Can't afford Insurance something stinks here
Too Rich for Medicaid
Schip, as it's known, was created for families who earned too much for Medicaid, the U.S. insurance program for the poor, and too little to afford a private plan.
Over the years, some states won approval from the Bush administration to enroll kids in families with higher incomes. Governors argued that higher living costs, coupled with insurance premiums rising at double or triple the rate of wages, put coverage beyond the reach of even middle-income families.
In New Jersey, the most generous of 19 states that expanded eligibility, a family of four earning $72,275 qualifies. This month, the administration denied New York's request to cover families making up to $82,600.
New Jersey's high wages push up the price of everything, said state Senator Joseph Vitale, chairman of the health committee. The median income in New Jersey is $64,470, second only to Maryland's $65,144, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures for 2006.
`It's a Struggle'
``It costs more in New Jersey, even if you're a middle- class family,'' Vitale, a Democrat, said in a telephone interview. ``It's a struggle between property taxes and car insurance and putting food on the table, and then when it comes to health insurance, our costs are out of sight.''
Lori Siravo has lived all her life in and around Keyport, a central New Jersey town of about 7,500 people. She and her husband own a three-bedroom house six blocks from Raritan Bay.
Steven, 49, drives a Chevrolet Caprice Classic that's almost 20 years old, and she drives a 5-year-old Chevy Monte Carlo. The above-ground pool out back is 17 years old, bought when ``we had money'' before Carlie was born, Lori said.
The one luxury is a full-size pinball machine Steven bought for his wife on her 40th birthday.
The family's monthly bills consume most of their take-home income. Pulling out her checkbook, Lori said there's the mortgage ($1,500), utilities ($743), phones and Internet service ($200), car insurance and gasoline ($205), property taxes ($230), basic cable television ($48), food ($600) and credit- card payments ($325) on an outstanding $11,000 balance. That's $46,212 a year, not including clothes, school books and extra- curricular activities for Carlie.
Private School
There's also $352 a month on a home-equity loan the Siravos took out to send Carlie to a private Catholic high school. Tuition is $9,000 a year.
``I'll do anything for her to be happy and get a good education so she doesn't struggle,'' Siravo said. Carlie is thinking of a career as a physical therapist.
If Schip weren't available, Carlie's parents could cover only the teenager through a $230-a-month policy with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, according to the Web site ehealthinsurance.com.
Lori ran up $860 in bills this year for blood tests and doctors' visits after she came down with a flu that wouldn't go away. During four months when the family's income climbed high enough that Carlie was bounced from Schip, her newly pierced ear became infected. Lori waited weeks, hoping the swelling would go down. Treatment eventually cost $530.
Under Bush's proposal, families like the Siravos whose kids are already covered by the program would probably continue to receive benefits as long as their income doesn't exceed current limits.
``I just want to live a normal life,'' Siravo said. ``Life is stressful enough without worrying about your health.''
Maybe they should cut back a little , 9000 dollars for a private school and utilities 743.00 credit card payment 325 dollars on a 11,000 probably 21 % interest. I think they need to live within their means. If you can't feed them don't bread them. I can't feel sorry for them nothing is free.Why should we have to support them because they can't cut back. Schip would allow Illegals up to 25 years old to recieve the Medical benefit so Having a baby when their 15 or 16 means we would be supporting the whole family. BS were going broke
Schip, as it's known, was created for families who earned too much for Medicaid, the U.S. insurance program for the poor, and too little to afford a private plan.
Over the years, some states won approval from the Bush administration to enroll kids in families with higher incomes. Governors argued that higher living costs, coupled with insurance premiums rising at double or triple the rate of wages, put coverage beyond the reach of even middle-income families.
In New Jersey, the most generous of 19 states that expanded eligibility, a family of four earning $72,275 qualifies. This month, the administration denied New York's request to cover families making up to $82,600.
New Jersey's high wages push up the price of everything, said state Senator Joseph Vitale, chairman of the health committee. The median income in New Jersey is $64,470, second only to Maryland's $65,144, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures for 2006.
`It's a Struggle'
``It costs more in New Jersey, even if you're a middle- class family,'' Vitale, a Democrat, said in a telephone interview. ``It's a struggle between property taxes and car insurance and putting food on the table, and then when it comes to health insurance, our costs are out of sight.''
Lori Siravo has lived all her life in and around Keyport, a central New Jersey town of about 7,500 people. She and her husband own a three-bedroom house six blocks from Raritan Bay.
Steven, 49, drives a Chevrolet Caprice Classic that's almost 20 years old, and she drives a 5-year-old Chevy Monte Carlo. The above-ground pool out back is 17 years old, bought when ``we had money'' before Carlie was born, Lori said.
