Do YOU have health insurance....

[mlgbug]

So The kids are covered by the state. there is no way we can afford health insurance for me and DH and plan on eating every week.....

 

so we are left with nothing. even the clinc is $40 on a sliding scale!

 

anyone else in my boat?

[Caitilin]

Me!!! :grouphug:

[Susan in TX]

We have health insurance now but we didn't have it for 20, yes twenty, years. The kids had state health ins. and I had medicaid for the last two pregnancies but for most of that time we were totally without health insurance of any kind.

 

The ironic thing is now that we have the insurance, we have spent more money this year on medical bills than we ever did before. We don't pay any premiums but those co-pays sure add up and if you have the insurance, you tend to use it. Before we just simply wouldn't go to the dr at all.

 

Susan in TX

[Tree House Academy]

No, but I have been. When I was pregnant with ds 10, I had to get state medical insurance. I had it through my whole pregnancy and up to a few months after baby was born. Then ex-h and I had no insurance at the time, even though baby was covered for up to a year.

 

We are very blessed to now have a great insurance with my dh's company that covers all 4 of us for a very reasonable price.

[CactusPair]

Yes, our family is covered by dh's insurance through work. But it costs us a fortune every year in premiums, co-pays, co-insurance and prescriptions. Our portion of the medical bills are sometimes paid on an installment plan through an agreement with the hospital.

 

I have a chronic illness and my dh has had a lot of illness and injury in the past few years. Medical bills are a major part of our one-income budget.

 

Our ds also required therapies that were not covered by insurance and we had to put that cost on a credit card. We are still paying for it years later even though we managed to get no or low interest deals.

 

But every day I lift my heart up in thanks that we do have insurance and my dh still has his job.

[Hen]

yes, we had a couple of very hard years and dh and I had no insurance for a year, the kids had none for a few months and then we got them on state ins. 3 of them have asthma, so we needed to get them on insurance.

 

after about a year, dh got a moonlighting job working late nights, like 8 pm to 2 am, 2 or 3 nights a week, plus his day job, to pay for insurance for us.

 

that was about 7 years ago. I've been there, I hope things get better for you.

[HiddenJewel]

I do not have medical insurance but then many times insurance doesn't cover the medical care I prefer anyway. So for me it is more cost effective not to have it except for catastrophic care.

[creekland]

I voted yes, but technically it should be no since I don't have insurance. We're in a Christian health share program we really like. It costs the whole family roughly $300/month, then we pay for all check ups, etc. It kicks in for medical needs above $300. We're saving a ton as when we had insurance (years ago) it cost roughly $600/month and we had co-pays and were only covered 80/20 up till a certain amount past the $1000 deductible.

 

I voted yes since we are covered in emergencies, etc, even though it's not traditional insurance. I figured it's the thought you're after, not the technicalities. We still get the 10% cash discount at our Dr that the uninsured get.

[MyThreeSons]

Dh has double coverage thru the government -- VA and Medicare. The rest of us have no coverage. We used to have Medicaid for the boys, but when dh retired, they dropped us.

 

We are blessed to have a good family doctor who knows our situation and keeps our costs as low as possible.

[Lori C- Texas]

We just now got our kids on state insurance after 3 years not qualifying(the raised the income limit). We couldn't afford private insurance but made to much for any government help. Last year alone my middle son broke 2 bones we had to pay out of pocket for but it was still cheaper than signing up for private health care for all of us!! We are blessed with very healthy kids and Dh and I also never get sick. Dh's work pays only for his health care(which in 10 years of having has NEVER used it). It would be almost $600 a paycheck to put us all on his work insurance. So, I go with out. Only thing I really wish we all had now was some dental insurance! None of us have this and I really need to go to the dentist!!:)

[MomLovesClassics]

No my family does not have it, and we don't intend to get it any time in the near future. We see it as a big rip off. To us it would be like flushing money down the toilet.

[gingersmom]

No my family does not have it, and we don't intend to get it any time in the near future. We see it as a big rip off. To us it would be like flushing money down the toilet.

 

I had surgery that cost over $75,000. I was sure happy I had insurance.

