How much do you believe in Insurance?

Cassinonorth

Well-Known Member
Had my wisdom teeth pulled no insurance charity care picked it up whole cost. I lucked out because they used my pay last year's W2 to qualify. If I had made another ~200 dollars I would have had no assistance. It makes it incredibly hard for people to better themselves when you get cut cold turkey.

If you want to get off assistance you have to make a leapfrog being in being poor by going from poverty to middle class.

Dental insurance blows in general. Haven't had any since I aged out of my parent's.

I found a dentist that gives me a discount for paying cash which is apparently pretty common.
 

Mahnken

Well-Known Member
unfortunately this can't / won't ever happen. Currently as it is, employers can show it as a benefit of employment to attract and keep people along with usual compensation. Take it completely off of employers and take it to government (ie universal healthcare) and you will get taxed heavily for the program so it is tied to employment one way or another directly or indirectly. I just wish there was more focus on the year on year cost increases in healthcare which dwarf actual inflation. Really there is zero focus on that which has been a great disappointment to me. Its more focused on the "get everyone covered" concept. Very noble and I'm not against the concept but when that coverage is crap whats the point. Also, when the how do we pay for it thing is glassed over I worry. Thats where Obamacare lost me. I was originally supportive of the concept until it had little to do with reeling in the crazy cost increases. This is not a political statement on my part at all. I'd love heathcare suddenly, but I'm getting older and realize I may be screwing over younger folks who work and thats not fair either and that part bugs me too.
I think it can, and will, eventually happen. Getting everyone covered will reduce costs. When people aren't covered, they don't catch problems early, they don't have any kind of preventative healthcare, they just go to the ER when things get bad. And that ends up costing far more than what it could have. And costs increase to cover that. Being taxed on healthcare is far better in my opinion, and would work out to be far cheaper for most Americans. And then you'd literally never have to worry about insurance, pick a job you really want, not the one that has better insurance to cover a sick family member. Retire early? Sure, cause you don't have to worry about covering healthcare. If it's taxed, your employer can pay you more, and you'll likely be taxed less than you put out of your paycheck now for it. When I was in the pipefitter union, literally 25% of my compensation package went to health insurance, and that was over ten years ago, it's probably worse now.
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
You pay 2800/year for auto + homeowners insurance? Good ol' PA - tho wait until your kids start driving!
Honestly, I think it is less than that. However remember I drive a 2012 Honda Fit base model, that was 12,000 new. Lol. The premium is basically all for our 2016 pilot.
 

A Potted Plant

Honorary Sod
Stop eating so much candy.

Funny you said that, I just got some gummies in my target order had three and tossed the rest. I gave up candy and soft drinks this year and now I can't stand them. I am about to do a technical test rn and have to shower off because I feel like shit from the candy. Fucking gross.

The cavities were old and it came time to fill em.
 

Blair

Well-Known Member
We have a failing healthcare system, and the root of the problem is the terrible health of our population. Until the government/healthcare industry starts to focus on that instead of putting bandaids on the symptoms, costs will just keep going up. Doesn't matter who's in the white house.
The other problem is the providers are gaming the insurance system. I had a doctor visit where they billed insurance 1k for 30 minutes, it was a ENT sort of specialty but 2k an hour? My last hospital visit was $50k for 5 hours, wish I had those hourly rates. And I might add that both of those were zero cost to me.

OP, $20k is nuts. Unless your Ferrari auto insurance is through the roof.
We paid for Liberty Mutual homeowner's for over twenty years. Had to make a claim recently and they fought us every step of the way to avoid paying.
All those BS marketing commercials are full of crap, geico, etc. NJM is no questions asked on any claim I’ve ever had.
 

a.s.

Mr. Chainring
Bought a 2nd home a few years ago. After about a year I realized I never got home owners insurance for it. Am I crazy ? After almost 25 years of having insurance of my 1st home, I have never filed any sort of claim. I might just cancel that too ..................
If the homes are part of your retirement plan then you’re playing with fire. If not, fuck the insurance. But no more keg parties! :p
 

mfennell

Well-Known Member
As long as anything healthcare-related is traded on the stock market, your healthcare roadmap is fucked. I do not ever see that changing in this country.
Healthcare spending represents 17.7% of US GDP! It's 10% of the UK GDP...

To a person, anyone I've known who has moved from the UK or Canada has had the same reaction regarding health care: "da fuq is this?"

