Poll -- need help regarding health insurance info

[EKS]

Have you looked at ehealthinsurance.com? That will give you a good idea of the range of rates. It is going to depend on your ages and how many children you have and what level of coverage you choose.

 

I'm sure that $1395/month is a typical rate for something, but probably not a catastrophic plan.

[Jenny in GA]

In advance of the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act, many states are already offering lower cost insurance to the high risk pools. This addresses people who are denied based on pre existing conditions, which will eventually be made illegal by the new healthcare laws.

 

I assume you live in Georgia based on your member name.

 

(It requires being uninsured for six months.)

 

 

 

Thank you. Yes, I did get this information from one of the agents I spoke with.

 

I know many people would make a different decision, but we just cannot go uninsured for six months, and the agent said she didn't blame me; that it was a "huge risk."

For one thing, it would be a VERY expensive six months. For example, I am on four medications (when things are good; when they are bad, I'm on eight) and one of them has a list price of over $900.

 

Also, I have to have labwork done every six weeks, which can easily be $500+ per visit. And I don't even know what my many doctor visits would cost.

 

But more than that: We just cannot take the risk. I know other people do, and I'm almost envious of their ability to do that. But our family knows all too well how life-or-death situations that suddenly put you in the ICU for weeks can appear literally overnight, with no warning. To be uninsured and have that happen would be absolutely catastrophic.

 

As pathetic as it is, I would rather completely deplete our savings and have to ask our parents to pay some of our bills before I would go uninsured.

[Jenny in GA]

Have you looked at ehealthinsurance.com? That will give you a good idea of the range of rates. It is going to depend on your ages and how many children you have and what level of coverage you choose.

 

I'm sure that $1395/month is a typical rate for something, but probably not a catastrophic plan.

 

 

Any of the companies and plans listed would immediately turn me away because of my pre-existing condition.

[Aelwydd]

 

I have two insurance people on my street. One owns a very old, trusted firm in the town, another brokers ins to colleges. Both have told me that Obamacare is the reason. Insurance companies are protecting themselves. They also both told me that it's going to get worse-to the point that they think very few will be able to afford insurance at all.

 

My undergrad is Health Studies, and my passion, my focus, is on access to health care. I have done years and years of research into this topic. Trust me when I say that insurance was always going to go up, up, UP, no matter who is in office, or what bills are passed or not passed. That is just one very tangential factor. Yes, tangential. You should ask your friends what the bottom line for insurance companies has been in the last few years. They are making money--tons of it. Just like they were 5, 10, 15 years ago. Nothing's changed that.

 

The biggest drivers of escalating health care costs?

 

1. Sick, obese, over-stressed population that is riddled with chronic and inflammatory epidemics

 

2. Large uninsured/ underinsured population means more people reach the critical stage of health (and the most expensive to treat) before finally seeking or obtaining care

 

3. High cost of drugs

 

4. Rising oil costs (didn't expect that one, right?), because EVERYTHING in medicine is based off of the oil industry in one way or other. Just one example--plastics are all petroleum products. Oil goes up--so does the cost of IV tubing, gloves, syringes, plastic containers, etc. Energy to heat and cool medical buildings--cha ching!!!

 

The pharmaceutical industry is also heavily dependent upon petroleum products to develop, produce, and distribute their drugs.

 

5. The inflationary effects of a fiat monetary system means that everything--including healthcare-- is going to become increasingly more expensive to obtain.

 

6. Inefficiencies in the system-- enough said.

 

7. Education and training of new doctors/ health care providers. As college education increases, so does the cost of training the next generation of health care workers. Those physician student loans get paid off, some through incentive programs at hospitals and other organizations, and others through good old salary. Those incentives and salaries are all part of the cost you and I pay to get health care.

 

 

 

There are several more reasons for why our health care is so expensive, but suffice it to say, I'm always exasperated and somewhat insulted when I hear media pundits pontificate about how Obamacare is either causing or preventing high costs. It's NEITHER. The system is broke in about 80 different ways, from the ground up.

