Health insurance

[newtoncd8]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: Joe_Power
You're probably the same guy that is anti Union. Your employer says they'll take take of you, and you believe it. Keep telling yourself that. I'm Union, pay ZERO for health insurance.
Those "gold plated" plans aren't going to be "free" much longer. Didn't the union boss tell you that? It's called the Cadillac Tax. Obama has been passing out waivers to keep you boys fat, dumb, happy and "voting right" but the party's about over. They NEED dough from you to pay for the handout seekers.


I am in on this thread before it gets locked .... great response.

 

[OneEyeJack]

A single payer system means government control. Has the government ever done anything on budget and on time?

The cost for my coverage doubled, has lower limits everywhere and went from no deductible to $6K per year. Also my new plan does not cover any of my cancer drugs at all and very few lab tests required for me because I'm defective. My healthcare did not need "fixing". Everything was moving along just fine but my plan was not Obamacare compliant so that was then end of that.

So, all the money I've paid into healthcare coverage is gone and a new system starting from scratch is taking over. I wonder where all those cash reserves went when Obamacare took over. Someone some where got greased and those reserves that disappeared were in the range of thousands of billions of dollars in cash and other liquid assets much of which is in offshore banks.

Usually when you get greased like this you find some candy, flowers or a nickel in the palm of your hand when you wake up in the morning. At this point the only thing left to do is change the sheets.

 

[kenv]

In my area, the major hospitals are buying up all the private practitioners. They leave the doctors in place, but now the doctors are employees of the hospital. Wife & I are retired & I have been in Obama`s "Doughnut hole" for the past few months, so I have to pay 45% of the cost of my meds until I hit $6,700 out of pocket. On a fixed income, that ain`t happening.

 

[goodtimes]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
A single payer system means government control. Has the government ever done anything on budget and on time?

The cost for my coverage doubled, has lower limits everywhere and went from no deductible to $6K per year. Also my new plan does not cover any of my cancer drugs at all and very few lab tests required for me because I'm defective. My healthcare did not need "fixing". Everything was moving along just fine but my plan was not Obamacare compliant so that was then end of that.

So, all the money I've paid into healthcare coverage is gone and a new system starting from scratch is taking over. I wonder where all those cash reserves went when Obamacare took over. Someone some where got greased and those reserves that disappeared were in the range of thousands of billions of dollars in cash and other liquid assets much of which is in offshore banks.

Usually when you get greased like this you find some candy, flowers or a nickel in the palm of your hand when you wake up in the morning. At this point the only thing left to do is change the sheets.





That is one huge slice of baloney right there. It's amazing what people come up with and believe it too.

 

[xshoex]

Ive been told I have a very good plan im fortunate enough to work for a fortune 500 employer. We use cigna for health and visiom and delta dental

Im 23 I pay 12 a week for 80/20 health includes 600 deductible 30$ copays. Last year I had 27k in med bills (injections, back surgery, physical therapy etc) I paid 1900 total.

For dental I pay 6$ a week for buyup coverage I just had 4 wisdom teeth pulled I paid $100
We start using cigna home delivery for prescriptions in January and im nervous cuz I take about 180 pills a month and their forcing me to use home delivery through the mail rather then usimg my pharmacy. Anyome have experience with your insurance doimg this

 

[Joe_Power]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: Joe_Power
You're probably the same guy that is anti Union. Your employer says they'll take take of you, and you believe it. Keep telling yourself that. I'm Union, pay ZERO for health insurance.
Those "gold plated" plans aren't going to be "free" much longer. Didn't the union boss tell you that? It's called the Cadillac Tax. Obama has been passing out waivers to keep you boys fat, dumb, happy and "voting right" but the party's about over. They NEED dough from you to pay for the handout seekers.


Hahaha! Good one! Keep telling yourself that. I've been Union over 20 years, and never paid a dime for insurance. Waaaaay before Obama was in office. You need to get a clue on who wants YOUR money.

 

[Dave Hess]

OneEyeJack,

How do you make it if your cancer durgs are not covered ?

 

[skyactiv]

The problem is that our health care system is a huge part of our economy, the healthcare system tends to go overboard trying to diagnose and treat everything and the expensive drugs we Americans are overprescribed on.
Used dope/heroin and got Hep C from sharing a needle? The cure for that drug cost $84K. The cost of curing/attempting to cure Hep C using Sovaldi is costing our healthcare system Billions of dollars.

