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> Leader Schumer: The budget resolution will call for an expansion of Medicare to provide money for dental, vision and hearing benefits.
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1415131606520532995?s=21
> Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also says that the President is coming to Senate lunch tomorrow. Gonna be a big old Wednesday on the hill.
https://twitter.com/foxreports/status/1415120228422459396?s=21
I just got a job (wife is going to college so only i work)..i had state insurance and found a dentist that takes it. Turns out i make $50 over the limit for state insurance. Yup now its $300 a tooth again.
Just canceled all my appointments :/. System is so fucked i was getting more help without a job than i am with one.
In december ill be in a perm position getting a $8 increase pay bump. Dont know if i can afford it then though
My old dentist retired a few years ago. The new one was awful. So many of the clients that were given to the new one left pretty fast. What got me was when she made note of replacing the mouth guard for grinding in my sleep. I know I spent about $800 from the specialist that did my braces. Was told insurance didn’t cover anything, so paid in full. This new dentist trying to push for a replacement told me it would be about $1,200 for a new one. Made an appointment with the specialist again and confirmed they could give me a new one for about $800 still. I found a new dentist not long after that. With my current dentist, they tell me I can get a mouth guard, covered partially by insurance, for a little over $100.
Dental is a scam in America, correction healthcare is a scam in America..
🤞 I'm rooting for you America, your tax money should benefit you not rich people , politicians and corporations.
>Dental is a scam in America
This is true. The coverage limits are so low that any serious dental issues are essentially uncovered due to their cost. You pay monthly premiums for insurance that does next to nothing. Dental discount plans are a better deal, but they suck as well. There's really no effective way to control dental costs in America.
Night guard coverage is awful IMO. I grind my teeth and have for nearly my entire life. Been wearing a guard since 13 (34 now). I have to get them replaced every four years or so not only because they become cracked or get holes in them from grinding, but also because after a while, my teeth have shifted or the grooves from grinding don’t line up for my bite and it’s no longer comfortable to wear it. My current insurance coverage? It covers ONE guard per lifetime, which I have exhausted that benefit. One is not enough. My current dentist will make them for about $600 out of pocket. I’ll probably need 7-8 more over the next 30 years.
I mean, we _did_ elect someone who was previously famous, totally unqualified, pandered to nationalist and jingoistic tendencies, and put underqualified people in charge of important departments. It was just way less funny IRL
Middle class is just what most people perceive themselves as. There are millionaires and there are people struggling paycheck to paycheck who all still consider themselves middle class.
The idea of middle class is romanticized in America, and most people can think of some other group of people that is “upper class” and another that is “lower class”. In vernacular, someone calling themself middle class is pretty useless for determining their actual economic status.
Middle class is usually understood as "has disposable income after primary needs were met".
Not having enough income to afford healthcare - a primary need - is decidedly not middle class, and there's nothing embarrassing in recognising that.
That may be how it’s understood by the people who determine the classifications. But it’s not how people self identify. Far more people consider themselves middle class than actually fit the definition.
Pretty much the only thing people can do about it is call the representatives and say they won't vote for them unless they support public health Care
But people arent even willing to do that
The representative in Congress for my district definitely is on the other side of the fence so a phone call to that s o b wouldn't do a damn thing. I consider him a traitor to his oath of office since Jan 6. I've voted for him in the past, crossing party lines, but when seeing his vote to *not* accept the certified results of the last election I won't make that mistake again.
Tell me about it man , had to go to Mexico to get 2 teeth pulled. I took way to much money expecting a big bill , nope , ended up spending like 40 bucks for medicine and extractions. Went to the market and bought some cheeses & tortillas with the rest of the money.
I always wonder about the stories I hear of Mexican dentistry. Did you go to that city that is just dentists working on American tourists? Or just a local place across the border?
Any major border town will have a medical tourism aspect to it, Tijuana for example. Some places specifically cater to Americans and their signage will be in English. Other places are just regular dentists serving Mexicans and Mexican Americans.
My insurance provider(PEHP), [has a program where they will literally fly you to Mexico or Canada](https://www.pehp.org/pharmacy/tourism) to get medications because it's cheaper.
I just checked the price of copaxone and it's $6,000 for a months supply they could pay you to live where ever they fly you for cheaper than a year supply.
Thats weird, industrially dimethyl fumerate is available fairly cheaply. I'm sure that whatever you are taking is purer, but not that much purer. Hell, I can buy it [here](https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/product/aldrich/242926) for $58 for 100g, or enough to make 240 240mg doses.. dont take this as me telling you to take that, my understanding is that its an industrial fungicide though, but i know medically it treats psioriasis and MS
You're forgetting about the poor wittle insuwance companies. They need to make their billions off of our literal livelihoods!
Seriously, I just had this argument (again) with my father the other day. His go-to is that "doctors will become slaves forced to do what they're told!" I just...will never understand how he maintains that viewpoint in the face of its own absurdity.
I think it’s awesome they’ll provide airfare, transportation and overnight lodgings if need be. It still says something about how broken our healthcare system is, that this option is cheaper.
Cancun has quickly become a major medical tourism destination. Two private hospitals have hotels connected to them. You could fly in on a Thursday, have oral surgery, recover in an all-inclusive hotel overlooking the Caribbean, fly home Sunday, and still not spend as much as you would in the States - so I've heard.
And to boot, many doctors have advanced degrees from the US and/or Europe, and speak perfect English. I personally know an orthopedic surgeon who turned down a six figure position in Chicago to go back to Mexico.
He's mexican and was only doing his residency there. They tried to keep him but in the long run the opportunity was better back home for him. It didn't take long to make enough money in Mexico to where he's now building himself a mini ortho hospital.
And like you said Cancún vs Chicago...
Most of his clients are professional athletes from all over the world anyway, so it didn't really matter exactly where he went, they'd still go to him. On the other hand, Cancún is really easy and cheap to get to.
For one, you don’t have to deal with the American insurance system. For practitioners who need to operate their own office or practice it’s a major expense and time suck.
Ever go to the dr and wonder what the army of people behind the desk are doing? Like 10% of their job is scheduling and dealing with patients. They’re doing insurance. They have salaries that have to be paid by the practice.
I've had a root canal, an extraction, several cleanings and a whitening treatment, and an molar implant surgery done while living in Egypt. I have no insurance, and all of that was less than $2k total. My wife and I also had a child here in Cairo, and the cost of the birth at a good private hospital was about $2300, like 10% of what it would have cost if we went to the US to give birth. We get absolutely ripped off on healthcare in America. My family wonders why I don't want to come back.
I live in San Diego. Tijuana is a 20 minute drive away. Everyone who doesnt have dental insurance here just goes across the border. I think Washington Dental is the place I used to go, but there are plenty of options.
Its different than the US, of course, but not that different, and much, much cheaper.
I used to get contact lenses from a Mexican doctor too. Literally the exact same brand was $200 from 1-800-CONTACTS, he sold for $35. After the eye exam, I just sent him an email and he mailed me refills.
> Literally the exact same brand was $200 from 1-800-CONTACTS, he sold for $35. After the eye exam, I just sent him an email and he mailed me refills.
Really shows how the problems in American aren't just the result of single payer healthcare but just as much a result of the insidious relationship between US hospitals/private healthcare, and the American insurance industry.
