Trump is Proposing New Federal Subsidies for Childcare

[mommyneedsadayoff]

"The Trump plan will reduce regulations that disproportionately favor center-based care to create a new, dynamic market for family-based and community-based solutions. Families will be given the power and information to choose who will be providing care and where that care will be provided without fear of loss of government benefits. The marketplace will be free to develop alternatives that provide care where needed, and at the times when people who work irregular hours need care."

Ok. I am scared to hope <<< see what I did there.

Is it really possible?

I like that. I also like the saving plan. We have a health savings account and it has saved us so many times. My husband's company offers health insurance and I would say it is ok, since we have not had to use it very much, but we use our health savings account for basically everything not covered (glasses, contacts, dentist visits, prescriptions). If we didn't have the HSA, we would be screwed. I sometimes wonder, if there was no penalty, would it be better to go with a super high deductible (catastrophic plan??) for major stuff and then just contribute a few hundred to an HSA. As long as it can roll over each year and is tax free, it seems like it would save us money. I am horrid with insurance stuff, though, so ust thinking out loud ::

[MissAnn]

I like that. I also like the saving plan. We have a health savings account and it has saved us so many times. My husband's company offers health insurance and I would say it is ok, since we have not had to use it very much, but we use our health savings account for basically everything not covered (glasses, contacts, dentist visits, prescriptions). If we didn't have the HSA, we would be screwed. I sometimes wonder, if there was no penalty, would it be better to go with a super high deductible (catastrophic plan??) for major stuff and then just contribute a few hundred to an HSA. As long as it can roll over each year and is tax free, it seems like it would save us money. I am horrid with insurance stuff, though, so ust thinking out loud ::

I'm scared too! Last year we had a high deductible plan and I ended up having five surgeries. The first surgery was for a ganegreen gallbladder and we went to the wrong hospital… out of Network. To make a long story short our medical bills ended up being $8000 and that is after paying $1000/ month for coverage. This year we had to go with a lesser plan because of price hike in Obamacare. This is also thousand dollars a month. My husband has had four surgeries so far this year due to cancer and we had met the. deductible of $7,000. $15,000 of medical bills along with paying $24,000 in the past two years for insurance. And now they are telling us that Blue Cross Blue Shield is going to go up 60%! I think we will eventually lose our house. We do not have a co-pay so basically we do not go to the doctor unless we are near dead. To me this is ridiculous and very scary.

[Controlled Chaos]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trumps-biggest-insult-to-women-yet_us_57d968d5e4b0aa4b722d99c7

"Trump’s plan even includes a credit for stay-at-home mothers, but not for stay-at-home fathers. That such a man exists wouldn’t even cross (Trump's) mind."

My dh was a SAHD for 6 months with our DD. Under Trumps plan my DH would not have gotten the credit just because of his gender, where if I would have stayed home instead we would have. It sounds outdated and no enough. Only 6 weeks?! We need to catch up to the other developed nations on how we support families.

[Controlled Chaos]

And a note in defense of Obamacare (because I feel called to defend something that has so profoundly changed my life).

My DH has epilepsy. There was a time he was having a seizure a week. In his field it was not uncommon for employers to not offer benefits. No private insurance company would cover him. When we got married he lost his parent's insurance. We greatly debated marriage, as we knew he would lose his insurance, but it seemed dishonest and against our faith to live as if married, but not officially get married. His main medication was $800 a month. That's not counting appointments with his FP, neurologist, or his secondary medication. We were married 5 years before Obamacare. We were always working 2-3 jobs and living paycheck to paycheck. Now our family of 5 has insurance for $300 a month, his medication is a $25 co pay each month. Now, we can afford for him to go back to school, we can put money in savings, we are no longer on government assistance. Obamacare has given our family a fighting chance.

[MissAnn]

And a note in defense of Obamacare (because I feel called to defend something that has so profoundly changed my life).

My DH has epilepsy. There was a time he was having a seizure a week. In his field it was not uncommon for employers to not offer benefits. No private insurance company would cover him. When we got married he lost his parent's insurance. We greatly debated marriage, as we knew he would lose his insurance, but it seemed dishonest and against our faith to live as if married, but not officially get married. His main medication was $800 a month. That's not counting appointments with his FP, neurologist, or his secondary medication. We were married 5 years before Obamacare. We were always working 2-3 jobs and living paycheck to paycheck. Now our family of 5 has insurance for $300 a month, his medication is a $25 co pay each month. Now, we can afford for him to go back to school, we can put money in savings, we are no longer on government assistance. Obamacare has given our family a fighting chance.

