New numbers came out today and one of them shows that inflation rose 2.7% last year. That’s pretty bad when people aren’t making us much money and we still have a big unemployment problem, but the problem doesn’t stop there. Social Security recipients didn’t get a raise this year. The calculated that in June, so […]
Something I have been meaning to do is figure up the cost impact of health care for people with diabetics. Most insurance policies don’t cover diabetic testing supplies. That gives diabetics an extra $100-$120 expense every month. I want to take a minute and figure up what premiums plus average out of pocket expenses would […]
I am going to stick with 1980 for my discussion on the federal poverty level because in this post it also works to exemplify the problems. In 1980 families didn’t have as many costs. Two costs are internet and cable. Some might argue that those are luxury items, but when you are talking about a […]
I want to take a post Marcy Wheeler did yesterday and change it to reflect my revised FPL I did in the previous post. 301% of Poverty Level: $66,370 Federal Taxes (estimate from this page, includes FICA): $8,628 (13% of income) State Taxes (using MI rates on $30,000 of income): $1,305 (2% of income) Food […]
One thing I have been having trouble finding is how the federal poverty level is actually adjusted every year. Here is how Health and Human Services describes the process: To calculate the 2009 poverty guidelines, do you use a projection of what the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) will be for 2009? No. ASPE does not […]
I really like Chris Dodd and want him to start pushing his bill through to fix the FPL, but news like this really makes me angry with him too: Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) on Wednesday ripped the Senate’s “newest members” for the lack of comity in the upper chamber. In a floor speech Wednesday night, […]
I hope everyone has a great day filled with love and joy while celebrating with their family and friends. I even extend this to those on the right, with whom we spend the rest of the year butting heads. And a very special Merry Christmas to Eric Erickson of Red State, who has apparently really […]
I figured I would plug in some real world numbers as they would be today if the new health care legislation was fully intact. This is something I haven’t seen during the whole debate and I want to take it from the angle of a single person earning 150% of the FPL. Currently the FPL […]
For those just catching up, the idea I have come up with to fix health care is not by adding in the public option or instituting Medicare for 55+. Instead I have taken a much different approach, one that would be much easier to make a reality. What we should focus on is the FPL, […]
If I make only 140% of the FPL and the Medicaid cut off is 133% of the FPL, then wouldn’t it make financial sense to try and make a little less per month and get Medicaid instead of paying for insurance?