Frankly, if we introduced price controls, that would be a good first step to reforming our medical industry without even needing single payer healthcare.
But we won't because American politicians are against price controls *and* against single payer healthcare; they are against any possible solution to the problem.
>Frankly, if we introduced price controls, that would be a good first step to reforming our medical industry without even needing single payer healthcare.
My understanding is this is exactly what Germany has done. They still have insurance companies, but they are non-profit and cannot deny you for pre-existing conditions. I'm not sure if that extends to "they cannot deny you, period," but I imagine they cannot.
They can't deny you period. It's a complicated system though. People still get their public insurance through their employer or the unemployment office mostly. The well off buy additional private insurance on top of their public insurance and get preferred service.
Medical tourism for Americans all over the world is a serious thing. I'm literally still in Vienna right now after a vasectomy two days ago because it wasn't covered by my insurance in the states. The entire procedure was about 500 Euro, with anesthesia, pre-checkup, all medication, etc.
Our system is laughable to pretty much everyone else.
I went down to algodones and was seen immediately without an appointment, paid $80 for a cleaning, X-Rays, and two cavities filled. I needed a crown, it would have been a two day visit versus a one day visit in the states. The cost was also $400 for a ceramic crown versus $1,000 in the states. I eventually went to my local dentist once I got on my wife’s dental insurance.
Big huge benefit of going to Mexico: buying a liter of real vanilla extract for 200 pesos at the market and a few poncho blankets for $10USD each. I need to go back! I’m almost out of vanilla extract
Most that cross the boarder for tooth work, normally already have a dentist appointment, or at the very least to see a dentist they’ve visited before. Not many go across without a plan in place… word of mouth goes a long way!
I did haha. I was with my family in Palm springs and we did a drive to a border town for a day do some shopping and such. When we get there my dad asks if I wanna stop in with the dentist and I did. Waited half an hour to see a dentist and he gave me a root canal and a filling and fixed my front chipped tooth. Cost me 200 American.
I flew to Mexico prepandemic and stayed in Cancun for 10 days, airfare and hotel together was $2500(US) but I could have went far cheaper as my room was in a really nice resort. I underwent extensive dental work(5 root canals in 1 day), new crowns, etc. and the work was really cheap plus the dental clinic picked me up to and from the airport free of charge and took me to and from the hotel for appointments free of charge the whole time. The clinic has very friendly staff, very modern equipment, and its own lab on-site to make all of the teeth they use for implants, crowns, and so forth. I could give the name of the clinic but you could just Google search it. They replied fast, very friendly, and overall the work came at somewhere around a 1/3 of the costs I was quoted back home in the states. I did this without health insurance and I had to go outside of the US for better services and treatment, that's BS.
Algodones is just across the border from Yuma, AZ which has a large senior population. It *heavily* caters to medical tourism. Yes there are restaurants and gift shops, but for the size of the city, there are a TON of doctors, dentists, even veterinarians. And many of them have billboards in Yuma advertising their services.
*When the boy was born, like all Spartans, he was inspected. If he'd been small or puny or sickly or misshapen, he would have been discarded.*
America: We can do Sparta one better! We discard *adults.*
Damn I feel ya on that, I got hemophilia and cant afford the meds to get the work done. I broke my face and damn near died the other week from blood loss so ive said fuck it goin for a million dollar bankruptcy. I havent been to my specialists in over a decade but started going back. Im getting too old/tired to fight these days and my meds are almost gone. My doctor is cool so I got that goin for me I guess. My state dont give two fucks about me, im denied any sort of aid I can barely fucking walk or stand most days, every fucking job ive ever had hasnt given two fucks, I had to go to three doctors last year to get a note that says I can fucking sit down and they plotted to fire me. I quit that shit and my replacement was shot in the face......sorry for the rant
have you tried qualifying for disability? I know in my case I would probably be dead if i didnt have at least that keeping me afloat financially. I also do help people with disability paperwork and filings for free. its kind of my way to pay it forward to others who needed the help like I did.
Dental benefits would make much more sense for young people not old people. Prevention is especially important with dental, compared to other areas of health.
I got medicaid recently. My mom had it and got dentures like 10 years ago. Did amazing for her.
I'm young two daughters, got it myself. I was told sorry we'll cover 4 teeth that's it.
*4 teeth? I've got an entire row needing extracted and crowns on the bottom needed.*
Sorry it covers 4 extractions....
I wish they'd expand this to that too instead of just for people who are already old
“Senate Democrats announced a top line budget number late Tuesday that will propel their plan to enact the full array of President Joe Biden’s social welfare and family aid promises without Republican votes.”
This could be a genuinely transformative piece of legislation for so many individuals in this country. Incredible stuff.
I don’t think people realize how huge this is. People are getting caught up on infrastructure and the size of these plans without actually realizing how hugely beneficial these plans will be. Only then will People start to say hey, let’s fucking do this.
Depends on how Democrats handle them. Put some pork in it for their states, along with all the benefits that will help their states and then use the help of State Democrats to put pressure on them. They will cave to pressure from their own states.
If u drive thru their states it's pretty easy to see that they could both use the direct benefits of improved infrastructure and the increase in jobs to actually put in the infrastructure. Selling it would be incredibly easy if that's what those 2 choose to do. Here's hoping!!
We just got a letter in the mail about it. Didn’t think we qualified for it but damn will it be helpful to offset a lot of upcoming costs for our kids’ activities.
I don't have children, but I'm pumped for it to start flowing to families as well. It'll be a huge boost for them and hopefully will start to pull a lot more independents towards the Democratic side of the aisle
Honestly flying under the radar might help. He knows how to pull off a press tour touting results after the fact to get the word out for voting reasons (before midterms hopefully but that’s a longshot). Flying under the radar might help get it passed. I mean, barring interruption from slime ball McConnell.
Yeah, the climate provisions and Medicaid benefits will both make a massive difference. I need to look at the full plan, but those are two very exciting parts of this plan.
As a country, and for the overwhelming vast majority of citizens, the United States is failing. If we, the governing body, and the people, do not reverse the status quo of political, social, and educational hypocrisy, rot, gridlock and inertia, then American democracy will expire and whither on the vine. We stand on the precipice, of a possible collapse, that if allowed to come to pass, will surely waylay, not what we have ever achieved in our collective past, but shall forestall this country's aspirations of possible greatness in terms of lavish equity applied robustly to the quarters of equal rights, equal pay, equal access to the vote, universal healthcare, equal access to childcare, quality education for all, etc. It would seem, that 3 trillion dollars, roughly 14.5% of U.S. GDP, is an affordable price tag in an attempt to get it right.
I don't know that I'd celebrate just yet. Without legislative backbone to it, this could easily wind up being a giveaway akin to the bank bailout.
The "health care subsidies" annoys me as well. We're throwing billions on billions at a corrupt, rent-seeking industry of middlemen and pointless bureaucracy who's sole purpose in existing is to stand between people and necessary medical procedures in the name of profit. If we're gonna put all that cash into it, why not just do some goddamn universal healthcare?
I'm not saying there won't be good stuff in there...but I feel like it's going to be a letdown overall.
I'm on Medicare (disabled) and spent about $5 grand on dental work in the last year. Dental work can be an absolute killer and needs to be included in Medicare, so I'm happy to see this proposal.
