Liberal Americans

singingrose wrote:

PlusSizeParisHilton wrote:Just because someone in Conservative Thread basically said that NBC is biased....had to post this on OUR thread

Love that!! I just LOOOOOOVE the Faux News network! LOL!

hmmm lol

http://mrc.org/cyberalerts/2008/cyb20080320.asp

Edited on November 23, 2008 at 12:39 PM Permalink

walkingstick wrote:In Canada we do pay a monthly premium for our medical Services Plan; and depending on your income, this can change. Below is the standard monthly premium, followed by the 'premium assistance' rates based on annual income.

MSP Premiums

In B.C., premiums are payable for MSP coverage and are based on family size and income. The monthly rates are:

$54 for one person
$96 for a family of two
$108 for a family of three or more

Premium Assistance

Assistance with the payment of premiums is available to Canadian citizens or holders of permanent resident status (landed immigrants) who have held that status and been resident in Canada for the past 12 consecutive months.

There are two premium assistance programs that offer subsidies to those in financial need: regular premium assistance and temporary premium assistance.

Regular Premium Assistance

Regular premium assistance offers subsidies ranging from 20 to 100 per cent, based on an individual's net income (or a couple's combined net income) for the preceding tax year, less deductions for age, family size and disability. If the resulting amount referred to as "adjusted net income" is $28,000 or below, a subsidy is available. See the Monthly Premium Rates chart below for full details of premium assistance rates.

The current adjusted net income thresholds are:
$20,000 - 100 percent subsidy
$22,000 - 80 percent subsidy
$24,000 - 60 percent subsidy
$26,000 - 40 percent subsidy
$28,000 - 20 percent subsidy

To apply for premium assistance, you need to complete and return an application form to MSP. Forms are available online (go to Application for Premium Assistance), through MSP's Forms-by-Fax service, at Service BC Centres or by contacting MSP.

If you are applying for assistance based on the earlier tax year please provide a photocopy of the Notice of Assessment/Re-assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency which shows net income for that taxation year. If you are married, or living in a marriage-like relationship, a photocopy of your spouse's Notice of Assessment/Re-assessment is also required.

Note: Families receiving full and partial premium assistance may be eligible for additional health care services through the Healthy Kids program of the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance.

Temporary Premium Assistance

Temporary premium assistance offers a 100 per cent subsidy for a short term based on unexpected financial hardship. See the Ministry of Small Business and Revenue's web site, under Temporary Premium Assistance, for more information.

Monthly Premium Rates

Five levels of assistance, based on adjusted net income for the previous year, are available. Current rates:

Adjusted Net Income Subsidy Level One Person Family of Two Family of 3 or more
$0 - $20,000 100% premium assistance $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$20,001 - $22,000 80% premium assistance $10.80 $19.20 $21.60
$22,001 - $24,000 60% premium assistance $21.60 $38.40 $43.20
$24,001 - $26,000 40% premium assistance $32.40 $57.60 $64.80
$26,001 - $28,000 20% premium assistance $43.20 $76.80 $86.40
Over $28,000 Full Rate $54.00 $96.00 $108.00

Hope that helps you spennington.

Sounds pretty good to me.

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jardiniera wrote:

walkingstick wrote:In Canada we do pay a monthly premium for our medical Services Plan; and depending on your income, this can change. Below is the standard monthly premium, followed by the 'premium assistance' rates based on annual income.

MSP Premiums

In B.C., premiums are payable for MSP coverage and are based on family size and income. The monthly rates are:

$54 for one person
$96 for a family of two
$108 for a family of three or more

Premium Assistance

Assistance with the payment of premiums is available to Canadian citizens or holders of permanent resident status (landed immigrants) who have held that status and been resident in Canada for the past 12 consecutive months.

There are two premium assistance programs that offer subsidies to those in financial need: regular premium assistance and temporary premium assistance.

Regular Premium Assistance

Regular premium assistance offers subsidies ranging from 20 to 100 per cent, based on an individual's net income (or a couple's combined net income) for the preceding tax year, less deductions for age, family size and disability. If the resulting amount referred to as "adjusted net income" is $28,000 or below, a subsidy is available. See the Monthly Premium Rates chart below for full details of premium assistance rates.

The current adjusted net income thresholds are:
$20,000 - 100 percent subsidy
$22,000 - 80 percent subsidy
$24,000 - 60 percent subsidy
$26,000 - 40 percent subsidy
$28,000 - 20 percent subsidy

To apply for premium assistance, you need to complete and return an application form to MSP. Forms are available online (go to Application for Premium Assistance), through MSP's Forms-by-Fax service, at Service BC Centres or by contacting MSP.

