McClatchy to Declare Bankruptcy?

One thing to know about Cobra, is you have a period to decide whether to buy it, and it's retroactive.

My layoff was effective April 1, and I had 3 months to pony up for Cobra, and the coverage date was April 1. I didn't get it and just went on my wife's coverage, but if on May 15, I was not insured and something happened that made me need medical coverage, I could choose to get it, pay the premiums from April 1 on and I had coverage, with no worries about the lapsed period.

 

Excellent point... In that sense Cobra can serve as a sort of "catastrophic insurance" that you don't have to pay for unless you need it, which is the best of both worlds.

 

That's why we need Medicare for all.

Medicare for all is a pretty good health insurance plan. And this is hugely important, is portable. And it would be like social security. You pay the tax when youa re employed but would still be covered in unemployment.

I was placed in charge of the health insurance plans for a county government once when I was very young. It turned me into a socialist concerning health insurance. I saw, even when managing a group of 300 employees. the economies of scale in procuring health insurance.

 

Exactly. I too am a socialist when it comes to health care and I don't mind saying it. It's ridiculous for people to bankrupt over health care. Only in the richest country on Earth.

 

I do not mean this to be cynical. But Obamacare is probably better way to go than COBRA for many journalists because of their incomes. Single people with an income of up about 50k get subsidies and someone with a family of 4 can get a subsidy up to about 100K.

 

I've been saying exactly this for a few years. I understand the problems with socialism, but we should have it for medical insurance. Thus, as it turned out (IMO), Bernie was probably the best candidate last time for all of those who voted for Trump solely because they didn't like Hillary, and those who voted for Hillary solely because they didn't like Trump.

There. I managed to get my message across without having to go to the "one and only" political thread, or the other political thread, or the other political thread.

 

I will roll the dice every day and twice on Sunday before I would ever pay such a thing.

I guess there would have to be some mechanism about becoming eligible. Otherwise, you could choose not to work or be a perpetual student, pay almost nothing into the system and get its full benefits. That's not fair. At least now to get Medicare you need 40 work credits, which IMO is a generously low number.

 

If it was my wife and I, we were young and no health issues, I'd roll the dice or look for some catastrophic plan. But for people getting older, with kids and with health issues, I can see how that could be the best option.

 

European countries with socialized medicine and more generous social benefits have higher rates of labor force participation than the U.S. So I don't think the free-rider problem would be material. And our current system where someone who shows up at an emergency room without the means to pay entails what is probably a larger free-rider problem given the amount of uninsured in the population.

 

Yes but you need something in the interim so Cobra. Can somebody give me instructions on how to buy your own medical insurance after getting axed? Thank u. Are there individual medical insurance policies available from blue cross or ?

 

Would you "need" it (and thus pay for it) if it were $2,000/month? $4,000?

Seriously, where do supply and demand economics draw the line for something you may or may not "need" but that 99% of the time you'd be financially better off without?