20131103

Between Student-Loan Debt & ObamaCare 20-Somethings Have a Tough Road to Hoe

I am all for keeping life as simple as possible. This is probably why I have chosen to limit my comments about this complicated health-care plan that's commonly being labeled a debacle. It's simply something that I just don't get. From what I'm hearing in the local square, most people are feeling hood-winked because, simply put, they thought they were going to get something for nothing. They couldn't grasp the fact that nothing is ever really free. Someone, usually you being the someone, has to pay on some level, at some point.

This health-care plan is really scary for people who already are not able to make ends meet; but, make too much money to be considered 'excluded' from the plan. The hardest hit, whether they realize it or not, will be the already-struggling 20-somethings; fresh out of college drowning in enough student-loan debt to last them a few decades, being told that on top of that staggering debt, they will have to pay an additional few hundred bucks to the government for mandatory health "care" because their job has jumped ship from covering its employees. On reading the fine print they are learning that this doesn't even include dental bills, nor hospitalization should they need it.

What's worse, most of these grown-and-gone 20-somethings have to burden their 'have-problems-of-their-own' parents with carrying them on their health-insurance policy. Hunh? What if there are six children under 26 who need to be on the parent's policy? Who gets strapped with that presumably astronomical premium?

There are days I would love to have been on the steering committee for government change. It must be more difficult than getting the pulse of the people and designing plans that work for the majority. My solution to this plan or debacle, whichever word works for you, would be a flat ten-percent tax from everyone, including those getting government-funding for anything, including welfare and student loans. Even the elderly would have to pay with 10-percent from their Medicare disbursement. When I say everybody over 18, I mean everybody, even the disabled would contribute their fair-share with the ten-percent across-the-board tax.

Sadly, any doctor will tell you that the health of your teeth is a good determinant of your overall health. This plan does not address one of the most crucial benefits of good health, and it shows in the poor dental hygiene of too many people I see on the evening news trying to give a 'play-by-play' to a reporter. It's 2013. It's the United States of America. A system should be in place where dentists should be allowed to work off their student-loan debts by offering basic dental care for all.

Wow. I know hindsight is 20-20; but the President would have had a better chance of making sense of the student-loan nightmare than ever convincing the public of making mandatory payment for something they may never have to use. The young people are potentially going to get hit the hardest with much of the little money they're earning, possibly going directly back to the government. Wow. Parents seriously need to start having the talk with their 14-year-olds, that the cost of student-loan repayments and mandatory health-care premiums are going to eat up the majority of what they earn; and, they would be wise to have an alternative to student-loan debt (a.k.a. work at Wal-mart up front, and pay as you go for college, even if it takes ten years to get the degree).

As I end this blog, prayers for my fellow Americans. Be encouraged.