My wife had breast cancer. Managing/tracking the billing was a part-time job for a year. Something in the mail Every. Single. Day. The final bill (of $50k IIRC) took 18mos to settle and required the intervention of a government agency in California (where my company at the time was based). We had GOOD insurance. The owners took it seriously. It didn't matter when stuff got expensive. There was a lot of yelling between the our insurance rep, the business manager at the final doctor, our executive team. It got crazy.

I can't imagine how the poor or even lower middle class navigate a serious medical condition.
 

rick81721

Lothar
Healthcare spending represents 17.7% of US GDP! It's 10% of the UK GDP...

To a person, anyone I've known who has moved from the UK or Canada has had the same reaction regarding health care: "da fuq is this?"

My wife had breast cancer. Managing/tracking the billing was a part-time job for a year. Something in the mail Every. Single. Day. The final bill (of $50k IIRC) took 18mos to settle and required the intervention of a government agency in California (where my company at the time was based). We had GOOD insurance. The owners took it seriously. It didn't matter when stuff got expensive. There was a lot of yelling between the our insurance rep, the business manager at the final doctor, our executive team. It got crazy.

I can't imagine how the poor or even lower middle class navigate a serious medical condition.

Why do people from the UK and Canada come to the US for treatment of serious health issues? Wait times for treatment in those countries are far longer than here. You get what you pay for.

And FYI, the poor have Medicaid.
 

JDurk

Well-Known Member
Dental insurance blows in general. Haven't had any since I aged out of my parent's.

I found a dentist that gives me a discount for paying cash which is apparently pretty common.
Agree on dental insurance. Been going to the same dentist for a long time and he's doesn't work with any network. They will take your card info and submit to whatever insurer. Insurance pays them the covered amount, I pay the difference.

I had a bonding procedure and 2 annual cleanings in '19. I did the math and after paying my monthly premium via payroll, plus the balance not covered by insurance, it would have been cheaper for me to just pay out of pocket. I dropped dental insurance in '20. New for '21, our company is offering a flexible spending account, pre-taxed and using that for the 2 annual cleanings.
 

Cassinonorth

Well-Known Member

From your article:

The Commonwealth Fund, a U.S. think tank, released a report two years ago ranking Canada 10th out of 11 wealthy nations in terms of health care. Only the United States fared worse.

Yikes.

The study they quote for 52,000 Canadians seeking care (0.15% of Canadians fwiw) is questionable at best:

The study does not look specifically at Canadians traveling to the United States. The survey asks physicians to estimate the percentage of their patients who received non-emergency medical treatment outside of Canada, rather than asking the question of patients. And it does not ask about a motivation for why Canadians traveled abroad. The report says that one explanation for Canadians traveling abroad may relate to the longer wait times that patients face for medically necessary elective treatment.
 

graveyardman67

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Most people don't look at the health insurance cost to the employer. We cover a dollar value per employee; around $1000 that can be used for HI, Dental, Vision. We pick up the Life & additional disability at 100%. The balance falls onto the employee. Attached is a screenshot of our monthly invoice. The day I don't have to deal with this will be one the best days ever. It pains me every year to find the best possible package at the most economical price point. Taking into consideration some providers have shitty coverage (limited docs) and some have fuck-tard service. Finding a carrier and plan can fluctuate wildly year over year; both in cost and services provided (2 years ago Atlantic Health Systems dropped Aetna briefly).

Costs will never be controlled until there is a concerted effort to improve the overall health of our country. Even during COVID, the complete lack of focus on health was ridiculous (both mental and physical). Centralizing and taxing the fuck out of people may wake them up when the cost hits directly on the purse. AND we need what happened in Latin America. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/07/16/latin-americas-war-obesity-could-be-model-us/ Right now the business of "health care" is just that. The Minimum Loss Ratios (set by the government) will dictate how much they charge, payout, withhold and line the pockets. I get it, I want to maximize my profit, but not at the cost of someone's health (we invest huge time and money on safeguarding and automation).


Insurance.jpg
 

rick81721

Lothar
From your article:



Yikes.

The study they quote for 52,000 Canadians seeking care (0.15% of Canadians fwiw) is questionable at best:

Yes yikes. Those "healthcare comparisons" encompass all aspects of a system (cost, etc) and do not reflect quality of care.

And you ignored the Canadian study - well over 200K sought care outside of Canada in 2017:
 

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