That is great that it works for your family.

[Controlled Chaos]

That is great that it works for your family.

Thank you. I hope it didn't sound like I was discrediting your experience. I know it didn't solve all the problems and am sorry you have had such difficult medical experiences.

[MissAnn]

Thank you. I hope it didn't sound like I was discrediting your experience. I know it didn't solve all the problems and am sorry you have had such difficult medical experiences.

Not at all. You have 3 kids and a husband with a pre-existing condition. My kids no longer live at home… Otherwise we would qualify for Obamacare's sliding scale. We are just over the line and it's probably going to be disastrous for us unless something changes. There are many success stories and many like ours. I just hope something will be done that will level the playing field. Currently I am pretty sure I have bronchitis but I can't afford to go to the doctor. We only have a high deductibles and no co-pay. My husband has met his deductable but I haven't gone to the doctor at all this year… my deductible would be another $7000. It just seems unfair to Have this expensive insurance will not be able to afford to go to the doctor.

[mommyneedsadayoff]

And a note in defense of Obamacare (because I feel called to defend something that has so profoundly changed my life).

My DH has epilepsy. There was a time he was having a seizure a week. In his field it was not uncommon for employers to not offer benefits. No private insurance company would cover him. When we got married he lost his parent's insurance. We greatly debated marriage, as we knew he would lose his insurance, but it seemed dishonest and against our faith to live as if married, but not officially get married. His main medication was $800 a month. That's not counting appointments with his FP, neurologist, or his secondary medication. We were married 5 years before Obamacare. We were always working 2-3 jobs and living paycheck to paycheck. Now our family of 5 has insurance for $300 a month, his medication is a $25 co pay each month. Now, we can afford for him to go back to school, we can put money in savings, we are no longer on government assistance. Obamacare has given our family a fighting chance.

I am kind of ambivalent about obamacare. My husband's work changed insurance companies because of it, bc the old company raised prices, but we still had a 20% increase. The main issue I have with it is the mandate. I don't believe in forcing people to buy a private product. I understand why they added it, but I don't agree with it. I know people say, "well, you have to get insurance when you have a car", but you don't have to buy a car. ANd unless the car you have is financed, you only need liability insurance, which is far cheaper. That is why I feel an alternative like HSAs or catastrophic plans are a good thing for younger people. I am probably not making sense, but these are the options my husband and I get that have no relation to our insurance.
1. HSA- dh's work contributes $1500 a year and it is tax free, as long as it is used for medical/health purposes. We use it for eye/dental care and for prescriptions and co pays.

2. Teledoc- it's a doctor service that is online or through an app on your phone. You set an appointment time and wait for the doc to call or facetime you. DH's company offers it completely free. The docs will assess symptoms and prescribe for the usual illnesses...anything more severe, they will refer you to your primary doc.

3. My dh's company offers incentive programs. If you watch health videos, you get free gift cards. They do a yearly health assessment and any improvement is rewarded through higher pay (a small bonus added to each check). They offer a stop smoking bonus. My husband did this (smoked for 10 years), so he got $750 after the first 3 months and another $750 after 6 months. These are small things the company does to promote good health and in an attempt to keep the overall insurance costs for the company down.

So, my main issue is that we rarely go to the doctor for illness issues. We go for preventative care. Dh's insurance covers one WELL visit for him, me, and our two kids. I also get one women's visit (GYN), as well. We actually just found a dentist that will accept the company's dental insurance, but up until this, we have paid out of pocket for any dental or vision treatment. We pay just shy of $6000 per year for insurance, so since our medical needs don;t add up to that much each year, I feel like if I put that in an HSA, I could save so much more and have more medical freedom and not be so dependent on insurance. Obviously, major illness can happen, so a super high deductible plan for emergencies kind of seems better. One of the main reasons for my frustration is that my parents worked their butts off for years. My mom was a teacher, but when she got leukemia, they went through hell and back trying to get her covered. My mom died with over $300k in medical debt, yet had very good insurance until they just couldn't afford the premiums anymore. I guess, what I am saying is that I don't trust insurance companies, so I have a huge issue with them being included in any federal law that concerns health care.

