Who Doesn’t Pay Taxes And Why

ceasesilence:

fishingboatproceeds:

Mitt Romney is in a bit of hot water for comments he made during a closed-door fundraiser about the 47% of Americans who don’t pay federal income taxes.

I’m generally pretty sympathetic to people saying stupid things in closed-door fundraisers, but the whole flap raises an interesting question: Is it really true that 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax? And who are these people? And do they believe that they are victims entitled to health care and housing?

So:

How many people don’t pay federal income tax in the US?

Lots of people. The 47% stat is accurate, as long as you only count federal income taxes. (More than 85% of Americans under 65 pay either income tax, federal payroll tax, or both—and almost all Americans who own land and/or buy things pay state and local taxes.)

Who are these people?

Many elderly people who live off social security pay no income tax (social security benefits are only taxable if your total income is over $25,000 a year). Only about 25% of Americans over the age of 75 pay federal income tax, but it’s important to remember that most of them did pay federal income tax when they were working.

Also, many young adults pay no income taxes, because they are full-time students or have very low incomes. You can see a chart here that shows that about 30% of 18-year-olds pay federal income tax, while over 65% of people in their 40s do.

People living in poverty are also unlikely to pay federal income taxes. A married couple filing jointly making under $18,700 annually pays no income taxes. But it’s worth noting that in 1996, 99.5% of all nontaxable returns came from people making less than $30,000 a year. Today, that number is closer to 76%.

The fastest growing segment of Americans who pay no tax are those who earn between $75,000 and $100,000 each year. As explained here, there’s been a 12,000% increase in nontaxable returns in this income category thanks to middle income tax cuts and tax credits introduced by both George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Romney’s central mistake is imagining the data as static. In 2000, for instance, I paid no federal income tax. This doesn’t mean that I am a drain on the system: In fact, I have paid lots of federal income tax in other years. 2000 just happened to be a weird year, because I had a lot of health care expenses and not very much income.

This is the case for most Americans: Romney’s comments implied that the same 47% of Americans pay no federal income taxes every year. In fact, the members of that 47% are constantly changing as people age into and out of the work force. 

Do these people believe that they are victims entitled to health care and housing?

The most incendiary remark Governor Romney made was, “There are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care of them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.”

In fact, the number of Americans who feel the government should provide health care and food to those in need is much higher than 47%. 76% of Americans (including a majority of Republicans) favor medicaid, the program that offers health care to the poor. A majority of Americans also believe medicare, the program that offers health care to the elderly, is worth its cost. And more than three quarters of Americans support the federal food stamp program that provides food to low-income and elderly people.

“There are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care of them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.”

Yes, Romney, people are entitled to healthcare, to food, to shelter from the weather. I believe this and I am willing to fight for it. Every single human being deserves for other humans beings to help if needed and as much as needed so that that person can receive medical care, food, and shelter. Every. Single. Person. Whether or not they pay income taxes, whether or not they should pay income taxes.

(via lesshumansmorecats)

Source: fishingboatproceeds

What is wrong with me?

This is just not my week.

I didn’t meet with the psychiatrist for reasons that are too stupid to get into (shockingly, not my fault for once) so I didn’t get any psych meds. I refilled other less important prescriptions, and I had to get them by the end of the month in order to get them covered by Medicaid. I called the doctor’s office to make sure they’d be refilled on time, and everything was all set.

Then I forgot to pick up my prescriptions. I thought about picking them up on the way to my class because my bus transfer point is right next to the pharmacy, but I was worried that I would have to wait or that they wouldn’t quite be ready and that I would miss my bus. I intended to pick them up on the way back, but I took a slightly different bus route home for no other reason than I saw this bus at a stop and it was going in the general direction towards my apartment. The bus I took didn’t pass my pharmacy, so I completely forgot to stop there on the way home. 

Now it is December 1, and I am uninsured again.

FML.

FML.

FML.

FML.

Seriously, how did I manage to masquerade as a functional human being for so many years?

I am out of psych meds and that is mostly my own damn fault. I was accepted into that prescription program for uninsured poor people, but they messed up my prescription. When I started taking psych meds again, my doctor prescribed that I take 75 mg Effexor for a week and then 150 mg from then on. She had to forward the prescription to the prescription-assistance organization, but they only gave me a prescription for 75 mg. I think they misread her instructions. I was already on 150 mg at the time I was accepted and it didn’t make sense to revert to 75 mg. 150 mg isn’t doing anything, and prior to my Medicaid being cut off, I was on 375 mg and a high dose of mood stablizers to boot. 

