Avoiding MediCare
I would like some help from folks here in the Gulch with respect to untangling the intricacies of Social Security and MediCare...and how to avoid them. Here is the best summation of my current view of the situation:
"For all of America's cherished belief in choice and freedom, it remains an astonishing fact that the U.S. government forces citizens over the age of 65 into a subpar health plan of its choosing. And so it is with some hope that we greet a new federal lawsuit (Hall v Sibelius)* that aims to allow senior citizens to flee Medicare...
The suit comes courtesy of Kent Masterson Brown, a lawyer who has previously tangled with the government over Medicare benefits. Mr. Brown represents three plaintiffs who are suing the federal government to be allowed to opt out of Medicare without losing their Social Security benefits.
Amazingly, this is not currently allowed. While the Social Security law does not require participants to accept Medicare, and the Medicare law does not require participants to accept Social Security, the Clinton Administration in 1993 tied the programs together. Under that policy, any senior who withdraws from Medicare also loses Social Security benefits."
http://mrken45sworld.blogspot.com/2009/1...
*(The Supreme Court refused to hear the abovementioned suite.)
Since there are a number of people in the Gulch who exceed me in years, I am wondering if someone has found a work-around for this. Grist for the mill: I would prefer to stay in the US; I do not intend to retire.
Jan
"For all of America's cherished belief in choice and freedom, it remains an astonishing fact that the U.S. government forces citizens over the age of 65 into a subpar health plan of its choosing. And so it is with some hope that we greet a new federal lawsuit (Hall v Sibelius)* that aims to allow senior citizens to flee Medicare...
The suit comes courtesy of Kent Masterson Brown, a lawyer who has previously tangled with the government over Medicare benefits. Mr. Brown represents three plaintiffs who are suing the federal government to be allowed to opt out of Medicare without losing their Social Security benefits.
Amazingly, this is not currently allowed. While the Social Security law does not require participants to accept Medicare, and the Medicare law does not require participants to accept Social Security, the Clinton Administration in 1993 tied the programs together. Under that policy, any senior who withdraws from Medicare also loses Social Security benefits."
http://mrken45sworld.blogspot.com/2009/1...
*(The Supreme Court refused to hear the abovementioned suite.)
Since there are a number of people in the Gulch who exceed me in years, I am wondering if someone has found a work-around for this. Grist for the mill: I would prefer to stay in the US; I do not intend to retire.
Jan
Jan
You could also just enroll in some plan that doesn't cost anything to you and then just pay for your own medicine with cash. My wife and I are 40 y/o, and this is our plan. We save the max amount each year into an HSA. We don't take money out for our expenses, but rather let it grow inside the HSA in a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds. We hope between this and other wealth we're building we'll be self insured.
Asking the government to ease up on the controls is like asking a rattlesnake not to inject the venom after it has already sunk its fangs into your leg. It's just not going to happen.
As a matter of fact, the better a doctor is the more likely he is to refuse to take government insurance. Does this make me want to be on Medicare? Additionally, there are a lot of things that my insurance will pay for that Medicare will not.
My company insurance plan provides good coverage, and since I do not intend to retire I can keep using it indefinitely.
Do I want my medical care to be run by the people who manage the DMV and the IRS? No.
khalling - I was specifically hoping that you would respond (thank you). I know that one can avoid the ACA by moving outside of the US. Can one avoid Medicare by doing so?
Jan
Let me look up some of the things you mention. Thank you.
Jan
Jan