I never knew a lot about my parents’ finances, but I did apply for a Pell Grant, so I guess either they gave me the information or they filled it out for me. I don’t remember. We knew my parents made too much money to get it, but I was required to apply for it because I was getting tuition assistance from the state of Texas because I had a disability. Oddly enough, I qualified for that even though my parents made too much for the Pell Grant. Texas used to not completely suck.
Watch Jimmy Kimmel's moving monologue about his infant son's heart surgery, and why we must save ACA
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German health insurance isn’t done by the government, though. It’s mandatory insurance in one of the many approved insurers for most. Rates are set based on the persons income (dependents are covered, too), so people who earn more pay more.
That’s true. Germany has a dual system. " Government" ( staatlich versichert/ state insured ) as opposed to " private". However, if I may say, your name sounds German so you probably knew that. Considering that it is mandatory to have insurance in Germany and that people who can’t pay for themselves are covered through taxes, I think it’s safe to call it government insurance or government sponsored. We can, of course, split hairs and call it compulsory insurance.
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Not other Boomers!
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The negotiated fees in healthcare are almost surreal. I had a major surgery for which the bill came out to $153K. My insurer covered it all, but they only paid the providers around $5K. I don’t know where the difference went, whether perhaps the providers are paid a stipend for being in the plan at all, or if the fees are a complete fiction. I also don’t know how much I would have actually paid if I’d been uninsured, as a lot of services seem to be deeply discounted if you don’t have insurance.
This market is so distorted, it’s not funny, but the old model of ‘pay out of pocket and have a major medical policy in case something bad happens’ can’t work if you can’t manage your costs.
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That’s one of probably 100 things that they could do short of a single-payer system. I’d really like to see more reforms in the system along those lines, as I’ve not been impressed by the way Medicare is run from my experiences with my parents’ care.
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