immigrants including those children born in the United States of America. The federal government should pay 100 percent of the cost of food stamps and other anti-poverty programs for illegal immigrants and the children of illegal immigrants including those children born in the United States of America. The federal government should pay 100 percent of the cost of jailing illegal immigrants and the children of illegal immigrants including those children born in the United States of America. Local governments and state governments should send bills to the federal government for the previous things and the federal government should pay them because the federal government is responsible for keeping illegal immigrants out. An important component of national security is border security. Democrat members of Congress, Republican members of Congress, Republican Presidents, and Democrat Presidents have not cared enough about border security.
We need to be worried about illegal immigration, terrorism, crime, diseases, and harm to our food supply. Our country should significantly increase LEGAL IMMIGRATION in the future especially educated immigration and skilled immigration. Our country should let in more immigrants who are able to create jobs in our country. Our computer industry has benefitted significantly from legal immigration over the years. We might not have much of a computer industry if it were not for people like An Wang and Andy Grove. It should be easier for LEGAL IMMIGRANTS to become citizens of the United States of America. Illegal immigrants should have to register with the federal government and the state government of the state they work in. If a business hires an illegal immigrant who is NOT registered to work in the United States of America, the federal government and the state government should hit the business with fines. Illegal immigrants should receive photo IDs that includes their fingerprints. Illegal immigrants should pay a higher social security tax and a higher Medicare tax than citizens of the United States of America. Illegal immigrants should pay a higher income tax than citizens of the United States of America. Illegal immigrants should pay a 5 percent WORK IN THE USA tax collected by employers that would be split between the federal government and the state government. Only ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS should pay the WORK IN THE USA tax.
An illegal immigrant should have to live in the United States of America for at least 10 years after the passage of this law before the person may become a citizen of the United States of America. An illegal immigrant should have to pay social security taxes for at least 25 years after the passage of this law before the person is able to obtain any benefits from Social Security. The federal sales taxes would tax some of the money being earned in our underground economy by illegal immigrants and others. I recommend people read "Hiding in the Shadows The Growth of the Underground Economy" by Friedrich Schneider and Dominik Enste. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/issues/issues30/index.htm 2025 Having a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants may help increase birth rates, increase the numbers of people who want to be soldiers, improve funding for Social Security and Medicare, help reduce the national debt, reduce poverty I wrote a pathway to citizenship plan for illegal immigrants in 2009 on New Geography. 2025 You are more likely to be raped and murdered by a person born in USA than an illegal immigrant.
Many of the hardest working people in our country are illegal immigrants. Many of them had ancestors living in North America long before Trump's ancestors came to USA. 2025 Moving illegal immigrants into the regular economy would likely increase the tax revenues of local governments, state governments, and federal government. Immigrant, children of immigrants have started many Fortune 500 companies.
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/report/new-american-fortune-500-2024/
Illegal immigrants could avoid paying higher taxes by working for at least 8 years in one or more of following soldier in military
local police officer
state police officer
doctor in rural area
nurse in rural area
doctor for senior citizens
nurse for senior citizens
public school teacher
You may want to pass on the following to your readers if you are worried about being able to save for retirement. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/disability-benefits-gao-report-death-
Bankruptcies-waiting-hearings/
30 years of Americans with Disabilities Act Appeals backlog means people can wait years for their cases to be heard. By then, it's often too late. www.cbsnews.com
People in their 20s, 30s, 40s are more likely to become disabled than die. Less than 5,000 died on 9/11. Over 100,000 have died waiting to see an Administrative Law Judge for Social Security disability because Congress has refused to employ enough ALJ. ALJ are Tribunals inferior to US Supreme Court which Congress has the power to employ. GAO discussed Social Security Disability backlog in 1997.
The Social Security tax should be placed on all wages a person makes in a year including stock options - difference between bought at and sold at. Companies should not match on employee wages above $100,000 a year. We might not want employee match on employee wages above $50,000 a year. This may lead to lot more people buying eggs and other things from family farms.
I would like to buy frozen banana yogurt and frozen banana and chocolate ice cream from family farms sold in supermarkets. I would also like to buy t-shirts and bags that promote family farms in supermarkets.
Federal government and state government should stop taxing money people get from Social Security. Tariffs, graduated sales taxes negotiated by Congress as part of trade agreements may be used to help reduce national debt, Global Warming, human trafficking, inflation while increasing the buying power of money and help fund Social Security, Medicaid, food stamps. The power to regulate value of money and the power to tariff belong solely to Congress andf may not be shared with President. Our founders did not want a President who ran a huge domestic business empire to regulate the value of money and have power to tariff.
