Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Zan15]

S

Business Insider ran the numbers: if you get hospitalized due to the coronavirus, and you don't have insurance, it could cost you $73,000.



Something worth throwing in: Trump took credit for removing part of the ACA, specifically, letting people get non-ACA plans that were cheaper -- because they didn't cover as much. For example, they could have $10,000 deductibles, or remove the maximum yearly out-of-pocket. Anyone with one of these new plans and who goes to the hospital is going to find out whether their savings was enough, or if they'll have insurance and still go bankrupt because of medical bills.

As it so happens, some states made these non-ACA plans illegal. New York, for example. Redder states, eh, not so much.

Crazy. imagine that poor people without insurance having to subsidize those whom do.

The crazy part is how its always the middle and rich classes crying they have to subsidize the poor's healthcare....


Also fact check, most major insurance companies are waving all patient cost sharing (deductible/copay/coinsurance) if they test positive.

So your chart is now outdated.

A lot of People with insurance will effetely have zero cost.
Aetna started the ball rolling the others will soon follow suit. The others already have zero cost for testing and doctors visits.


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cvs-a...142738653.html

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So you're telling me if someone is insured via the government hospitals are able to treat a dude for $7533 but uninsured it suddenly costs ten times as much? There must be an actual cost to the treatment, which should be the same no matter the financial status of the patient. So hospitals either rip of uninsured or make heavy losses for insured.

The cost are exactly the same the chart is mis-leading.


They both will be charged 7533. So the effective "cost" is the same regardless of your source of payment/coverage.

Insurance negotiates that rate way down.

Uninsured can also negotiate that rate down but like any other business because of volume they get a much larger discount.

Unfortunatly its no different than buying a car. Customer 1 & 2 could end up paying wildly different for the same exact car depending on their ability to negotiate.

[Breccia]

A lot of People with insurance will effetely have zero cost.

Obviously, that's reassuring for people like myself with insurance (such as people with job benefits, like myself). I worry about gig workers or, as recently raised by another poster, the people who are fraudulently employed while collecting unemployment. There's no way such a job gives benefits.

[Zan15]

Obviously, that's reassuring for people like myself with insurance (such as people with job benefits, like myself). I worry about gig workers or, as recently raised by another poster, the people who are fraudulently employed while collecting unemployment. There's no way such a job gives benefits.

Yup they are screwed because Trump is not going to make CMS drop cost sharing for ACA plans because he does not want to make ACA look good.


Medicaid already does not have cost sharing in most of their plans at least once you lose your job you can get Medicaid before you get sick, I hope.....I wonder if the extra 600 dollars unemployment will count towards Medicaid caps...hmmm



A lot of Gig employees qualify for subsidized ACA and Medicaid, the problem is most of them don't realize they do. They could get insurance at very low cost, almost free and free.

they do not understand those systems go off income - business expenses (schedule c)

so if an Uber driver makes 20,000 but drives 30,000 miles they get a 17,400 tax write off just on millage alone. This is before you even calculate in the standard deductions and other write offs.

These drivers also do not understand what mileage they can write off...its almost every single mile they drive even if they don't have passengers.

https://therideshareguy.com/what-to-...uber-and-lyft/


Their effective income is ZERO. They then qualify for Medicaid, Food Stamps, etc etc.


I've done a lot of education in my volunteer time and done a lot of gig folks taxes for free as part of our church services. its crazy how much in benefits they miss because no one educates them.


did the same thing for a friends "kid" who delivers newspapers and "clears" 2000 a paycheck. He paid 4k-6k in taxes the last 4 years and penalties since he was supposed to file and make quarterly payments. I did his taxes and he had an effective tax rate of 0 because he was doing over 50k miles a year + Kid + other write offs like interest on car loan, car taxes, etc etc.

We also amended a lot of his past tax returns so he is getting a shit ton of money back from the IRS now, but its basically going to go to pay off his car that is almost dead after 3 years on a 5 year loan.


That's the problem with gig economy, most of the people doing it are not educated in running a business. They don't act like business men they still act like employees.

[CastletonSnob]

Split the country between blue states and red states. I'm sick of this country being held hostage by an outdated system that gives disproportionate power to states with more cows than people.

