Thanks for that, Fiona! I've heard that Germany has a hybrid system, but I didn't know that actually meant.

Oh I forgot to say, if you're unemployed you pay a flat rate which is so low as to be virtually symbolic. A couple of hundred Euros a month, I think. And it isn't really you paying, it's the state and the insurance company picking up the slack.

I fear it will never catch on in the States.

Even this is being chipped away at, many treatments which used to be available no longer are, we have to pay more for prescriptions and so forth.

But, importantly, everything is free for children, and the extras we have are minimal. If both Mr. Fiona and I end up having expensive dental work done in the year, we may pay up to 500 Euros on top of our premiums. Otherwise we'll be hard-pushed to hit 100 Euros.

That's good about children. I get really upset that there are children here without coverage just because their parents can't afford it. Children are people, not property.

There are also state programs- so in a state like NY, there was a CHIP(Child Health Plus) program before the ACA. It is still there, but funded differently and now there is a penalty for not using it.

That's fantastic, thank you Gud. Wow, 45 wasn't kidding when he said it was complicated. It might be the most accurate thing he's ever said!

Well -- and I don't mean this as a slam on Gud at all -- Gud was able to sum it up in 2 posts (although clearly the details of the system are almost endless). So it's complicated, but not impossible to understand for anyone with even the most rudimentary intellectual curiosity. (So, not Trump. He doesn't give a shit about it because the citizens of the country he "leads" don't mean a thing to him.)

The issue was Trump actually believing at some point that it wasn't complicated! It is extraordinarily complicated with a lot of greedy players at all levels.

BTW, my chore board is ready for the weekend. The kids will get to make their choices tonight :)

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That is adorable, Gud. I hope it works well. If yours are anything like mine they will make every effort to do such a horrible job that you want to give up and just do it yourself. Or as I would tell #1 son often, "learned incompetence will not excuse you from your chores, only result in you having to do it again." It is way easier to do it all yourself, or it was for me at least, but it isn't the best in the long run.

The amount of chores on that chart to be done, and the prospect that you have to do what your kids don't do, actually made me start panicking for a minute, and it's not even my house.

...you may have guessed that my housekeeping skills fall in the category of "barely adequate" on a good day.