Greece actually got in trouble by borrowing loads from Germany and building up its military. Debt to GDP has got worse continually with privatisation of public services.


Also Brits tend to be polite people. He may have slagged off the healthcare to be polite, American healthcare system is a joke in UK. Brits have a habit of running the country down when talking to others unlike Americans.

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It wasn't the premiums, it was the increase in deductibles and the cuts in coverage.


Our deductible was $250 before Obamacare. Now it's $5000.
But the premiums haven't gone up!

Not mine.

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Greece actually got in trouble by borrowing loads from Germany and building up its military. Debt to GDP has got worse continually with privatisation of public services.


Also Brits tend to be polite people. He may have slagged off the healthcare to be polite, American healthcare system is a joke in UK. Brits have a habit of running the country down when talking to others unlike Americans.

 

Regarding the part in bold, why exactly was that?  If you think that it was to "build up it's military", then you are really more naive than I thought.  They were actually borrowing money to pay for their "free" government benefits including health care, retirement, education, "mandatory vacation" time or as you foreigners like to call it "holiday time", etc.  Essentially it is a collapse of a socialist government yet again, something that Bernie Sanders wants to go to.

 

If you really think that Greece wanted to "build up" it's military, then you are totally mistaken.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

Not mine.

 

Just wait for this next year when your favorite President leaves office.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

Regarding the part in bold, why exactly was that? If you think that it was to "build up it's military", then you are really more naive than I thought. They were actually borrowing money to pay for their "free" government benefits including health care, retirement, education, "mandatory vacation" time or as you foreigners like to call it "holiday time", etc. Essentially it is a collapse of a socialist government yet again, something that Bernie Sanders wants to go to.


If you really think that Greece wanted to "build up" it's military, then you are totally mistaken.

<a class="bbc_url" href='http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/19/greece-military-spending-debt-crisis'>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/19/greece-military-spending-debt-crisis</a>


Just to educate yourself a little. Not to say Greek perks weren't overly generous. But hey I'm sure the people would rather retire early than have extra German submarines.

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My healthcare premiums doubled and the deductible also doubled.


I used to pay $150-$200 for which the same approximate coverage is now costing $400-$450.


But maybe that's because I'm in my mid-30's now (but no less healthy).

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<a class="bbc_url" href='http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/19/greece-military-spending-debt-crisis'>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/19/greece-military-spending-debt-crisis</a>


Just to educate yourself a little. Not to say Greek perks weren't overly generous. But hey I'm sure the people would rather retire early than have extra German submarines.

 

If anything, it illustrates the nature of a socialist system.  It's essentially "we want to buy this stuff and use a credit card to 'pay' for it".  Well, when the credit card bill comes due, they can't pay it because they need to pay for other "needs" such as pensions, the "free" holidays, etc.

 

It doesn't work.

 

If you want a real life example, do this.  Pay your bills and buy everything with a credit card every month.  Buy a few things that are "beyond your means" in the meantime.  You know, the latest phone, latest TV, etc.  Put it all on the credit card and just pay the minimum balance over a period of say 1 year.  My guess is that over the period of that one year, you wouldn't be able to pay off that credit card.  You might be able to afford the minimum payment, but it won'd do a dent in the balance that you owe because of the interest.

 

Now assume that you lost your job and you only have whatever savings that you have to live on and pay your bills.  For the first few months, you are alright, but suddenly, the amount of savings is less than the amount on that credit card.  There is no possible way to pay the credit card off even if you use all of your savings.

 

In a very basic way, that's exactly what happened to Greece and is an example of the socialist philosophy.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

Sorry as soon as you mentioned credit card I stopped reading. As soon as government expenditure is likened to household expenditure it shows complete lack of understanding.

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My healthcare premiums doubled and the deductible also doubled.


I used to pay $150-$200 for which the same approximate coverage is now costing $400-$450.


But maybe that's because I'm in my mid-30's now (but no less healthy).