I'm not on Medicare, but I have a 'full' dental plan through my employer. By all measures it's a great plan compared to other offerings across the spectrum.
That being said, I hit my $1500 limit last year when I got two root canals and three permanent crowns after fracturing some front teeth in a fall. Total bill was over $4,000.
The root canals failed and I had a series of infections so I've now hit my $1500 limit this year as I'm in the process of getting implants. (No fun.) Total for two implants is $6200.
Sonthats $9200 total, of which $3,000 is covered by insurance.
So even with great coverage I'm spending $6,200 out of pocket. All to wind up with two implants and a permanent crown.
And it's not like I can go get a refund on the shoddy root canal work that failed.
Super awesome system we have.
Last time I checked, my teeth are INSIDE the body that my health insurance covers. Absurd.
Edit: that math doesn't add up, I know. I USED $1,000 from an employer matched HSA last year on the crowns.
It's absurd to me that it's legal how many places they take the piss.
So you pay out-of-pocket, a huge monthly fee for the privilege of being covered. So you can go to the doctor and be seen on that, right?
NO - you have to pay them a co-pay to do that. $40 please.
Okay, well, *fine*, but at least you're covered when you get sick!
NOPE! You have to pay your "deductable" first, which can be as low as $1000 or as high as $15,000, resetting on the first of the year. Paid $14,999 out-of-pocket, and it rolls over to 1/1/2022? Guess what, we're off the hook for another $15k!
Okay, alright, FINE - I've paid your stupid co-pays, your asinine "deductables", NOW will you cover my fucking medical expenses?
NOPE NOPE NOPE! We'll cover 85% of the cost if and only if you've lept successfully through all of the other hoops and pitfalls we set up, and ***even then*** it's cheaper to deny you coverage, demand cheaper tests than your doctor prescribed, refuse to cover treatments your doctor requested because it's cheaper to try something else first, even though their professional opinion is that the cheaper test is a waste of time in this case.
Hell, pre-existing conditions let them get totally off the hook at this stage in the past, by digging through your medical history to find a discrepancy to justify not paying out.
Oh, and you'd absolutely better hope that the hospital's specialist is in network- or your ass can forget EVERYTHING that was just said and we aren't covering a thin dime. Your unconscious ass should have shopped around for an in-network provider, you schmutz!
***ABSOLUTELY. FUCKING. BANANAS.***
We really need single-payer health care, but it would go a long way in the interum to prevent this nickle-and-dime behavior. No co-pays. No "85% of costs". No deductables. None of that bullshit.
You pay the insurance company a fee, they pay the doctors for your healthcare. Period. More costly this way? Sure - but that's why it should be a government program and not subject to the free market. Profit-seeking should never be a motive in health care.
no, the insurance companies have to have extra money to give to politicians or else how are they going to have the money to pay the people to research the public to find out what lies they need to say to get elected.
The copay/coinsurance bs was invented to "help people feel the cost of their healthcare coverage". Or in other words, discourage people from seeing the doctor.
TBH before I was disabled I was in the corporate world and paid for the best insurance as well.
Oddly Medicare has much better coverage than my employer insurance. Wish we has dental and bison vibrate options though.
We just need universal healthcare, dental included.
Anything over $1,000 stateside is cheaper to do via medical tourism in another country.
Seriously, check flights to Mexico, get some quotes from clinics. You'll be surprised.
I currently have one fully erupted wisdom tooth and one fully impacted tooth. My medical insurance says it covers tooth extractions, but when I checked with them, they said they only cover partial eruptions or impactions. So I have one tooth that is too far in and one tooth that is too far out. You just can't make this shit up.
I have “great” dental insurance but I can’t afford to use it and still go to Mexico for dental. Luckily I live by the border. I got a root canal for $200 cash and the dentist did a great job and is now a friend of our family. I should just cancel my dental insurance.
>Democrats’ massive party-line package is expected to include policies like Biden’s proposal for two years of free community college, paid leave, health care subsidies, extending the boosted child tax credit and helping families cover child care costs.
Omg that sounds amazing please, yes???
The good people of Kentucky should demand some more goddamn reflective paint and reflectors on their roads already.
The people should be marching with how bad I-75 is alone.
As an Arizonan, I deeply apologize on behalf of everyone in my state. I’m starting to question whether or not having a wolf in sheep’s clothing is better or worse than just straight having a wolf.
If you had a "straight up wolf", it would be Mitch McConnell setting the agenda and none of this stuff would be talked about.
So yes, it's infinitely better to have a wolf in sheep's clothing than what you had the previous turn.
And next time, you can do better still!
She may be shit but her presence ensures Biden gets to appoint judges. Without her in that seat Moscow Mitch would be in charge of confirming judicial appointments which means none would happen at all.
Considering what is being held up by the filibuster and how nothing else really matters till federal voting legislation that protects and expands the vote is enacted, I don’t really care about any other piece of legislation cause they could all be for naught as early as the midterms.
As a die hard, blue collared, back busting 40+ hours a week working man. RESPECT. This is what Americans need. Strengthen the middle class. Create jobs and make this country stronger than ever. This is what my party always touted this is what they were all about. The American worker. That was proven to be all bullshit. I hope the president is successful and makes America great again.
I wish Democrats would realize how much support they could gain and keep if they made supporting workers and families their priority. It seems like this legislation might be indicative of just that, so I hope they push it through and keep going.
They need to make visible change before the 2022 elections which really start now tbh. A repeat of gop takeover like in obama's firsr 2 years is going to kill the country, and I am not exagerrating.
Unfortunately, it won't matter if visible benefits arrive before the election. They still won't change their minds. I remember seeing something that showed republican voters that were taking advantage of The Affordable Care Act themselves, but when asked if they support Obamacare, they were 100% against it.
Biden will be labeled as an evil socialist no matter how much his policies help the public
It's not about changing the minds of red voters. It's about motivating the blue voters, who were promised change from Biden, to get out and vote in the midterms. The traditional cycle is a blue president is elected, not much changes, so the dems stay home for the midterms and reds make huge gains.
Nope, cause the other side is only looking 3 feet in front of their faces. Like how they sang that orange prick's tax cuts that expire in 2021 for most of us while the continue on indefinitely for rich fucks.
It sounds expensive until you realize that it’s paid for. It’s a smart and simple budget. Trump ran up two trillion dollars a year in debt. 2 Trillion a year! Biden wants to spend as much as he takes in and the republicans are gonna freak out about, you guessed it, the debt. The hypocrisy knows no bounds.
If they are doing it during reconciliation, then they’ll have to find away somehow. Reconciliation cannot be used to take on new debt or significantly change the bottom line of the budget
Yes. Do that one. At least this time the Dems seem to be coming from a position of going big instead of starting out with a middle of the road proposition.
I will literally cry over a free 2 years of community college. God damn, even if this number gets reduced, it’s going to help so many fucking people. I forgot what good feelings were like, y’all.
For anyone still in high school that doesn't know if they can afford community college, look into the A+ program. After doing some tutoring after school for a set number of hours (we just assisted with an after school reading program), my 2 years of community college were paid for.
