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Turtleneck Posted Tue 29 Sep, 2009 4:09 PM |
I don't keep up with the news much. Have we been presented with a real proposal? All I hear are rumors. I'd love to know what the options would be.
The one good thing about my insurance is that I don't have to have a referral from my primary care doctor to go to a specialist. I would not want that to change. But I pay for the office calls anyway as it is...I guess it doesn't matter that much. |
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SamuraiSandy Posted Tue 29 Sep, 2009 5:15 PM |
I don't think there has been an official proposal yet, but the plan that they are talking about has a lot of people worrying--but, I think the worrying is due to lack of information, or speculation. I don't think they are too close to finalizing anything, but I do think it will happen one day. I think the idea of national health care is great, but I don't know enough about this plan they are talking about. I do think that there needs to be health care reform big time though. I think a lot needs to be fixed with insurance companies, the medical profession, and legal issues.
This will affect me from more than one angle. If national healthcare is implemented, then I would probably be out of a job, since I'm in the insurance industry. Our business is not health insurance, but if national health care is implemented, there will be no need for our little niche of student/athletic accident insurance. National health care would be great especially for all of the kids we would be covering, but like I said, if that takes place, I'd probably need to look for another job!
I know it'll affect my own insurance somehow, because I have a weird type of insurance...and they might do away with the type of plan that I have. I have an HSA--Health Savings Account. I don't really care for it that much. Most people get HSAs because they don't want to go to the Dr., they just want it for the savings account part, but I'd rather use my insurance for ins. purposes. Plus, when I get married, I'd probably get on his plan anyway. But, I don't know enough about what national health care will do to to existing policies. I'm kinda too lazy to research it.
Wow. Sorry for rambling on a lot about nothing! |
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Turtleneck Posted Sat 04 Dec, 2010 5:56 PM |
Now, in addition to the 40% rate hike for 2010, my crappy insurance is now going up another $100 a month.
That brings us to a grand total of $700 a month for insurance that does NOT cover office visits AT ALL (about $120 for each visit) and only partially covers some prescriptions. This is insane. |
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mili Posted Sat 04 Dec, 2010 10:06 PM |
Sounds complicated. As if our system wasn't.
I guess we pay more taxes, but the health care is pretty simple. You pay about 13 € for each public health center visit, until you reach a certain limit, after which it's free. But you pay more if you go private. For example, going to see gyneagologist would be going private, and that would be expensive.
The medication is supported according to the cheapest option. |
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weirdmom Posted Sat 04 Dec, 2010 11:48 PM |
Turtleneck wrote: Now, in addition to the 40% rate hike for 2010, my crappy insurance is now going up another $100 a month.
That brings us to a grand total of $700 a month for insurance that does NOT cover office visits AT ALL (about $120 for each visit) and only partially covers some prescriptions. This is insane.
Is this through Don's company? Have you looked into private insurance? It might be better because it can't be much worse than what you have. |
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Turtleneck Posted Sun 05 Dec, 2010 1:12 AM |
weirdmom wrote: Turtleneck wrote: Now, in addition to the 40% rate hike for 2010, my crappy insurance is now going up another $100 a month.
That brings us to a grand total of $700 a month for insurance that does NOT cover office visits AT ALL (about $120 for each visit) and only partially covers some prescriptions. This is insane.
Is this through Don's company? Have you looked into private insurance? It might be better because it can't be much worse than what you have.
No, this is private insurance. Don's company only has 2 other employees (and two owners) and neither of the two employees use the company plan. Last time we checked into what they offered, it was more than paying ourselves. We'll look again, though. |
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weirdmom Posted Sun 05 Dec, 2010 2:37 AM |
| Sorry KT. That is really unfair. |
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Turtleneck Posted Thu 16 Dec, 2010 9:11 PM |
| We chose another plan through Blue Cross/Blue Shield. It will be about $375/mo for the family instead of $700. The reason it is less expensive is because our deductible is much higher. On the bright side, the plan (and I think ALL plans now) will cover preventative care such as an annual physical and well child visits, immunizations for the kids, as well as all those female exams we gals dislike so much, but have to do anyway. This is great news for us because we skipped the kids' annual check-ups this year. I haven't been to the doctor or had any exams since Violet was born. |
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weirdmom Posted Thu 16 Dec, 2010 9:18 PM |
| That's excellent news Kayte! Maybe put a bit aside for the deductible and then cross your fingers that you only need it for check-ups. |
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Turtleneck Posted Thu 16 Dec, 2010 9:30 PM |
| It is quite a relief. Don started talking to people about it and it is scary how many families go without any insurance at all. We know a family with 4 kids; the husband is a truck driver and the wife stays home. We always wondered how they manage. Turns out they have no insurance! Same with a few other people we know. They just hope for the best. |
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weirdmom Posted Thu 16 Dec, 2010 10:34 PM |
| I can see how it's the only way for some families or it's enticing to risk it. But oh man, one serious accident or illness and wow....it's your whole life paying off bills. |
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Turtleneck Posted Thu 31 Mar, 2011 9:39 PM |
| That new, less expensive insurance plan we just signed up for in December? Yeah, we just got a letter saying the rates are going up in May. Seriously...this is nuts. The letter didn't even say how much. It just said my May bill would "reflect a new, higher premium." This makes me want to yell bad words. |
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Turtleneck Posted Wed 06 Apr, 2011 8:02 PM |
| A little good news today, the insurance company called and said the letter was sent to us in error and our rates will not be going up in May. Whew! |
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Turtleneck Posted Mon 13 Jun, 2011 4:28 PM |
| There has been a new level of incompetence reached with the insurance company. We have been on an automatic premium withdrawal plan for years. Well, guess what...when we switched plans (same company) for some reason, they stopped taking payments out. This was in December. I just noticed recently when making a list of our monthly expenses. So, I called today and they cancelled our policy back in FEBRUARY! Without notifying me. Not a word, just cancelled the policy on a family with 3 children. Now they are saying I have to reapply and there is a 6 month waiting period if your policy is cancelled, so coverage woulnd't be effective until August. NO, NO, NO! It is THEIR mistake, not mine! And all this time we thought we were covered! It's a good thing no one got sick. How can a company cancel your medical insurance and not notify you???!!! I got angry and called them back (and you all know how difficult it is for me to make calls like this.) So now the billing department is looking into the matter and they are supposed to call back. This is ridiculous. |
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Peewee Posted Mon 13 Jun, 2011 4:43 PM |
| Flip, that sounds like a nightmare Kayte! And totally ridiculous!!!! Hope you get it all sorted and they reimburse you someway. Is there not someone you can contact to make official complaint? |
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