If you are applying for assistance based on the earlier tax year please provide a photocopy of the Notice of Assessment/Re-assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency which shows net income for that taxation year. If you are married, or living in a marriage-like relationship, a photocopy of your spouse's Notice of Assessment/Re-assessment is also required.

Note: Families receiving full and partial premium assistance may be eligible for additional health care services through the Healthy Kids program of the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance.

Temporary Premium Assistance

Temporary premium assistance offers a 100 per cent subsidy for a short term based on unexpected financial hardship. See the Ministry of Small Business and Revenue's web site, under Temporary Premium Assistance, for more information.

Monthly Premium Rates

Five levels of assistance, based on adjusted net income for the previous year, are available. Current rates:

Adjusted Net Income Subsidy Level One Person Family of Two Family of 3 or more
$0 - $20,000 100% premium assistance $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$20,001 - $22,000 80% premium assistance $10.80 $19.20 $21.60
$22,001 - $24,000 60% premium assistance $21.60 $38.40 $43.20
$24,001 - $26,000 40% premium assistance $32.40 $57.60 $64.80
$26,001 - $28,000 20% premium assistance $43.20 $76.80 $86.40
Over $28,000 Full Rate $54.00 $96.00 $108.00

Hope that helps you spennington.

Sounds pretty good to me.

That is exactly what I was looking for, thank you so much and thanks for bringing this to the next page, because I had missed it.

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I pay roughly about 11% of my monthly salary.

It's all explained here.

National Insurance Explained

Edited on November 23, 2008 at 1:51 PM Permalink

Thank you Wicca. I looked over that, but have another question. This is explained in such a way that it kind of reminds me of our Social Security Numbers. The 11 percent, is that inclusive of your payment toward taxes? It seems so after reading the information you provided.

I have checked into insurance here for a private policy just for me would be approximately $160.00 per month, just for me, not including my children. I think, perhaps, this is why people here get upset when socialized medicine is discussed, because that is quite a chunk out of a paycheck. I could definately handle 11%, if there were no other deductions from my check. Also, with the Canadian system, that does not seem to be a huge amount of money to have to pay, unlike a private policy here.

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MSNBC... THE BEST OF ANY MEDIA !!!

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I know one couple here, who just for the two of them pays over $800.00 a month for insurance. And it is decent but not out of this world good insurance.

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I think in general, health insurance in the United States is entirely too expensive.

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Houston wrote:MSNBC... THE BEST OF ANY MEDIA !!!

Well I would agree! LOL! But I will be the first to admit that this station does lean liberal! But at least their negativity against republicans are based on facts and not made up internet rumors! And they do it in a much kinder way instead of the fear inducing, mean-spirited, hate mongering way that Fox News does!

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singingrose wrote:

Houston wrote:MSNBC... THE BEST OF ANY MEDIA !!!

Well I would agree! LOL! But I will be the first to admit that this station does lean liberal! But at least their negativity against republicans are based on facts and not made up internet rumors! And they do it in a much kinder way instead of the fear inducing, mean-spirited, hate mongering way that Fox News does!

I agree...I love MSNBC, but also realize that they totally lean to the left. Keith Olberman is my favorite he cracks me up!

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spennington wrote:I know one couple here, who just for the two of them pays over $800.00 a month for insurance. And it is decent but not out of this world good insurance.

On our 'socialized' medical plan, for you AND your children, the most you would have to pay (making over 28,000/year is $108/month.

Not only are the monthly rates relatively low up here in Canada, but it can be even better depending on who you work for, if you are in a union or not, etc.

In my job, as a union employee in a regional government, the employer pays a portion of the premium,
so this is how it works for me as a single person:

For basic medical coverage - (doctor's visits, hospital stays, etc.) I pay less than 1% of my NET pay (that's after taxes)

For extended medical coverage with Blue Cross (80% of the cost of 10 massage visits per year, 10 physiotherapy visits per year, 10 chiropractive visits per year, and 80% of most of my prescriptions too) I pay a little over 1% of my NET pay.

For dental coverage I pay 1/2% of my NET pay. (my dental covers most fillings and extractions and root canals and about 50% of the cost of crowns. (crowns still are way expensive despite this)

All totalled
I am paying approximately 3% of my net pay
to cover medical, extended medical and dental plans.

Now you can all run out and apply for Canadian citizenship LOL.

Edited on November 23, 2008 at 5:00 PM Permalink

Hey, I like Joe Scarbrough also, and he's about as republican as it gets. My favorites are Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow.

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I pay US $730 a month for myself only, plus 20 percent of all my bills :-(

I only pay for it to cover the possibility of a major hospital deal.