You can't pin all the blame on Obamacare or malpractice like was done back in the 90's.
Things are going to get much worse, trust me.

 

[zrxkawboy]

Originally Posted By: goodtimes

That is one huge slice of baloney right there. It's amazing what people come up with and believe it too.


What do you mean, "come up with"? He simply told of his own personal experience. IOW, what happened to him.

 

[Gasbuggy]

I still use a non ACA approved plan. Screw obamacare.

 

[xshoex]

Originally Posted By: rickmeseke
Ive been told I have a very good plan im fortunate enough to work for a fortune 500 employer. We use cigna for health and visiom and delta dental

Im 23 I pay 12 a week for 80/20 health includes 600 deductible 30$ copays. Last year I had 27k in med bills (injections, back surgery, physical therapy etc) I paid 1900 total.

For dental I pay 6$ a week for buyup coverage I just had 4 wisdom teeth pulled I paid $100
We start using cigna home delivery for prescriptions in January and im nervous cuz I take about 180 pills a month and their forcing me to use home delivery through the mail rather then usimg my pharmacy. Anyome have experience with your insurance doimg this


Edit I have coverage for any critical illnese I may get I get 3x my salary for 78 cents a week in response to a cancer post I saw ( not trying to just show my rates but am curious to see how I compare to others

 

[Nyogtha]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted By: Nyogtha
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I have an hdhp. So I pay the first few thousands out of pocket, which is how insurance should be. It has made us emphasize cost (yes you can ask for pricing and you can negotiate), and planning, as well as being smart about not expecting something so stupid as all other insureds paying your bill to have the doctor tell you that you have a cold.

Reality too is that many doctors are overpaid, many provide low value, and if the insurance companies are changing formats to provide lower cost approaches, market forces will make the doctors come in line. Plenty of them have loans, debts, and like to eat too. Sure I have multiple friends who have started over $300k/yr, but if in the new scheme they play tough and don't see enough patients, they won't have billable hours and they won't earn their money.


Thankfully for those of us with chronic health issues (including my wife who has never smoked and doesn't drink but developed breast cancer at an early age), there are choices without a high deductible. I'm all for choices rather than dictating to everyone how things "should be". We don't go to Dr.'s for colds either.

Less choice, less freedom. But clearly not everyone believes in freedom of individual choice. There are always those who believe everyone should be free to ONLY choose the same choice they make.


Well it all depends on how often you go and how much medicine. If I needed meds all the time and went to the doctors frequently like some people do then I would pick a plan that has a lower deductible and just pay more per month. My concern is I have insurance I can't even use cause doctors won't take it. Might as well not have any and pay out of pocket for office visits and then make a "reasonable effort to pay" if I get hospitalized. Might as well work the system, that's what everyone else does. When you can rack up a 50,000 dollar bill and then pay $10/ month why bother.


I agree with you sir. My take on your original post is your freedom of choice was restricted / eliminated by some bureaucrat (whether in private industry or public service), with zero regard how such restriction impacts you. Because someone decided this is "how things should be" without you being able to give input to that choice. A hallmark of a career bureaucrat who always seeks dominance, rather than a true scientist or honest philosopher who seeks the truth. And best of all, you paid for part of that person's salary through participating in the plan.

But some will argue you should predict a diagnosis of an intractable condition and plan ahead for it, or for being a statistical outlier being handed a cancer diagnosis with no lifestyle choices that would indicate such a diagnosis was likely.

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
A single payer system means government control. Has the government ever done anything on budget and on time?




How about a single CONTRACT system? Insurance companies are always mucking around with the coding and rules to con consumers, and presumably doctors too. Gov't writes one contract, let any insurer who steps forward use it. If you want to be a doctor in the US, take the plan.

 

[oliveoil]

Having insurance companies, as middle men getting a "cut" and profiting off people's illnesses is what's wrong. Think about it this way. What if you had to take a car in for repair. You are told " all you need is a water pump." Then you leave the car. It's repaired. The repair place bills your "auto repair Ins. company" who pays part of the bill but then bills you the balance. You don't what the final bill is until your ins company bill you, months after the repair is done. Oh and there is no stated prices that you can consider before leaving the car. That is crazy!!!! Dr. Are high priced mechanics. Replacing a drive shaft or a knee. Not the same and one should cost more. However there should be standardized pricing for each. I would like a good faith estimate from our medical community. That won't be possible with the middle man insurance company wanting part of the "profits."

