Health insurance increased 50 percent

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: seanf
The healthcare isn't completely free, still have to pay prescriptions/dental/vision which most people have a work plan that covers that and costs $40ish a month. The fact that my wife is sick, with all the specialists and testing I'm very glad I live in Canada.


The visit to the ER or your doctor is covered though, along with anything they give you. Prescriptions, even if you aren't covered, are much cheaper this side of the great lakes anyways, though as you noted, it is usually covered through work. Dental for my entire family is covered and we pay a one-time per person prescription fee of $10.00 for the first one once a year. My plan does not cover glasses. There is no co-pay on our plan, we are not out of pocket anything on it per month.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: seanf
wow I can't believe some of the monthly premiums in here, they are more than I pay in provincial and federal taxes every month. I couldn't stomach $1000 a month insurance premium for my wife and I.



Having visited Canada for a couple of weeks a few years ago-you are indeed paying for your healthcare system-you just pay in different ways.

 

[CharlieBauer]

Sure Canadians pay for their healthcare through taxes. But what we pay in premiums and taxes (Medicare) and the employer premium and taxes, is way more. And then we have out of pocket expenses which will in aggregate be way higher.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: seanf
wow I can't believe some of the monthly premiums in here, they are more than I pay in provincial and federal taxes every month. I couldn't stomach $1000 a month insurance premium for my wife and I.



Having visited Canada for a couple of weeks a few years ago-you are indeed paying for your healthcare system-you just pay in different ways.

Dollars per unit of actual medical care is quite a bit cheaper here overall though from everything I've read. What my doctor bills the government for a normal visit is almost comically small, but that means they can't spend 1/2 an hour with me either.
My self employed buddy just had a baby at the local hospital and I think the biggest cost to him was the parking lot fee...

 

[Andrew1972]

My wife has $200/month insurance(family of five) thru employer with zero deductibles and $10/prescriptions. She works 20 hrs a week to get this.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

I guess I should be glad that I can get it through my employer for about $100 per month.

 

[crazyoildude]

Don't get really sick on Obamacare

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: madRiver
My wife has $200/month insurance(family of five) thru employer with zero deductibles and $10/prescriptions. She works 20 hrs a week to get this.


Sounds like she works in healthcare organization / hospital with union contract.

 

[crazyoildude]

seanf i know the Canadian way my wifes brother is there and it takes a long time to get an appointment with a Doctor ..Here in nj i can get an appointment the same day or the next but of course my good friend is a connected doctor and has a lot of friends..
Also i get the best doctors not the average joes...If you are on the free stuff good luck!

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: CharlieBauer
Originally Posted By: Shannow
$295/mo here, plus medicare levy


Obama got his claws on the Ozzie $ as well!


Sort of the other way around.

We had free, then the labor party brought in a 1% "medicare levy", which the conservatives raised to 1.5% (plus another 0.5% when they were buying the guns back), then the Conservatives made private insurance compulsory, in that if you don't have it, you pay MORE medicare levy, and your future premiums increase by 2% for every year that you don't have private insurance.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
seanf i know the Canadian way my wifes brother is there and it takes a long time to get an appointment with a Doctor ..Here in nj i can get an appointment the same day or the next but of course my good friend is a connected doctor and has a lot of friends..
Also i get the best doctors not the average joes...If you are on the free stuff good luck!


LOL! Love the American slant. I can call my doctor and be in there this afternoon if needed. Toronto is the home of many world-class healthcare facilities with world-class physicians. the Hospital for Sick Children, The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (part of Toronto General Hospital). The list is extensive.

My GP can refer me to any of the top surgeons or specialists in the province and there is no cost to me.

The problem is that your perspective is jaded by your perception of your own system where you need to pay more to see better physicians. The guy coming in off the street at your local non-profit isn't going to get the same level of care as Bill Gates. My family's cardiologist is the same man who performed the quadruple bypass on Ted Rogers. It costs us nothing to see him, he works at TGH, and anybody can be referred to him. That's the beauty of the system. You can pay to have a private room or other services if you are in for a stay. This is often covered by people's work policies. But the care itself, there is no cost. And there is no incentive, financially, for the facility to give you somebody who isn't excellent, they don't receive more or less money depending on who's in the bed and who is working on them.