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Walkingstick, if I were young and single I'd be knocking on the border or looking for a Canadian gal to marry my way in. Probably have to be near Vancouver or some halfway warm part of the country tho for me to stand the cold winters.

Believe me, as I've said before, there's a lot more I admire about your country than just the health system. I also like unions and a more fair economy as well as a humble foreign policy and a more sane culture than the US.

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Sum_Southern_Sugar wrote:I pay US $730 a month for myself only, plus 20 percent of all my bills :-(

I only pay for it to cover the possibility of a major hospital deal.

Wow sum, that's steep. See I just can not afford that. I hope, whatever our President elect has in mind, it's not making me pay that much money out of my paycheck for insurance as a madatory issue.

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I think the major problem with our insurance currently is not even the cost. Though the cost is a problem.

To me the #1 issue is access. An insurance company can reject you for coverage or refuse to pay for a procedure even if you've already been paying premiums forever.

We need a national program that eliminates the ability for insurance companies to reject you. The good news is insurance companies see the writing on the wall and, just last week, their lobbying group approached Congress with a plan in which they would agree to stop rejecting people based on pre-conditions.

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The only reason I can even have insurance, is due to COBRA.

I paid permiums for 25 years through my employee group plan.

I retired early, so could not carry the insurance with me. There is a US law (COBRA) that allows you to keep insurance coverage though. You must pay 105 percent of the total premium that has been being paid by and for you for a period of 18 months.

After that, an insurance company may not reject you for pre-existing conditions if you purchase the insurance within 60 days.

So I went from paying 70 dollars a month (employed), to 305 a month (COBRA), to 730 a month, individual plan.

Now - how come my employer could buy much better insurance for me for 300 a month, than I can buy for myself for 730?

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thought u all might get a kick out of this

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spennington wrote:Thank you Wicca. I looked over that, but have another question. This is explained in such a way that it kind of reminds me of our Social Security Numbers. The 11 percent, is that inclusive of your payment toward taxes? It seems so after reading the information you provided.

I have checked into insurance here for a private policy just for me would be approximately $160.00 per month, just for me, not including my children. I think, perhaps, this is why people here get upset when socialized medicine is discussed, because that is quite a chunk out of a paycheck. I could definately handle 11%, if there were no other deductions from my check. Also, with the Canadian system, that does not seem to be a huge amount of money to have to pay, unlike a private policy here.

Income tax is separate - but it's only paid on salaries over a certain sum. It makes no difference to my quality of life (apart from not having to worry about being sick and being able to go to my doctor if I feel ill), I've never noticed the lack of funds - and I don't earn much at all.

It really isn't that much. For example, if someone earns £1300, the take-home pay is roughly £1050. On top of that, you may get tax credits if you are a single parent family or pay a lot in child care. For that I get all my health needs taken care of, as well as social security. If I don't earn a lot or cannot work, I still get some benefits and full health care. Over 65 and I won't pay national insurance at all, and still I get full health care. The only things we have to pay for are prescriptions (£7 an item roughly unless you are on benefits), dental care (nominal sums depending on work needed) and eye tests.

It's not a bad way of doing things.

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Sum_Southern_Sugar wrote:The only reason I can even have insurance, is due to COBRA.

I paid permiums for 25 years through my employee group plan.

I retired early, so could not carry the insurance with me. There is a US law (COBRA) that allows you to keep insurance coverage though. You must pay 105 percent of the total premium that has been being paid by and for you for a period of 18 months.

After that, an insurance company may not reject you for pre-existing conditions if you purchase the insurance within 60 days.

I wish that was true Sum.

I was rejected by the same insurance company when my COBRA ran out.

They didn't like the fact that I had a prescription to Prilosec! Yes, I was rejected because I had heartburn medication. Had I known that could happen, I would have eaten some Tums.

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I may be wrong Bruce, but I'm pretty sure they CAN NOT reject you, by law.

I think it's at least worth checking into.

Otherwise, I would have been rejected for sure.

You get a certificate of continuous coverage when your COBRA runs out, and present that.

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I'm glad COBRA insurance is affordable for you Sum and that the insurer wasn't able to reject you later as they did Bruce.
But you're far better off financially than most workers who lose health insurance with the job loss. COBRA is a joke for every worker I've talked to in the last 15 years or so because it's way too expensive when you're collecting unemployment benefits or just working part-time while looking for full-time work.

The whole COBRA thing is now a cruel joke to most workers as the employer offering it knows almost no one will buy it after they're laid off. The only real answer is affordable universal health coverage so it's no longer tied to jobs.