 

It doesn't matter if you stick an Obamacare bandaid on it, or a McCain/Republican open-exchange insurance policy band aid on it. It ain't gonna make the price of oil get cheaper, and it ain't gonna make insurance or pharmaceuticals less driven to make huge profits. Nor is it going to make a population with soaring rates of heart disease, diabetes, anti-inflammatory disease, mental health diseases, and a whole other list of very expensive chronic diseases suddenly reverse the trend.

 

It doesn't matter. It is going to get a lot more expensive, and a lot worse, no matter WHO is in office, because the problems involved are systemic in nature, and span a whole gamut of issues and policies, which, frankly, are so embedded that neither party is ever going to change them. The politicians know this. And they know they can't and won't ever fix it. They are already forsworn in that they are loyal first to their various industry-funded PACS and lobbyists, with American citizens coming in a distant second place. The politicians are NOT GOING TO STOP DOING BUSINESS AS USUAL, no matter what party is in charge. They are all steeped in corporate monies from insurance, pharmaceutical, and large hospital groups.

 

So, they default to pitting the rest of us against each other in some sort of farcical battle over insurance paradigms, hoping to keep us distracted long enough to ignore the man behind the curtain. And it ain't Obamacare, which is just a placebo.

 

And FTR, I am a liberal's liberal, who voted for Obama. Obamacare is neither the problem nor the answer. I don't support it, because it's just a salve. I don't think much of it at all. (Mostly, I think it's just useless.) To see folks assigning the blame for rising health care costs to this one thing is giving it too much credit. Aetna's CEO just stated a month or so ago that the new law is going to drive a large number of new customers into the insurance market. In it, he as much admitted that the effect of a for-profit health care model has meant that the interests of the patient are set against the interests of the very ones providing his or her care, which, BTW, is another big reason for the mess we have.

 

To end this long post somewhere, let me reiterate--the rising costs of health care are no more related to Obamacare than giving an aspirin for a headache is the reason for, or the answer, to a brain tumor.

[Hwin]

We pay about $300/month for the two of us (adults) for a high deductible (2400) plan and $30 month to have the kids on state insurance.

[justamouse]

Rebekah, I don't disagree with you. I actually very much agree with you. (I know how much bottles cost, how much it costs to run those machines, that it's all run by gas. ;) It's why we stay here-we can't afford the shipping (gas) to get our raw materials to us/and to customers at a reasonable cost.)

 

I totally, 100% agree with your list.

 

And though I know how badly it's broken, and I know no 'party' has the right fix, insurances have raised their prices to protect themselves from the laws-the insurance people I know have told me the increases they see are a direct reaction to the laws.

 

I live in a blue state, these are blue voters telling me this. I know they're not lying to me-you know?

[Aelwydd]

Thank you. Yes, I did get this information from one of the agents I spoke with.

 

I know many people would make a different decision, but we just cannot go uninsured for six months, and the agent said she didn't blame me; that it was a "huge risk."

For one thing, it would be a VERY expensive six months. For example, I am on four medications (when things are good; when they are bad, I'm on eight) and one of them has a list price of over $900.

 

Also, I have to have labwork done every six weeks, which can easily be $500+ per visit. And I don't even know what my many doctor visits would cost.

 

But more than that: We just cannot take the risk. I know other people do, and I'm almost envious of their ability to do that. But our family knows all too well how life-or-death situations that suddenly put you in the ICU for weeks can appear literally overnight, with no warning. To be uninsured and have that happen would be absolutely catastrophic.

 

As pathetic as it is, I would rather completely deplete our savings and have to ask our parents to pay some of our bills before I would go uninsured.

 

Jenny, I understand this. I really, really do. I agree with your assessment, and I wish there was a better option. Is new employment with a different company, and health insurance, an option for your dh?

 

I work for a technology/telecommunications company. It's a very large corporation, that self-insures, with third party administration by BCBS. The policy I have is an EPO -- exclusive providers organization. That means nothing outside of network is covered.

