How will the abolishment of Medicare affect your RVing?

[Naio]

Medicare is famous for putting almost all of its budget into actual healthcare, with administrative costs just a tiny fraction of private insurance companies' costs.

Now that it is going to be privatised, and costs passed onto consumers, people over 65 can plan on paying double or triple what younger people pay for Obamacare. (Trump now says he will preserve Obamacare.)

How will this affect your budget? Will you be able to keep RVing? Will this change the RVing lifestyle nationwide?

I wonder if RVing will become something only younger people with mobile jobs can afford to do, and retirees will be priced out of the market. I would not like to see that.

---

Edited to add:

This thread has become rancorous, with people making a lot of accusations and extremist political claims and name-calling. I don't want that.

Just to clarify (and calm people down), we are not talking about campaign promises and tv news.

The Republican platform for 2016 says they will privatize Medicare, pass the increased costs onto seniors, and raise the Medicare age. I do not have a crystal ball. I do not know whether the new Congress will keep this pledge. But a wise person would plan for the possibility that Republicans will do what they believe their voters voted for. So, what are you planning?

I would like this thread to stick to how this affects RVing -- the industry, the RV community, and individual people here. As I have said repeatedly.

[Tiger02]

Yup, what westernrvpark said below. The mods are letting the delicate folks have their say.

westernrvparkowner wrote:
The song is old, the performers are all old enough for medicare themselves, but the words ring as true as ever:

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again

The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
No, no!

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya?

There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Are now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss


CNN, Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNBC, MSNBC and all the other letterheads have never explained politics better than the wild child band from England. Thank you Who!

[Naio]

Maybe on a Sunday after church people can talk with one another more respectfully?

[azrving]

Westernrvpark.
POST OF THE DAY. LOL

[fj12ryder]

To speculate on how it will affect RV'ing without knowing any details is simply idle chatter, and accomplishes nothing. No one knows what privatizing would do. Without that crystal ball you mentioned it's silly to groundlessly opine what would happen.

If the prices go through the roof I would imagine it would affect everyone to some degree, but if it didn't change overall, then not much will happen.

Let's not try to create rancor and division without actually having some serious information to put forth. The fact is that no one knows how their RV'ing will be affected because no one knows how Medicare costs will be affected.

[bpounds]

This should have been shut down right after my first post 🙂

I'm not yet on Medicare, but observing my parents on it, I thought it was already privatized. Does anyone carry straight MC anymore? Doesn't everyone sign up for a private MC Advantage plan? The one my parents have had for years has treated them very well, including my fathers final days. Mom still thinks it is pretty good. So if republicans want to move closer to that type of management, why would that be bad? That is nothing even close to "abolishing" coverage for seniors.

The other issue is baby boomers. The bulge of people of that age is straining the system, and something may need to be done. But we have about 10 years before that bulge is fully into MC years, and then will start to taper down. Nothing happens in DC in less than 10 years. I know liberals are all scared. I was afraid of an HRC administration too. But a little reasoned thinking and you should come to the realization that very little ever changes, and this will be no different. The pendulum has swung, but it will swing back soon enough.

[Old-Biscuit]

I find it refreshing that MODS have allowed this thread to continue.

It is after all 'historic' event that just occurred so a little OPEN relieve is good.

Course WE have no idea on the amount/numbers of deletes that have been needed.

But I THANK the MODS for letting this run its course.

It too will pass......

Like I posted earlier......
President ELECT Trump hasn't been sworn in
RNC didn't back him --even were looking for ways to ignore/not validate his selection as Republican Candidate
Didn't openly support/endorse---those that did then reneged the week before election day and NOW act like THEY were there all along.

President ELECT Trump has laid out his 100 day plan
Some is from RNC platform...some isn't...some even is part of present policies

RNC Platform is old news.......and those that got reelected "It wasn't due to THEIR agenda" they just were part of Republican Ticket (this time---voters are fickle) :B


Medical coverage has been tough and more difficult each year for ANY RVrs that were/are FTng especially if under 65.

I have VA and despite all the 'negative' news I have had excellent care/treatment/service previously/while FTng and now
YES the Phoenix VA Hospital was/is run badly.....that is due to incompetent staff/administrators AT that facility.
Same with other VA that have issues...........lack of LOCAL competent leadership.

I have NOT had those issues.