I should have called them and my doctor to ask them to fix it, but I’m usually shut down when I ask for things, so I’ve learned that it’s best not to bother. I prefer to suffer the consequences of not asking because, in my experience, you don’t get screamed at or belittled for keeping your mouth shut.

I’ll be seeing the case management agency shrink on Tuesday, so I’m likely to get another prescription. My health insurance is good until November 30, so provided that I go straight to the pharmacy after my appointment, Medicaid will actually pay for it unless they decide to be dicks. 

I got a letter from DSHS stating that my insurance is only good until November 30, which I suspected. So, if I want to see a doctor, I have to get in on short notice during a month with a national holiday.

So, a few months of anxiety, stress, and annoyance for two weeks of health insurance. 

Awesome.

At least I have a month’s supply of drugs.

ARGH.

I still haven’t signed up for Medicare because I suck at doing things. It’s fine because it doesn’t start until January. Meanwhile, DSHS is still screwing around with my spend-down, and the situation is becoming dire because I only have a month left of this period and I’ve been doing without three of my medications. I sent them the paperwork two months ago and it was to be expedited. They lost it. It was sent again a month ago and it was to be expedited. It’s still “pending.” I give up, but giving up presents some problems.

I can’t continue going to my case management agency if this doesn’t get sorted out. That means I’ll have to start over with yet another case manager unless DSHS stops screwing around.

I hate the way the word “triggering” is thrown around in these parts, but even talking about this is triggering for me for a couple of reasons. First of all, I’ve dealt with more verbal abuse at the hands of DSHS employees that I have with any other “professional” institution, and secondly it puts me in this horrible shame spiral because they’re all incompetent and vile yet they have jobs that pay more than I’ve ever made and are successful in an area of life where I am absolutely worthless. Commence sadness.

It has been nearly two months since I submitted my spend-down paperwork to DSHS for their approval. All they have to do is look at my bills and receipts to make sure that I spent or am being billed for $816 or more in medical expenses since June. I have spent well over $1000 out of pocket and am being billed for several hundred more, so this shouldn’t be difficult. HURRY UP, I’M OUT OF MORE DRUGS.

There are people worse off than I am and I don’t understand how they handle this.

@-periodic-meltdowns-

Four times a day? Ouch. I am supposed to use it twice a day. I think I paid $120 for it last time, and yeah, that’s for the month. I use the 40mcg one. I have stretched it out to once a day or every other day, but I start wheezing after doing that for a while.

Breathing should not be so expensive. I’m supposed to get my next one mostly (or possibly entirely) covered if DSHS “processes” the paperwork they’ve been sitting on for over a month. That’s why I haven’t refilled my inhaler, but I’m lying here wheezing. 

I have a Pro-Air inhaler for emergencies, but Pro-Air sucks. Also, I don’t need the Pro-Air very much if I have access to QVAR. I haven’t even refilled Pro-Air in probably two months, but I have a couple of half-used inhalers of it lying around.

DSHS does it again

I apologize in advance to new followers who may not be aware of my ridiculous Medicaid saga.

Remember how I went to DSHS to have documents faxed to the top-secret office and the DSHS employee told me to get the fuck away from her desk? That was a fun day. My case manager was concerned that over a month has passed and they haven’t done anything with my paperwork aside from acknowledging that a fax was sent from one of their offices.

That’s because they lost the fax on the receiving end. She called them on my behalf and they didn’t know what she was talking about. My request, which was supposed to be expedited, never went through. I actually sort of knew this would happen because I didn’t think that Miss Get-The-Fuck-Away-From-My-Desk attached a cover sheet to my fax because she was pissed at me. Apparently, the top-secret office isn’t even where this information is processed, and they don’t even have a department designated for spend-downs. The faxes get sent to an “imaging center” and then off to another office for processing. Tax dollars at work!

Meanwhile, I’ve spent $100 more on medical expenses and accrued several hundred in bills (not counting the $750+ blood draw I have not yet received a bill for). I have also not refilled my asthma inhaler (over $100), and I will desperately need that soon. I have to gather the new receipts and we have to fax all that shiznit again.

I had a mini panic episode because my endocrinologist appointment is on Wednesday, and I’ve had to cancel four physical therapy appointments because of this DSHS bullshit. My case manager was a superhero and called my endocrinologist’s office for me (I would not have been rational or coherent) and I won’t have to pay the $100 fee when I show up. I have the money, but I would probably run out of money to buy food and stuff with if I spent it on the doctor, and I have no faith that DSHS will reimburse me for the excess money I’ve spent (even though the guy said that they would). 

Anyway, I still hate them.

Today I see my case manager/therapist. She wanted me to call DSHS this week to ask them about my spend-down status. I completely forgot about that until just a few minutes ago. I must have been so repulsed by that idea that I shoved it right out of my mind. 