A single-payer system would be better but political realities here probably require that we go thru this silly exercise, just like managed care insurance was 15 years ago, before we do what most people already know needs to be done for it to work well.

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Well...

Let me ask a question of our Canadian or Brit friends then.

Where would I fall in the socialized medicine of your system?

I do not work, by choice. I will get a nice retirement pay at 62, (if I live that long), but I have no income now other than from my investments.

And before ya call me a lazy bum, i did work for 32 years, but just wasn't old enough for the buh bye party. ;-)

Would I get insurance? Would they make me go back to work? Would they stick out their tongues at me? :-)

Edited on November 23, 2008 at 7:00 PM Permalink

Sum_Southern_Sugar wrote:Well...

Let me ask a question of our Canadian or Brit friends then.

Where would I fall in the socialized medicine of your system?

I do not work, by choice. I will get a nice retirement pay at 62, (if I live that long), but I have no income now other than from my investments.

And befor ya call me a lazy bum, i did work for 32 years, but just wasn't old enough for the buh bye party. ;-)

Would I get insurance? Would they make me go back to work? Would they stick out their tongues at me? :-)

Over here, you could choose to have insurance if you wanted it, but you wouldn't need it. For all those years you would have worked, a small percentage would have been taken out of your earnings towards health cover. That will cover you after retirement as well..for anything you need apart from prescriptions, and they only cost something like £7 per item, unless you are on any other benefits, and then they are free.

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Wow, if I was glad to live in Canada before
I am overjoyed now.

I would be dead or close to it by now
if I lived in the U.S.
for lack of being able to afford the medical system.

Very scary sounding to me
and absolutely appalling that you have to pay so much.

Believe it or not,
there are actually folk up here
(those with money of course)
who would like to get rid of our universal health care
(go figure)
Thankfully the numbers supporting universal health care
are much larger.

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I'm butting in here, but as a retired cop Sum, I think you deserve all the income and health care you have. And more. I'm interested too where you'd fit in with their systems, tho your pension earnings as well as your pay during your years of service would probably have been different.

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Mandy wrote:

Sum_Southern_Sugar wrote:Well...

Let me ask a question of our Canadian or Brit friends then.

Where would I fall in the socialized medicine of your system?

I do not work, by choice. I will get a nice retirement pay at 62, (if I live that long), but I have no income now other than from my investments.

And befor ya call me a lazy bum, i did work for 32 years, but just wasn't old enough for the buh bye party. ;-)

Would I get insurance? Would they make me go back to work? Would they stick out their tongues at me? :-)

Over here, you could choose to have insurance if you wanted it, but you wouldn't need it. For all those years you would have worked, a small percentage would have been taken out of your earnings towards health cover. That will cover you after retirement as well..for anything you need apart from prescriptions, and they only cost something like £7 per item, unless you are on any other benefits, and then they are free.

well dang. for the 32 years i worked here, each and every paycheck they took money for my old age medical care, but they just dangle it like a carrot and i get none of it until i'm 65 years old.

any of u brits lookin for a semi-swell husband?

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retired cop?

*looks around*

ya mean, ur a retired cop, right?

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tomac626 wrote:I'm butting in here, but as a retired cop Sum, I think you deserve all the income and health care you have. And more. I'm interested too where you'd fit in with their systems, tho your pension earnings as well as your pay during your years of service would probably have been different.

It doesn't matter here if you get a post retirement pension or not..you're still entitled to get all your health needs looked after. Dentistry is slightly different, as there is a small charge for some of the work they do, but nothing compared to being a private patient.

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Sum_Southern_Sugar wrote:

Mandy wrote:

Sum_Southern_Sugar wrote:Well...

Let me ask a question of our Canadian or Brit friends then.

Where would I fall in the socialized medicine of your system?

I do not work, by choice. I will get a nice retirement pay at 62, (if I live that long), but I have no income now other than from my investments.

And befor ya call me a lazy bum, i did work for 32 years, but just wasn't old enough for the buh bye party. ;-)

Would I get insurance? Would they make me go back to work? Would they stick out their tongues at me? :-)

Over here, you could choose to have insurance if you wanted it, but you wouldn't need it. For all those years you would have worked, a small percentage would have been taken out of your earnings towards health cover. That will cover you after retirement as well..for anything you need apart from prescriptions, and they only cost something like £7 per item, unless you are on any other benefits, and then they are free.

well dang. for the 32 years i worked here, each and every paycheck they took money for my old age medical care, but they just dangle it like a carrot and i get none of it until i'm 65 years old.

any of u brits lookin for a semi-swell husband?

That would be Ruby..but she doesn't come into Politics!! LOL

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Sum_Southern_Sugar wrote:retired cop?