Are there great and not so great doctors, surgeons and specialists? Of course, just like anywhere else. But I can lookup the reputation for who I want to be referred to or am being referred to and I can steer that referral to whomever I wish and I don't pay a premium for that, because they all get paid the same for their procedures, as does the facility. There is no monetary incentive in play, which makes the system far more "equal".

I work in Healthcare and have been in facilities all over Canada and the USA. The primary difference I've observed is that we don't have mortgage centres for people to pay for their care in our lobbies, you do. That's not to say that the US doesn't have some incredible facilities, you do. Given your population, that should not be surprising. There are many teaching hospitals and research institutions that are truly incredible. But that does not play into your average Joe going into emerge with a broken arm and having to pay, at least in part, even if it is just his deductible, for that treatment. The whole scenario would play out identically in Canada, the only difference would be the absence of a bill at the end of the visit.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: CharlieBauer
Originally Posted By: Shannow
$295/mo here, plus medicare levy


Obama got his claws on the Ozzie $ as well!


Sort of the other way around.

We had free, then the labor party brought in a 1% "medicare levy", which the conservatives raised to 1.5% (plus another 0.5% when they were buying the guns back), then the Conservatives made private insurance compulsory, in that if you don't have it, you pay MORE medicare levy, and your future premiums increase by 2% for every year that you don't have private insurance.


And let me take a guess here, but you didn't get a corresponding deduction in your income or sales tax either eh?

 

[ZeeOSix]

$20 a month, and that rate is frozen for the next 4 years via contract. $200 deductible per year, and $20 office visit co-pay.

 

[bbhero]

Ahh I hate to point out the painfully obvious here OVERKILL but just because there isn't a BILL that doesn't mean it's FREE either..... someone's paying for that. Aka taxpayers. I know you know this because you are very, very smart. I work in healthcare as well.

 

[bbhero]

I am just doggone sorry but this form of supposed "healthcare" in the US is meant to fail. Our leadership designed for it to fail so then they could bring on socialized medical care. It's also about control. What better way to control your populace then through the healthcare system.

I remember back several years ago when our hospital was inundated with all kinds of people. My first thought was that these people really think that they will not have a bill for the care received. My next thought was that these people were in for a rude awakening. I have wondered how many of them had to declare bankruptcy due to the inability to pay?? I bet that number was quite high indeed because these people believed the hype put out by our leaders. Shameful.

And the healthcare plans that could be bought.... about worthless in many instances. Either due from astronomically high deductibles or rates that the poor people couldn't truly afford anyway. I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts that the out of pocket cost were on those people buying those plans. No help from anyone above there. Hammer time.

I do believe a hybrid system of a private healthcare and a public one may well be the best course going forward. The government should continue to give strong incentives for the corporations to provide healthcare for their employees. The public side of the equation will need money from the tax base to fund it. Truth be told private sector growth is key to help provide the basis for that to happen. That would in turn mean vastly changing the tax code to provide the needed stimulation to bring that about. It would mean that we would have to bring back the means of production back to the United States. Our economy is 73-75% based upon consumption/consumer spending. This imbalance in our economy is part of the reason the middle class is suffering. The real truth in my strong opinion is that both sides has aided and abetted the loss of production for the last 40 plus years.

If one wants to look at how "good" government run healthcare is then look no further than the VA. It's abysmal on a good day. Ohh and don't think that the people in power in the public side of things won't make some very harsh decisions when comes to what they will and will not do. They will most definitely make some very hard decisions. In fact I have heard our Leader say something's about care decisions that should make one's jaw drop. Trusting another to always make the right or altruistic decision is naive and foolhardy at best.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: bbhero
I am just doggone sorry but this form of supposed "healthcare" in the US is meant to fail. Our leadership designed for it to fail so then they could bring on socialized medical care. It's also about control. What better way to control your populace then through the healthcare system.

I remember back several years ago when our hospital was inundated with all kinds of people. My first thought was that these people really think that they will not have a bill for the care received. My next thought was that these people were in for a rude awakening. I have wondered how many of them had to declare bankruptcy due to the inability to pay?? I bet that number was quite high indeed because these people believed the hype put out by our leaders. Shameful.