The case manager seems to think that they will pay for services retroactively, but I don’t believe they do. In addition to my other bills, I now owe the case management agency over $300 in excess of the $900 I have already spent since June to meet the spend-down. The case manager would understand this better than I, but really no one knows anything about it (including DSHS employees) and I don’t trust anyone to do anything fairly or correctly.

My endocrinologist appointment is October 12th and I have to go whether it’s covered or not. I don’t know if it will be completely free or $1000. Either/or —there is no in-between.

The case manager and I will also discuss my childhood and lots of therapy-related things. SPOILER ALERT: There will be ugly, ugly crying. 

It turns out that I have met my spend-down already. I completely forgot about prescriptions I had filled near the end of August and I hadn’t added them into the tally, so I actually spent about $60 more than I had to because I’m an idiot.

It also turns out that the pharmacy is the one who screwed up and refilled the wrong prescription. They just called to tell me that they had it, but didn’t process it correctly. Great.

My prescription is ready, and it should be 100% covered by DSHS, but I haven’t handed in the paperwork yet because I’d forgotten about the last batch of prescriptions I had filled. They don’t pay for things retroactively, so I either have to spend more money I don’t need to spend or try to get this shit sorted out today, which won’t likely happen. My pharmacy isn’t open on weekends, which means if I don’t spend that money and pick up that prescription today, I go without until Monday.

But….I don’t think it’s a drug I really need anymore, so maybe I’ll just continue being an idiot and not get it until I know what’s going on with my coverage. 

Also, I’ll cancel physical therapy until it gets sorted because I do not have the money for all of this.

I tried to call DSHS but I just got an automated message saying that all of their employees were busy and that I should try my call again later.

I’m going to go to the office, but it’s an hour-long bus ride. 

They had better not be dicks. 

Because because because

I still haven’t made an appointment to see my endocrinologist because I still haven’t met my spend-down because I haven’t gone to DSHS about it yet because the case management agency forgot to send me some paperwork they were supposed to send two weeks ago and I forgot to ask about it last time I was there.

And…I have no more refills on my prescriptions. DAMMIT.

I’m going back to the case management agency again tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll remember to ask them about the papers they were supposed to send me so that I can then go to DSHS and pray they don’t reject me for medical coverage again. I also hope I remember to make an appointment with Dr. Endo and that by doing so I will once again convince him to refill my prescriptions without a proper visit. 

Here We Go Again

I’ve been assigned to case manager #7. For those of you counting, that’s case manager #7 since January 2010, and I’ve had about nine months of that time without any case manager at all. 

I have no idea who this person is. An employee at my apartment called the agency to complain about their treatment towards me, and now I have an appointment. I spoke to her and she was very apologetic about me being jerked around as much as I have.

I’m not optimistic. I wasn’t optimistic at first last time, but then I became optimistic after I met the last case manager. That didn’t work out so well. 

I still want to change agencies because I hate these people now. I have to wait to meet my spend-down so I can move to another agency, but that presents other problems. The agency that I wanted to go to won’t see me until I meet my spend-down each time. That can take a couple of months, so that means that every six months (or less), I will have to go a couple of months without seeing them. Perhaps they are more lenient about it than they led me to believe when I called them, but that’s what they told me several months ago. 

In terms of meeting my spend-down, I met with my GP who gave me a really expensive prescription. Guess who is going to spend more than half of her money for the month on anti-depressants?

The upside is that this will go into my housing information and maybe my rent will go down. Maybe. Also, if DSHS approves it all, I can see my endocrinologist soon!

Man denied Medicaid coverage for breast cancer because he’s a man

iheartchaos:

At 26 years old, Charleston, SC native Raymond Johnson was diagnosed with cancer. He’s working, but he has no insurance. So he and his doctor applied for Medicaid to cover the costs of his treatment, but he was denied. Denied because he has breast cancer and Medicaid only covers breast cancer treatment for women.

Read More

So someone forgot to send Medicaid the memo to tell them that cis-gender men get breast cancer, too. This is terrible.

(via bubonickitten)

Source: iheartchaos

Forms beget forms

In the process of filling out the SUPER IMPORTANT FORM for section 8 housing, I discovered that I have to fill out even more forms.

There was a question that said something like “Do you have any out-of-pocket medical expenses? If you answer ‘Yes,’ then FILL OUT A BUNCH MORE FORMS.”

So, yeah.

I also have to go around to everyone that has provided me with medical care and get receipts.

This is very important. Very important, indeed.

It would be so much less important if they just gave me my damn Medicaid back. Funny how one pain in the ass has turned into two pains in the ass. 

I’m not good at this stuff.