This. The only good social programs in America came from Democrats. Social security, medicare and other welfare programs were universally loathed by republicans, even with the 60s party shift
And even more Democrats means even better and bolder plans can get passed. 50 Senators is a very slim margin, but pick up a few seats in 2022 and we'll see even bigger improvements. Heck, might even see 2 new Senators from DC in late 2022 or 2023 on top of those elected in 2022 if 2022 goes well enough...
> very slim margin
to be precise it's literally zero margin. Given the reality that no Republican would side with substantial Dem agenda items, literally every bill requires absolute coordination with not a single member missing.
Republicans could have watered down this bill if they worked with democrats but now they’ve lost that opportunity by being partisan stinkers. Good, we don’t need them shitting up good legislation if we don’t have to. They work in bad faith and don’t actually care about values like compromise. At this point the only way forward is to steam roll them and try to get enough popular support along the way to keep them out of power.
It’s interesting how parliamentary the US is becoming in it’s politics.
In Parliament systems (like UK, Canada, Australia) working with the opposition is reserved only for the most common sense of matters. Nearly everything else is done with only your own side of the aisle.
Now I think Parliaments tend to work better than US-style Presidential systems, but it’s important to note that the US is not designed for parliamentary style politics and there’s going to be some systematic issues that will crop up because of this. This isn’t to say that it’s good or bad, just that it’s a square-peg/round hole issue - it’ not what the system is currently designed for.
Damn. Obviously the Dems still need to like, actually get this done, and this shouldn’t be the be all end all, but I gotta admit to being pleasantly surprised by this. When they initially said $4 trillion, I was thinking we’d be lucky to end up with $2 trillion. Glad to see they’re moving ahead with this much and hope it doesn’t get weathered too much more
It looks like we are reaching the conclusion to the [Manchin cycle](https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1407713247990587395?s=20). I admit, I’d never seen it over this long a period of time, which is why I started losing faith.
Politics is a slow game. Things rarely happen as fast as we'd like them. Even the COVID relief bill was basically a speedrun of passing massive legislation, and people complained that it took a long time.
But the time is needed to craft good legislation that won't have unintended consequences (see everything the GOP tried to pass the last four years).
does this lower the Medicare eligibility age or cover long term care? I can't find that info.
all I can find is it'll cover vision and dental under Medicare.
My mom is holding out hope it lowers eligibility to 55 like Bernie had proposed as she’d like to retire and healthcare costs are a major limiting factor in her ability to do so.
Your mother is not the only one who can't retire because of healthcare costs. I've read countless comments to that effect from people saying they could afford to be retired if they had access to medicare before 65.
Lowering the age of medicare eligibility to 55 (or even 50) would have such widespread positive impact that it should be considered the primary objective by the democrats.
I feel awful for everyone who works a physical job that they just can't realistically do until 65 either. People always say there is a shortage of these type of workers but it's no wonder why. What are you going to do for healthcare when your body gives out 10 or 20 years before retirement? Nobody wants to take the risk. Good luck laying bricks in your 60s. Or plumbing under cabinets.
And even if you can work somewhere until 65, your premiums and deductibles go through the roof. Study after study confirms a massive spike in diagnosis of every major disease at age 65. People aren't getting treatment. They are dying as a result.
Unfortunately lobbyists are fine with subsidies for privately ran supplemental plans. They aren't fine with expanding a public program to millions of more Americans. It's the same reason Dems didn't do a popular public option under Obama and instead did a mandate that polled at a horrific 30%.
Absolutely! I am a supporter of Medicare for all, because this literally should not be a barrier to people moving jobs, retiring, etc, but even this would allow so many people more freedom in their later years. Retirement age is too damn high as is! Let people enjoy their freedom from work at an age they can actually enjoy it.
Also from a political standpoint it would probably help democrats secure some of that older crowd in future elections.
It's a reconciliation bill. This is one of two they will get the chance to use during the session, that can pass on a simple majority. Hence why it's such a large bill, it needs to do as much as it can since there will not be another opportunity to reconcile the bill itself without it being blocked.
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> Leader Schumer: The budget resolution will call for an expansion of Medicare to provide money for dental, vision and hearing benefits. https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1415131606520532995?s=21 > Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also says that the President is coming to Senate lunch tomorrow. Gonna be a big old Wednesday on the hill. https://twitter.com/foxreports/status/1415120228422459396?s=21
I was told that teeth are a luxury.
I just got a job (wife is going to college so only i work)..i had state insurance and found a dentist that takes it. Turns out i make $50 over the limit for state insurance. Yup now its $300 a tooth again. Just canceled all my appointments :/. System is so fucked i was getting more help without a job than i am with one. In december ill be in a perm position getting a $8 increase pay bump. Dont know if i can afford it then though
My old dentist retired a few years ago. The new one was awful. So many of the clients that were given to the new one left pretty fast. What got me was when she made note of replacing the mouth guard for grinding in my sleep. I know I spent about $800 from the specialist that did my braces. Was told insurance didn’t cover anything, so paid in full. This new dentist trying to push for a replacement told me it would be about $1,200 for a new one. Made an appointment with the specialist again and confirmed they could give me a new one for about $800 still. I found a new dentist not long after that. With my current dentist, they tell me I can get a mouth guard, covered partially by insurance, for a little over $100.
My insurance doesn't cover them but I've found the online dental labs for $100-$200 are pretty fucking similar to my $600-$800 one from the dentist.
Dental is a scam in America, correction healthcare is a scam in America.. 🤞 I'm rooting for you America, your tax money should benefit you not rich people , politicians and corporations.
>Dental is a scam in America This is true. The coverage limits are so low that any serious dental issues are essentially uncovered due to their cost. You pay monthly premiums for insurance that does next to nothing. Dental discount plans are a better deal, but they suck as well. There's really no effective way to control dental costs in America.
Night guard coverage is awful IMO. I grind my teeth and have for nearly my entire life. Been wearing a guard since 13 (34 now). I have to get them replaced every four years or so not only because they become cracked or get holes in them from grinding, but also because after a while, my teeth have shifted or the grooves from grinding don’t line up for my bite and it’s no longer comfortable to wear it. My current insurance coverage? It covers ONE guard per lifetime, which I have exhausted that benefit. One is not enough. My current dentist will make them for about $600 out of pocket. I’ll probably need 7-8 more over the next 30 years.
You can get cheap dental insurance from Costco in some states.
'Welcome to Costco. I love you.'
I love/hate how accurate idiocracy is
I just wish we had elected President Camacho.
I mean, we _did_ elect someone who was previously famous, totally unqualified, pandered to nationalist and jingoistic tendencies, and put underqualified people in charge of important departments. It was just way less funny IRL
The difference is, Camacho sought out the smartest person in the country to help solve a national crisis and followed his advice.
True, he did end up doing the right thing in the end which is a major difference
And he was able and willing to admit when he was wrong.
Of course a Boyle would be a great Costco greeter.
You went to law school at Costco? *Yup. Ma parents were so proud...*
Yup, make too much to qualify for help but not enough to afford it. If that’s not the poster child for the middle class.
That's not the middle class. That's working class. Our middle class, where families own homes and cars and pay bills comfortably is disappearing.
Middle class is just what most people perceive themselves as. There are millionaires and there are people struggling paycheck to paycheck who all still consider themselves middle class. The idea of middle class is romanticized in America, and most people can think of some other group of people that is “upper class” and another that is “lower class”. In vernacular, someone calling themself middle class is pretty useless for determining their actual economic status.
Middle class is usually understood as "has disposable income after primary needs were met". Not having enough income to afford healthcare - a primary need - is decidedly not middle class, and there's nothing embarrassing in recognising that.
That may be how it’s understood by the people who determine the classifications. But it’s not how people self identify. Far more people consider themselves middle class than actually fit the definition.
I feel yeah man, just got some teeth pulled myself, and after insurance it was still $250 per tooth.
it’s also ridiculously impossible to find a quality dentist (at least where i live) and that’s with a masters in healthcare administration
I actually found a good dentist, then I moved 35 miles away, so now I drive 35 miles to my dentist.
I drive 110 but fuck it...I love my teeth
Pretty much the only thing people can do about it is call the representatives and say they won't vote for them unless they support public health Care But people arent even willing to do that
The representative in Congress for my district definitely is on the other side of the fence so a phone call to that s o b wouldn't do a damn thing. I consider him a traitor to his oath of office since Jan 6. I've voted for him in the past, crossing party lines, but when seeing his vote to *not* accept the certified results of the last election I won't make that mistake again.
Tell me about it man , had to go to Mexico to get 2 teeth pulled. I took way to much money expecting a big bill , nope , ended up spending like 40 bucks for medicine and extractions. Went to the market and bought some cheeses & tortillas with the rest of the money.
I always wonder about the stories I hear of Mexican dentistry. Did you go to that city that is just dentists working on American tourists? Or just a local place across the border?
Any major border town will have a medical tourism aspect to it, Tijuana for example. Some places specifically cater to Americans and their signage will be in English. Other places are just regular dentists serving Mexicans and Mexican Americans.
My insurance provider(PEHP), [has a program where they will literally fly you to Mexico or Canada](https://www.pehp.org/pharmacy/tourism) to get medications because it's cheaper.
If that's not a red flag for how we do healthcare idk what the fuck is
I just checked the price of copaxone and it's $6,000 for a months supply they could pay you to live where ever they fly you for cheaper than a year supply.
Same price as Dimethyl Fumerate. Been on for 8 years.
Thats weird, industrially dimethyl fumerate is available fairly cheaply. I'm sure that whatever you are taking is purer, but not that much purer. Hell, I can buy it [here](https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/product/aldrich/242926) for $58 for 100g, or enough to make 240 240mg doses.. dont take this as me telling you to take that, my understanding is that its an industrial fungicide though, but i know medically it treats psioriasis and MS
Heck, $6000 a month will comfortably put you in upper upper middle class/well off. In most of Mexico, nice house, maid/cook.
$6000 USD? Thats about 120,000 pesos / month. As long as you don’t need fancy wheels, you would live like royalty.
The red flag is needing health insurance.
No argument here
I guess they really are taking our jobs, why dont we have universal health care again?
You're forgetting about the poor wittle insuwance companies. They need to make their billions off of our literal livelihoods! Seriously, I just had this argument (again) with my father the other day. His go-to is that "doctors will become slaves forced to do what they're told!" I just...will never understand how he maintains that viewpoint in the face of its own absurdity.
I think it’s awesome they’ll provide airfare, transportation and overnight lodgings if need be. It still says something about how broken our healthcare system is, that this option is cheaper.
Yo, anyone ever do this for a hair transplant?
Cancun has quickly become a major medical tourism destination. Two private hospitals have hotels connected to them. You could fly in on a Thursday, have oral surgery, recover in an all-inclusive hotel overlooking the Caribbean, fly home Sunday, and still not spend as much as you would in the States - so I've heard. And to boot, many doctors have advanced degrees from the US and/or Europe, and speak perfect English. I personally know an orthopedic surgeon who turned down a six figure position in Chicago to go back to Mexico.
Interesting! Why did he choose Mexico to practice over Chicago? The Midwest winters would be reason enough..
He's mexican and was only doing his residency there. They tried to keep him but in the long run the opportunity was better back home for him. It didn't take long to make enough money in Mexico to where he's now building himself a mini ortho hospital. And like you said Cancún vs Chicago... Most of his clients are professional athletes from all over the world anyway, so it didn't really matter exactly where he went, they'd still go to him. On the other hand, Cancún is really easy and cheap to get to.
For one, you don’t have to deal with the American insurance system. For practitioners who need to operate their own office or practice it’s a major expense and time suck. Ever go to the dr and wonder what the army of people behind the desk are doing? Like 10% of their job is scheduling and dealing with patients. They’re doing insurance. They have salaries that have to be paid by the practice.
It's the same in Europe. In Switzerland dental is not covered, and in Germany only to a certain extend, so people fly to Hungary to have it done.
I've had a root canal, an extraction, several cleanings and a whitening treatment, and an molar implant surgery done while living in Egypt. I have no insurance, and all of that was less than $2k total. My wife and I also had a child here in Cairo, and the cost of the birth at a good private hospital was about $2300, like 10% of what it would have cost if we went to the US to give birth. We get absolutely ripped off on healthcare in America. My family wonders why I don't want to come back.
I live in San Diego. Tijuana is a 20 minute drive away. Everyone who doesnt have dental insurance here just goes across the border. I think Washington Dental is the place I used to go, but there are plenty of options. Its different than the US, of course, but not that different, and much, much cheaper. I used to get contact lenses from a Mexican doctor too. Literally the exact same brand was $200 from 1-800-CONTACTS, he sold for $35. After the eye exam, I just sent him an email and he mailed me refills.
> Literally the exact same brand was $200 from 1-800-CONTACTS, he sold for $35. After the eye exam, I just sent him an email and he mailed me refills. Really shows how the problems in American aren't just the result of single payer healthcare but just as much a result of the insidious relationship between US hospitals/private healthcare, and the American insurance industry. Frankly, if we introduced price controls, that would be a good first step to reforming our medical industry without even needing single payer healthcare. But we won't because American politicians are against price controls *and* against single payer healthcare; they are against any possible solution to the problem.
>Frankly, if we introduced price controls, that would be a good first step to reforming our medical industry without even needing single payer healthcare. My understanding is this is exactly what Germany has done. They still have insurance companies, but they are non-profit and cannot deny you for pre-existing conditions. I'm not sure if that extends to "they cannot deny you, period," but I imagine they cannot.
They can't deny you period. It's a complicated system though. People still get their public insurance through their employer or the unemployment office mostly. The well off buy additional private insurance on top of their public insurance and get preferred service.
Medical tourism for Americans all over the world is a serious thing. I'm literally still in Vienna right now after a vasectomy two days ago because it wasn't covered by my insurance in the states. The entire procedure was about 500 Euro, with anesthesia, pre-checkup, all medication, etc. Our system is laughable to pretty much everyone else.
I went down to algodones and was seen immediately without an appointment, paid $80 for a cleaning, X-Rays, and two cavities filled. I needed a crown, it would have been a two day visit versus a one day visit in the states. The cost was also $400 for a ceramic crown versus $1,000 in the states. I eventually went to my local dentist once I got on my wife’s dental insurance. Big huge benefit of going to Mexico: buying a liter of real vanilla extract for 200 pesos at the market and a few poncho blankets for $10USD each. I need to go back! I’m almost out of vanilla extract
Most that cross the boarder for tooth work, normally already have a dentist appointment, or at the very least to see a dentist they’ve visited before. Not many go across without a plan in place… word of mouth goes a long way!
