Price increases

Guys I stopped getting notifications on this thread also until just now.

You are right about medical costs in retirement. A friend I fish with who is 56 just retired and pays $1,000 per month for a $15k deductible plan for he and his wife who are thankfully ok good health. They are not super wealthy live in a modest home in the Detroit suburbs and middle class Americans I assume like many of us in here.

TrailRunnah sorry about your family health issues also. I will keep all you guys in my prayers. I just try to take one day at a time.

I dropped off my 4R tonight to get a one small bubble in Xpel fixed and inspect the fluid film and the guys said I don’t really need any since I only drove it 300 miles since last sept lol. The frame never saw water from rain even since it’s always in the garage. Even I did not realize how little I drove it. I have just been too busy taking care of folks and working from home.

This is a good group of guys (and I think a few ladies here also). It’s too bad we are all so far apart across the country. It would be cool to meet up for a few beers.

 

What a stunning photo! I am leaving in three days and cannot wait! I have never done anything like this before. I am a self employed real estate appraiser and I always have work hanging over my head. Which has been a blessing to be gainfully employed, but if I'm not moving forward - I'm moving backwards! The opportunity cost of taking time off is debilitating for me. So with concocting this trip idea approximately six months ago combined with a significant slowdown in my work volume, I am so ready to do this. I plan to hit several trail networks along the way in VA, TN, AR, OK, NM, CO and UT.

Man what a nasty spill! A endo always happens so quickly! I don't want to curse myself, but I have not had a bad spill in a while! My last bad spill probably five years ago was two sprained thumbs and one fractured thumb. Your spill sounds horrible! Yet you got back up on that horse! Its an addiction! How long were you out of commission with the hip injury? The flight or drive home must have been miserable.

I was primarily a XC rider for ten years and have really gravitated to the technical riding for the past four years. I still really enjoy blending the XC and technical riding, but the tech riding is like playing chess and the XC riding is like playing checkers. I am blessed to have such a variety of good riding in close proximity to me.

The new bikes make a huge difference. I can now plow thru stuff that I previously had to tip toe thru - a game changer!

Happy trails and enjoy that Ripmo!

 

Enjoy your trip

 

$1000 a month for a $15,000 deductible should be against the law. What in the hell is the point of having that kind of insurance !?

 

'Murica!

The CEO of that company must need a new mega yacht.

 

My wife and I are both self employed with a healthy family of five. Our health insurance is $30,000 a year with a $3,000 deductible! Insane! Greedy insurance companies!

 

The health insurance I have is what justifies my lower pay rate at my current job…but we struggle to find employees because of the salary. They don’t see the benefits.

 

It’s ridiculous. My parents Dad is 81 and Mom 79 pay $300/mo for their supplemental medical. Medicare is first level and then supplemental bcbs after that. Prescriptions is a whole other topic.

All in with scripts and co pays etc they are around $15k per year.

 

It's unbelievable. It'd be nice if we lived in a first world country that provided health care to its citizens as a right.

 

At current costs and pricing structure, we can not afford that right.

 

Have trip! Sounds like you've been working your tail off, you definitely deserve it. I think one gets to a point where enjoyment of life is more important than money, though one needs to reach a certain financial stability in order to be able to make that call.

Yeah, my flight home was definitely miserable. Luckily for me, the new airport just outside of Moab had opened up like a week or two before, so I was able to take a small plane to Denver and then I flew first class from Denver to Boston. I've never flown first class before, and what a disappointment. I felt like I was sitting on a park bench for 4hrs. The hospital recommended I fly 1st class for the extra room/comfier seat, but I was probably as miserable as I'd have been in economy. I guess getting on and off the plane was easier though.

I had my surgery on a Sunday, and we were supposed to fly out early Tuesday. My friends left on schedule, I ended up leaving Fri evening. They kicked my ass with physical therapy before they let me leave, haha.

This was early May, and I was out of commission for the rest of the summer. I didn't get back on the bike till early January. I actually started running again first, I was able to get back to that in the fall.

I was excited to ride again, but I took it easy because I was rusty. I don't think I've ever gotten back to my pre-crash skill or fitness level, I don't ride nearly as much and I'm more analytical about it, I do quick risk assessments before attempting anything that looks sketchy.

I still love riding, but I got a dog during the end of my recovery period and I spent a lot of time with him that I normally would have spent riding,

 

With the life expectancy actually declining in the US (we're last among high GDP countries) we can't afford NOT to do it.

The health insurance industry is just going to have to give up the billions in profit it makes every year. Sorry, not sorry.

And at that, I'll zip it on this subject.

 

Ya, can’t really have a conversation about this. But the insurance industry has too tight a grip to let anything change. I also heard recently it’s not the insurance industry, it’s the health care industry’s high prices that are the problem, but I think I heard that from an insurance person.

 

Healthcare costs are outrageous. My wife spent about 1 month in the hospital fighting a fungal infection in her hip. Total cost of just the hospital and meds were around $250,000. Thankfully she had Medicare part A which paid all of it. It did not pay for her Drs visits, and she saw a whole host of them, as well as her anesthesiologist and antibiotics when she was sent home finally. Luckily we have a very good insurance company. But even there, we still paid out around $8000. We hit our max or it would have been much more.

 

I don’t disagree, but I know of a few stories where folks go in with out insurance and get way cheaper rates for things. I don’t know enough to truly discuss where the problem is, but I think it’s both.