 

However, we have no deductible, and no lifetime cap. PCP visits are $15, and specialists are $25, as are urgent care visits. Well-visits are 100% covered. Hospital stays, etc. are 90% covered, along with labs, test, etc. We have a pharmaceutical plan that has varying degrees of coverage depending on whether its generic or brand name. Vision and dental are included. We pay about $350/month for our plan which covers our family.

 

It's the best plan we've been on for several years. When we were in PA, I will say the plans we had up there were much, much better than what we have been offered here in Texas, which has the highest cost of insurance in the country (also has the highest percentage uninsured--that's not a coincidence). When my dh was laid off, we went a year without insurance, and it was very, very difficult. We still have thousands of dollars of medical bills we are paying off from that time period.

[magnificent_baby]

I am not exactly sure what we pay on our portion of premium, last I checked it was around $600/month, but probably has risen. Dh's work pays the rest. I do know the premium has gone up every single year, and thus we seem to have a new company every year. It is a small business, not sure how many employees, but less than 100 for sure.

 

Our deductible is huge. $10,000 in network. But, dh's employer pays once we have met $5000 in deductible expenses. They also give us some money into our HSA. So, I am used to paying nearly every medical bill, however, I am just happy we have private coverage.

 

Being in the medical field, DH and I are of the opinion that health insurance companies will be a thing of the past because they cannot afford to stay in business, and we will eventually have socialized healthcare. :glare:

[Roadrunner]

My undergrad is Health Studies, and my passion, my focus, is on access to health care. I have done years and years of research into this topic. Trust me when I say that insurance was always going to go up, up, UP, no matter who is in office, or what bills are passed or not passed. That is just one very tangential factor. Yes, tangential. You should ask your friends what the bottom line for insurance companies has been in the last few years. They are making money--tons of it. Just like they were 5, 10, 15 years ago. Nothing's changed that.

 

The biggest drivers of escalating health care costs?

 

1. Sick, obese, over-stressed population that is riddled with chronic and inflammatory epidemics

 

2. Large uninsured/ underinsured population means more people reach the critical stage of health (and the most expensive to treat) before finally seeking or obtaining care

 

3. High cost of drugs

 

4. Rising oil costs (didn't expect that one, right?), because EVERYTHING in medicine is based off of the oil industry in one way or other. Just one example--plastics are all petroleum products. Oil goes up--so does the cost of IV tubing, gloves, syringes, plastic containers, etc. Energy to heat and cool medical buildings--cha ching!!!

 

The pharmaceutical industry is also heavily dependent upon petroleum products to develop, produce, and distribute their drugs.

 

5. The inflationary effects of a fiat monetary system means that everything--including healthcare-- is going to become increasingly more expensive to obtain.

 

6. Inefficiencies in the system-- enough said.

 

7. Education and training of new doctors/ health care providers. As college education increases, so does the cost of training the next generation of health care workers. Those physician student loans get paid off, some through incentive programs at hospitals and other organizations, and others through good old salary. Those incentives and salaries are all part of the cost you and I pay to get health care.

 

 

 

There are several more reasons for why our health care is so expensive, but suffice it to say, I'm always exasperated and somewhat insulted when I hear media pundits pontificate about how Obamacare is either causing or preventing high costs. It's NEITHER. The system is broke in about 80 different ways, from the ground up.

 

It doesn't matter if you stick an Obamacare bandaid on it, or a McCain/Republican open-exchange insurance policy band aid on it. It ain't gonna make the price of oil get cheaper, and it ain't gonna make insurance or pharmaceuticals less driven to make huge profits. Nor is it going to make a population with soaring rates of heart disease, diabetes, anti-inflammatory disease, mental health diseases, and a whole other list of very expensive chronic diseases suddenly reverse the trend.

