What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Health insurance - why bother?

We had a nice little meeting today at work, some of you may have heard me complain that I have insurance yet can't afford to go to the doctor cos I can't afford the deductible, well now they've quintupled it! :banana2:

Actually the only ones dancing are the insurance industry, throwing our money in the air and dancing as it rains down on 'em. So glad we didn't get a public option to buy in to medicare - what would all these insurance crooks do with us all on a non-profit plan?
 
Yeah, tell me about it. I was hospitalized last year for emergency surgery. Being self-employed I could only afford a crappy insurance policy that left me owing after the deductible and discounts over $40K to the hospital, doctors etc. Couple that with the economic downturn which cut my income to a third of what I need just to live on. I tried for a more comprehensive policy but was turned down due to my medical record (pre-existing condition). Sure, they offered me a guaranteed issue non-underwritten plan with monthly premiums higher than what I pay for rent and a $15-20K out of pocket cap.

So now there are new pre-existing plans as setup by the new law which kicked in September. The federal plan premium is only about 40% more per month than my existing piece of crap with an out of pocket cap of $2.5K. But I have to be without insurance for six months to qualify.

By that time the wonderful Republicans and Tea Party flacks of the insurance industry who insist there is nothing wrong with health coverage in America will probably repeal the affordable health care bill.

What no public option? What no single payer? What I have to be without coverage for 28 days? Ha ha ha! Jokes on you Harris....
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/11/freshman-goper-hey-wheres-my-health-care.php
 
Last edited:
Swords, that's terrible, but I can't say I'm surprised. I hope you don't need to see a doctor regularly.That's what happens when Insurance is a business out to make money like every other business is out there.

I've gone without medical insurance for years now because I have a preexisting condition and can't get it through my job, even Aflac denied me. My only option right now is to get married and get under my fiance's policy. It's super cheap because it's through the Teamsters Union, but they deny every single claim the first time you send it, always, without fail. So it's still gonna be a fight when I am covered.

Really, why bother carrying it at all if it will cost you more for the year plus deductibles? I'm the last person to advocate not regularly going to a professional, but for many people it's cheaper to pay out of pocket the one or two times you do need to go. I know a lot of people who have dropped it after doing the math.
 
Never had health insurance, never been to the hospital.

Seems to work for me so far.
 
Never had health insurance, never been to the hospital.

Seems to work for me so far.

That worked for me until my exploding appendix trick back in early 2000. Emergancy surgery and a two week stay in the hospital. Totally messed up my credit and a few restaurant ventures.
 
instead of paying huge amounts for insurance you dont use why not get a cheap high deductible insurance and open a tax free health savings account....
 
Our premiums are only up a little, it's the deductible that is now so high. I mean there's really no difference between not being able to go before and not being able to go now, it's just sorta, punctuated! The guy doing the presentation said we insurance holders need to start using the internet to self diagnose and treat ourselves and they gave us a number of some over the phone doctor who will supposedly write non-narcotic prescriptions for and fax them to our local pharmacy.

Dex if you're sick, you can't get insurance. You have to buy it when there's nothing wrong with you and then they drop you when something does go wrong! LOL It's a total scam.
 
Last edited:
I can relate. Our premiums jumped 25%, deductibles stayed the same, but the annual out of pocket max doubled.

My wife nearly lost her life to a medical emergency several months ago, and despite having insurance, we now owe several tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. She has two more surgeries to undergo.\ in the next year and a half. The first one came to half a mill that was billed to insurance. So of course we had to pay up to our max out of pocket. The next two surgeries will also take us to our max out of pockets. So in summary, we are going to be in medical debt for a long, long time to come. To top it all off, they are being uber aggressive in getting their money and are being real %%$'s when it comes to payment arrangements. In other words, they don't want to do payments and want payment in full hahah! The hospital is now threatening to sue us. Oh the joys of the US medical systems. What a pathetic disaster it is. I'm thoroughly disgusted! :censor::censor::censor:
 
That worked for me until my exploding appendix trick back in early 2000. Emergancy surgery and a two week stay in the hospital. Totally messed up my credit and a few restaurant ventures.

I'm sorry to hear that. :(

I can only hope that that does not happen to me!

And swords, I'd rather just get sick, (well not really) than pay money for health insurance.

I don't feel it's right to pay monthly towards the chances of something happening to one's body.

People get sick, people get injured, they die or they don't. I'll just be another one of those people. But I will not be contributing a dime to insurance companies.
 
  • #10
Thing is with the insurance money funded senators having written the new health care bill the way they did, you will either have to pick up some kind of insurance policy or face a tax fine of around $1000. My useless insurance is about $500 per year in premiums if I don't ever go to the doctor so I'm still $500 ahead in the new for profit health care racket they've setup.
 
  • #11
I will not pay. They can fine me all they want. I will not pay the fines.
 
  • #12
The guy doing the presentation said we insurance holders need to start using the internet to self diagnose and treat ourselves and they gave us a number of some over the phone doctor who will supposedly write non-narcotic prescriptions for and fax them to our local pharmacy.

What? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Please don't do this, that's terrible and dangerous advice. I don't care how smart you are at deciphering reliable info from bad, or how good at googling you are... disease, infections, illnesses, etc. are not black and white enough to self diagnose from what any website says. Otherwise I'm just as good a doctor as any out there :rolleyes: Who did this guy represent?
 
  • #13
You gotta love the mandate. Since the Nixon Administration the Republicans have been trying to pass a health insurance mandate. Ted Kennedy was the one mainly responsible for blocking it. So the Republicans whine, piss, moan and throw tantrums that a health bill won't pass without it. Kennedy dies and a bill passes with a mandate. Now guess which party is the biggest critics of the mandate.