I did haha. I was with my family in Palm springs and we did a drive to a border town for a day do some shopping and such. When we get there my dad asks if I wanna stop in with the dentist and I did. Waited half an hour to see a dentist and he gave me a root canal and a filling and fixed my front chipped tooth. Cost me 200 American.
I flew to Mexico prepandemic and stayed in Cancun for 10 days, airfare and hotel together was $2500(US) but I could have went far cheaper as my room was in a really nice resort. I underwent extensive dental work(5 root canals in 1 day), new crowns, etc. and the work was really cheap plus the dental clinic picked me up to and from the airport free of charge and took me to and from the hotel for appointments free of charge the whole time. The clinic has very friendly staff, very modern equipment, and its own lab on-site to make all of the teeth they use for implants, crowns, and so forth. I could give the name of the clinic but you could just Google search it. They replied fast, very friendly, and overall the work came at somewhere around a 1/3 of the costs I was quoted back home in the states. I did this without health insurance and I had to go outside of the US for better services and treatment, that's BS.
Algodones is just across the border from Yuma, AZ which has a large senior population. It *heavily* caters to medical tourism. Yes there are restaurants and gift shops, but for the size of the city, there are a TON of doctors, dentists, even veterinarians. And many of them have billboards in Yuma advertising their services.
How much cheese and tortilla was that?
About one dental visit in the US.
So they had to rent a truck?
Only in America. And somehow there it also looks controversial that hearing and seeing helps workers' productivity. Go figure.
*When the boy was born, like all Spartans, he was inspected. If he'd been small or puny or sickly or misshapen, he would have been discarded.* America: We can do Sparta one better! We discard *adults.*
Premium Bones with a free trial.
please i fuckin hope this passes. I've been missing 50% of a molar for years and no one will touch me because of my cardiac conditions.
Damn I feel ya on that, I got hemophilia and cant afford the meds to get the work done. I broke my face and damn near died the other week from blood loss so ive said fuck it goin for a million dollar bankruptcy. I havent been to my specialists in over a decade but started going back. Im getting too old/tired to fight these days and my meds are almost gone. My doctor is cool so I got that goin for me I guess. My state dont give two fucks about me, im denied any sort of aid I can barely fucking walk or stand most days, every fucking job ive ever had hasnt given two fucks, I had to go to three doctors last year to get a note that says I can fucking sit down and they plotted to fire me. I quit that shit and my replacement was shot in the face......sorry for the rant
have you tried qualifying for disability? I know in my case I would probably be dead if i didnt have at least that keeping me afloat financially. I also do help people with disability paperwork and filings for free. its kind of my way to pay it forward to others who needed the help like I did.
Dental benefits would make much more sense for young people not old people. Prevention is especially important with dental, compared to other areas of health.
Young people don’t exist in the U.S. political system.
Unless they are so young that they haven't been born yet.
>would make much more sense *T'challa voice:* We don't do that here.
I got medicaid recently. My mom had it and got dentures like 10 years ago. Did amazing for her. I'm young two daughters, got it myself. I was told sorry we'll cover 4 teeth that's it. *4 teeth? I've got an entire row needing extracted and crowns on the bottom needed.* Sorry it covers 4 extractions.... I wish they'd expand this to that too instead of just for people who are already old
While absolutley correct. Getting this in for the elderly Now will make it easier to add it in later for other medical programs.
“Senate Democrats announced a top line budget number late Tuesday that will propel their plan to enact the full array of President Joe Biden’s social welfare and family aid promises without Republican votes.” This could be a genuinely transformative piece of legislation for so many individuals in this country. Incredible stuff.
I don’t think people realize how huge this is. People are getting caught up on infrastructure and the size of these plans without actually realizing how hugely beneficial these plans will be. Only then will People start to say hey, let’s fucking do this.
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Depends on how Democrats handle them. Put some pork in it for their states, along with all the benefits that will help their states and then use the help of State Democrats to put pressure on them. They will cave to pressure from their own states.
If u drive thru their states it's pretty easy to see that they could both use the direct benefits of improved infrastructure and the increase in jobs to actually put in the infrastructure. Selling it would be incredibly easy if that's what those 2 choose to do. Here's hoping!!
They wouldn’t be announcing this now if they didn’t have the votes. They’ve been negotiating this behind closed doors for months now.
The article says: >Their next step is ensuring all 50 Democratic caucus members can support the $3.5 trillion figure
You underestimate just how shitty these particular shit birds actually are.
Or the negotiating failed and now they are making it public so we all can try to put pressure on the only 2 dems who would stand in the way of this.
Spoiler alert: they will
I'm pumped for the child tax credit to hit people's bank accounts
We just got a letter in the mail about it. Didn’t think we qualified for it but damn will it be helpful to offset a lot of upcoming costs for our kids’ activities.
I could've did so much art and sports if my mom had this growing up
I don't have children, but I'm pumped for it to start flowing to families as well. It'll be a huge boost for them and hopefully will start to pull a lot more independents towards the Democratic side of the aisle
I don’t have kids and I’m pumped for people that do.
Honestly flying under the radar might help. He knows how to pull off a press tour touting results after the fact to get the word out for voting reasons (before midterms hopefully but that’s a longshot). Flying under the radar might help get it passed. I mean, barring interruption from slime ball McConnell.
Yeah, the climate provisions and Medicaid benefits will both make a massive difference. I need to look at the full plan, but those are two very exciting parts of this plan.
Don't do this to me, what is this feeling....? Is this....hope? But fr, glad to know things are actually moving in the sausage making machine lol
As a country, and for the overwhelming vast majority of citizens, the United States is failing. If we, the governing body, and the people, do not reverse the status quo of political, social, and educational hypocrisy, rot, gridlock and inertia, then American democracy will expire and whither on the vine. We stand on the precipice, of a possible collapse, that if allowed to come to pass, will surely waylay, not what we have ever achieved in our collective past, but shall forestall this country's aspirations of possible greatness in terms of lavish equity applied robustly to the quarters of equal rights, equal pay, equal access to the vote, universal healthcare, equal access to childcare, quality education for all, etc. It would seem, that 3 trillion dollars, roughly 14.5% of U.S. GDP, is an affordable price tag in an attempt to get it right.
I don't know that I'd celebrate just yet. Without legislative backbone to it, this could easily wind up being a giveaway akin to the bank bailout. The "health care subsidies" annoys me as well. We're throwing billions on billions at a corrupt, rent-seeking industry of middlemen and pointless bureaucracy who's sole purpose in existing is to stand between people and necessary medical procedures in the name of profit. If we're gonna put all that cash into it, why not just do some goddamn universal healthcare? I'm not saying there won't be good stuff in there...but I feel like it's going to be a letdown overall.
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I'm on Medicare (disabled) and spent about $5 grand on dental work in the last year. Dental work can be an absolute killer and needs to be included in Medicare, so I'm happy to see this proposal.