 

I only WISH that I could get a premium as low as yours.  I'm not going to post the actual numbers of our premium, but I will say it's closer to your higher number.... every two weeks not monthly.  We have a $5000.00 deductible.  Well, when you get up to our age (my wife is older than me) you tend to need to use healthcare type of stuff more so than someone in say their 20's or 30's.

 

My wife had to have a procedure done that included "surgery", although it was day-surgery and wasn't anything life-threatening.  So in order to pay for this and get it done, we had to pay the total deductible ($5000.00) and still pay for our monthly premium (again towards your higher number x 2).

 

Just a few years back, our premiums were about what you listed and we had a $500.00 deductible rather than a $5000.00 deductible.

 

So many liberals are so quick to say how their insurance is "cheaper" or "didn't change" because of Obamacare.  However, for some of us it got more expensive.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

Sorry as soon as you mentioned credit card I stopped reading. As soon as government expenditure is likened to household expenditure it shows complete lack of understanding.

 

This shows a complete lack of facing the facts.  That's alright though, liberals do that all the time, unless it fits their narrative or agenda.

 

If you bothered reading my post, I stated that it was a very basic explanation of what happened to Greece.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

What facts? Why are you singling Greece out? I could point out the euro is their biggest problem but it would be over your head.


So let me guess the US needs more privatisation? Why is healthcare so much cheaper in other countries with single payer models?

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What facts? Why are you singling Greece out? I could point out the euro is their biggest problem but it would be over your head.


So let me guess the US needs more privatisation? Why is healthcare so much cheaper in other countries with single payer models?

 

The Euro is their biggest problem because otherwise they could just inflate their money to solve the problem. Those pensions are not so much of a problem when the price of everything is doubled but the pensions stay the same.


 

However, that only works for a while (see Germany after WWI). Venezuela is such a basket case that they can't even afford to print money.

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"Why should I give information to you when all you want to do is find something wrong with it?"

What facts? Why are you singling Greece out? I could point out the euro is their biggest problem but it would be over your head.


So let me guess the US needs more privatisation? Why is healthcare so much cheaper in other countries with single payer models?

 

The US has a single payer system. It's called the VA. You might want to read up on that.

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"Why should I give information to you when all you want to do is find something wrong with it?"

The US has a single payer system. It's called the VA. You might want to read up on that.

 

Are you covered by the VA?

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Are you covered by the VA?

Does that matter?

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

Are you covered by the VA?

 

Reading comprehension a problem? I already said I was covered under an insurance plan. The VA does not use insurance, it has its own doctors, hospitals, and clinics. It is a US federal government single payer system. 
If you still need someone to add two plus two for you, the answer is no.

 

I was using it as an example of how a US single payer system works. The VA is for military veterans, who are revered here. Around 1,000 veterans died waiting for care in the last ten years. Presumably our rulers would be even less inclined to make sure every Joe Blow gets decent medical care.

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"Why should I give information to you when all you want to do is find something wrong with it?"

Reading comprehension a problem? I already said I was covered under an insurance plan. The VA does not use insurance, it has its own doctors, hospitals, and clinics. It is a US federal government single payer system.
If you still need someone to add two plus two for you, the answer is no.

I was using it as an example of how a US single payer system works. The VA is for military veterans, who are revered here. Around 1,000 veterans died waiting for care in the last ten years. Presumably our rulers would be even less inclined to make sure every Joe Blow gets decent medical care.

Sounds like it isn't well funded then? Imagine if people like you put half their insurance premium in...

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It wasn't the premiums, it was the increase in deductibles and the cuts in coverage.


Our deductible was $250 before Obamacare. Now it's $5000.
But the premiums haven't gone up!

We could write a book about all the means governments employ to hide inflationary trends...

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Sounds like it isn't well funded then? Imagine if people like you put half their insurance premium in...

Imagine if leftists could do anything but spend other people's money.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

Imagine if leftists could do anything but spend other people's money.

Imagine if you had a decent affordable healthcare like Europe maybe you wouldn't be angry? You guys pay more taxes and expect nothing in return, must be great being your overlords. Maybe demand some public transport too for your money that would probably improve us cities too.

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