Health insurance rant...(could pull my hair out) - Page 2

[Tradd]

Originally Posted by Leta

The only way out of the health care crisis is through gov't intervention. They bailed out the big three in the 70's, there's no reason why they shouldn't step up and fix our broken multipayer system.

Just for the record, the feds only bailed out CHRYSLER in the 1979-80. I'm from Michigan too (although I no longer live there - moved 10.5 years ago to get AWAY from the auto industry).

I'm single. At the end of October, I left a job I'd had for five years (ugly situation at work and too much stress so I bailed). I was paying only $20/month for my insurance - a PPO that was pretty good - I also had dental and some vision. My COBRA for medical only would have been almost $500. I can't afford that, so I'm not doing it. I will be eligible for insurance through the new job (which I had less than two weeks later) in March. I'm going without.

[fuller2]

Sorry to say this, but $7400 for medical, dental AND vision for a family actually sounds like a pretty good deal these days. I don't know if you'd do much better than that most places. And I bet his employer is paying at least that much on their end. (That's what many employers don't offer health insurance anymore--they just can't afford it.)

I read somewhere that many states--which often provide the sweetest health insurance deals to employees, teachers, pensioners, etc.--are basically looking at near-bankruptcy in the next 10 years because of how high the costs are for them to cover this. They have made promises they just aren't going to be able to keep because of how expensive it is--that, or else younger people are just not going to get the same deal. The days of good, nearly-free employer-provided health insurance are long over.

[phatchristy]

Just my little update. We found out that even less stuff is covered and the deductible rose substantially. The irony now is that the plans we are being quoted for (searching elsewhere) all cost about the same or slightly less (if I go without maternity coverage). The catastrophic coverage plans actually are pretty cheap (about 230 for the family a month, but obviously there are huge deductibles and it wouldn't cover preventative stuff). The issue then turns now to the tax/fica/medicare pre-tax exclusions and wether any preventative med stuff is covered. So, maybe if we keep this coverage this year I'll move up having #4 a little bit sooner and he'll be looking for another job with better benefits.

[dinade]

We went through this the problem is us moms. Theysee us as potentially having babies and our coverage goes way up to unaffordable. Ridiculous really. I am having no more babies. My dh has had the big v and we still have to pay I think it was 7200 when we quit using their ins. Now the kids and him are covered for 225/mo and I'm on the catastrophic ins so at least if i get cancer it's covered 100% after 5g. It sucks. Health care is horrible here. My dh isn't changing jobs anytime soon so we're stuck with it. Sigh.

[phatchristy]

Originally Posted by dinade

We went through this the problem is us moms. Theysee us as potentially having babies and our coverage goes way up to unaffordable. Ridiculous really. I am having no more babies. My dh has had the big v and we still have to pay I think it was 7200 when we quit using their ins. Now the kids and him are covered for 225/mo and I'm on the catastrophic ins so at least if i get cancer it's covered 100% after 5g. It sucks. Health care is horrible here. My dh isn't changing jobs anytime soon so we're stuck with it. Sigh.

I think that is what may be the plan here, as soon as I am done having kiddos and done with my mole surgeries (it looks like the dermatologist wants me to have a few more excised) the next year after that I'll end up going with a catastrophic...that is if DH doesn't get a new job first.

It's the same thing at their office...him and the kids would be $270 a month, but add me and it's double. They told me that it had to do with the fact that they like to encourage spouses to be on their work's plan instead (to cut costs). Well, in our case with three young children it's obvious I'm not working .

[kayjayjay]

We went through this sort of crisis a few years ago when we were paying 1/3 of DH's income (750/month) for ins, and none of us had been to the doctor in a year and we were paying out-of-pocket for a home birth. I just said this is insane, we'd come out ahead if we just paid out of pocket for everything, and we dropped the ins. We now have a high deductible plan that makes us eligible for a health savings account. We pay about 300/month for a policy that covers all of us, the deductible is 5100/year and the maximum out-of-pocket is 5100/year. We can put 5400/year into our account, tax-free, and if we don't use it, we keep it, not the ins company. This has worked very well for us, and I feel secure that we'll be ok in case of catastrophic illness. We don't go to the doctor very often, so we have come out ahead every year since we set up the plan.

That's our family's story.

[Phoenix_Rising]

your rates sound pretty in line with others i have heard. if it makes you feel better even after the portion my company pays toward my insurance i pay $700 a month - more than half of my paycheck. i think i have found individual insurance though for DS. have you looked into that? check out www.ehealthinsurance.com for info on premiums and plan options. good luck.

[mountainsun]

hmmmm, we are going thru this right now as well. Open enrollment is in Jan, and dh and I have been going back and forth on wether or not to *finally* get insurance thru his work. We have been w/o for about 3 yrs. We are not "doctor" people either and we paid for ds2's hombirth out of pocket. The family plan will run us about $700/ month, and although we can "afford" it, it seems like a big rip off. We have been considering dumping that money into a savings account instead, in case something were to happen. But with ds1 being 3 now, I am more worried about something happening (broken bones, stitches, etc) than I have been in the past, so we are considering the insurance. We could cover him and the boys for like 300 per month, add me and it shoots up to over $700. YIKES.

The situation does suck and there is no excuse for anyone in the wealthiest nation on the planet to not be able to afford healthcare, imo.

Does anyone have any info on the catastrophic coverage/ HSA idea?