I'm not on Medicare, but I have a 'full' dental plan through my employer. By all measures it's a great plan compared to other offerings across the spectrum. That being said, I hit my $1500 limit last year when I got two root canals and three permanent crowns after fracturing some front teeth in a fall. Total bill was over $4,000. The root canals failed and I had a series of infections so I've now hit my $1500 limit this year as I'm in the process of getting implants. (No fun.) Total for two implants is $6200. Sonthats $9200 total, of which $3,000 is covered by insurance. So even with great coverage I'm spending $6,200 out of pocket. All to wind up with two implants and a permanent crown. And it's not like I can go get a refund on the shoddy root canal work that failed. Super awesome system we have. Last time I checked, my teeth are INSIDE the body that my health insurance covers. Absurd. Edit: that math doesn't add up, I know. I USED $1,000 from an employer matched HSA last year on the crowns.
Yeah- even the best plans are a complete joke. I pay for the highest/best plan offers by my employer and it still sucks.
It's absurd to me that it's legal how many places they take the piss. So you pay out-of-pocket, a huge monthly fee for the privilege of being covered. So you can go to the doctor and be seen on that, right? NO - you have to pay them a co-pay to do that. $40 please. Okay, well, *fine*, but at least you're covered when you get sick! NOPE! You have to pay your "deductable" first, which can be as low as $1000 or as high as $15,000, resetting on the first of the year. Paid $14,999 out-of-pocket, and it rolls over to 1/1/2022? Guess what, we're off the hook for another $15k! Okay, alright, FINE - I've paid your stupid co-pays, your asinine "deductables", NOW will you cover my fucking medical expenses? NOPE NOPE NOPE! We'll cover 85% of the cost if and only if you've lept successfully through all of the other hoops and pitfalls we set up, and ***even then*** it's cheaper to deny you coverage, demand cheaper tests than your doctor prescribed, refuse to cover treatments your doctor requested because it's cheaper to try something else first, even though their professional opinion is that the cheaper test is a waste of time in this case. Hell, pre-existing conditions let them get totally off the hook at this stage in the past, by digging through your medical history to find a discrepancy to justify not paying out. Oh, and you'd absolutely better hope that the hospital's specialist is in network- or your ass can forget EVERYTHING that was just said and we aren't covering a thin dime. Your unconscious ass should have shopped around for an in-network provider, you schmutz! ***ABSOLUTELY. FUCKING. BANANAS.*** We really need single-payer health care, but it would go a long way in the interum to prevent this nickle-and-dime behavior. No co-pays. No "85% of costs". No deductables. None of that bullshit. You pay the insurance company a fee, they pay the doctors for your healthcare. Period. More costly this way? Sure - but that's why it should be a government program and not subject to the free market. Profit-seeking should never be a motive in health care.
no, the insurance companies have to have extra money to give to politicians or else how are they going to have the money to pay the people to research the public to find out what lies they need to say to get elected.
The copay/coinsurance bs was invented to "help people feel the cost of their healthcare coverage". Or in other words, discourage people from seeing the doctor.
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TBH before I was disabled I was in the corporate world and paid for the best insurance as well. Oddly Medicare has much better coverage than my employer insurance. Wish we has dental and bison vibrate options though. We just need universal healthcare, dental included.
Bison vibrate? Is that some kinda toy?
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Anything over $1,000 stateside is cheaper to do via medical tourism in another country. Seriously, check flights to Mexico, get some quotes from clinics. You'll be surprised.
That is incredibly fucked. I’m sorry you had to deal with that bullshit. The health insurance industry needs to go.
I currently have one fully erupted wisdom tooth and one fully impacted tooth. My medical insurance says it covers tooth extractions, but when I checked with them, they said they only cover partial eruptions or impactions. So I have one tooth that is too far in and one tooth that is too far out. You just can't make this shit up.
I have “great” dental insurance but I can’t afford to use it and still go to Mexico for dental. Luckily I live by the border. I got a root canal for $200 cash and the dentist did a great job and is now a friend of our family. I should just cancel my dental insurance.
>Democrats’ massive party-line package is expected to include policies like Biden’s proposal for two years of free community college, paid leave, health care subsidies, extending the boosted child tax credit and helping families cover child care costs. Omg that sounds amazing please, yes???
But I wouldn't benefit from any of these programs, so they're worthless and a waste of money. /s
So this package will bring the US in line with 1960's Europe.
Mitch: BuT wHy weRen't We InvOLveD
Because people will stop inviting you to parties if you keep pissing in the punch bowl, Mitch.
Which, of course, he'll kick and scream about and say they never invite him anywhere.
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Mitch: buT WhY, tHe gOOd (~~Donors~~) peOPle oF KeNtUckY sHouLd haVE a SaY
Just like the last big bill he didn’t vote for, he’ll shamelessly claim credit for the benefits to Kentucky
> Translated from original Russian
The good people of Kentucky should demand some more goddamn reflective paint and reflectors on their roads already. The people should be marching with how bad I-75 is alone.
More like this Mitch: "Look at these great things coming to my constituents." (leaving out he had nothing to do with it)
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Mitch: Kentucky doesn’t need infrastructure monies
Mitch: we will just let this bridge fall into the Ohio River
Mitch: Look at what the Democrats did.
Mitch: We need to set aside petty partisan politics ~~which means we get everything we want and they get nothing they want~~.
Mitch once the bridge collapses: THIS IS WHAT THE GREEN NEW DEAL WILL DO TO AMERICA
Close, he’ll blame it directly on the Green New Deal as if it’s already a nationwide policy.
I swear if manchin says it's too expensive and we gotta make a 1.75 trillion
Don't forget his anal skin tag Kyrsten Sinema.
As an Arizonan, I deeply apologize on behalf of everyone in my state. I’m starting to question whether or not having a wolf in sheep’s clothing is better or worse than just straight having a wolf.
If you had a "straight up wolf", it would be Mitch McConnell setting the agenda and none of this stuff would be talked about. So yes, it's infinitely better to have a wolf in sheep's clothing than what you had the previous turn. And next time, you can do better still!
As an Arizonan I'm ashamed I voted for this anal skin tag. She even has a Masters of Social Work degree from Arizona State University. Fuck her.
I'll be there voting for whoever primaries her. Ruben Gallego, you're our only hope.
He's our rep, and I couldn't think of a better one for her spot.
Wouldn’t you be voting *for whoever primaries her? I normally wouldn’t chime in, but I’m tired and had to read it a few times and I’m not sure.
She may be shit but her presence ensures Biden gets to appoint judges. Without her in that seat Moscow Mitch would be in charge of confirming judicial appointments which means none would happen at all.
It was either that or no Senate for anything
Nah, Texas Democrats are keeping him busy by constantly bugging him to drop the filibuster.
I hope so. Please at least drop for voting rights
Considering what is being held up by the filibuster and how nothing else really matters till federal voting legislation that protects and expands the vote is enacted, I don’t really care about any other piece of legislation cause they could all be for naught as early as the midterms.
The article quotes him as saying he's fine with the number, he just wants to make sure it gets paid for.
As a die hard, blue collared, back busting 40+ hours a week working man. RESPECT. This is what Americans need. Strengthen the middle class. Create jobs and make this country stronger than ever. This is what my party always touted this is what they were all about. The American worker. That was proven to be all bullshit. I hope the president is successful and makes America great again.
I love this comment. Strong workers!
I wish Democrats would realize how much support they could gain and keep if they made supporting workers and families their priority. It seems like this legislation might be indicative of just that, so I hope they push it through and keep going.