 

It doesn't matter. It is going to get a lot more expensive, and a lot worse, no matter WHO is in office, because the problems involved are systemic in nature, and span a whole gamut of issues and policies, which, frankly, are so embedded that neither party is ever going to change them. The politicians know this. And they know they can't and won't ever fix it. They are already forsworn in that they are loyal first to their various industry-funded PACS and lobbyists, with American citizens coming in a distant second place. The politicians are NOT GOING TO STOP DOING BUSINESS AS USUAL, no matter what party is in charge. They are all steeped in corporate monies from insurance, pharmaceutical, and large hospital groups.

 

So, they default to pitting the rest of us against each other in some sort of farcical battle over insurance paradigms, hoping to keep us distracted long enough to ignore the man behind the curtain. And it ain't Obamacare, which is just a placebo.

 

And FTR, I am a liberal's liberal, who voted for Obama. Obamacare is neither the problem nor the answer. I don't support it, because it's just a salve. I don't think much of it at all. (Mostly, I think it's just useless.) To see folks assigning the blame for rising health care costs to this one thing is giving it too much credit. Aetna's CEO just stated a month or so ago that the new law is going to drive a large number of new customers into the insurance market. In it, he as much admitted that the effect of a for-profit health care model has meant that the interests of the patient are set against the interests of the very ones providing his or her care, which, BTW, is another big reason for the mess we have.

 

To end this long post somewhere, let me reiterate--the rising costs of health care are no more related to Obamacare than giving an aspirin for a headache is the reason for, or the answer, to a brain tumor.

 

Thank you!!!

 

 

 

We pay $350 a month. I am not sure how much an employer pays.

[Aelwydd]

Rebekah, I don't disagree with you. I actually very much agree with you. (I know how much bottles cost, how much it costs to run those machines, that it's all run by gas. ;) It's why we stay here-we can't afford the shipping (gas) to get our raw materials to us/and to customers at a reasonable cost.)

 

I totally, 100% agree with your list.

 

And though I know how badly it's broken, and I know no 'party' has the right fix, insurances have raised their prices to protect themselves from the laws-the insurance people I know have told me the increases they see are a direct reaction to the laws.

 

I live in a blue state, these are blue voters telling me this. I know they're not lying to me-you know?

 

The point I'm trying to make, is that if someone else had been elected into office, and they had established "free market exchanges," you would still have seen rates going up, with insurance companies citing reasons such as "protective action against market volatility." Resultant deregulation would have been impetus to drop even more benefits, in a very similar pattern to the airline industry. Rock bottom prices for the product, but increasingly poorer service, and overall quality for what you're getting. And the industry would, as it is doing now, still have gone downhill.

 

That's the point I'm trying to make. Obamacare is both blamed and extolled for all sort of things, and in a microcosm, it does have both positive and negative effects, depending on who you are, and where you are. But in the overall picture? It's a null factor. It's not going to save health care, and it's not going to be the thing to destroy it either.

 

The truth is that health care is a large part of an economy (19% GDP) that is unraveling at its very seams. We are about to witness what happens when unsatiable growth (irresistible force) hits the hard limits of actual resources (immovable object).

[besroma]

Is it an option to change jobs to a company that does pay toward your insurance and does not exclude you for pre-existing conditions?

 

Even if he made the same income, or a bit less, if the insurance would be covered, it would be like getting a nice raise.

 

Are you working with a broker who checks multiple companies for you at once?

 

I'm sorry this is happening.

[Hannah C.]

Perhaps the coverage of "children" up to the age of 26? Now' date=' you have a slew of twenty-somethings that are not paying premiums and are receiving services under their parents' plan. I'm not suggesting that it's wrong to offer this coverage, but someone has to pay for it....[/quote']

 

As a "child" under the age of 26 on her parents' plan, married to a "child" under the age of 26 on his parents' plan, please let me assure you that we are, in fact, paying premiums, even if others are paying them for us. In my case, I think the premium is the same no matter how many dependents after a certain number - but it's an astronomically high premium. I do not personally pay it - my father's company pays for my father's entire family. In my husband's case, two "children" were added who were otherwise uninsured and the premium is being paid accordingly.