Medical Insurance.

[kodydog]

I wrote this several days ago when we received our insurance bill. I wrote this from the heart on Word but wasn't sure what I would do with it. Until Steve made a comment on another post. I don't mean this to be political but more about the business of insurance. Something not often talked about on this forum.

Affordable Care Act

Before government's involvement in health insurance there was never an enrollment period. We could buy or cancel our insurance whenever we pleased.

Before government's involvement in health insurance the monthly premium for the two of us was $600 a month. We just received our policy from Blue Cross. Our monthly premium is $2300. We were promised our premiums would go down but instead they have gone up 4 times.

Of course we cannot afford $2300/mo. so we have two choices. Do without which is a bad idea. Or apply for subsidies (ACA). So let me get this straight, the Government has rigged ACA so I am forced to take money from someone else to help pay my insurance premiums. My entire life I have never asked the government for money but now I am forced to be on welfare. I'm taking money from strangers, friends and family to help pay for my insurance. This makes me feel bad.

This year Blue Cross raised our premiums. But that's okay because the government is going to cover it. So every time Blue Cross (a private company) raises their rates the government (tax payers) pays for it? How is this a good idea?

When I was growing up I was told if I ever need assistance from the government I needed to get off it as soon as possible. Makes sense to me. It has something to do with pride. ACA does not give me this option.

Some folks tell me ACA is a good plan and besides nobody has a better idea. Then they tell me what we really need is a single payer system. Single payer gives even more control to the government. Single payer would be a complete government takeover of our medical system.

There are other ideas out there. Among them are Medical Savings Accounts and Medical Co-Ops. These two options would take medical decisions away from the government and put it back into the hands of doctors and patients. I would be able to choose my doctor. I would be able to shop for the best medical deal. It would make buying health insurance easier and more affordable and it would get me off welfare.

[65Buick]

I know kody. It is really, really hard.
Big insurance cos and medical establishments know very well the plight of the average worker. They have so much more manpower.
Before ACA i was one of millions absolutely denied insurance, for something so petty and treatable.

[SteveA]

Ian I'm very glad you can obtain coverage.  Pre-existing conditions and sky rocketing premiums had to be solved.  However did the Gov need to take over health care to achieve that.  Access to coverage may not mean they are giving you good and affordable care.  I'm in the ACA - it's terrible.  When I call up the Doctor's office to make an appointment the office asks my ID # and I'm told there are no appointments for two weeks and when I come in I can see a physician assistant.
My premium is going from $ 1100.00 to $ 1700.00 if I stay with the silver plan.  I will need to go to bronze to save $ 350.00.
OOP is $ 14,300.00 which is crazy.  Limited Doctors, limited procedures, and forced to buy prescriptions from scripts on line. 
When ACA was passed they said a piece of legislation this big was never passed without participation from both sides.   I remember Boehner saying this won't work vote against it -  I guess many thought medicare works why not ACA.
All I can tell you is that my coverage before ACA was much much better - cheaper - and premiums didn't escalate at the rate this ACA is going.
SA

[MinUph]

When Obama care first stared we jumped on the wagon because we had not been able to afford Health Insurance for awhile. It was nice having it. My first statement was an eye opener. We were being helped paying the bill by an unbelievable amount. I said to my wife this just can't last. The country will go broke. And sure enough it has gotten scary expensive for the people and the country. We have both since moved onto Medicare and no longer have the abomination of the heath insurance from Obama. I am very interested to see how things play out in the coming years on this issue. I hear some great options are out there but the gov cant seem to see them. We do need to get them out of it.

[65Buick]

I hope if we continue to discuss this that it won't get political in the way of anger.
I don't think Obama intended to solve everything, I'm sure he didn't. He did make an attempt to reel in the big insurance cos making a killing (literally) off people.
The whole pre-existing thing haunted me from the time I was old enough to have to get my own insurance.
I am extremely lucky now to just have my wife's ins. I don't even look at the ACA.
I honestly don't know if gov't intervention is the answer. It doesn't seem so and while single-payer sounds great I think most of us know how that would work in real life. Badly.
Most of my fam live in the UK, which has socialized medicine. You're sick, you walk in and get treated. But again in reality it's an abomination. The way they treated my grandpa just makes me sick. I know it isn't an isolated case.
So here we are, 21st century and a few very priveleged people masmake off like bandits while the rest of us..