 

[Cutehumor]

it's open enrollment time for me. I work for a health insurance company in the top fortune 20. We have high deductible health plans. there are three plans to pick from. I am going with the cheapest plan. With employee and children, it will be $123.48 dollars a month for me. My deductible will be $3,200 per individual and $6,400 deductible per family.

There is a $150 per month surcharge if your spouse has access to insurance, but enrolls with my employer/health insurance company. that made alot of people mad.

 

[zzyzzx]

Upfront pricing for standard procedures would be a huge improvement.

 

[C1KLTX]

Same issues here. The HMO is only taken by two offices here, and one of them is the community clinic where its reduced/free to see the doctor anyways.

Need to see a specialist and have the HMO? better be ready to drive 1.5hrs to be seen.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Where did the cash reserves go? Do you know.

The Obamacare bill was inserted into a gutted bill by Dingy Harry that had already passed and one of the provisions is that the government is the guarantor of debts for healthcare and now healthcare companies do not have to maintain anything like the reserves they did before all this reinvention of healthcare took place. The whole process was a fraud that would not stand the scrutiny of a sunny day.

 

[donnyj08]

Originally Posted By: Curtis Newton
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: Joe_Power
You're probably the same guy that is anti Union. Your employer says they'll take take of you, and you believe it. Keep telling yourself that. I'm Union, pay ZERO for health insurance.
Those "gold plated" plans aren't going to be "free" much longer. Didn't the union boss tell you that? It's called the Cadillac Tax. Obama has been passing out waivers to keep you boys fat, dumb, happy and "voting right" but the party's about over. They NEED dough from you to pay for the handout seekers.


I am in on this thread before it gets locked .... great response.


+1 TNSTAAFL somebodys paying for that insurance...

 

[JHZR2]

L
Originally Posted By: Nyogtha


Thankfully for those of us with chronic health issues (including my wife who has never smoked and doesn't drink but developed breast cancer at an early age), there are choices without a high deductible. I'm all for choices rather than dictating to everyone how things "should be". We don't go to Dr.'s for colds either.

Less choice, less freedom. But clearly not everyone believes in freedom of individual choice. There are always those who believe everyone should be free to ONLY choose the same choice they make.


Wow...

So let me get this straight. Your wife is reliant on meds perhaps due to treatments or to keep a cancer at bay? Your costs to the pool of insureds will be statistically higher, and you want to pay the same premium, regardless of type of plan, as all other insureds. Sounds like another play on redistribution of wealth to me.

Insurance should pool risk, not recurring cost, IMO. But here's where your attack on me backfires - obviously a breast cancer finding and the appropriate treatment to get to the best possible outcome is a catastrophic event, and should be covered.

Insurance should also be for catastrophic conditions, not chronic/recurrent ones, which was my point in saying how it should be. We need to segregate redistribution of wealth for the betterment of people who may need it, because of chronic issues, handicaps, whatever, from pooled risk (of catastrophy or at least relatively major events/expenses) which is the point of insurance.

With an HDHP, one still pools risk, but one also pays the first few thousand out of pocket in return for a lower premium. If I pay $200/mo for an HDHP, or $500/mo for a zero deductible plan (made up numbers), and the HDHP pays 90% after $3k out of pocket, one can come out ahead with the HDHP, even if they incur a lot of costs, because of the lower premiums. It looks worse because as opposed to no deductible. You have to pay "out of pocket" a good chunk of change before coinsurance kicks in. But you pay a lot less premium. It covers catastrophy well, which again, is the point of pooling risk via insurance.

Do you expect your car insurance to pay for oil changes? Homeowner's insurance to pay for gutter cleaning? Malpractice insurance to pay for your continuing education classes and professional development? If no, then why would we expect pooled risk (insurance) to pay for routine needs, even if they are unfortunate?

YOU are paying more in to get more out, with your plan. Great. No place did I say that people should be starved of choice.

But INSURANCE should be for catastrophe.