Well, I finally got to see the plans I qualify for on the federal exchange.

[Heddi]

293. Or they scream BUT BUT BUT SUBSIDIES!!!!

There truly are clueless people on this otherwise generally well-informed site that don't understand that poverty vs affluence isn't a black and white situation.

There are MILLIONS of people who don't qualify for a subsidy because of income, but who will still see $100 extra out of their paycheck as being a huge burden. $100 for a health INSURANCE plan that has a $5,000 -$10,000 deductible.

Subsidies help many people but they are not available to all people, and even with subsidies they do not suddenly make $100 extra a month not such a big deal.

Then, with response to the $5k-10k deductible, the answer is "Yeah well that's better than BANKRUPCY!!" because we all know that everyone has access to $5-$10,000 at the drop of a hat. Per year. Just to be able to have your bills paid.

I think there are a lot of people who *think* they are poor, who *think* they live in poverty, but are just lower middle class. The real poor don't have credit cards, or cell phones with unlimited data plans. They don't have wifi internet at home. They don't have cable TV.

I know, because I work with the poor as part of my job as an RN.

Not saying there aren't poor people, or people living in poverty on DU, but the numbers are smaller than I think what we are led to believe based on people's postings of how horribly poor they are, and yet how absolutely callous their attutides towards the poor, the indigent, the illiterate, the uneducated, the un-and-underemployed and the realities of their lives actually are.

Oh, and don't forget...someone will pop in and say "Well you know, if you just ate beans 3x's a day for the rest of your life, you'd have that extra $100 a month. I mean, *I* eat beans and rice and nothing else, no vegetables or meat or fruit or spices, and look at me....happy as a clam!!! That gets me thinking...I see this lady at the grocery store with her food stamp card, and not a bag of beans in her basket! The nerve!!! Dont' the poor know they're supposed to eat bland food and be HAPPY with it? And have high deductable useless health insurance plans and be happy with it!?? Oh yeah, take the bus or bike. Doesn't matter if you live in North Dakota...I biked through 7 feet of snow for 123 miles each way to get to my minimum wage job. And ate beans and rice. And took a bus in a city without any usable public transportation...."



It is sad that many people do not know the true realities of poverty (and not poverty living in a large city with many resources) until they have to suffer that fate themselves.

:hugs: