affordable health care

[tom4018]

op: interesting perspective boondocks. I work healthcare...see the abuses and hypocrisy everyday, from both angles. Personal accountability is something extremely lacking today. So is honesty and integrity from the insurance side of things. Have a hard time feeling 'compassion' for the younger folks on medicare/medicaid who abuse the system to no end, bog down the Emergency rooms with their bs(headaches, fevers, cough, cold, etc) because they dont want to pay for tylenol at the local drug store, or pay any kind of fee to use a clinic. Meanwhile the older generations, who have more than paid their fair share into medicare/medicaid, get lost, overlooked, or just plain frustrated when they have to wait for hours to be treated for legitimate health issues because of the abuses. And EVERYONE wants to blame the hospital staff because it all takes too long! Not to mention, in healthcare nowadays, the focus is not appropriate interventions and outcomes for the treatment of the disease process as it is for pt satisfaction. We have minimized the importance of the actual science of medicine and focused on subjective things like pt satisfaction (translated: did they kiss my azz, fluff my pillow enough, keep my coffee warm enough,,etc). If you try to tell a pt the truth nowadays; most times, it negatively shows on the survey! I say we, but reality is, when the govt decided that's how reimbursement is going to go, it set the precedent for private insurance companies to do the same. And we wonder why our best and brightest rarely choose medicine now as a career. Cant blame them. Might as well get a degree in hospitality or customer service and forget the sciences.

:clap: Well said! It is the truth! Last year my mother fell and broke her hip, taken by ambulance to the ER. Doctors were so over loaded that it 5 hours or more for her to get something for the pain. Waiting room was full of Hispanics with their kids running around and like crazy. Not sure what was supposed to be wrong with them but they acted like they felt ok. I was never so aggravated in my life, complained like crazy trying to get my mother some pain relief, finally cornered the doc in the hallway, he thought the nurses had already done it.

 

[1982vett]

Costs keep going up because we demand every possible advanced high-tech treatment even at the end of life. It's simply not an apples-to-apples comparison to compare current insurance costs to what previous generations paid (or even to what we paid 10 years ago). We all think we and our loved ones are "special" (hey, I do too) and deserve "the best" (often, just the costliest) medical care.

But what do we demand of ourselves? How many people complaining about their premiums have high cholesterol? High blood pressure? Diabetes or pre-diabetes? Overweight/obesity? Smoke? Folks, all that gets baked into the equation. For every bacon cheeseburger and fries you eat, and pack of smokes enjoyed, assume that your neighbor is doing the same. How the heck are costs not going to go up? You better believe the insurance companies will get their cut, always, and they have lobbyists who ensure that.

So when we (1) demand expensive care from (2) well-funded profiteers, despite (2) treating our bodies like garbage dumps, what the heck other outcome could there be?

:2cents: :2cents: :hide:

Boodocks, 25 years ago I had health insurance I paid for out of my own pocket because I was labor in construction. I carried my own policy because I never new where I would be working or if I would be working. My insurance cost around 4% of my income at the time.....today it is almost 15% and I make a hell of a better income today than I did then.

Also, I've been paying for insurance over 30 years....for years and years I never even saw a doctor or had a need for my insurance, I had it for the day I DID need it. My wife pays the same premium I do. Sees the doctor once a year to get one $4 prescription refilled. She has been paying into the system for her entire life also. As we age I have always expected my body to weaken and have the need for more healthcare as I get older. Those "health" choices you speak of have always been baked into the equation.

 

[Dave]

I have real good health insurance paid 100% by the company. For years it just cost the company X amount per employee. In 2014 they listed us as individuals and the cost of insurance for each employee. I am the only one over 60. The cost to the company for my insurance was over $1,000 per month. In over 20 years here I can count the times I have gone to the doctor on my fingers. Absolutely nothing serious. No prescriptions. There is another guy who is about 57. His insurance cost was more than $200 a month less than mine. He smokes, is on meds for high blood pressure, cholesterol, and has had serious health issues up to and including surgery for a brain aneurysm. He is a recovering alcoholic who has fallen off the wagon a few times self medicating for his health issues which of course doesn't help his health issues. Yet, because he is 6 years younger than me and below the magic age of 60 his health insurance cost the company over $200 a month less than healthy me. Something wrong with that.

 

[fenceman]

Costs keep going up because we demand every possible advanced high-tech treatment even at the end of life. It's simply not an apples-to-apples comparison to compare current insurance costs to what previous generations paid (or even to what we paid 10 years ago). We all think we and our loved ones are "special" (hey, I do too) and deserve "the best" (often, just the costliest) medical care.

But what do we demand of ourselves? How many people complaining about their premiums have high cholesterol? High blood pressure? Diabetes or pre-diabetes? Overweight/obesity? Smoke? Folks, all that gets baked into the equation. For every bacon cheeseburger and fries you eat, and pack of smokes enjoyed, assume that your neighbor is doing the same. How the heck are costs not going to go up? You better believe the insurance companies will get their cut, always, and they have lobbyists who ensure that.

So when we (1) demand expensive care from (2) well-funded profiteers, despite (2) treating our bodies like garbage dumps, what the heck other outcome could there be?

:2cents: :2cents: :hide:

Two wrongs don't make a right.

I don't smoke, I'm not overweight, I don't eat fast food. I honestly believe my rates have increased 26percent because I fall into a category of people that they believe will pay it.

I'm going to seriously look at Getting just a catastrophic type plan. Something that has a very high deductible. Something to keep from"losing the farm" in the event of a catastrophic type injury or illness.
The balance of the money I save will be paid into a account earmarked for medical expenses. I Will just write a check at the doctor office or er. I think I might come out money ahead. Idk. I 've got two months to figure it out.

 

[ram]

Fenceman, all that works good till you have an extended stay at the hospital. I paid everything out of pocket till I was required to have health insurance. A MRI that I had last year was $3k, the one I paid for out of pocket was only $485.00. And it was only two years between the two MRI's.

 

[Howdyjabo]

I'm going to seriously look at Getting just a catastrophic type plan. Something that has a very high deductible. Something to keep from"losing the farm" in the event of a catastrophic type injury or illness.
The balance of the money I save will be paid into a account earmarked for medical expenses. I Will just write a check at the doctor office or er. I think I might come out money ahead. Idk. I 've got two months to figure it out.[/quote]


Look into a health saving account and take advantages of building a retirement account and tax savings too.

 

[TexasBred]

Fenceman, all that works good till you have an extended stay at the hospital. I paid everything out of pocket till I was required to have health insurance. A MRI that I had last year was $3k, the one I paid for out of pocket was only $485.00. And it was only two years between the two MRI's.

The other MRI would probably have been $485 as well had to told them you would be paying cash for it as well.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Look into a health saving account and take advantages of building a retirement account and tax savings too.

That was working great until Obamacare. All the savings were completely wiped out last spring during surgery. My previous back surgery took around $2,000 out of it. Since Obamacare my kidney procedure in the spring completely wiped out all that was in my health savings. I had to come up with an additionaly $13,000. This new coverage is not worth a darn. Change indeed. Negative change and it costs a heck of a lot more out of the paycheck.

 

[boondocks]

Boodocks, 25 years ago I had health insurance I paid for out of my own pocket because I was labor in construction. I carried my own policy because I never new where I would be working or if I would be working. My insurance cost around 4% of my income at the time.....today it is almost 15% and I make a be nice of a better income today than I did then.

Also, I've been paying for insurance over 30 years....for years and years I never even saw a doctor or had a need for my insurance, I had it for the day I DID need it. My wife pays the same premium I do. Sees the doctor once a year to get one $4 prescription refilled. She has been paying into the system for her entire life also. As we age I have always expected my body to weaken and have the need for more healthcare as I get older. Those "health" choices you speak of have always been baked into the equation.[/quote]

Vett, I do hear you. I too pay more and get less every year. But 25 years ago a lot of the available technologies, tests, treatments, chemo regimens etc etc didn't exist. You say you have paid for over 30 years and haven't used it much. Count yourself lucky for such good health, not unlucky for not getting your money's worth. Not trying to be argumentative, just another way of looking at it...You also had the peace of mind of knowing you were covered if you needed it. Health insurance isn't really (traditionally) like Social Security; you can't really look at it as having "paid into the system" as if it's an appreciating asset. I guess with some of the changes to HSA's that is changing a little.

Mostly I was trying to make the point that as a society, we don't take very good care of our(collective)selves, yet want high quality care, on-demand, for cheap prices. This butts up against health care providers' (rightful) desire for a living wage; the insurance companies' (less-defensible-IMHO) view that they should get crazy profits; and the pharma companies' penchant for expecting Americans to fund all of their R&D (given drug price limits set by many other countries).
As an exercise, who here would like to go back to the health care that was available, say, in 1930? Even if it were cheaper?

 

[wacocowboy]

Our insurance went up 35% from last year plus our co payments doubled or more and I have less coverage. I am scared to see what it will cost next year.