*looks around*

ya mean, ur a retired cop, right?

lol..when I read Tom's post, I was thinking...wow! I never knew Steven had been a cop!!

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lol Mandy

I'll have to get more avante garde and go chat her up :-)

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hehe

crazy thing is, i was a cop, way back in the bad old days, but only for a couple of years, before i decided i was way toooo liberal for that.

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walkingstick wrote:Wow, if I was glad to live in Canada before
I am overjoyed now.

I would be dead or close to it by now
if I lived in the U.S.
for lack of being able to afford the medical system.

Very scary sounding to me
and absolutely appalling that you have to pay so much.

Believe it or not,
there are actually folk up here
(those with money of course)
who would like to get rid of our universal health care
(go figure)
Thankfully the numbers supporting universal health care
are much larger.

The big diff, I think, between average working people in your country, compared to mine, is that they're not so individualistic, rather than selfish. Unlike many American working class folks, they don't care about getting themselves or their kids rich. They just want a fair deal and some security for themselves and other workers.

So, unlike Americans, they vote more rationally for greater economic security and fairness for all workers instead of supporting a system that works against their class interests.
It also helps that in your country the national election campaigns are publicly financed and the media isn't so corporate-dominated so the rich can't control things quite as easily by brainwashing folks to cut their own throats the way they do here politically along with bankrolling the pro-rich, pro-business candidates to where the labor backed candidates can't compete advertising-wise.

Edited on November 23, 2008 at 7:16 PM Permalink

Sum_Southern_Sugar wrote:hehe

crazy thing is, i was a cop, way back in the bad old days, but only for a couple of years, before i decided i was way toooo liberal for that.

Well there ya go! I never knew that!!

Still got your handcuffs? ;)

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Sum_Southern_Sugar wrote:retired cop?

*looks around*

ya mean, ur a retired cop, right?

I thought I read you on a thread somewhere saying you were a retired career cop. My bad. You're still a swell guy anyway and I've never been a cop. Wrong personality. Don't enjoy authority or having to deal with it constantly either.

BTW, I think Ruby's a bit younger than you, but hey, two consenting adults, lol... and anyway gold diggers usually pursue older guys anyway.

Just show her your James Bond pic of you in a black suit like Bond. Still say you are one suave- looking dude in those threads.

Edited on November 23, 2008 at 7:22 PM Permalink

Mandy wrote:

Sum_Southern_Sugar wrote:hehe

crazy thing is, i was a cop, way back in the bad old days, but only for a couple of years, before i decided i was way toooo liberal for that.

Well there ya go! I never knew that!!

Still got your handcuffs? ;)

maybe

wanna frisk me?

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Got something worth frisking??

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lol T

yeah - i found out pretty quickly that that club wasn't my cup of tea

i mean, someone breaking into my house tonight.. i want a cop here right now. my best pal. :-)

but i couldn't hang with em.

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Mandy wrote:Got something worth frisking??

sadly, no.

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pfft!

*Goes back to Off Topic*

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darn, just when i thought i had her hooked on politics.

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hiya Sum fancy seein ya here =P

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Tom...ya might be thinking of me with the retired cop thing. I did retired a couple of years back after 40 years as a police officer, 12 as a narcotics agent, 15 years as a firearms and defensive tactic (akido) instructor.

Edited on November 23, 2008 at 10:47 PM Permalink

Houston wrote:Tom...ya might be thinking of me with the retired cop thing. I did retired a couple of years back after 40 years as a police officer, 12 as a narcotics agent, 15 years as a firearms and defensive tactic (akido) instructor.

Actually I wasn't. I remembered you separately from a while back saying you had a lot of years between the military and law enforcement.

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Boy, you liberal American sure got off topic quickly. Or is frisking considering a tenant of liberal politics?

Hmm I'm sure it was part of Bill Clinton's platform, now that I think about it.

;)

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Monique wrote:Boy, you liberal American sure got off topic quickly. Or is frisking considering a tenant of liberal politics?

Hmm I'm sure it was part of Bill Clinton's platform, now that I think about it.

;)

Actualy, that was a liberal Brit that got us off topic. ;-)

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Monique wrote:.........Or is frisking considering a tenant of liberal politics?
........;)

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Sum_Southern_Sugar wrote:

Monique wrote:Boy, you liberal American sure got off topic quickly. Or is frisking considering a tenant of liberal politics?

Hmm I'm sure it was part of Bill Clinton's platform, now that I think about it.

;)

Actualy, that was a liberal Brit that got us off topic. ;-)

Anyway..back to the topic in hand..

..carry on folks!!

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:D

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