The one luxury is a full-size pinball machine Steven bought for his wife on her 40th birthday.
The family's monthly bills consume most of their take-home income. Pulling out her checkbook, Lori said there's the mortgage ($1,500), utilities ($743), phones and Internet service ($200), car insurance and gasoline ($205), property taxes ($230), basic cable television ($48), food ($600) and credit- card payments ($325) on an outstanding $11,000 balance. That's $46,212 a year, not including clothes, school books and extra- curricular activities for Carlie.
Private School
There's also $352 a month on a home-equity loan the Siravos took out to send Carlie to a private Catholic high school. Tuition is $9,000 a year.
``I'll do anything for her to be happy and get a good education so she doesn't struggle,'' Siravo said. Carlie is thinking of a career as a physical therapist.
If Schip weren't available, Carlie's parents could cover only the teenager through a $230-a-month policy with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, according to the Web site ehealthinsurance.com.
Lori ran up $860 in bills this year for blood tests and doctors' visits after she came down with a flu that wouldn't go away. During four months when the family's income climbed high enough that Carlie was bounced from Schip, her newly pierced ear became infected. Lori waited weeks, hoping the swelling would go down. Treatment eventually cost $530.
Under Bush's proposal, families like the Siravos whose kids are already covered by the program would probably continue to receive benefits as long as their income doesn't exceed current limits.
``I just want to live a normal life,'' Siravo said. ``Life is stressful enough without worrying about your health.''
Maybe they should cut back a little , 9000 dollars for a private school and utilities 743.00 credit card payment 325 dollars on a 11,000 probably 21 % interest. I think they need to live within their means. If you can't feed them don't bread them. I can't feel sorry for them nothing is free.Why should we have to support them because they can't cut back. Schip would allow Illegals up to 25 years old to recieve the Medical benefit so Having a baby when their 15 or 16 means we would be supporting the whole family. BS were going broke
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Sounds to me like they don't have a clue on how to manage money. They want to live high on the hog and let us tax payers pay for their medical.
BS!0 -
quote:Originally posted by fshfndr
The family's monthly bills consume most of their take-home income. Pulling out her checkbook, Lori said there's the mortgage ($1,500), utilities ($743), phones and Internet service ($200), car insurance and gasoline ($205), property taxes ($230), basic cable television ($48), food ($600) and credit- card payments ($325) on an outstanding $11,000 balance. That's $46,212 a year, not including clothes, school books and extra- curricular activities for Carlie.
Private School
The things in red are not necessary for life. I can't feel sorry for them. This is why I hate paying taxes for programs like this. If they would be better with their money they would not have a problem paying the bills and having extra left over to not only pay for insurance but go out to eat once a week.0 -
RANT WARNING
I am sick and tired of all of these self-absorbed liberal Northeastern screwheads wanting everything, expecting more, and demanding someone else pay for it.
I'm not sorry you feel the need to enroll your kid in some snooty private school that charges you about $200 a week, I couldn't care less that you only have *gasp* BASIC cable service, and it's not my damned problem that you spend $20 a day on food.
Life's tough - deal with it. Sure, I'm not a billionaire rock star with blondes dripping off of my arms, but I've learned to deal with life's little disappointments. It's called GROWING UP.
And when you New England retards can figure out how to dig a hole in the ground without it costing ten billion dollars, can elect a senator who hasn't drowned a woman in his entire life, and can tell the difference between a New Yorker and a screeching inbred harpy from Chicago via Arkansas, then I might take your complaints a little more seriously.
But given that you egomaniacal losers can't get it through your thick skulls that Manhattan is NOT the center of the universe, Harvard is just a grade-inflating has-been of a university, and no one could care less about whether the Statue of Liberty is a New Yorker or from Jersey, I'm going to guess that I am going to care just a little less than jack-squat about what you feeble-minded hippy-holdovers squawk about.
Can't afford nice things for the kids? Steal it like a gangbanger or shut up.
Can't afford nice things for the wife? Get used to her cheating on you.
You want some sympathy? Hit the road 'cause I am fresh out.0 -
Dang! Could'uv fixed that bealed earlobe with some hot water and a 98 cent bottle of peroxide!
Sounds to me like they have no idea of what a "normal" life (to most folks) is!
Around here BASIC cable is $14.99 plus some federal fees and local taxes bringing it up to just under $20
Allen0 -
BS [:0][:(!][V]. No sympathy here! 0 -
Yeah, because life is all about waking up, going to work, coming home, sleeping and repeating it all the next day. Nothing in between. Heaven forbid you want to get your kids something for Christmas. Or better yet, why'd they even have kids? They knew they couldn't afford them.