And the healthcare plans that could be bought.... about worthless in many instances. Either due from astronomically high deductibles or rates that the poor people couldn't truly afford anyway. I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts that the out of pocket cost were on those people buying those plans. No help from anyone above there. Hammer time.

I do believe a hybrid system of a private healthcare and a public one may well be the best course going forward. The government should continue to give strong incentives for the corporations to provide healthcare for their employees. The public side of the equation will need money from the tax base to fund it. Truth be told private sector growth is key to help provide the basis for that to happen. That would in turn mean vastly changing the tax code to provide the needed stimulation to bring that about. It would mean that we would have to bring back the means of production back to the United States. Our economy is 73-75% based upon consumption/consumer spending. This imbalance in our economy is part of the reason the middle class is suffering. The real truth in my strong opinion is that both sides has aided and abetted the loss of production for the last 40 plus years.

If one wants to look at how "good" government run healthcare is then look no further than the VA. It's abysmal on a good day. Ohh and don't think that the people in power in the public side of things won't make some very harsh decisions when comes to what they will and will not do. They will most definitely make some very hard decisions. In fact I have heard our Leader say something's about care decisions that should make one's jaw drop. Trusting another to always make the right or altruistic decision is naive and foolhardy at best.



Agreed. It was a lousy system before ACA. And it's a lousy system with the ACA. And to others on this board-don't post about how it was great before-because the only people who say it was great was those with out the smallest "pre-existing" conditions, or those who didn't know they had pre-existing conditions because they never went to the doctor for "wellness"/annual physical visits.

 

[DBMaster]

Originally Posted By: CKN
Agreed. It was a lousy system before ACA. And it's a lousy system with the ACA. And to others on this board-don't post about how it was great before-because the only people who say it was great was those with out the smallest "pre-existing" conditions, or those who didn't know they had pre-existing conditions.


THANK YOU. Don't forget how lousy it was, and still is, for those who don't work for big companies. I wonder how many people who say in surveys that they are satisfied would respond a few months after being downsized.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Originally Posted By: CKN
Agreed. It was a lousy system before ACA. And it's a lousy system with the ACA. And to others on this board-don't post about how it was great before-because the only people who say it was great was those with out the smallest "pre-existing" conditions, or those who didn't know they had pre-existing conditions.


THANK YOU. Don't forget how lousy it was, and still is, for those who don't work for big companies. I wonder how many people who say in surveys that they are satisfied would respond a few months after being downsized.


Yep-major point. Before ACA If you worked for a company-if you had a "pre-existing" condition it was nobody's business and you had health coverage. Trying to get an "individual plan" with a "pre-existing" condition you might as well of had the Zika virus-almost impossible or very, very expensive. Again, where are not talking major issues-in many cases.

 

[KB1]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
Please be clear, are you buying insurance on your own or are you on a group plan through your employer? I've been with my employer since 2007, it's gone up a buck or two a month every year but nothing I would consider unreasonable.
Group plan with employer. It has gone up $400 a month and I consider that unreasonable.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: bbhero
I remember back several years ago when our hospital was inundated with all kinds of people. My first thought was that these people really think that they will not have a bill for the care received. My next thought was that these people were in for a rude awakening. I have wondered how many of them had to declare bankruptcy due to the inability to pay?? I bet that number was quite high indeed because these people believed the hype put out by our leaders. Shameful.

And the healthcare plans that could be bought.... about worthless in many instances. Either due from astronomically high deductibles or rates that the poor people couldn't truly afford anyway. I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts that the out of pocket cost were on those people buying those plans. No help from anyone above there. Hammer time.


The reality is if people don't get cheap health care insurance through their employer, then they either have to buy it themselves or have no coverage at all. The other alternative is fully or mostly funded Gov't paid health insurance, and that's not going to happen in this country.

Buying health care coverage for yourself is a bit analogous to buying insurance for your car or house ... the cost of claims is supposed to be spread across all the paying participants premiums. How else are you going to pay for the claims? One place to start to control costs would be to regulate the insane cost of health care ... that's what sucks the life out of even the largest insurance companies. It would be like State Farm having to pay $20,000 for a replacement fender on a car repair when in reality it should only cost $200 - analogous to the $50 aspirins during a hospital stay.