usa – Mummy To Twins Plus One

If the Average Person Could Raise their Debt Ceiling

The US has had to raise the debt ceiling and only recently we have done the same in Australia. See below a quote from the Sydney Morning Herald’s article:

“Mr Hockey has announced the current debt ceiling of $300 billion will be increased in a single leap, to $500 billion. Cabinet signed off on the new limit on Tuesday which will be legislated when Parliament returns in November.”

While in the car, ABC Radio were discussing the need for the US to vote again to increase the debt ceiling as it was getting to the limit, and they were worried again. It got me wondering, why can’t I just have a quick vote around and increase my personal debt ceiling? Make the same payments and get more cash to do things like build our new house? Get a much needed new car? Maybe some house renovations that have been put off? I think being able to do more with more credit would be great. However would never be able to pay it all back and of course I am not the government and don’t have access to more funds.

More money needed! Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

According to Wikipedia:“Under the No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013, both houses of Congress voted to suspend the debt ceiling from February 4, 2013 until May 19, 2013. On May 19, the debt ceiling was raised to approximately $16.699 trillion to accommodate the borrowing done during the suspension period. The Treasury is now using extraordinary measures to avoid a default. Due to the impacts of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, the Sequester, and a $60 billion payment from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that will reach the Treasury on June 28, 2013, extraordinary measures are currently predicted to last until October 17 by the Treasury,^[3] but financial firms suggest funds may last a little longer. Jefferies Group says extraordinary measures may last until the end of October while Credit Suisse estimates mid-November.^{^{^[19]”}}I know I am not understanding it all and of course the government in America used funds to bail out companies during the GFC (Global Financial Crises), but who bails us out when we need more cash? Not sure if we would have the same option given to us? Wouldn’t it be nice if it was okay to do this, don’t you think? So I thought after hearing about this on the radio was why can’t I can ring the bank and tell them I want to raise my debt ceiling? They will then ask,”By how much? “How about 5 million dollars”, I say. Why not right? Everyone else is aiming high.Then the vote is passed and we have our money.

The house that were are so desperate to build is getting built. Thanks to the increased debt ceiling
The car that we need to get is purchased! Well why not get 2 now that we are flush with cash. Thanks to the increase from my friendly bank manager
And finally we are able to do all needed repairs and renovations to our existing house. Thanks for voting for our increase everyone!

The bank has approved our increase to our debt ceiling. Image courtesy of pakorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I do understand that the government and countries need to have cash flow to help jobs, people, infrastructure and the like. It helps run things and keep things going, so that is fine that they need more money. Money helps countries grow so making sure there is adequate resources is essential.

I am not an expert in economics or understand it very well at all. I just thought it would be interesting if it worked for the average person. If this was the case, the banks and financial institutions would run out of money very quickly.

Nice thought though? Don’t you think? How much would you ask for if you could increase your debt ceiling? Also this is making sure your payments are kept the same just allowing you to get more money. I am sure that the payments would increase but lovely idea, right?

Do Babies Cost That Much?

Can you afford to have a baby? Image courtesy of anekoho at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Having a baby in America is meant to be the costliest in the world, and after reading an article from the New York Times I am in agreement. I am not sure how any person can be financially okay after they have kids, the costs would cripple me and our family here not to mention many others.

Why is it so expensive and why is it that America does not have a system like Medicare in Australia?

One woman in the article was told that she would pay in the range of, $4,000 – $45,000 to have her baby. Why such a big range? Why does it cost so much?

In the article it also states that:

“The average total price charged for pregnancy and newborn care was about $30,000 for a vaginal delivery and $50,000 for a C-section, with commercial insurers paying out an average of $18,329 and $27,866, the report found.”

And another big questions is why is it that “Two decades ago, women typically paid nothing other than a small fee if they opted for a private hospital room or television.”

What has changed?

I don’t know…… What are your thoughts? I for one would like to understand the reason for making things so expensive!

For me living in Australia we are lucky to have a great medical system. I know some and most whinge about it but we are very privileged to have mostly free medical care. If you are in trouble or sick, the hospital will help you no matter if you have private health care or not. The doctors will treat you no matter what, it is health care for all.

If you are not a person that wants to go through the public health care system and I can understand as you might have a preferred doctor that only operates at private hospitals and you will need to pay for private treatment if that is your choice. If you are also in a predicament that you need to access the care now and not wait for elective surgery then that is a different matter and you might be in a tricky situation, and I can understand that private might be the only way to go rather than waiting for the public system.

All this aside, we are fortunate to be able to not have to pay a small fortune in case of emergency or sickness falls on us or our family. From my understanding, correct me if I am wrong, that if you are ill or something bad happens that means you need hospital care in the USA you end up paying a fortune. This can mean people might lose their houses, and savings.

I for one like the idea of my country caring for all no matter how rich or poor we are. It is a duty of care that I think we all need. We all pay taxes and contribute so we all deserve great healthcare no matter who we are. It is a right not a privilege.

When I had the twins I was booked into a private hospital as the other ones where we were staying in the city did not make me feel at ease. The private one seemed nice, had what we were after and offered the care that I would need and also to the babies.

To access private care here, you can get some money off if you have been with a private health care insurer for over 12 months and have opted for package that will give you maternity and hospital care for pregnancy.

If I was in the USA when I had the twins I dare say we would have lost our house due to the hospital bills. The twins and I were monitored each fortnight until 28 weeks we had to have scans to make sure they were not suffering from twin to twin transfusion syndrome. Not sure how much that would have cost us, and glad we did not have to know.

In the article from the New Yorker it mentions that doctors are charging inflated charges for everything, from medicines, antiseptics, tests, and so on.

One lady that was interviewed in the article, Dr. Marguerite Duane said that she “was flabbergasted by the line items on the bills, many for blood tests she said were unnecessary and medicines she never received.”

How is giving a couple bill shock helping them with their pregnancy and soon to be child? It is just going to stress them out no end, send them broke and cause more problems.

I don’t live in America and I don’t know what it is really like. I can only go off media and articles that I read from real people. So if you have a story about what happened to you please let me know. If I have got it completely wrong let me know as well.

I think if I was going to move overseas I would go to France, Denmark or Canada.

Let us know your thoughts. Why is it that having a baby is that expensive? Don’t they want the population to expand, if they make it so hard people will not have kids.

Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter , Google + or Facebook pages.