You guys are jerks. I feel for this family and see no luxuries here. It is worse than that in MD.0 -
quote:Originally posted by FEENIX
BS [:0][:(!][V]. No sympathy here!
Exactly!0 -
quote:utilities ($743),
Most businesses don't pay that much in my community. Turn off the lights behind you and quit sprinkling the yard.0 -
$743.00 for electric, and water?
They must have a house the size of Al Gore's!0 -
quote:Originally posted by slipgate
Yeah, because life is all about waking up, going to work, coming home, sleeping and repeating it all the next day. Nothing in between.
That is exactly the life that my father had, but he still considered himself and my mother much better off than the life they left behind
in Eastern Europe. Pull the kid out of private school and save the $352. I went to public school and did just fine. Most of there bills look to be in line with what the costs would be here in SoCal, but the cost of utilities seems way too much and there should be some room to trim those costs. A family of four should be able to eat on less than $600 per month and they can also do without cable, saving another $48. Get that credit card debt restructured and lower the payment. These folks won't live long enough to ever pay off the $11K they owe to Master Card, but they would do better with a lower monthly payment. The entire country is packed full of people who feel that the have a right to a lifestyle that fits their level of expectations. The fact is that you get what you can afford and nothing else.0 -
quote:Originally posted by slipgate
Yeah, because life is all about waking up, going to work, coming home, sleeping and repeating it all the next day. Nothing in between. Heaven forbid you want to get your kids something for Christmas. Or better yet, why'd they even have kids? They knew they couldn't afford them.
You guys are jerks. I feel for this family and see no luxuries here. It is worse than that in MD.
I had much less growing up in terms of material items, but I had a good family (still do, thank God). My folks are always there for me, I'm always there for them. Anything else is a bonus.
I would just like to know when happiness came to mean how much stuff you've accumulated. I know of a lot of folks who brag about how large their TV is and how much they make in a month, but can count on one hand how many times they call their family in a year.
I'll take a loving family over useless crap any day of the week, thank you very much.0 -
quote:Originally posted by ElMuertoMonkey
quote:Originally posted by slipgate
Yeah, because life is all about waking up, going to work, coming home, sleeping and repeating it all the next day. Nothing in between. Heaven forbid you want to get your kids something for Christmas. Or better yet, why'd they even have kids? They knew they couldn't afford them.
You guys are jerks. I feel for this family and see no luxuries here. It is worse than that in MD.
I had much less growing up in terms of material items, but I had a good family (still do, thank God). My folks are always there for me, I'm always there for them. Anything else is a bonus.
I would just like to know when happiness came to mean how much stuff you've accumulated. I know of a lot of folks who brag about how large their TV is and how much they make in a month, but can count on one hand how many times they call their family in a year.
I'll take a loving family over useless crap any day of the week, thank you very much.
You are not talking about selectfire are you? Don0 -
quote:Originally posted by ElMuertoMonkey
RANT WARNING
I am sick and tired of all of these self-absorbed liberal Northeastern screwheads wanting everything, expecting more, and demanding someone else pay for it.
I'm not sorry you feel the need to enroll your kid in some snooty private school that charges you about $200 a week, I couldn't care less that you only have *gasp* BASIC cable service, and it's not my damned problem that you spend $20 a day on food.
Life's tough - deal with it. Sure, I'm not a billionaire rock star with blondes dripping off of my arms, but I've learned to deal with life's little disappointments. It's called GROWING UP.
And when you New England retards can figure out how to dig a hole in the ground without it costing ten billion dollars, can elect a senator who hasn't drowned a woman in his entire life, and can tell the difference between a New Yorker and a screeching inbred harpy from Chicago via Arkansas, then I might take your complaints a little more seriously.
But given that you egomaniacal losers can't get it through your thick skulls that Manhattan is NOT the center of the universe, Harvard is just a grade-inflating has-been of a university, and no one could care less about whether the Statue of Liberty is a New Yorker or from Jersey, I'm going to guess that I am going to care just a little less than jack-squat about what you feeble-minded hippy-holdovers squawk about.
Can't afford nice things for the kids? Steal it like a gangbanger or shut up.
Can't afford nice things for the wife? Get used to her cheating on you.
You want some sympathy? Hit the road 'cause I am fresh out.
EMM -What has happened to you? You used to have such liberal views on everything. Have you decided to turn from the dark side at last?0 -
quote:Originally posted by Boomerang
quote:Originally posted by ElMuertoMonkey
RANT WARNING
I am sick and tired of all of these self-absorbed liberal Northeastern screwheads wanting everything, expecting more, and demanding someone else pay for it.
