Health Insurance Misery
Artys
Well, I have just been told that if I try to change to another
insurance company, it will not be a "grandfather",
and its rates will go sky-high for me. I have good health. This
makes me feel trapped. How would you feel?
Gary Heston
I would feel that I should check with insurance companies other than the
one I'm considering leaving.
Gary
--
Gary Heston ghe...@hiwaay.net http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/
If you want to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,
go plant trees.
George
What part did you leave out? What was the reason they gave you since you
noted you are in good health?
h
"Artys" <laj...@GMI.net> wrote in message
news:f54f9ec7-e918-4202...@k10g2000yqa.googlegroups.com...
Umm, just fine. Have never had health insurance and never will. Seeing a
doctor is something I just don't do. Dentists, yes, 3 times a year for
cleanings because I have crappy, Irish teeth, but everyone in my family
lives to 91 (both sides, men and women ) without fail, and we never, ever
see doctors. They can force me to buy "health insurance" when they pry the
money from my cold, dead, fingers.i.e., never gonna happen. Medicare?
No...not so much. Not gonna pay, no way, never. But, then again, I'm off the
Gubmint grid. Sucks to be not me! :)
Clams
The advantage of health care insurance is not so much that they pay a
portion of what's owed, but more importantly, they negotiate lower
prices with doctors, hospitals, etc. If you walk in the door with no
insurance, expect to be billed and extra 50%.
Of course, there is much evidence to question if health insurance is
really needed for most under 50. The Obama plan (like Hilliary's
approach) works by forcing the younger to subsidize the elders.
m...@privacy.net
>But, then again, I'm off the
>Gubmint grid. Sucks to be not me! :)
how is it that you have never paid into social security
and Medicare?
m...@privacy.net
>The advantage of health care insurance is not so much that they pay a
>portion of what's owed, but more importantly, they negotiate lower
>prices with doctors, hospitals, etc. If you walk in the door with no
>insurance, expect to be billed and extra 50%.
ABSOLUTELY FALSE!
They charge LESS for out of pocket costs
Artys
Yes, when I pay over the counter for doctor bills, I get a discount.
Yet my doctor demands that I have health insurance. Pay for it but
don't use it!
I am so scared of being shown the door by doctors and insurers, that I
feel trapped. The area that I live in, does that to people.
h
"Artys" <laj...@GMI.net> wrote in message
On Aug 27, 2:07 pm, m...@privacy.net wrote:
> Clams <"Clams"@drunkenclam.com> wrote:
> >The advantage of health care insurance is not so much that they pay a
> >portion of what's owed, but more importantly, they negotiate lower
> >prices with doctors, hospitals, etc. If you walk in the door with no
> >insurance, expect to be billed and extra 50%.
>
> ABSOLUTELY FALSE!
>
> They charge LESS for out of pocket costs
>>>I am so scared of being shown the door by doctors and insurers, that I
>>>feel trapped. The area that I live in, does that to people.
Just do what I do...never need medical care. Eat right, work out, don't ever
have kids. I'm well into my 50s and don't expect to see a doctor ever again.
Why have insurance if you don't need healthcare?
George
to get say cancer. Not wishing it on anyone but how would you pay for
such an occurance?
h
"George" <geo...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:i59grc$s1f$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
I never would. I can't afford insurance and don't want it anyway. I have
accepted that if I have a heart attack or a serious injury I will die.
Because I don't do any screenings or testing, I will never know if I have a
serious illness, and I will die. Since every single one of my ancestors,
back 3 generations, have all died just after their 91st birthdays, I'm not
too worried. Except for one grandfather who got lung cancer in his 60s, but
he smoked 3 packs a day. Doesn't count in my book. My mother is the only
person who has ever had a serious illness, but she's also the only one who
ever goes to a doctor, and takes their poisons (prescriptions). However,
she's still going strong at 86. Just took a walking tour of Italy this
Spring. I think the best way to stay healthy is to eat right, work out,
don't breed, and avoid doctors like the plague they are.
tmclone
Always earned. Always paid in. Have no intention of taking out,
because I don't believe in it. Yes, at 85 or so I'll "sign-up" for SSN
since I've paid for it since I was 17. But...I will NEVER, EVER pay
for Medicare since I simply don't believe in medical care. Don't
really want whatever they will deign to "give me."
