Nothing is free, anywhere. And healthcare is not a singularity, how many nations have healthcare because they have little to no need for military? How many have healthcare but a very low population of able bodied but idle leeches. There is a lot more to healthcare than healthcare, and the US doesn't have a fiscally responsible enough government to manage it. I wish we would just wholey do away with income tax and go to a high consumption tax, there is a lot of dough to be had in cracking dealers gold chain purchases. If we had that people would probably find a government funded system less and more palatable at the same time
On Jan 14, 2017 12:06 PM, "Jay Weekley" <[email protected]> wrote: I thought healthcare in Canada was free. Paul Stewart wrote: > Canada isn’t all it’s cracked up to be neither …. ;) > > the $2100/month for health insurance sounds like it’s a lot of parts > involved though…. sounds more like a mixture of health coverage and > benefits. > > So in Canada, we have provincial and federal healthcare coverage which > various from province to province. I didn’t know until Eric mentioned it > now about folks in BC having to pay out of their own pockets for provincial > health care (a portion). > > Ontario for example, where I live, and much like other provinces in > Canada, have very high taxes in my opinion. For me, here’s what I see: > > healthcare coverage - included by province for “most” things… doctors > visits, hospital coverage if needed (ward coverage only). No out of pocket > expenses, however a lot of doctors are fed up with the way they are being > treated by the province and coming up with “nickel and dime” fees such as a > $30/fee every time they need to write a prescription. This varies wildly > amongst areas and doctors offices. > > Benefits coverage from my employer - upgrades your hospital stays to > private room and covers a few more “corner cases” that province won’t > cover. Vision coverage of $200/year per household member (glasses/contacts > etc). 100% of prescription drugs covered at zero cost (with some > exceptions that I’ve never come across). These benefits cost me zero as an > employee but cost the company quite an amount - taking a guess of around > $400-$600/month per employee. These benefits also include short term and > long term disability coverage too…. massage therapy, chiropractor treatment > etc… (all with limits though but enough to get some “basic” stuff done) > > The stuff that really kills me is all the other stuff …. simple stuff like > cost of groceries and gasoline … electrical bills, property taxes etc…. > income taxes > > Quick breakdown for me (all averaged prices): > > $800-$1000/month in automobile gasoline > $400/month for home/auto insurance > $500/month property taxes (includes water bill @ $100/month) > $300/month in highway tolls > $80/month for natural gas > $350/month for electricity > $60/month in bank fees > $300/month in cell phone bills (3 phones on plan) > $100/month for satellite TV > $120/month for Internet service (two providers) > $1200/month for food/drink > > This is for family of 4 and doesn’t include any alcohol, entertainment > (movies/dinners) etc… also doesn’t include mortgage if I had one etc… > doesn’t include things like savings/retirement planning etc etc…. > > Total monthly of about $4400 for family of 4 and let’s add a mortgage of > $1800/month and that would bring it to roughly $6,200 to live comfortably > but not luxury by any means. In my personal case I also have about > $1300/month in car payments too ;) > > To top it all off, 39% of my income immediately goes to various income > related taxes > > Paul > > > On Jan 13, 2017, at 5:25 PM, Sterling Jacobson <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> Then I would have to defect to Canada… >> Seriously though, this is why it’s such a big issue in the USA. >> My middle class-hood is killing me here. >> *From:*Af [mailto:[email protected]]*On Behalf Of*Eric Kuhnke >> *Sent:*Friday, January 13, 2017 3:10 PM >> *To:*[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >> *Subject:*Re: [AFMUG] OT Slightly, Cost of Living >> >> >> $2100 a month for health insurance??? >> >> My wife and I pay $150 Canadian a month for both of us for the BC >> provincial health insurance... Part of the federally funded system. >> >> I cannot even fathom the idea of paying $500, $1000 or more for health >> insurance for a family of 2 people, or 2 people + children, etc. >> >> It's true that income taxes and other taxes are higher in Canada, but if >> you consider that $2100 as a "tax" on your life and add it up to your >> federal payroll deducations for US income tax, you may actually be paying a >> lot more in a year than I do. No matter what income bracket you're in. >> On Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 9:57 AM, Sterling Jacobson <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> I'm guessing this information is like a lot of you out there. >> >> Except maybe my earnings because I am making about double median >> gross salary for my city. >> >> I'm not saying I work double, but I do fulfill many roles as the >> only salary employee of my startup ISP. >> I don't think I can replace myself for the same cost to the >> company, so I feel ok with that. >> >> I don't live extravagantly, but I do live comfortably. >> >> I have a 3100 sqr foot rambler I've lived in since 2001 with a >> house payment of around $1500 a month. >> >> But my biggest expense is health/insurance and medical. >> >> I now pay about $2100 a month for my family health insurance >> through IHC. >> I just signed up for a good Dental Gold plan at $100 a month for >> my family, but since it's not company I have to wait 6-12 months >> for a lot of the benefits :( >> The insurance deductibles are I think around $6000 a year and I >> have medications that eat up most of that. >> >> I just upped my life and disability insurance on myself and my >> wife to make sure things don't go bad if I die, that's around >> $550 a month. >> >> I think I spend about $1000 a month on eating, groceries and >> movies/date nights, at least that's what I came up to in December >> so that might be a bit off. >> >> I've got real estate I'm still trying to sell, but it's not the >> panica everyone says it is, lol! >> >> I just feel like finances don't go as far as they used to a few >> years ago. >> >> I'm not sparking a political debate, just wanted to see if >> everyone see things in a similar light? >> >> Or am I just doing the wrong things? >> >> > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com <http://www.avg.com/email-signature> > Version: 2016.0.7996 / Virus Database: 4749/13764 - Release Date: 01/14/17 > >