[Zan15]

Split the country between blue states and red states. I'm sick of this country being held hostage by an outdated system that gives disproportionate power to states with more cows than people.

wait you don't like Kentucky getting 26 cents per dollar more for Medicaid cost vs the bottom 12 blue states?

They pay so much more in taxes...oh...wait....MURICA Socialism GO GO GO!

[Rasulis]

I just want to put this here.

Will I have to pay for COVID-19 testing?

No. Sharp Health Plan has reduced the cost-share (what you pay out of pocket) to $0 for all medically necessary screening and testing for coronavirus. This includes hospital (including emergency department), urgent care, provider office visits, and telehealth appointments for the purpose of screening and/or testing for coronavirus.

I talked to my agent. Basically, since we live in commiefornia and covered by one of the State approved insurance policy, all of our COVID-19 related tests, treatments, consultations and hospital stays (if required) cost big fat zero. Deductible requirement are waived for COVID-19 related treatments.

[Zan15]

I just want to put this here.



I talked to my agent. Basically, since we live in commiefornia and covered by one of the State approved insurance policy, all of our COVID-19 related tests, treatments, consultations and hospital stays (if required) cost big fat zero. Deductible requirement are waived for COVID-19 related treatments.

Its great free press for them

Most insurance plans are self funded, so this will cost insurance companies very little money in the end once they have approval from the self funded plans....and what company is going to be the one who ends up with all the bad press.

Insurance companies still get their admin fees and the premiums were already paid.


They have stop loss insurance to protect them from situations like this on the Commercial non-self funded plans. Then next year premium increases will just offset the cost of all this "free" care anyway so corporations won't lose out and recoup the money eventually anyway.

[Breccia]

Deductible requirement are waived for COVID-19 related treatments.

I believe your plan is nowhere near alone. Yes, everyone (except Kasulis) should still call, but testing should be covered and the copay is probably waived.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, CA like NY outlawed Trump's shitty plans. In both states, things like "the insurance company pays a maximum per year and the rest is your problem" and "deductibles the size of a Ford Focus" are illegal.

[Xyonai]

So something that flew a little under the radar because C19 is, understandably, turning this shitshow into an absolute fecal circus; Jared Kushner, in between Negotiating Peace in the Middle East and whatever-the-fuck-else Trump's assigned him with, had formed his own task force to deal with the outbreak.

And it only comes back into attention now because, unsurprisingly, Jared Kushner’s COVID-19 Task Force Appears to Violate at Least Two Laws.

[PhaelixWW]

So something that flew a little under the radar because C19 is, understandably, turning this shitshow into an absolute fecal circus; Jared Kushner, in between Negotiating Peace in the Middle East and whatever-the-fuck-else Trump's assigned him with, had formed his own task force to deal with the outbreak.

And it only comes back into attention now because, unsurprisingly, Jared Kushner’s COVID-19 Task Force Appears to Violate at Least Two Laws.

First impression? Jared's still got a looong way to go before he catches up to daddy-in-law.

[Orbitus]

It's just weird to watch people suddenly lose all sense of inflection or tone. I can watch Trump say something in a roundabout way, maybe not the most clearly, but with tone and facial cues I can follow what he's saying. Like anybody else. But some people out there just stare around dumbfounded, completely flummoxed, completely perplexed, can't make out these alien sounds coming from Trump's mouth! What is he saying? Will the madness ever end!?

So, you are just admitting that you are doing the "what he meant was" for him? Fuck that. We shouldn't need a fucking interpreter for the 4th grade vocabulary that Trump has. He is fucking retarded.

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Trump wanted personal signature on economic relief checks

I don't know that that makes sense, since I thought I heard that these were advances on 2020 tax credits. It's tough to pin down some of the details, but it makes no sense at all for Trump to sign these checks. It really is a Trump brand President. Deluxe edition 2.0 now with stimulus checks! And a new hat!

He wants them to have his signature, so his stupid followers will continue to believe that he was the one that did it, when he had nothing to do with it.

They are just as gullible, as you are.