Frankly, the last time I looked at the sheet they sent me (5 months
ago) I'd be "netting" way less than I paid in, even if I live to be
105. That must be how they plan to fund continued social
security...the hijacking of the incomes of those of us who plan to
work well into their 70s or 80s. If I could just get back what I (not
any employer) paid in since I was 17 plus a small 5% interest rate
(insane, since average "crappy" interest rates were well over 15% for
YEARS) I'd walk away happy and never ask the gubmint for a dime.
But...it's not "allowed". So...I don't plan to sign up for any of
their handouts, thereby avoiding the tax money they will take for
"medicare" or whatever. Just go away and leave me alone. Thank yew,
verrry much. Don't need it, don't want it, would never use it, ever.
Doctors? Blech! Never, ever.
Don Klipstein
<SNIP stuff already quoted>
>The advantage of health care insurance is not so much that they pay a
>portion of what's owed, but more importantly, they negotiate lower
>prices with doctors, hospitals, etc. If you walk in the door with no
>insurance, expect to be billed and extra 50%.
Or 200-400% more in hospitals, compared to what they get from health
insurance companies. (Your savings by having health insurance will be
less, due to their payroll costs, overhead and profits.)
>Of course, there is much evidence to question if health insurance is
>really needed for most under 50. The Obama plan (like Hilliary's
>approach) works by forcing the younger to subsidize the elders.
Like what is done in every prosperous/industrialized democracy more
prosperous than South Africa, though to lesser extent in USA.
(USA's gubmint Medicare has incomplete coverage largely restricted to
those 65-plus in age, and Medicaid covers only poverty people and at least
generally does not cover going to a primary care physicial with a cold
or flu - but does cover going to the ER for that, even the ER of a
teaching hospital associated with an Ivy League medical school - and AMA
likes that situation according to what I have heard.)
--
- Don Klipstein (d...@misty.com)
Don Klipstein
I know one doctor that gives me a very favorable "self-pay" rate
around 30% of my responsibility according to my high-deductible insurance.
I thank him greatly for doing so.
Going to that one is not even my idea - I go there for a bit of cosmetic
dermatology treatment that I don't even want but my SO wants. And he pays
every dollar and cent for what is his desire and not mine.
Then, there was a time when I went to an ER shortly after a bike crash
caused me to need stitches in a bit of a gash. (Philadelphia driver
barged into a bike lane to make a right turn, and started the right turn
signal after rather than before such lane change - awfully common in
Philadelphia.)
At that time, I was "self pay". The hospital initially billed me a bit
over $1,000 for wound cleaning and a few stitches. But I somehow
managed to get them to knock the bill down by around 75% after telling
them my income. They said that this much lower figure was what they would
get from insurance companies. I was profuse with thanks and I was quick
to cough up about 1/4 of the money that I was initially billed for!
For that matter, my primary care physician's group billed about twice
as much for a physical when I declared insurance as when I declared "self
pay".
Now, I am paying $4,000 per year with a $5,000 annual deductible for
what - in case I survive a crash scene that I depart from in an ambulance,
either my fault or at fault of an uninsured driver, or in case I am the
first in my family to get diagnosed with cancer? Even though my day job
pays me to be fit and trim and burn cholesterol, and my "good cholesterol"
was about 50% more than my "bad" with total in the 160's as of my latest
testing there last year?
Don Klipstein
What if you have a day job paying you to work out?
As in delivery biker? In a city having many uninsured drivers and
many thugs with handguns? (~70% of Philly's handgun assault victims get
to hospitals and exit such hospitals alive after handgun bullet wound
treatment, if I remember correctly statistics occaisionally mentioned in
Philly newspapers - even though in recent years IIRC around 250-300
Philadelphians are murdered annually by illegal use of handguns.)
And what about such a job having a volatile schedule that sometimes
interferes with myself self-applying sunblock lotion? And sunblock
lotion is slightly short of 100% protection? I am aware of 5 types of
malignant melanoma that originate in the skin, at least 3 maybe 4 of which
correlate well with sunlight exposure. Along with 2 other slower-growing
(and accordingly less deadly if treated) skin cancers that correlate well
with sun exposure. Furthermore, in addition there is malignant melanoma
originating in the eye. (I have UV-block eyeglasses with 1980's-style big
lenses, but that may be 98% rather than 100% protection in that area.)
