When my wife came home after breaking her hip she needed 24 hour care the first six weeks and 8 hours a day for another month or more. That came to $25,000 out of my pocket. I borrowed $10,000 because the stock market was down so low because of covid. She is better now but that made me realize how quickly your money can go even when you thought you had plenty. But worry? Not me, I've got both Powerball and Mega Millions tickets.
Glad to hear that your wife is better, Sheldon. That's precisely what worries me, too. No worries right now but it can change so soon. If one of us needs care, which is not covered by health insurance any more, we'll have a problem. Likewise, if one of my kids or both need care and can't pay for it, parents have to foot the bill and so have children if their parents become care-dependent. In any case, apart from a personal allowance for one's own funeral, everyone (kids or parents) will have to spend almost all their savings plus part of their monthly pension if it's higher than an allowance which you also get here. You'd also have to sell all your property/real estate. True, you won't get denied treatment but you mustn't keep any mentionable savings either. It would distress me to think that I would have to eat up my children's savings because of illness and care. So until shortly before you die you won't know if you should be concerned about your finances unless you are so well-off that you could pay for medical care in any case no matter how expensive and how long you'll need it. What did you do, @Lon Tanner to avoid such a situation? Yes, there's additional private health insurance over here, too, but those policies that you could afford while working will not cover the cost of long-term care. Sorry to hear about your grief, @Frank Sanoica .I hope you are entitled to further help.
I just find it strange that you all that are concerned with medical expenses to the point of worrying about bankruptcy, rail against the concept of universal coverage.
Because anything the government gets involved in always costs more and provides less. When they try to make everyone equal it always drags everyone down to the lowest level.
All? Not me. I just mentioned the facts but will have to accept it knowing that statutory health insurance can't pay for everybody's needs. Private insurance companies aren't any better, though, but often worse. One of my daughters has to be privately insured and is fed up. The other one is a doctor and can compare private and statutory health insurance. No one needs private insurance. It's a thing of the past.
Even though I always thought I did a good job of budgeting, it wasn't until I retired and really REALLY tracked each and every expense type that I realized how daggone much it costs to "just live." And my house is paid for!!! It really smacked me in the face. Like everyone else, my only "worry" is what a catastrophe would do to my finances. Regarding that lottery...I play 3 games: -One pays a one-time $100,000 before taxes -One pays about $300,000/year pre-tax -One pays a million dollars after taxes (actually it doesn't, but the government has license to lie, just as they lie about it going to education) Those odds are better that the bigger payouts, the amounts would make a difference in my life without bringing long-lost relatives out of the woodwork, and it's not so much that it would ruin my life. See...I got it all planned out. I just need those numbers...
Don't forget that it gives the government the literal power of Life & Death over us, and they will slow-roll benefits to those they dislike (remember Obama's "useful life years" in health care resource allocation, and the IRS slow-rolling Tea Party apps?)
My finances have not changed. The only thing that has changed is my freedom and it is worth more. We lost medical freedom 100 years ago now they want us gagged and locked down for a virus that kills only.01%
Yes, they are if they are "financially capable", i.e., if there's money left beyond the necessary means they need for themselves. For decades it had been stricter but just in spring this year the law was amended so that children need to earn more than $90,000 a year to be liable to pay.