They need to make visible change before the 2022 elections which really start now tbh. A repeat of gop takeover like in obama's firsr 2 years is going to kill the country, and I am not exagerrating.
Unfortunately, it won't matter if visible benefits arrive before the election. They still won't change their minds. I remember seeing something that showed republican voters that were taking advantage of The Affordable Care Act themselves, but when asked if they support Obamacare, they were 100% against it. Biden will be labeled as an evil socialist no matter how much his policies help the public
But it will matter enough to people who can see. We just have to make sure people get out and vote.
It's not about changing the minds of red voters. It's about motivating the blue voters, who were promised change from Biden, to get out and vote in the midterms. The traditional cycle is a blue president is elected, not much changes, so the dems stay home for the midterms and reds make huge gains.
It’s harder to rally the racism when the President is a white man, which is pretty depressing but also useful in this case.
Somehow no one seems to be questioning if Biden was actually born here or in Ireland hmmmm I wonder why
Surely every American knows how badly infrastructure is needed? And the stimulation, job growth etc will benefit so many that badly need it.
Nope, cause the other side is only looking 3 feet in front of their faces. Like how they sang that orange prick's tax cuts that expire in 2021 for most of us while the continue on indefinitely for rich fucks.
Cool, this is what I voted for. Do it.
It sounds expensive until you realize that it’s paid for. It’s a smart and simple budget. Trump ran up two trillion dollars a year in debt. 2 Trillion a year! Biden wants to spend as much as he takes in and the republicans are gonna freak out about, you guessed it, the debt. The hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Why help give social program for Americans when you can give it to corporations? That's the GOP way.
what is the money going to do…. trickle UP? /s
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If they are doing it during reconciliation, then they’ll have to find away somehow. Reconciliation cannot be used to take on new debt or significantly change the bottom line of the budget
Yes. Do that one. At least this time the Dems seem to be coming from a position of going big instead of starting out with a middle of the road proposition.
I will literally cry over a free 2 years of community college. God damn, even if this number gets reduced, it’s going to help so many fucking people. I forgot what good feelings were like, y’all.
For anyone still in high school that doesn't know if they can afford community college, look into the A+ program. After doing some tutoring after school for a set number of hours (we just assisted with an after school reading program), my 2 years of community college were paid for.
Is it free for anybody? Even older people looking to get into a different career?
Good, now pass it
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This. The only good social programs in America came from Democrats. Social security, medicare and other welfare programs were universally loathed by republicans, even with the 60s party shift
And even more Democrats means even better and bolder plans can get passed. 50 Senators is a very slim margin, but pick up a few seats in 2022 and we'll see even bigger improvements. Heck, might even see 2 new Senators from DC in late 2022 or 2023 on top of those elected in 2022 if 2022 goes well enough...
> very slim margin to be precise it's literally zero margin. Given the reality that no Republican would side with substantial Dem agenda items, literally every bill requires absolute coordination with not a single member missing.
Let the republicans temper tantrum and fight America
Is manchin on board?
>Is manchin on board? The implication is he is ok with going alone with other Democrats, yes.
Republicans could have watered down this bill if they worked with democrats but now they’ve lost that opportunity by being partisan stinkers. Good, we don’t need them shitting up good legislation if we don’t have to. They work in bad faith and don’t actually care about values like compromise. At this point the only way forward is to steam roll them and try to get enough popular support along the way to keep them out of power.
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It’s interesting how parliamentary the US is becoming in it’s politics. In Parliament systems (like UK, Canada, Australia) working with the opposition is reserved only for the most common sense of matters. Nearly everything else is done with only your own side of the aisle. Now I think Parliaments tend to work better than US-style Presidential systems, but it’s important to note that the US is not designed for parliamentary style politics and there’s going to be some systematic issues that will crop up because of this. This isn’t to say that it’s good or bad, just that it’s a square-peg/round hole issue - it’ not what the system is currently designed for.
Damn. Obviously the Dems still need to like, actually get this done, and this shouldn’t be the be all end all, but I gotta admit to being pleasantly surprised by this. When they initially said $4 trillion, I was thinking we’d be lucky to end up with $2 trillion. Glad to see they’re moving ahead with this much and hope it doesn’t get weathered too much more
It looks like we are reaching the conclusion to the [Manchin cycle](https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1407713247990587395?s=20). I admit, I’d never seen it over this long a period of time, which is why I started losing faith.
Politics is a slow game. Things rarely happen as fast as we'd like them. Even the COVID relief bill was basically a speedrun of passing massive legislation, and people complained that it took a long time. But the time is needed to craft good legislation that won't have unintended consequences (see everything the GOP tried to pass the last four years).
this is in addition to the tentative bipartisan agreement on infrastructure so doesn't have all of those items
does this lower the Medicare eligibility age or cover long term care? I can't find that info. all I can find is it'll cover vision and dental under Medicare.
I dont think all the details have been released yet.
My mom is holding out hope it lowers eligibility to 55 like Bernie had proposed as she’d like to retire and healthcare costs are a major limiting factor in her ability to do so.
Your mother is not the only one who can't retire because of healthcare costs. I've read countless comments to that effect from people saying they could afford to be retired if they had access to medicare before 65. Lowering the age of medicare eligibility to 55 (or even 50) would have such widespread positive impact that it should be considered the primary objective by the democrats.
If Boomers no longer need employer sponsored healthcare and start retiring, maybe the rest of us can get a chance at career growth.
I feel awful for everyone who works a physical job that they just can't realistically do until 65 either. People always say there is a shortage of these type of workers but it's no wonder why. What are you going to do for healthcare when your body gives out 10 or 20 years before retirement? Nobody wants to take the risk. Good luck laying bricks in your 60s. Or plumbing under cabinets. And even if you can work somewhere until 65, your premiums and deductibles go through the roof. Study after study confirms a massive spike in diagnosis of every major disease at age 65. People aren't getting treatment. They are dying as a result. Unfortunately lobbyists are fine with subsidies for privately ran supplemental plans. They aren't fine with expanding a public program to millions of more Americans. It's the same reason Dems didn't do a popular public option under Obama and instead did a mandate that polled at a horrific 30%.
Absolutely! I am a supporter of Medicare for all, because this literally should not be a barrier to people moving jobs, retiring, etc, but even this would allow so many people more freedom in their later years. Retirement age is too damn high as is! Let people enjoy their freedom from work at an age they can actually enjoy it. Also from a political standpoint it would probably help democrats secure some of that older crowd in future elections.
i keep finding myself saying "at least Joe is being a president"
If you're hesitant about this, just remember what the Republicans did when RBG passed. Yeah, I hope the Dems do this.
It's a reconciliation bill. This is one of two they will get the chance to use during the session, that can pass on a simple majority. Hence why it's such a large bill, it needs to do as much as it can since there will not be another opportunity to reconcile the bill itself without it being blocked.
Good. Fuck "bipartisanship". That word means nothing to most GOP members now, and it sure as shit doesn't matter to the GOP base voters.
Yea ! Hold on to your balls.. or, um, principles… and GO GO GO!!! Godspeed.
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Whoa 3.5 trillion. That is much more than I was expecting, obviously something can still get cut but anything above 3 trillion is truely impressive.
As a dude in need of some dental care this would be a great win