[Nestof3]

Yes, we have a private plan as my husband is self-employed. It's $400 a month for the 5 of us. $5,000 family deductible. Nothing covered (though discounted) until we reach the deducible except one annual exam and dental.

 

$91 of that is for dental coverage which more than pays for itself (we calculated it before adding the dental rider). $309 covers the medical insurance. Each of the boys is $40 a month which I don't think is bad at all; while my husband who is 50 years old is about $100, and I am about $90.

 

Our health insurance has already paid for itself when I, at 36, needed a cardiac ablation for an electrical issue. I too am a very healthy person (low blood pressure, low cholesterol, healthy heart), but strange things happen to healthy people.

Edited July 25, 2009 by nestof3

[Miss Peregrine]

We have awesome state of California insurance. We less than $150/month for all 6 of us on a PPO. His employer contributes $900, I think?

 

So what if we are threatened with being paid in IOUs?:lol:

[hanki]

Well, since my dh lost his job in 4/08, my kids are the only ones insured at this time.

[HiddenJewel]

I voted yes, but technically it should be no since I don't have insurance. We're in a Christian health share program we really like. It costs the whole family roughly $300/month, then we pay for all check ups, etc. It kicks in for medical needs above $300. We're saving a ton as when we had insurance (years ago) it cost roughly $600/month and we had co-pays and were only covered 80/20 up till a certain amount past the $1000 deductible.

 

I voted yes since we are covered in emergencies, etc, even though it's not traditional insurance. I figured it's the thought you're after, not the technicalities. We still get the 10% cash discount at our Dr that the uninsured get.

 

We have used these programs before with good success as well.

[HeathenMom]

No my family does not have it, and we don't intend to get it any time in the near future. We see it as a big rip off. To us it would be like flushing money down the toilet.

 

 

:iagree:

we do have a savings account for emergencies. considering it would be 800 bucks a month for an entirely healthy family of 5, i just can't see it happening. and i don't like big pharma-fed medicine anyway, so no thanks.

[KS_]

We do, but it's a major medical policy (and dental) that we pay for ourselves.

[DawnM]

We pay around $500/month for health insurance. I used to get it for $0 for the whole family when I worked.....I miss that!

 

Dawn

[TravelingChris]

We have military health insurance and since dh has 22 years in, we will always have it. AS active duty, we pay nothing for the insurance and have a $1000 cap. When he retires, it will be a 3000 cap if he has no other insurance. THen when he hits 65, we have Tricare for Life which is a free great supplement to the Medicare ? Medicaid? I never remember which is which.

[FO4UR]

We are covered through dh's employer. We have some choice as to how much we want covered(and come out of his paycheck...) We end up paying less than $50/mo for 80/20 coverage, full dental and vision.

[SeekingSimplicity]

Kids have medicaid.

We are not offered insurance thru work, and we can't afford it on our own. But we are able to go thru a program at he dr's office where we pay $12 for a visit. It only covers the visit at that office, not meds or hospital trips or anything like that. But it's better than nothing.

[lionfamily1999]

We don't have it, can't afford it, and if we could we'd probably opt for an emergency account like a pp mentioned. When we had insurance, we used the bejeemenies out of it and once it ended, we figured out we were paying out the nose, anyway. We go to the county medical center, they have sliding fees, but normally we opt to pay full cost, if only because I appreciate the care and consideration they give and I know they don't get paid half the time by other people. IOW, I don't mind paying extra to help cover the folks that can't pay at all, but only because it is superior care from kind, caring people.

[HRAAB]

We have usually been covered by my dh's group policy. When my dh became unemployed in April, he kept his coverage through COBRA since the gov. was picking up 65%, and he has back issues and takes cholesterol medication.

 

I looked around for the girls and me, and ended up having coverage denied because I'd had an endoscopy due to acid reflux and I'd gotten a renewable prescription for Prevacid. Then I got put in a high risk pool with premiums for myself and 3 dd's in excess of $1,000. a month. Not happening. We finally opted for a catastropic health policy with a $7,500. ded and 20% co-pay after the ded. is met. Nothing is covered until we meet the deductible. Basically, we are protecting our assets and assuming the risk for smaller claims. We made this choice based on our past history - extremely health inspite of the fact that I have indigestion.

