Yay, Tax Deductions! Oh, Wait, I’m Still Too Poor For Premiums…
I’ve heard a bit lately about the president’s proposed tax breaks for individuals who get their own health insurance policies. Now, I fully admit that I don’t know all the details but I’ve got to comment on just one thing. Tax deductions don’t mean shit to someone who can afford a monthly premium.
I’ll use my family as an example. There’s little my wife and I enjoy more than electronically filing our tax returns. The knowledge that, in just a couple of weeks, we’ll be able to pay off our credit cards, hopefully, and start with a clean slate for the coming year is a relief. Some years, there’s even enough to go out for dinner or buy a new movie or some underwear or something fun like that.
We make fairly good salaries, don’t have car payments, only have liability insurance on our vehicles, and have little credit card debt (the level of debt increases as the year progresses) and, still, we are in the red each month. We don’t make extravagant purchases. We’ve had the same 27 inch Sony Trinitron since 1988. Our living room, dining room, and rec room furniture is ALL hand me downs. Our rec room consists of the old Sony TV, a hand me down stereo receiver, a $100 dvd/vcr combo, and the DirecTv receiver. The dish is the only real luxury we have – I don’t consider DSL a luxury because TJ requires it for her job, besides we’ll NEVER go back to dial up. Ever. It’s a sin to even discuss it.
Back to the point of this post. When working out our monthly budget, we can’t take into consideration how much we’ll be getting back in our annual tax refund. We can’t save the chunk of it and spend just a bit each month. I don’t know anyone who can. As soon as money comes into our house, it’s spent on our house or on the feeding, educating, or clothing of those whom live there.
Tax deductions for self-insuring may make a difference for those who have enough monthly income to pay the premiums. But for the vast majority of Americans who have no health insurance, it doesn’t mean jack shit. How about cutting back just a small amount, a tiny amount, from the defense budget and hooking us up with some universal health care? How’s about that?
Why yes, Cheri, I would like to comment on this post:) Over the fall season last year I got a cold; sniffles, cough, etc.. After a few weeks the cold turned more severe, (heavier coughing, difficult breathing, etc..). Everyone said, “go to the doctor,” which seems like a simple solution. The issue is this. I don’t go to the doctor unless I am literally on deaths door. First of all, there is the collection window at my Aurora clinic that houses Fran. Fran is the woman that stalks me almost as much as my student loan companies. “When are you going to make a payment?” “How much can you pay this month?” “Erin, you missed last months payment” I’d pay you if I could Fran, back the fuck off! I finally had to face Fran when I began coughing so hard one morning that I coughed up blood and finally made the walk of shame to the clinic. I believe Fran did stop me about my bill but I don’t really remember because at that point the pneumnoia I was then diagnosed with had spiked a 102+ fever and I wasn’t quite all with it. I owe Aurora and Wheaton Franciscan a small fortune. And yes, I have health insurance……I WORK for a health insurance company. I cannot afford my deductible, and my medications, and the other shit that never seems to be “covered” under my plan. Like Cheri and TJ, we make “good” money. We have a house payment and one modest car payment along with a few student loans of mine. Nothing dramatic, nothing flashy. I am not sick very often and very rarely need any type of medical attention. And seeing as I am having a shitty Monday anyways, I’ll say it like this. When I hear the word “tax break” applied to anything I just take my listening ears right off cause’ whatever it is it they are talking about it sure as hell doesn’t apply to me.