HEALTH CARE

It’s Very Unhealthy To Go Out Naked

By Jane Bryant Quinn | NEWSWEEK

Published Oct 27, 2008

From the magazine issue dated Nov 3, 2008

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Medicare

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Retirement planning usually focuses on "the number"—how much money you'll need to support the kind of life you want. For early retirees, there's a second question, potentially even more important: will you have health insurance to carry you to 65 when you finally come under the protection of Medicare? Without it, your health, savings and standard of living are at serious risk.

It's dangerous to go uninsured, as all too many Americans know. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine evaluated adults who were 51 to 61 in 1992. Those without policies were almost three times as likely to suffer a decline in health in the following five years as those who were lucky enough to have continuous coverage.

Going without insurance is also dangerous to your financial health. Bankruptcies are soaring among older people. "It's often a one-two punch—high medical bills and job loss," says Elizabeth Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School and a bankruptcy expert.

If you have a choice, don't even think of retiring until you know you can fill the insurance gap. Some places to look:

f your spouse is still working, you can go on his or her plan. Don't miss the deadline. You have a limited number of days after your retirement for signing up.

Look for a job with benefits. Possibilities include hospital work, teaching and other government jobs. Some plans cover part-timers, including those at companies such as Costco, Wal-Mart and Home Depot.

Member Comments

Posted By: Vote Now @ 10/31/2008 7:56:18 AM

BUSHES LITTLE SIDEKICK
I follow an economist named Bob Proctor. He has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
He perfectly predicted the current meltdown and the picture he paints about what will happen next
is terrifying.He thinks it will be worse then the great depression.
The banks in the U.S. are going under one after the other. Countrywide ,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch , Fanny and Freddy Mae ,AIG
The government took them over because they are bankrupt. Even with the goverment nationalizing hundreds of billions of dollars in debt the stock market is crashing
the credit markets are frozen and all of us may suffer beyond anything seen in generations
McCain just like Bush " doesn't understand the economy".
That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it but he does not understand how its been broken.
It is no surprise that he doesn't. The people that make up these securities use quantum mathematical models very few people understand.
Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.
Bush's economic advisor Phil Graham wrote the deregulation bill that allowed banks to take huge risks with all of our future.
Now, Phil Graham is the head of McCain's economic policy.He is also McCain's choice for the next secretary of the treasury.
No one in this country can afford for that to happen. . Phil Graham had the guts to say that we are in a mental recession after he helped create the worst economy meltdown in our lifetime. Check out this link to the truth http://my.barackobama.com/keatingvideo
It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. As bad as Bush has done, McCain would be
even more destructive because things are in much worse shape. The next president will not inherit a budget surplus like Bush did but a crashing economy and a 11,600,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars deficit. Most of it Bush created and it will take decades to pay it back.
If you do what you have always done then you will get what you have always got.
When it comes to policy Bush and McCain are the same 90 percent of the time.
If you are tired of going back instead of forward hold them accountable this time
This is our last chance to cushion the impact of of a economic meteor.
If mccain cant use a computer even to send email do you really hes qualified to run our country during a depression
Your common sense knows the answer

Bush may not be on the ballot this year but his policies are
You can have more of the same our we can turn the page NOW
Elect Obama Biden 2008

Check out this video of sarah palins interview and ask your self if she understands what she is talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r36Xc0GG4iQ
Posted By: Nins @ 10/30/2008 2:45:37 PM

Honestly, looking at McCain and Obama objectively (without any party affiliation or any racism) I really can't see why anybody would vote for McCain. Obama has offered a much more coherent plan to get America out of the economic disaster we are in.

Right now, most people are anxious about the economy, fearing the worst but hoping for the best.

Reality check: within 18 months YOU could be standing in a bread line. That's how bad it really is. And Obama will work actively to prevent this short term, as well as make us strong again long term. As much as I like McCain and admire his patriotism, he really is not up for the job, not now with the global markets falling apart.

Obama's economic plan can be found at:

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/index.php
Posted By: Vote Now @ 10/30/2008 8:13:41 AM

THE GREAT BUSH DEPRESSION
I follow an economist named Bob Proctor. He has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
He perfectly predicted the current meltdown and the picture he paints about what will happen next
is terrifying.He thinks it will be worse then the great depression.
The banks in the U.S. are going under one after the other. Countrywide ,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch , Fanny and Freddy Mae ,AIG
The government took them over because they are bankrupt. Even with the goverment nationalizing hundreds of billions of dollars in debt the stock market is crashing
the credit markets are frozen and all of us may suffer beyond anything seen in generations
McCain just like Bush " doesn't understand the economy".
That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it but he does not understand how its been broken.
It is no surprise that he doesn't. The people that make up these securities use quantum mathematical models very few people understand.
Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.
Bush's economic advisor Phil Graham wrote the deregulation bill that allowed banks to take huge risks with all of our future.
Now, Phil Graham is the head of McCain's economic policy.He is also McCain's choice for the next secretary of the treasury.
No one in this country can afford for that to happen. The last time Bush met with his economic advisors was in March. He was the last to know somthing was wrong. Phil Graham had the guts to say that we are in a mental recession after he helped create the worst economy meltdown in our lifetime. Check out this link to the truth http://my.barackobama.com/keatingvideo
It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. As bad as Bush has done, McCain would be
even more destructive because things are in much worse shape. The next president will not inherit a budget surplus like Bush did but a crashing economy and a 11,600,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars deficit. Most of it Bush created and it will take decades to pay it back.
If you do what you have always done then you will get what you have always got.
When it comes to policy Bush and McCain are the same 90 percent of the time.
So why are the polls even close then ?
Mccains team just said they no longer want to talk about the economy.Instead they would like to spend time talking about obama
which means running the biggest smear campaign in history.
They think they can just tell you lies and you wont be smart enough to see through it
Let's teach him we are smarter than that
Stand up and hold them accountable
Bush isn't on the ballot this year but his policies are
Elect Obama Biden 2008

Check out this video of sarah palins interview and ask your self if she understands what she is talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r36Xc0GG4iQ