 

When dh's coverage through COBRA runs out, I have no idea what we'll do. If I was denied, I cannot imagine dh getting coverage outside of the high risk pool.

 

Janet

[Tressa]

We have military health insurance and since dh has 22 years in, we will always have it. AS active duty, we pay nothing for the insurance and have a $1000 cap. When he retires, it will be a 3000 cap if he has no other insurance. THen when he hits 65, we have Tricare for Life which is a free great supplement to the Medicare ? Medicaid? I never remember which is which.

 

This is us too. I hear that Tricare for Life is all kinds of fun. Can't wait.:tongue_smilie:

[Lisa R.]

We pay no co-pays for doctor visits or prescriptions. It's been this way since he started working there in 2001.

 

We feel blessed that he works for a company that provides such generous benefits. My dd has endometriosis. While this is not life-threatening, our insurance has allowed us to go to several doctors and try several medicines, some expensive, to try and bring her relief.

 

I've heard (is is Dave Ramsey?) that one of the biggest reasons for bankruptcy in our country is inadequate insurance.

[Mommyof4ks]

Yes, we have ins. and are so thankful to have it. It is a high deductible plan and we pay $100/mo for a family of 5. We pay the ins. adjusted rates for services until the ded. is met and 20% after that until the max out of pocket is met. We never really used ins. much until my son got sick (no cancer in our family so we never expected to be in this place), and now we are so very thankful to have it.

[Beth in TN]

My DH is in the Army so we do have health insurance (Tricare Prime). The only good part about it is the we barely pay anything for it. Everything is covered including prescriptions filled at the hosptial.

 

The bad part is little to no choices on providers, specialists, second opinions, etc. I don't even get to pick my own primary care physican. When I call in I get whoever is available next whether they are an Army doctor, civilian doctor on staff, intern, or physican assistant.

 

Last year I had to have surgery and paid nothing for it. A procedure that cost upwards of $5-7K. But I had not choice in my surgeon, or anyone else I had to see for tests, pre-op procedures, referrals to specialists. The only choice I had was whether to even have the procedure or not.

 

Our foster children have state-run medical insurance (TNCare). We also pay nothing for the doctors visits, hosptial visits, or medication.

[Guest Katia]

My dh just got hired in Feb. to a job that offered insurance, so we have now had health insurance for 5 MONTHS now! So, I voted yes.

 

Before that, we did the Christian health sharing thing, which I really, really love, so we continue to hold on to it as a ministry.

 

BUT, for the last 27 years......neither dh nor myself has had insurance, nor did the kids. The state was waaayyyyy too intrusive into our homeschooling (which didn't have anything to do with health ins. for the kiddos but THEY sure thought so), so we dropped it.

 

I feel for all that don't have insurance. I've lived it for 27 years. We simply did the 'self-pay' option, and tried to set-up payments. And, it worked. We're all healthy and well-cared for, but I know we have had some amazing health-care providers as well.

[Robin Hood]

We have always had private health insurance and yes, we've had to eat beans at times to keep it. We've had to be reinstated a few times, too. As we've aged, the premiums go up and the coverage goes down. For the first time in our 16 years together, we will have group health provided for us by my dh's new employer beginning next month.

[Tutor]

Yes, but it is a student family plan that *says* it covers middle-range things (broken arms, x-rays, lab tests, etc) but if you start looking at the fine print, they cover much, much less. We look at it as a major medical policy and pay everything else out of pocket at the clinic in town.

 

We did not have any form of insurance for the first 10 or so years we were married (we've been married 15 years, total), and three of of four children were born when we had no insurance and instead arranged payment plans with doctors for delivery, well-check, and immunization fees.

 

Ideally, we'd like to have a major medical plan and invest in a medical savings account, but around here we have to sign up with some form of self-employed or individual family plan to put money into a medical savings account and we can't afford the small number of policies available through them, so we just put money into savings and pay as we need to.