I read over 32 years ago on a bulletin board at UNH from a life insurance company that black men live shorter lives than white men and thought about the harm our current Social Security system is causing to black men.
Some of the changes I think Social Security needs to make is because of what I read 32 years ago. Many people pay into Social Security for over 40 years and die at 60 years old when have three children over 30 years old and their families receive little for funeral costs. People who work dangerous jobs are less likely to live to 60 years of age. How many black families have 2 or men per generation who pay into Social Security for over 30 years and die before receiving any money? The current Social Security system killed my father and millions of others by working them to death. They were not able to retire when they should have been able to retire because of the current Social Security system.
My dad had a heart attack in 2010 and died in 2019. If he had been able to have a Social Security retirement/investment account, he might have been able to retire at 50 years old.
SOCIAL SECURITY RETIREMENT/INVESTMENT ACCOUNTS
Social Security should allow people to invest up to 25 percent of their Social Security taxes into retirement/investment accounts and have this money used to pay for Funeral costs Life insurance Short term disability insurance Long term disability insurance
Gold
Silver
Index
mutual funds
Government bonds
For themselves, family members, others.
Government bonds including bonds that are used to build and run food banks, supermarkets in food deserts, homeless shelters, houses on Native American reservations, high quality affordable public housing apartments that are NOT in public housing towers, public k-12 schools, free child care centers, free elder care centers, free job training, etc.
The bonds, free child care, free elder care, free job training will likely increase tax revenues for local governments, state governments, federal government.
Life involves risks. Each person should get to decide if want to have Social Security retirement/investment account. If people put money into Social Security retriement/investment account need to realize this may reduce amount of money people get if become disabled and when retired.
CHANGING SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY When people first apply for Social Security disability, they are able to get attorneys for a percentage of past due benefits.
When people have Social Security Disability and Social Security says person is no longer disabled, person should be able to get an attorney for a percentage of monthly benefits during the review process and Social Security should hold onto attorney fees during review process.
Medicare should start when first qualify for Social Security disability. People should be allowed to buy into Medicare for all. They should not have to buy into Medicare for all.
Sincerely,
Ken Stremsky
187 Poplar Street
Manchester, NH 03104
647-5898
part1
People should be allowed to buy into Medicare for All. People should not have to buy into Medicare for All. USA should never have just government run health care. When the Democratic Party controlled the US House of Representatives in the 1960s and 1970s, the Indian Health Service tried to exterminate Native Americans via forced sterilizations of Native American females.
Congress should pass a law that says that if you do not pay for health care you have agreed to pay for by x date you have to get health insurance and pay a penalty fee.
You might want to support getting March in Rights of Bayh Dole Act used to reduce prescription drug prices, high tech, medical equipment based on federal government research spending.
The Bayh Dole Act has never been enforced dealing with prescription drugs.
I believe a lot of people have died because they were not able to afford drugs based on federal government research spending.
March in Rights of Bayh Dole Act allows government to license patents to other companies when the prices of products based on federal government patents are high.
I found out about it in the Union Leader in 2002
Paying Twice for the Same Drugs
March 27, 2002 More than 23 years ago
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2002/03/27/paying-twice-for-the-same-drugs/c031aa41-caaf-450d-a95f-c072f6998931/
It is called the Bayh-Dole Act. Unfortunately, no one is enforcing it.
Bayh-Dole is a provision of U.S. patent law that states that practically any new drug invented wholly or in part with federal funds will be made available to the public at a reasonable price. If it is not, then the government can insist that the drug be licensed to more reasonable manufacturers, and, if refused, license it to third parties that will make the drug available at a reasonable cost.
The idea behind Bayh-Dole is to protect taxpayers' investment in drug research and development. After all, the American public pumps more than $20 billion a year in taxpayers funds into health-related research and development, making it the single largest investor in the pharmaceutical industry. These dollars have led to the development of numerous new drugs.
I get Qvar from Canadian Med Center. I can get a three month supplu of the medication for little bit more than 1 month at Hannaford.
My health care provider told me about it.
https://www.canadianmedcenter.com/
Sincerely,
Ken Stremsky
Healthcare plans for this household have a higher per plan premium and deductible than the max cap on these accounts. Nor so they allow one to deposit monies in amounts sufficient towards coverage of unexpected medical expenses. These accounts are poorly designed and offer very little tax incentives