Sorry for the long winded post...just thinking out loud again!::

[Controlled Chaos]

I am kind of ambivalent about obamacare. My husband's work changed insurance companies because of it, bc the old company raised prices, but we still had a 20% increase. The main issue I have with it is the mandate. I don't believe in forcing people to buy a private product. I understand why they added it, but I don't agree with it. I know people say, "well, you have to get insurance when you have a car", but you don't have to buy a car. ANd unless the car you have is financed, you only need liability insurance, which is far cheaper. That is why I feel an alternative like HSAs or catastrophic plans are a good thing for younger people. I am probably not making sense, but these are the options my husband and I get that have no relation to our insurance.
1. HSA- dh's work contributes $1500 a year and it is tax free, as long as it is used for medical/health purposes. We use it for eye/dental care and for prescriptions and co pays.

2. Teledoc- it's a doctor service that is online or through an app on your phone. You set an appointment time and wait for the doc to call or facetime you. DH's company offers it completely free. The docs will assess symptoms and prescribe for the usual illnesses...anything more severe, they will refer you to your primary doc.

3. My dh's company offers incentive programs. If you watch health videos, you get free gift cards. They do a yearly health assessment and any improvement is rewarded through higher pay (a small bonus added to each check). They offer a stop smoking bonus. My husband did this (smoked for 10 years), so he got $750 after the first 3 months and another $750 after 6 months. These are small things the company does to promote good health and in an attempt to keep the overall insurance costs for the company down.

So, my main issue is that we rarely go to the doctor for illness issues. We go for preventative care. Dh's insurance covers one WELL visit for him, me, and our two kids. I also get one women's visit (GYN), as well. We actually just found a dentist that will accept the company's dental insurance, but up until this, we have paid out of pocket for any dental or vision treatment. We pay just shy of $6000 per year for insurance, so since our medical needs don;t add up to that much each year, I feel like if I put that in an HSA, I could save so much more and have moe medial freedom and not be so dependent on insurance. Obvioulsy, major illness can happen, so a super high deductible plan for emergencies kind of seems better. One of the main reasons for my frustration is that my parents worked their butts off for years. My mom was a teacher, but when she got leukemia, they went through hell and back trying to get her covered. My mom died with over $300k in medical debt, yet had very good insurance until they just couldn't afford the premiums anymore. I guess, what I am saying is that I don't trust insurance companies, so I have a huge issue with them being included in any federal law that concerns health care.

Sorry for the long winded post...just thinking out loud again!::

I don't trust the insurance companies either! Like the infomericals say "There has to be a better way!" I don't know what that is...hopefully whoever gets elected can find a way to allow for options (HSAs and the like) and make sure anyone who wants to pay for insurance can. No one should go into debt like that for an illness...its awful. My dad just had his second bonemarrow transplant. He has really good insurance, but I know they have paid over $100,000 in the last year in co pays and premiums, not to mention travel expenses to specialists out of state

[mommyneedsadayoff]

I don't trust the insurance companies either! Like the infomericals say "There has to be a better way!" I don't know what that is...hopefully whoever gets elected can find a way to allow for options (HSAs and the like) and make sure anyone who wants to pay for insurance can. No one should go into debt like that for an illness...its awful. My dad just had his second bonemarrow transplant. He has really good insurance, but I know they have paid over $100,000 in the last year in co pays and premiums, not to mention travel expenses to specialists out of state

My mom had a bone marrow transplant, but also two other major treatments (cannot remember technical names, but one was where they harvest her own cells and try to regrow/change them before putting them back), not to mention 10 years of prescriptions, chemo, hospital stays, ect. Even with the creme de la creme of insurance, they would have paid an arm and a leg to get what they needed at the time. I find insurance and pharma companies to have a major conflict of interest when it comes to profits versus public well being. I just feel that Obamacare did nothing to improve healthcare costs. I think it is just made health insurance more available, but at what cost?

[Scout]

I have been recently sold and will be voting for Trump as well. His policies on many things are just plain good business and common sense.

I was going to vote for Bernie, despite being a conservative.

Me too. This is the first election I am not voting democratic. I am liberal on most issues but, find myself as I get older leaning to the other way on certain things. I love that Trump has had both successful and failing businesses. I think we need that right now, a businessman to help the economy.