They'll just deduct it from your tax refund if you don't pay the penalty.
 
  • #14
What? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Please don't do this, that's terrible and dangerous advice. I don't care how smart you are at deciphering reliable info from bad, or how good at googling you are... disease, infections, illnesses, etc. are not black and white enough to self diagnose from what any website says. Otherwise I'm just as good a doctor as any out there :rolleyes: Who did this guy represent?
Yeah, that's what I thought too! LOL

I had my own go around with self-diagnosing online, last xmas I was convinced I had mouth cancer cos that's what all the websites said when I did my own research on this tiny bump I discovered on my gum. I filled up a credit card going to numerous doctors and dentists thinking they were all insane and stupid cos according to the numerous internet sources I definitely had cancer and these guys just were too stupid to see it. So it'll be a good way to get more of these untested drugs out into the market if people are looking stuff up and able to call in for a prescription on something they imagine they have...

I'm not on any meds but my mom is on a lot and she's very touchy about them, if a med has a bad side effect she'll show symptoms so she can't be guessing and taking wild stabs with prescriptions like these guys seem to be suggesting. I can't imagine she's alone in having bad reactions to meds.
 
Last edited:
  • #15
Hey if the penalty is cheaper than the mandated insurance you'll see me paying it too. I don't agree with government regulating health care, but something needs to happen as this is clearly out of hand. I don't think any mandates should be directed at citizens though. If anything the insurance companies should be the focus of any government involvement for health care restructuring.

There was a doctor in NYC a few years ago that ran a clinic and tried to skirt the whole insurance issue altogether. It was $75-150 a month if I remember right. If you need it you used it all you wanted. The people that paid, but rarely needed anything essentially paid for the chronically ill to show up more often. Everybody wins and the doctor made his money too. Of course he was shut down, why wouldn't he be. The sad part is insurance hurts doctors, nurses, etc. as much as the people who need them. No med school grad wants to be a general practitioner anymore because insurance takes such a bite out of what they should be making.
 
  • #16
Hey if the penalty is cheaper than the mandated insurance you'll see me paying it too. I don't agree with government regulating health care, but something needs to happen as this is clearly out of hand. I don't think any mandates should be directed at citizens though. If anything the insurance companies should be the focus of any government involvement for health care restructuring.
So far the penalty is double what a year of crap insurance is with my policy so I'll keep the crummy insurance to avoid the extra $500 loss.

I don't think there is any way to rein it in without a government option like a medicare buy in for poor & middle class people to pay a small monthly premium to have it and be able to actually use it.

The senators in their wisdom suggested and immediately rejected an employer mandate, meaning if you have employees you must cover them with insurance. So the guy making $54 dollars a day flipping burgers three days a week has to try a find his own insurance or face a fine... Totally brilliant!

I completely fail to see how Obama can say this is anything but a travesty of his intention. He could have written these things into law instead he let congress play ball with their lobbyists and this is what we ended up with.
 
  • #17
$35 dollars a month has so far saved me over 35k in the last 3 years.
 
  • #18
You gotta love the mandate. Since the Nixon Administration the Republicans have been trying to pass a health insurance mandate. Ted Kennedy was the one mainly responsible for blocking it. So the Republicans whine, piss, moan and throw tantrums that a health bill won't pass without it. Kennedy dies and a bill passes with a mandate. Now guess which party is the biggest critics of the mandate.

They'll just deduct it from your tax refund if you don't pay the penalty.

one problem with this line of thought....the bill was passed with an exclusively democrat vote....all the republicans voted against it......
 
  • #19
We had a nice little meeting today at work, some of you may have heard me complain that I have insurance yet can't afford to go to the doctor cos I can't afford the deductible, well now they've quintupled it! :banana2:

you can thank Obama for that..
you have to give more to pay for his new plan..pure and simple.
*someone* has to pay for it! who did you think would pay for it?
you are one of the "lucky" ones..you have a job..
therefore you are one of the "haves" and its up to you to support everyone else..
This is exactly according to the plan..I dont see why you are surprised..
everyone knew this would happen..if you want to provide health insurance for everyone,
its going to cost..a LOT..and we all have to pay a lot more..you are one of the first to find this out in real terms in their real life..
expect more of the same in the future..

I dont see why this is a surprise to anyone..you got what you asked for when voted for this kind of change..now you have the change in your own life..you should be happy!
this is EXACTLY what you voted for..

Scot
 
  • #20
you can thank Obama for that..
you have to give more to pay for his new plan..pure and simple.
*someone* has to pay for it! who did you think would pay for it?
you are one of the "lucky" ones..you have a job..
therefore you are one of the "haves" and its up to you to support everyone else..
This is exactly according to the plan..I dont see why you are surprised..
everyone knew this would happen..if you want to provide health insurance for everyone,
its going to cost..a LOT..and we all have to pay a lot more..you are one of the first to find this out in real terms in their real life..
expect more of the same in the future..

I dont see why this is a surprise to anyone..you got what you asked for when voted for this kind of change..now you have the change in your own life..you should be happy!
this is EXACTLY what you voted for..

Scot

yah know Scot, i tried to tell them that......but the general consensus was "Oh my costs wont go up, i dont make enough"......there isnt a single nation that has this kinda health care plan that doesnt cost EVERYONE........they seemed to forget that "those rich guys" are things like their bosses and insurance companies, if their costs go up your costs as an employee go up.....and as soon as DC figures out they cant tax "those rich guys" enough to pay for the healthc care bill they will start taxing the guy that makes $20K a year more.....
 
Last edited:
Back
Top