Health Insurance

[porcupine kate]

The reason I want health insurance is when I need something much more serve than a visit to the doctor.  If I didn't have health insurance I wouldn't be moving to the free state this year.  Accidents happen and fixing them costs money.

[dalebert]

The idea of insurance for catastrophic illness where you cover your more regular health care out of pocket seems sensible to me but I guess I haven't heard of a plan like that I like. Also, for someone like me who regularly goes to the doctor for things like asthma and allergies, it may be cost effective to pay for a plan that covers some of the day-to-day stuph and is there for me in case I suddenly discover I have cancer or some such. Also, I know that I will be better about preventative care by having already paid for a plan that covers most of it. I'm so frugal that I would probably avoid getting things like vaccinations and such.

I'm optimistic that NH will be better for my allergies, though they were pretty bad when I was up there. I think it may be because I was in the lakes region. Even if that's so, it doesn't mean I should stop getting allergy shots now. Some of my allergies are to things like dogs and I'd like to someday be able to have a dog. I don't know if everyone here is familiar with allergy shots. They're a long term treatment that gets your body used to the substances you're allergic to. They don't make me feel better in the short term. In fact, they make me worse for a little while. They start you with very frequent shots, twice a week, and you gradually work your way down to less frequent shots. If you stop for too long, you may have to start over. I finally made it to once a week and look forward to once every two weeks. I'd hate for all those frequent trips to the allergist and suffering to go to waste.

[demosfen]

Accidents happen and fixing them costs money.

It does, but not as much as insurance companies charge you. I don't know what statistics are for health industry, but for auto insurance, for every $1 collected in insurance fees they only pay 11 cents in claims. Insurance is a tax on mathematically-challenged

And if it's expensive surgery, etc., the chances are pretty good that insurance company will refuse to pay. I've seen it happen.

'Sicko' is a decent move to watch.

[error]

Michael Moore identifies the problem, but he fails to identify the solution. In fact, his proposed solution is actually the cause of the problem!

[demosfen]

I am not praising Moore, he is a socialist... I am just saying that for drugs and doctor visits it's cheaper to pay cash than buy insurance, nor does it work for expensive treatments and surgeries because the higher the cost the less likely insurance company will pay

[J’raxis 270145]

Is there a reason you want to get scammed by insurance companies? I've been self-insured for 3 or 4 years now, paying cash for any visit, and am not missing anything. Did you know that insurance companies are in it for profit and you can save if you kill the middleman? Two middlemen actually, since your doctor doesn't pay income tax on cash payments. Instead of funding insurance companies, why not pay your doctor directly and spend the difference on krugerrands

Problem here, though, is that because of the insurance companies and their grip on the medical industry, you end up paying a lot more in cash than you ought to. Insurance companies, due to their size, and collusion with the government (HMO Act, &c.), can negotiate—that is, coerce—such low rates from doctors that uninsured patients make up for the difference.

Are you guys for involuntary health care for everyone by any chance? Any Barak Obama supporters here?

Hah, that crap is why I moved from Massachusetts when I did...

[dalebert]

Mega Health has a product through Chesapeake that is hands down best when it comes to coverage and cost.

I think that's what I applied for. It's a plan through Chesapeake- prolly the one you're talking about.

[Porcupine Realtor]

Dale,
When I see you next, remind me to talk with you about allergies.  I have some strong opinions on the subject.
Mark

[Raineyrocks]

I haven't had health insurance for about 15 years and sometimes I do get worried about something like a real big medical issue coming up like a heart attack or something on the other hand if I get cancer I wouldn't go for the regular doctor treatments anyway so no money lost there.

I like the idea of being free to choose whatever doctor I want, if they'll accept me as a patient, and not having everything tracked by an insurance company. The things that are wrong with me are already "preexisting" anyway so the insurance wouldn't cover them anyway.

A friend of mine pays over $400 a month with huge deductibles and doesn't even meet her deductibles to be able to use her insurance.  I guess it all depends on your health problems and beliefs in the medical establishment.  My husband wants to get health insurance for us and I keep telling him to just get it for himself if he wants it at this point I don't want it.
I had hernia surgery done the month after I moved here and I'm paying each bill $10 to $35 a month until it's paid off.

I do have a medical question though if anyone knows anything about it I'd love some input.  There has been a mole on my back, regular size but it has been itching for about 3 years now so all of a sudden the bone underneath the mole in my back is really hurting and I've got some more like pink blister things around the entire area and a weird rash line.  Does that sound like skin cancer?   I don't think it's lyme disease because I have no flu like symptoms or anything.  I feel fine except for the pain in my bone and the itching.  I tried using bloodroot paste, it's an alternative thing to remove suspicious moles but it didn't do anything, then I put coconut oil on it and it made it hurt worse.  Weird, huh?
Sorry for getting off topic I just hope somebody has some ideas for me.

[dalebert]

Dale,
When I see you next, remind me to talk with you about allergies.  I have some strong opinions on the subject.
Mark

That's cool but I'll need help attaching the online ID to the face. 