Don Klipstein
<7b79bbb6-748f-444a...@f42g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>,
tmclone wrote in small part:
>(insane, since average "crappy" interest rates were well over 15% for
>YEARS) I'd walk away happy and never ask the gubmint for a dime.
S&P 500 stock index plus reinvestment of dividends from the 1932 low
to the 1999-2000 high achieved less than that. The Willshire 5000 stock
index (includes midcap and most listed smallcap stocks) slightly exceeds
S&P 500 in 30-year-class time span, but is more like 12% than 15%.
These stock indixes for 30-year-or-more time scale have good history of
exceeding bonds, gold, and real estate.
The majority of managed stock mutual funds fare worse than broad market
stock index mutual funds after their expenses.
m...@privacy.net
> And what about such a job having a volatile schedule that sometimes
>interferes with myself self-applying sunblock lotion? And sunblock
>lotion is slightly short of 100% protection?
Good points Don!
Clams
For most, saving (putting aside) the premiums will typically cover more
than one's typical health care costs (that's how insurance works).
Problem is that those without insurance likely spend that money and have
little to show when its needed.
It aways pisses me off when someone expects sympathy because their house
burned, down, etc and they have no insurance. OK - what did you do with
all the money you saved by not having insurance?
Simon Brown
You're welcome to die of whatever you end up with.
> Why have insurance if you don't need healthcare?
Most aren't stupid enough to just die of whatever medical problems they end up with.
h
"Simon Brown" <Si...@nospam2.com> wrote in message
news:8dtcm4...@mid.individual.net...
Eh..PLONK you spamming asshole. JUST DIE! Bye by loser breath. What a total
douche!
Artys
> "Artys" <lajo...@GMI.net> wrote in message
You see, that is my point. I haven't used the insurance, but my
doctor requires me to have it!
Meanwhile, my income is low. Some months even the dollar menu is a
luxury. Now with these
new laws, I could be out of work, broke, forced to get rid of the
insurance, lose my doctor,
and then be fined by the federal government because I don't have it.
That law is not meant
for helping me!
Nick Naim
"Artys" <laj...@GMI.net> wrote in message
to live a healthy life.
Rod Speed
Wont help you if you have a genetic predisposition to cancer or heart attacks etc.
Napoleon
wrote:
>and then be fined by the federal government because I don't have it.
>That law is not meant
>for helping me!
Duh. The law was meant only to help private insurance corporations.
Remember, the US of A is fascist dictatorship. Fascism is the control
of people by private enterprises through the government. Don't let
people tell you the law is socialism. If that was the case you'd be
paying for your healthcare through your taxes with no or little other
out of pocket costs just like every other civilized, non-fascist
country out there.
Bill Bannion
498c97...@n3g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>, laj...@GMI.net says...
>
>
> You see, that is my point. I haven't used the insurance, but my
> doctor requires me to have it!
That's your problem.
Nobody is making you use that doctor.
Drop the insurance and pay cash to a different doctor.
Or blame your doctor.
Nothing in the law preventing him from taking cash payment.
> Meanwhile, my income is low. Some months even the dollar menu is a
> luxury. Now with these
> new laws, I could be out of work, broke, forced to get rid of the
> insurance, lose my doctor,
> and then be fined by the federal government because I don't have it.
> That law is not meant
> for helping me!
Lot of bullshit there in one place.
Until the new laws you were at the mercy of the insurance companies.
What percentage of your net income goes to medical insurance?
For many with low wages like you it's over 25%.
By 2014 the law says it can't be over 9.5% of income.
The gov will pick in the rest.
Maybe that will give taxpayers an incentive to crack down on the health
insurance and health care providers, who are the real problem, with
the outrageeous costs they are extracting from you.
You have to read the new laws and not talk nonsense.
Nobody is going to get fined for not paying private health inusrance
premiums. That's unconstitutional and just part of the garbage they
threw in to get the bill passed.
Same special interests that crippled the bill have you brainwashed.
The laws are trying to protect you from getting raped by the health care
industry, and here you are whining about getting raped by the health
care industry but blaming the law.
More likely you'll be offered a Medicare type plan which is better and
cost less than what you're paying now.
If you don't want it, you will be free to pay cash for your health care
and go bankrupt and lose your house if you get seriouly ill.
We will always have the freedom to be stupid in America.
It is an inalienable right.
Come back with your real health insurance premiums and your wages.
Facts talk, bullshit walks.