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if you were paying that much for one person, you had to have been covered thru one of the state's high risk plan, who get not get coverage through regular insurance due to underwriting.
No, the 800 was for myself, my wife and one 1 year old. Before the 1 year old came, it was about 400/mo.
Location: Lots of sun and palm trees with occasional hurricane :)
8,293 posts, read 16,220,868 times
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Healthcare here is extremely expensive because of several factors, number 1 being attorneys (malpractice cases).
Medicaid and Medicaid fraud.
US medical schools train physicians to rely on technology and many have poor clinical judgement, thus too many expensive, superfluous diagnostic tests are ordered with a twofold purpose - to hopefully make a accurate diagnosis; to keep the attorneys away.
Also, you have the HMO and capitated systems where physicians' payments are heavily reduced and/or capped and so in order to pay for trips to Europe, the Lexus and BMW's and the kids private schools' tuition, they need to pump out 60 patients in a 1/2 day instead of what normally would have been 30 and the patient could have gotten a little more face to face time.
BTW, I work in healthcare and know the system well.
My son does not have medical insurance and is out of pocket for any doctors' visits or treatments. He would be paying close to $500/mth for a half-way decent coverage after a $5K deductible, and high co-pay or co-insurance depending on service rendered. Also, many services would be non-covered. So basically he would be self-pay for everything except maybe major surgery or trauma.
well, I have the privilege of speaking about it since I do PR for a hospital, and know it isnt working. My brother is a surgeon and even the AMA admits the U.S. is in crisis.
From your inside experience, how do hospitals feel about a UHI system similar to that of the U.K?
For those of you who pay for your own coverage, what do you pay?
When I left CA four years ago I was paying 800/mo to Kaiser. Now I have three kids. IF I come back I would prefer to just get catastrophic coverage and just pay for broken legs and stuff. Any idea what high deductable insurance would cost?
What a hassle. It really does make me think twice about coming back. No offense to people already there. And no, I do not have to come back. I am just considering options.
Bob..I pay $800 for me and my son under a small business plan.. it would be over $1000 for the both of us if I didn't have that small business.
It'd disgusting..!! and currently is about 16% of my income.
Bob..I pay $800 for me and my son under a small business plan.. it would be over $1000 for the both of us if I didn't have that small business.
It'd disgusting..!! and currently is about 16% of my income.
A doctor friend of mine suggested years ago that I get a high deductible catastrophic policy and just paying for smaller stuff myself. And opening a Health Savings Account.
There is just too much thinking and too many options and too many players all lined up to take a piece that aren't directly in the med field.
Healthcare here is extremely expensive because of several factors, number 1 being attorneys (malpractice cases).
Medicaid and Medicaid fraud.
US medical schools train physicians to rely on technology and many have poor clinical judgement, thus too many expensive, superfluous diagnostic tests are ordered with a twofold purpose - to hopefully make a accurate diagnosis; to keep the attorneys away.
Also, you have the HMO and capitated systems where physicians' payments are heavily reduced and/or capped and so in order to pay for trips to Europe, the Lexus and BMW's and the kids private schools' tuition, they need to pump out 60 patients in a 1/2 day instead of what normally would have been 30 and the patient could have gotten a little more face to face time.
BTW, I work in healthcare and know the system well.
My son does not have medical insurance and is out of pocket for any doctors' visits or treatments. He would be paying close to $500/mth for a half-way decent coverage after a $5K deductible, and high co-pay or co-insurance depending on service rendered. Also, many services would be non-covered. So basically he would be self-pay for everything except maybe major surgery or trauma.
So you agree...malpractice lawyers will not be in business if there weren't so many lawsuits filed against providers for the most trivial of things. Society is highly litigious.
Consumers have Dom Perignon tastes on beer pockets...does not stop them from asking for Dom Perignon and wanting to pay the price of beer, so controls have been put in place....like HMO's and capitation and IPO arrangements. Society does not like gatekeepers...limits choices they say. But providers don't like caps and will make up for it somewhere, like seeing 60 cows per day instead of 40.
Consumer complains about the quality of health care and sues.
Location: Lots of sun and palm trees with occasional hurricane :)
8,293 posts, read 16,220,868 times
Reputation: 7018
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob The Builder
A doctor friend of mine suggested years ago that I get a high deductible catastrophic policy and just paying for smaller stuff myself. And opening a Health Savings Account.
There is just too much thinking and too many options and too many players all lined up to take a piece that aren't directly in the med field.
including pharmaceutical companies, therapists, medical supply companies, etc.
You know, the "smaller" stuff isn't so small. It's extremely easy to reach those $5,000 quickly IF your insurance plan will recognize expenses incurred at face value or will they price it at the "allowable" according to their fee schedule. You may end up paying out $10,000 before it meets your $5K deductible.
Just think... a pain in the neck. Literally
Consult/visit with neurologist, or maybe your primary/general/ doctor first who refers you to neuro. Then, the neuro can't come up with any diagnosis until he gets an MRI, which has a "technical" and a "professional" charge, then back to the neuro who decides that he needs a CT scan and then he orders pain meds and then, after all, you just need a neck brace - Take 800 mg Motrin 3x/day, wear the brace for 2 weeks, and you should be fine. If you're not, well then we may just have to do a laminectomy because you really have a ruptured disc.
I don't think the system in Europe or Canada is the answer either.
For those of you who pay for your own coverage, what do you pay?
For my wife and I, we pay a little over $500 a month. $2500 deductible. No Deductible for wellness. $20 office visit / $25 specialist. No pre authorization for any procedure. No requirement to have a PCP. Worldwide coverage. Hospital - patient pays first $300 of hospital. Insurance is 100% after that. Prescriptions are Generic are free / then 20 / 35
Location: Lots of sun and palm trees with occasional hurricane :)
8,293 posts, read 16,220,868 times
Reputation: 7018
Quote:
Originally Posted by bibit612
So you agree...malpractice lawyers will not be in business if there weren't so many lawsuits filed against providers for the most trivial of things. Society is highly litigious.
Consumers have Dom Perignon tastes on beer pockets...does not stop them from asking for Dom Perignon and wanting to pay the price of beer, so controls have been put in place....like HMO's and capitation and IPO arrangements. Society does not like gatekeepers...limits choices they say. But providers don't like caps and will make up for it somewhere, like seeing 60 cows per day instead of 40.
Consumer complains about the quality of health care and sues.
And the cycle never ends....
The HMO laws have been gradually changing. The patient now has more freedom as to where they go, to whom and when. More plans are "open access" where you do not have to have an authorization from the "gatekeeper" for every test or specialist you need to see.
HMOs went out of their league in the early days when they tried to dictate what was medically necessary and what would not be approved because some administrative lay person decided something didn't need to be done. That decision should be made by the patient and his physician and no one else.
Unfortunately, the more affordable healthcare is in capitated "Networks" and those are run very much like a dictatorship. I've seen too many bad outcomes and attorneys ARE sometimes warranted.
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