My new allergist wrote me a couple prescriptions for medicine that's $4 for a month from Walmart; no ins needed. I like this guy already. Also, I'm about to go on once per month (instead of per week like now) allergy shots which I thought wasn't going to happen for a while but this new office says I'm almost there. That's 1/4 my basic maintenance cost right there. He also said some things that makes me skeptical if I actually have asthma and told me some things to try to learn more.

[Rochelle]

I do have a medical question though if anyone knows anything about it I'd love some input.  There has been a mole on my back, regular size but it has been itching for about 3 years now so all of a sudden the bone underneath the mole in my back is really hurting and I've got some more like pink blister things around the entire area and a weird rash line.

One of the other ladies I work with has skin cancer, and from the spot she had on her nose, it didn't look like blisters at all...it just looks like an off colored patch of skin. I've had itchy moles before, though, so that sounds familiar...I ended up scratching one off once, but it healed and came back, as moley as ever
If you're really worried about it, it might be worth a doctor's appointment with your regular doctor just to check it out...

I get insurance through my job, and trust me, it's nothing to do cartwheels across the room about. They make a big deal about covering anything, and in order to get some things I had done covered, I had to prove to them that I had had insurance at one point in time and hadn't just put it off until I did (like Raineyrocks said).
Additionally, I really dislike about the fact that I'm still not sure if I have a huge medical bill coming to me from stuff that I had done at the end of April! I've gotten some bills, but the way the billing is stated with things taken off for insurance, put back on, cut in half, transfigured into fairies, I'm not really sure what is what.
Once I have enough savings, I'm thinking of doing away with insurance all together (or maybe doing an HSA, but how unfortunate you have to have high deductible health insurance with that why's the gov got to regulate EVERYTHING!?) and just paying out of pocket. I like doing that. The only bad thing about medical care is that it's the one service where it's considered impolite to ask how much things are going to cost and no where do they have a price listing. How are we, as consumers supposed to be able to make rational decisions about our healthcare dollars if they don't have a price listing?

[Raineyrocks]

I do have a medical question though if anyone knows anything about it I'd love some input.  There has been a mole on my back, regular size but it has been itching for about 3 years now so all of a sudden the bone underneath the mole in my back is really hurting and I've got some more like pink blister things around the entire area and a weird rash line.

One of the other ladies I work with has skin cancer, and from the spot she had on her nose, it didn't look like blisters at all...it just looks like an off colored patch of skin. I've had itchy moles before, though, so that sounds familiar...I ended up scratching one off once, but it healed and came back, as moley as ever
If you're really worried about it, it might be worth a doctor's appointment with your regular doctor just to check it out...

I get insurance through my job, and trust me, it's nothing to do cartwheels across the room about. They make a big deal about covering anything, and in order to get some things I had done covered, I had to prove to them that I had had insurance at one point in time and hadn't just put it off until I did (like Raineyrocks said).
Additionally, I really dislike about the fact that I'm still not sure if I have a huge medical bill coming to me from stuff that I had done at the end of April! I've gotten some bills, but the way the billing is stated with things taken off for insurance, put back on, cut in half, transfigured into fairies, I'm not really sure what is what.
Once I have enough savings, I'm thinking of doing away with insurance all together (or maybe doing an HSA, but how unfortunate you have to have high deductible health insurance with that why's the gov got to regulate EVERYTHING!?) and just paying out of pocket. I like doing that. The only bad thing about medical care is that it's the one service where it's considered impolite to ask how much things are going to cost and no where do they have a price listing. How are we, as consumers supposed to be able to make rational decisions about our healthcare dollars if they don't have a price listing?

Thanks Rochelle!   My husband is bugging me to go to a dermatologist because if I go to a general practitioner they're probably only going to tell me to go to one anyway.   

[Fragilityh14]

I can't necessarily get along with a doctor well enough to consistently seek treatment for a condition.

I was watching Washington's Public Access Channel a day there was a medical marijuana hearing, and before it they had a hearing about trying to change Washington's laws so that doctors offices could allow a patient to buy membership each month for a small amount, and then pay a set amount for appointments as they happen, instead of having to go through your insurance.

This was for primary care specifically, because there argument is that emergency rooms etc waste a lot of resources in treating people who could have not had to have an emergency room visit with proper preventive care. Essentially the idea is to make the doctor once again actually work FOR the patient, vs for an insurance company.


As Ron Paul has explained (and which I have also read elsewhere) is that what we have is not health insurance, it's health insulation. If it was health insurance it would be categorized by low premiums and infrequent claims when there was actually an emergency: you don't inform your insurance company when you get in oil change, or sometimes even when you get in a minor collision.

(incidentally, this place in Seattle from which people were testifying which only did primary care, said they tried to work with doctors in other specialties to get their patients reduced rates so that health care is affordable w/o health insurance, or, members of the Doctor's Office can have a sort of health insurance which is mostly for large issues.)

[Rochelle]

My husband is bugging me to go to a dermatologist because if I go to a general practitioner they're probably only going to tell me to go to one anyway.

yea, they're useless like that