I'm not sorry you feel the need to enroll your kid in some snooty private school that charges you about $200 a week, I couldn't care less that you only have *gasp* BASIC cable service, and it's not my damned problem that you spend $20 a day on food.
Life's tough - deal with it. Sure, I'm not a billionaire rock star with blondes dripping off of my arms, but I've learned to deal with life's little disappointments. It's called GROWING UP.
And when you New England retards can figure out how to dig a hole in the ground without it costing ten billion dollars, can elect a senator who hasn't drowned a woman in his entire life, and can tell the difference between a New Yorker and a screeching inbred harpy from Chicago via Arkansas, then I might take your complaints a little more seriously.
But given that you egomaniacal losers can't get it through your thick skulls that Manhattan is NOT the center of the universe, Harvard is just a grade-inflating has-been of a university, and no one could care less about whether the Statue of Liberty is a New Yorker or from Jersey, I'm going to guess that I am going to care just a little less than jack-squat about what you feeble-minded hippy-holdovers squawk about.
Can't afford nice things for the kids? Steal it like a gangbanger or shut up.
Can't afford nice things for the wife? Get used to her cheating on you.
You want some sympathy? Hit the road 'cause I am fresh out.
EMM -What has happened to you? You used to have such liberal views on everything. Have you decided to turn from the dark side at last?
Boomer,
[8D]
I'm not sure I was ever much of a liberal... maybe I was, maybe I wasn't - self-reflection ain't my strong point.
But one thing I know for sure - I hate whiners and I hate stupidity and lordy knows I hate stupid whiners. And the folks in this article certainly fit into category three.[;)]0 -
So let me get this straight. You all don't mind giving illegals free medical , but not help a U.S. citizen ? From what I've heard it costs two grand a month for good health insurance. My wife and I worked and payed into two differnt health plans.When we retired we kept hers. My health plan would of costed us a grand a month, hers only costs us six hundred a month, and its a better plan. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by victorlvlb
So let me get this straight. You all don't mind giving illegals free medical , but not help a U.S. citizen ? From what I've heard it costs two grand a month for good health insurance. My wife and I worked and payed into two differnt health plans.When we retired we kept hers. My health plan would of costed us a grand a month, hers only costs us six hundred a month, and its a better plan.
Just so we're clear, I believe any citizen living in this country who needs medical care should get it even if they can't pay for it, especially children.
I also don't believe any illegal alien should have anything other than life saving emergency care to keep them alive long enough to get them deported across the border, and I do mean emergency care only as in saving any human life as a moral treatment of another human being.
These people are a different story. They are making plenty of money for a family of four, well above the poverty level, and above the average income. They just want to have everything and let the rest of us who manage our money and pay our own way to pay their way too.
Dang right I've got a problem with that!0 -
quote:Originally posted by victorlvlb
So let me get this straight. You all don't mind giving illegals free medical , but not help a U.S. citizen ?
Who said anything about giving illegals free anything?0 -
quote:Originally posted by ElMuertoMonkey
RANT WARNING
I am sick and tired of all of these self-absorbed liberal Northeastern screwheads wanting everything, expecting more, and demanding someone else pay for it.
I'm not sorry you feel the need to enroll your kid in some snooty private school that charges you about $200 a week, I couldn't care less that you only have *gasp* BASIC cable service, and it's not my damned problem that you spend $20 a day on food.
Life's tough - deal with it. Sure, I'm not a billionaire rock star with blondes dripping off of my arms, but I've learned to deal with life's little disappointments. It's called GROWING UP.
And when you New England retards can figure out how to dig a hole in the ground without it costing ten billion dollars, can elect a senator who hasn't drowned a woman in his entire life, and can tell the difference between a New Yorker and a screeching inbred harpy from Chicago via Arkansas, then I might take your complaints a little more seriously.
But given that you egomaniacal losers can't get it through your thick skulls that Manhattan is NOT the center of the universe, Harvard is just a grade-inflating has-been of a university, and no one could care less about whether the Statue of Liberty is a New Yorker or from Jersey, I'm going to guess that I am going to care just a little less than jack-squat about what you feeble-minded hippy-holdovers squawk about.
Can't afford nice things for the kids? Steal it like a gangbanger or shut up.
Can't afford nice things for the wife? Get used to her cheating on you.
You want some sympathy? Hit the road 'cause I am fresh out.
DANG! EMM, sometimes I can't help but like you. (no wait, I didn't type that. Help! My keyboard is outta control)0
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