[Rich]

Doesn't having the government this involved make more work for government agencies? Seems to me the only ones getting an "insurance benefit" is the Federal government. It gets bigger, we get smaller.
Rich

[kodydog]

Correct Rich also all the government bureaucracy, red tape and waist every time they get involved in something. It would be so much easier and affordable to simply address the problem. Instead their solution is always to spend more money and gain more control.

[kodydog]

Before ACA i was one of millions absolutely denied insurance, for something so petty and treatable.

And that is what I'm talking about. The problem wasn't that you couldn't afford insurance the problem was you couldn't afford health care. The government could have solved that problem by starting a program for people with preexisting conditions. Help for those with preexisting conditions didn't need to involve insurance companies. In your case the preexisting condition was minor so an arbitrator could be assigned to work out a deal with the health care facility. It would have been far more affordable than what ACA has turned into. 

[SteveA]

It seems like every President wants a legacy - the previous administration was Obama Care whether it was better for all or not. 
If you give away waivers and don't have Washington participate what clear thinking individual would believe the coverage is for the betterment of all of us
SA

[kodydog]

I think the Idea behind ACA was to give insurance to those who couldn't afford it. A noble gesture indeed. Problem is there are too many and the taxpayers can't afford it. Here is a more affordable idea. What ever happened to the free clinics in the 60's and 70"s. They were not real glamorous and you had to wait awhile to see a doctor but if your were dead broke and needed medical attention they were there to help you.

1979 I made the stupid decision to break up a dog fight. I received a nice gash in my pinky finger that needed 7 or 8 stitches. I was dead broke and living paycheck to paycheck. I went to the emergency room and got it taken care of. I set up a payment plan with the hospital and 1-1/2 years later I paid it off.

Some may say things were different in 1979. Health care costs have skyrocketed sense then. And they would be right. But why have rates gone up so much. I guess you could say Collage tuition's have skyrocketed also. Malpractice lawsuits that pay $50 million or more have skyrocketed. Drug companies have to wait 10 years or more for FDA to approve new medications. Insurance companies who deal directly with the hospital so the patient has no Idea how much their care is. And corporate hospitals who's bottom line are profits. Fix these and more issues and watch medical costs go down.

We don't need a complete government takeover of the health care industry we need politicians to get off their asses and do the work of the people.

[MinUph]

I have heard about these Dr. run groups where adults pay like $50.00 a month and can see their Dr. anytime they need to. Children I believe are less expensive than that. The Dr.'s can and will do most things except like major medical issues. Cancer treatments etc. But most all general visits are included. This is where we need to get and allow the Dr.'s and patients to be in charge of the care we receive. No the insurance companies and Drug companies. I forget the name of the Dr. that started this and in what states it is now but someone of you may have heard about this also and can shed more light. My memory isn't as good as it use to be. But this is a very interesting concept.

[kodydog]

I believe something like this is what you are referring to. Health care co-op.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANSF43Rd7bQ

[MinUph]

Yes thats where I heard of it on Hannity's radio show

[Mojo]

My best friend has a concierge Doctor. He limits his patients to just a few hundred. My buddy pays a couple grand to him a year. From then on this doctor is on personal call to him whenever he needs him 24/7. No receptionists or secretaries, he calls his personal cell phone. If he needs a spet then this Doctor makes all of the arrangements and selects the best.

If he needs to see him he makes an appointment and gets in right away. It is in a private setting and there is no waiting. A lot of the times if he gets sick then he calls his Doc and he will write him a prescription.

Mojo

[Mojo]

Trust me when I tell you I know how very blessed I am. I retired from a municipal power company and Ingrid and I have full medical and dental insurance for life. I have no idea what insurance costs these days. They just send us our cards every year. We have zero deductibles for everything but prescriptions. That has a $ 12 co-pay. It is a damn good thing because the new chemo drug they just put me on costs $ 11,000 per month. The great thing is that it has produced rock solid remissions for me.

Ingrid had an emergency appendectomy 2 years ago and the total bill was $ 85,000. They charged $ 18 K just for a cat scan. Our total out of pocket was $ 350 for everything. There is something really screwed up with our medical system when the costs are so outrageous like this.

What pisses me off is the insurance company CEO's are pocketing millions every year in bonuses as are the CEO's of hospitals and large health companies.

Obamacare was destined to be a failure because the government was involved. Any program that our government has had a hand in has been a cluster. They have bankrupted Social Security and screwed up all kinds of other programs.

I seriously do not know how people do it these days. The insurance premiums under ACA that I have heard are outrageous when you consider the deductibles are out of sight. I have always felt that our entire medical system should be made up of all non-profit companies. Instead we have mega corporations making mega dollars off peoples misery.

Mojo