 

[LazyARanch]

Got my letter the other day... premium going from $472 to $815... :shock:

Unbelievable!!!

 

[I luv herfrds]

Got ours on Friday went from $774 to $958. Could look at getting it from my job but after sitting down with the boss and crunching the numbers I would be paying more per month for both hubby and I through that plan then if we just got one of our own. Even the boss said they had no flipping idea as to why that is. Said if it keeps going up on their end might have to look at cutting some costs.

Not too sure what we are going to do. Already looking at different companies and plans.

 

[Kingfisher]

I read yesterday that a lot( can't remember the % +25%) of people with insurance can't afford to get what they need fixed because they can't afford the costs associated....
What a scam scheme ,shameful mess we have!

 

[kerley]

Our Daughter received her new insurance bill and it increased over 25%, from $300.00 to $415.00 per month.
The deductible from $500.00 to $7500.00 per year. If she refuses to pay her fine will be $750.00. She had much better Health Insurance coverage when she worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield. This does not include her ten- year- old Daughter.

 

[John SD]

I went in yesterday and signed up for a different Blue Cross plan. Gets my premium down to $800/month. Works a bit differently as there are no co-pays. I pay the first $2000 of expenses, and it supposed to take over from there. Ask me this time next year if I did the right thing

 

[1982vett]

I went in yesterday and signed up for a different Blue Cross plan. Gets my premium down to $800/month. Works a bit differently as there are no co-pays. I pay the first $2000 of expenses, and it supposed to take over from there. Ask me this time next year if I did the right thing

I hope that is actually how it works......trouble is what is considered expenses....

Non- covered expenses do not apply toward deductibles
Co-pays generally do not apply to deductibles

I've got over 15,000 in charges so far this year. I've paid close to 5,000 in co-pays. I am not sure if I have a couple hundred applied to the deductible as yet.

I've spent several days trying to figure it out. Just about when I think I have it another one of those little footnotes appears. You know, the one by the "you pay nothing" but has the little #2, the one that says... All deductibles and co pays still apply.

 

[hurleyjd]

op: interesting perspective boondocks. I work healthcare...see the abuses and hypocrisy everyday, from both angles. Personal accountability is something extremely lacking today. So is honesty and integrity from the insurance side of things. Have a hard time feeling 'compassion' for the younger folks on medicare/medicaid who abuse the system to no end, bog down the Emergency rooms with their bs(headaches, fevers, cough, cold, etc) because they dont want to pay for tylenol at the local drug store, or pay any kind of fee to use a clinic. Meanwhile the older generations, who have more than paid their fair share into medicare/medicaid, get lost, overlooked, or just plain frustrated when they have to wait for hours to be treated for legitimate health issues because of the abuses. And EVERYONE wants to blame the hospital staff because it all takes too long! Not to mention, in healthcare nowadays, the focus is not appropriate interventions and outcomes for the treatment of the disease process as it is for pt satisfaction. We have minimized the importance of the actual science of medicine and focused on subjective things like pt satisfaction (translated: did they kiss my azz, fluff my pillow enough, keep my coffee warm enough,,etc). If you try to tell a pt the truth nowadays; most times, it negatively shows on the survey! I say we, but reality is, when the govt decided that's how reimbursement is going to go, it set the precedent for private insurance companies to do the same. And we wonder why our best and brightest rarely choose medicine now as a career. Cant blame them. Might as well get a degree in hospitality or customer service and forget the sciences.

:clap: Well said! It is the truth! Last year my mother fell and broke her hip, taken by ambulance to the ER. Doctors were so over loaded that it 5 hours or more for her to get something for the pain. Waiting room was full of Hispanics with their kids running around and like crazy. Not sure what was supposed to be wrong with them but they acted like they felt ok. I was never so aggravated in my life, complained like crazy trying to get my mother some pain relief, finally cornered the doc in the hallway, he thought the nurses had already done it.

Do not worry about your health care cost there in Kentucky your new governor is planning to do away with it totally.

 

[hurleyjd]

We have had several members with health conditions in the family that required a large amount of intervention. Would really like to hear about what they would have done without any health care insurance. If it is not to personal.

 

[greybeard]

"intervention"?
Is that a liberal code word for something else?

 

[TexasBred]

We have had several members with health conditions in the family that required a large amount of intervention. Would really like to hear about what they would have done without any health care insurance. If it is not to personal.

They would have done like all the others. Let the doctors/hospitals file on medicaid and let somebody else pay it and let the doctors/hospitals charge off what medicaid didn't cover. It's still being done everyday.