[RaoBurning]

Hey have we talked about some Native folk having their land torn out from under their butts yet today? Feel like this probably belongs here, somehow. Call it a hunch.

At 4:00 pm today -- on the very day that the United States has reached a record 100,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and our Tribe is desperately struggling with responding to this devastating pandemic -- the Bureau of Indian Affairs informed me that the Secretary of the Interior has ordered that our reservation be disestablished and that our land be taken out of trust. Not since the termination era of the mid-twentieth century has a Secretary taken action to disestablish a reservation.

There may be some underlying history here that's not turning up in a cursory search, but I'd put money on "this some bullshit" if I absolutely had to take a bet.

[Zaydin]

In grim news, the US has passed 2000 deaths to COVID-19. It took us one month to reach 1000 deaths but only two-three days after that to hit two thousand. This is about to get extremely bad, folks. Stay safe and avoid making unnecessary trips. Wash your hands frequently, maintain your social distancing, disinfect surfaces you touch frequently in your house daily, etc.

[Kheirn]

In grim news, the US has passed 2000 deaths to COVID-19. It took us one month to reach 1000 deaths but only two-three days after that to hit two thousand. This is about to get extremely bad, folks. Stay safe and avoid making unnecessary trips. Wash your hands frequently, maintain your social distancing, disinfect surfaces you touch frequently in your house daily, etc.

At this rate you will surpass 10 000 in less than a week. In two weeks it will be over a hundred. A million in three. People really don't get how dangerous this is.

[Breccia]

the US has passed 2000 deaths to COVID-19

I...don't know why I'm surprised.

I do know why I'm upset. Not just the loss of life, but the speed at which it's going. Remember when I posted

We also went from "1,000 cases" last night to "1,200" in under 24 hours. The good news? That's a lower rate of death increase than March 14-25. The bad news? It's still 20% in 24 hours.

and

That means the current spread rate is 25% per day. While this is down from the 40% from March 14-25, it's still pretty alarming for a country that's basically trying to self-quarantine.

That was 1AM yesterday. 1AM today,

See, there's the thing, and even the rabid fanbase knows it: at the very best possible way to look at it, Trump was light-heartedly joking about withholding aid on a day in which 300 more Americans died.

because we'd hit roughly 1500.
+200
+300
+500
These are horrifying numbers. Technically, yes, the rate March 14-25 was still +40% and all of these are lower, but, they're 20-30% give or take an NFL team roster.

If we see more +500/day, that's actually good news, it means the death count is hitting its maximum steepness and won't get worse.



I'm pretty sure virus spread isn't the same as logistic growth, but I hope it does, because it means the end is in sight. If it grows faster, that ceiling goes up.

[Kheirn]

I'm pretty sure virus spread isn't the same as logistic growth, but I hope it does, because it means the end is in sight. If it grows faster, that ceiling goes up.

It pretty much is actually. Italy's large efforts have managed to lower their point of maximum growth and now we're seeing linear growth instead of exponential. Hopefully we will soon start to see it decelerate as well as they reach the carrying capacity with restrictions in place. Removing restrictions will obviously increase the carrying capacity, so at that point what you want is for it to stay linear.

Also deaths are at 2200 now, so it's actually +700, not +500.

[Resurgo]

I’m kinda curious to know what/how the regular flu’s death rate is in comparison.

You can only imagine the times I see people quote our average yearly flu deaths in comparison but can’t seem to grasp that corona is happening at the same time

[Justank]

Here's an article with a clip to where he says not to call these people and no it wasn't said in a light-hearted way at all, in fact it looks like he's angry when he says it. You're just lying, as usual, because you're a shameless Trump turd slurper who will excuse everything he says.

https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus...ashington.html

Lmao if that's lighthearted I'd hate to see actually angry. What a crock.

[Masark]

You know exactly why he wants his signature on each check.

I wonder what percentage of Americans would be able to identify that mass of squiggle as his signature.

[Kheirn]

I’m kinda curious to know what/how the regular flu’s death rate is in comparison.

You can only imagine the times I see people quote our average yearly flu deaths in comparison but can’t seem to grasp that corona is happening at the same time

Mortality rate for seasonal flu taken from the wiki. It's much, much lower.