This past November 17th, my wife would have been only 47 years old. (Miss you sweetie!)
While this tax credit proposal seems like a nice thing (only on the surface), the status quo candidate is playing Santa Clause handing out "tax cuts" like candy, the fact remains in reality, if you don't make any money, those tax credits don't mean a hill of beans!
If you didn't make any money, as in my case where I spent the last two years caring for my wife while she slowly withered away and died from cancer that past July, what good is a tax credit, if you can't use it? How can you use a tax credit, if you don't qualify? You would have to earn income first and generate income tax for a credit to be applied to the tax collected from your earnings, no?
Also consider, I was unemployed for two years. I wasn't "forced" per sey from working so I didn't' qualify for UN-employment benefits. I chose to quit work and care for you my wife full time because the insurance we had at the time through her employer did not 1) cover any type of caregiver services or service providers because they were deemed non-medically necessary and 2) As a result of her "treatment" she had to take a medical leave of absence, which reduced her take home pay by 40%. 3) Her "treatment" caused complications (destroyed her colon) and required her to have surgery (Colostomy).
Not to mention all the “household chores and administration” had to be performed as well. Holy cow, guys, you need to wake up to a woman’s world, the fucking chores are never done, OMG ladies I will never, ever complain and the job you do. (I never complained about her house keeping skills. Artists don’t have house keeping skills, that have creative skills, which means, and you must accept if you marry an artist, art projects and art supplies everywhere, deal with it. Which only lead to me loving her that much more. I miss having to find a path though the apartment dodging projects here and there.)
How long does it take The social Security Administration to make a determination as to whether you qualify for Disability Benefits? Sometimes, and it’s not uncommon, it takes literally YEARS! From the time a person fills out all the paper work to apply for social security benefits. And lets be honest, filling out all their forms is a nightmare. Going through their process is documentation hell.
How about we do something to make Social Security Disability determinations a bit quicker process! That would help Caregivers!
However, in order to fill out their forms, you have to got back to every doctor and gather all their documents, for you to answer the dam questions on the Social Security Administrations forms you’re supposed to fill out. This doesn’t include the documents, many the very same, the SSA will request from all of the doctors, 1) no telling how long SSA will take to make those requests for documentation, 2) nor no telling how long it will take for all the different doctors you’re been too will respond to the SSA.
Months go by, bills pill up, your credit is now ruined, your time unemployed grows and because your wife’s short term disability us just a hair above the poverty rate the State denies our request for S.N.A.P. benefits. In the mean time you are forced to go to food banks and you’re only allowed to get help a certain number of times a year. First the food is stale and border line beyond the eat by date, 2) the food is not very healthy, and someone suffering from Cancer really doesn’t need to eat a bunch of crap that’s loaded with sugar. So lots of the food from the food bank is actually unhealthy, especially for someone that has Cancer.
How about ensuring that Food Banks actually have healthy food, that would help caregivers!
From all of her "cancer treatments" and surgeries forced her to spend a lot of time in bed recuperating and wound up getting blood clots in her both legs, which the "treatment" caused internal bleeding and a very expensive emergency room visit to have a value installed in case a blood clot un lodged and floated to her heart and kill her. All of which was very, very expensive and we have to meet our insurance deductibles and out of pocket expense BEFORE the insurance would kick and pick up 80% of the costs.
How about single payer system that doesn't let insurance companies profit from peoples misery! That might actually help, not only sick people, but their caregivers too!
Now, consider that the huge two year gap in my employment history, that no company will even consider, BECAUSE,” you've lost two years of experience (skills not fresh) and technology has already changed”, that is to say, your skills are now obsolete. (Try Burger King, I hear they are hiring.) It will be a long time before I'm able to earn enough money to use the tax credit.
If we had a "living wage", 1) I might have been able to save my credit, which it's become routine for prospective employers to run credit checks on prospective employees and if they don't cut the mustard, sorry but, you should have kept your credit rating better. 2) With a living wage I could go back to school to "freshen up" my skill set to be a productive member of society again.
Then there's the fact that now, since my wife is dead, I'm no longer married, which means my car insurance automatically goes up BECAUSE I'm now in a different "risk pool". Even when I do eventually get to enjoy that fun time of reporting my taxes, I will get penalized (taxed at higher rate / lose other credits / better rates for being married) again, BECAUSE, I now I have to file as single and not married.
So, it's an empty gesture on her part as far as I'm concerned. (Fork her canoe)
Only until we move away from the concept of making a profit from other peoples misery is a good thing, we will become more human.
Full time caregivers should receive a LIVING WAGE, not a fucking tax credit they can’t use!
Healthcare is not a market, it is a RIGHT!
Caregivers need a LIVING WAGE! Not a tax credit they can’t even use.
EDIT: Whether I’m a fucking CPA or not, doesn’t fucking matter. 1) For a bronze Obamacare Plan, “The maximum out-of-pocket limit for any individual Marketplace plan for 2016 is $6,850 for an individual plan and $13,700 for a family plan.” (Out of Pocket Maximum)
Since my wife and I were on a family plan, that $6,000, while it my make a dent, it’s still way too short and doesn’t address the REAL Issues! Americans still have to leave their jobs to care for loved ones. They lose those jobs and it’s income. Sure if the gov writes a check for $6,000, as some of you claim, ok, it helps, but not enough. The “SYSTEM” is what is screwed. These incremental tweaks to an already RIGGED system that has become the “democratic” way, is not working anymore! WAKE UP!
That $6,000 does nothing about my or any other average American’s credit! My credit will get ruined BEFORE I can collect that money. Oh, gee, let’s not forget the tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills we’ve racked BEFORE that tax credit gets mailed or deposited directly into our bank account. When I get this magical check, what do you suggest I pay first? Bad debit or something more important? But, here’s the kicker, for me it won’t ever matter my wife is already dead, I already lost almost everything, so I do not believe the US will allow me to go back and try to claim a credit.
Not to mention the loss of the sick person’s income. So, two people no longer have an income, both of their credit history gets trashed, not because they are bad, irresponsible people, but because the FUCKING SYSTEM IS RIGGED to be that way. Miss a payment, because you don’t have you magical $6,000 tax credit, because you have to wait till you file you taxes to get it (correct if I’m wrong on that, which I’m sure you will, but...) and they fuck you. Wife sick, sorry to hear that buddy, but hey life isn’t fair you missed your payment we’re gonna ding your credit.
My response is still the same, “Up Yours Lady!”
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, IS ENOUGH!
EDIT: Updated a link (Santa Clause)
EDIT: Title to be more politically correct (wink wink) because someone forgot to publish a dictionary of political correctness.