WHAT THIS COUNTRY NEEDS IS MORE SMOKERS

And in case this sounds crazy - look up the study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was done in England (a country with "universal" health care), and looked at the lifetime health care costs of smokers vs. non smokers.

WHAT THIS COUNTRY NEEDS IS MORE SMOKERS - Smoking takes years off your life and adds dollars to the cost of health care. Yet nonsmokers cost society money...by living longer. House members described huge health care costs associated with smoking as they approved landmark legislation last week giving the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products. No one mentioned the additional costs to society of caring for a nonsmoking population that lives longer. A White House statement supporting the bill, which awaits action in the Senate, echoed the argument by contending that tobacco use "accounts for over a $100 billion annually in financial costs to the economy." However, smokers die some 10 years earlier than nonsmokers, according to the CDC, and those premature deaths provide a savings to Medicare, Social Security, private pensions and other programs. Vanderbilt University studied the net costs of smoking-related spending and savings and found that for every pack of cigarettes smoked, the country reaps a net cost savings of 32 cents. Sell just 10 trillion packs and we can pay for the Obama budget!

DEFICIT AND BUDGET SHORTFALL

Here it is - the actual numbers for the first half of the year.

The deficit for the first half of 2009 is within a hair of being 4 x the deficit for 2008.

DEFICIT AND BUDGET SHORTFALL - The U.S. has posted a record budget deficit for the first half of fiscal year 2009 of $956.8 billion, a number inflated by governmental spending on financial and economic programs, and this year's budget shortfall is more than triple 2008's deficit. For March, the government filed a record monthly deficit of $192.27 billion. For the same month last fiscal year, the gap was only $48.21 billion.

so you know - 4 x 48.21 billion is 192.84 billion.

7 signs a health plan might be junk

I offer you this ConsumerReports.org link. It's for those of you who had looked for coverage on line, or those of you that follow health insurance issues, or those who wonder why AARP changed the offered plans.

You can read it below, or click on this link below, or copy and paste it into your browser:
http://www.consumerreports.org:80/health/insurance/health-insurance/7-signs-that-the-plan-is-junk/health-insurance-7-signs-the-plan-is-junk.htm


If you want Health Insurance, contact me for coverage options.
John Spek
410-302-4122

7 signs a health plan might be junk

WATCH THE WORDING “Affordable” health plans, like this one purchased from AARP, may end up costing you much more in the long run.

Do everything in your power to avoid plans with the following features:

Limited benefits

Never buy a product that is labeled “limited benefit” or “not major medical” insurance. In most states those phrases might be your only clue to an inadequate policy.

Low overall coverage limits

Health care is more costly than you might imagine if you’ve never experienced a serious illness. The cost of cancer or a heart attack can easily hit six figures. Policies with coverage limits of $25,000 or even $100,000 are not adequate.

“Affordable” premiums

There’s no free lunch when it comes to insurance. To lower premiums, insurers trim benefits and do what they can to avoid insuring less healthy people. So if your insurance was a bargain, chances are good it doesn’t cover very much. To check how much a comprehensive plan would cost you, go to ehealthinsurance.com, enter your location, gender, and age as prompted, and look for the most costly of the plans that pop up. It is probably the most comprehensive.

No coverage for important things

If you don’t see a medical service specifically mentioned in the policy, assume it’s not covered. We reviewed policies that didn’t cover prescription drugs or outpatient chemotherapy but didn’t say so anywhere in the policy document—not even in the section labeled “What is not covered.”

Ceilings on categories of care

A $900-a-day maximum benefit for hospital expenses will hardly make a dent in a $45,000 bill for heart bypass surgery. If you have to accept limits on some services, be sure your plan covers hospital and outpatient medical treatment, doctor visits, drugs, and diagnostic and imaging tests without a dollar limit. Limits on mental-health costs, rehabilitation, and durable medical equipment should be the most generous you can afford.

Limitless out-of-pocket costs

Avoid policies that fail to specify a maximum amount that you’ll have to pay before the insurer will begin covering 100 percent of expenses. And be alert for loopholes. Some policies, for instance, don’t count co-payments for doctor visits or prescription drugs toward the maximum. That can be a catastrophe for seriously ill people who rack up dozens of doctor’s appointments and prescriptions a year.

Random gotchas

The AARP policy that some bought began covering hospital care on the second day. That seems benign enough, except that the first day is almost always the most expensive, because it usually includes charges for surgery and emergency room diagnostic tests and treatments.