Condition of Les.

[davedunaway]

Have been away for a bit, can anyone give me an update on Les' condition.

[REVERUP]

I saw Les last night as a matter of fact. I dropped some stuff off for him at his house. I was shocked when I saw how well he is getting around, he looked really good.

He is still sore as one could only imagine and is limited in what he can do. He has a ways to go before he will be working on our suspensions again. He's shooting for sometime in June.

He is somewhat stressed of course as he is self employed with no medical insurance and has just racked up and I'm sure continues to rack up medical bills from all of this. The quadruple bypass surgery alone was $300,000.

So if any of you reading this can spare anything to help him out, even just a little, please do so. Everything helps!

Roscoe

[bchatt]

Originally Posted by REVERUP

He is somewhat stressed of course as he is self employed with no medical insurance and has just racked up and I'm sure continues to rack up medical bills from all of this. The quadruple bypass surgery alone was $300,000.

So if any of you reading this can spare anything to help him out, even just a little, please do so. Everything helps!

Roscoe

I don't understand how a country that sends men and equipment into space, sends men and equipment to almost any country/conflict on the planet, has a gazillion dollar economy, holds itself to be the pinnacle of prosperity and democracy, insists on treating it's honest hardworking citizens so poorly.
I am so lucky to live in tiny NZ where everyone (even guys like Noobi !) have all their injuries and illnesses taken care of by the state.

[Nick]

What kind of tax rate do you pay ?

[noobi]

Originally Posted by Nick

What kind of tax rate do you pay ?

Income tax for a PAYE(pay as you earn), non salary.
0-14000 => ~12.2%
14001-48000 => ~19.2%
48001-70000 => ~31.7%
70001+ => ~34.7%
~2% less on a salary, I think.
15% sales tax on goods and services. Plus tax on pretty much everything else.

I just cost the country ~20k ? for my leg surgery.

I cant imagine having such an enormous bill just arrive out of no where

[gasmonkey]

Income + spending(consumption) tax = 40-50%.
Makes a new bike really expensive.

[GMP]

Don't get me started about socialized medicine. There is a reason people come here from all over the world with the worst of problems for the best of care. My wife is alive today because of the cutting edge expertise that is only developed in a private market system with accountability and competition. She is also a proffesional in the industry, and deals with people all over the world, docs and govt. people, so I have a very personal view of this subject from both sides. Many countries are developing private networks like we have because despite its flaws, and what you may think, its still the best system in the world.

Its simple really, there is only so much compensation available for the services from the govt. So, what happens is the services are either regulated/rationed or quality suffers, in addition to high tax rates.

I'm not looking to start a big argument here, but do your homework before you decide to crap in my backyard.

[tnttimber]

I've done my homework and I live in your backyard. The fact is that our system will eventually only provide for the elite that can afford care, the rest of us will suffer. Les is in a terrible situation. Why did he not have medical insurance? Probably was too expensive so he took the gamble. I have used his suspension service before and he is the best, too bad his genious didn't cary over to his choice about taking care of himself regarding medical insurance because in a country where you are on your own you really have no one to blame but yourself.

Hope he is well soon.

Nate

[REVERUP]

Yep the cost for medical insurance is very expensive for the self employed. You pay for the entire coverage unlike those of us that have an employer that pays for much of it.

So anyhow the important thing is Les is still with us and doing better.
If anyone can help him great. I always think about what if I was in that situation. I'd hope I'd get some help.

Roscoe

[GasGas]

We have public health care, and yes you wait for some things. Tear your ACL and you are going to wait 6 months to a year. A wait I am more than happy to have when I know I'm covered when I need a quadruple bypass. What kind of tax rates do you pay in the US. I'm thinking that they are not far off us here in Canada. Some states have the same sales tax as us. It would be interesting to know what their income tax rates are? The fact that people like Les are hung out to dry is pretty sad. I'd rather have a system that was 90% for all than one that was 100% for some.