As for the Medicare.....all I have to say is I am coming up on being eligible and IF it is like any other program that I was getting close to being eligible for HANG ON.......it seems I am always a dollar short/a day late.
Get in but the programs have changed and been minimized :B :B :B

[Naio]

I don't agree that the Republican platform is Kool Aid. I think we need to consider the possibility that they are serious, and talk about how Medicare affects RV life.

[sonora]

Naio wrote:
Medicare is famous for putting almost all of its budget into actual healthcare, with administrative costs just a tiny fraction of private insurance companies' costs.

Now that it is going to be privatised, and costs passed onto consumers, people over 65 can plan on paying double or triple what younger people pay for Obamacare. (Trump now says he will preserve Obamacare.)

How will this affect your budget? Will you be able to keep RVing? Will this change the RVing lifestyle nationwide?

I wonder if RVing will become something only younger people with mobile jobs can afford to do, and retirees will be priced out of the market. I would not like to see that.

---

Edited to add:

This thread has become rancorous, with people making a lot of accusations and extremist political claims and name-calling. I don't want that.

Just to clarify (and calm people down), we are not talking about campaign promises and tv news.

The Republican platform for 2016 says they will privatize Medicare, pass the increased costs onto seniors, and raise the Medicare age. I do not have a crystal ball. I do not know whether the new Congress will keep this pledge. But a wise person would plan for the possibility that Republicans will do what they believe their voters voted for. So, what are you planning?

I would like this thread to stick to how this affects RVing -- the industry, the RV community, and individual people here. As I have said repeatedly.

Put the Kool Aid down and step away from the table!

[Dog_Trainer]

As far as I can see this post is nothing short of a political rant. The fact that it has made it this far says little about the mods on this site. Or on second thought maybe it says alot.

[winnietrey]

Like Big Kahuna, we too are self employed, and pay similar premiums for high deductible insurance, and HSA. (20K plus a year) We will consider Medicare to be a windfall for us. Just about no matter what they do to it. May buy a newer rig who knows. (just kidding)

[Dutch_12078]

As one who has a privatized version of Medicare currently with a zero additional premium Advantage Plan that includes Part D, I'm not too concerned if our Medicare payment is maintained at the current levels with the same modest periodic increases. We'll see what happens, assuming any changes at all actually reach some sort of consensus in Congress.

[Naio]

The two posts I quoted are the only ones I could find in the last 3 pages that actually addressed RVing. Thank you, JIMNLIN and Big Katuna!

Does anyone else have another POV?

Privatized care does not cross state lines, except for ER care. Anything that can be scheduled ahead of time (surgeries, Dr. visits, etc.) has to be done in your domicile state. Full-timers, would you need to change your domicile? How would that affect other aspects of your life? Would it be a big deal or a small one?

[Naio]

Just to clarify (and calm people down), we are not talking about campaign promises and tv news. We are talking about the Republican 2016 platform, a consensus statement by all the Republicans who have been elected to the House and Senate. They have the power; the President does not, although I think he was required to agree to the platform before he could run.

The Republican platform for 2016 says they will privatize Medicare, pass the increased costs onto seniors, and raise the Medicare age. I do not have a crystal ball. I do not know whether the new Congress will keep this pledge. But a wise person would plan for the possibility that Republicans will do what they believe their voters voted for.

And I would like this thread to stick to how this affects RVing -- the industry, the RV community, and individual people here. As I have said repeatedly.

JIMNLIN wrote:


If they did privatize or do away with it and the wife and I were forced to buy insurance at the going rate we would have to sell the camper. Were both 74 years old and with our health history, costs would probably prohibit even having health care like many folks in the past and even present. SS only goes so far for most Americans.
Several years back the insurance industry said by 2020 they were looking for the cost of health care for a individual in the USA to double in costs.

Big Katuna wrote:
To respond to the thread topic; We are paying $1600 a month for high deductible healthcare. We will RV less in a cheaper rig if Medicare is messed with.

We are 63 now and were really hoping that Medicare stays intact.

We have been paying for our own insurance for 20 years. The only time it ever went down and benefits improved were the first few years of the ACA. Sadly, that is changing.

When we did retirement planning with professional planners did anyone ever think medical costs would rise so fast and so high.

Having had a million dollar claim and spending two months in the hospital, much of it in ICU having gone in for outpatient surgery, I have more insight than many of you.

[fj12ryder]

^^^^^^Very true, discussing the situation is necessary. Like they say: "Opening a dialogue". 🙂

This thread has not gotten terribly rancorous so I hope it stays open, despite the naysayers.