How much do you pay for healthcare?

[CaptainPenguin 5]

I have pretty awesome health insurance through my employer.

Co-pay for most visits is 15 to 20 dollars, 50 bucks for emergency room and two free checkups with test a year. Also includes two free checkups a year for dental and vision, everything else is covered to 85%. Cavities a free, preventative filling are 3 bucks. My combined cost for medical, dental, vision and life insurance is 14.50 every two weeks.

Before I worked here I was unemployed for a while and I paid about 130 a month for half the current coverage.

[lostinblue 1,989]

Have good friends with health insurance but the guy got cancer and it bankrupted them. They lost their home, everything but each other.

My cancer insurance policy is $8.25/week If I leave the company I can take it with me. Let's see.......Cut back on a beer a day and not go bankrupt.....I guess some one made the wrong choice

[NickD 203]

With a family of three, we are only paying about $14,200.00 per year, but are in pretty good health. With our policy, the price would be the same if we had ten kids, but I heard a rumor that kids can also cost a lot extra in other ways so in may not be to our advantage to get more. Is that true?

Then you never know what's going to happen tomorrow.

[JelloShotGirl 0]

I pay about $170.00 bi weekly for myself and hubby. Its pretty steep when you income is only about $36,000.00 annually. co pays are $25.00 generic drugs are $10.00 for 90 days if u order thru medco their pharmacy

[Ladylethal 12]

I won't pretend to know much about healthcare and insurance really works in US but from everything that I read the costs without insurance are way too high. But then again doctors here are well paid in comparison to doctors in Brasil (especially public hospital's ones). But to me the insurance plans are kinda odd too as my experience with private insurance in Brasil is: it costs THIS much for someone your age and sex, then the cost goes up depending on conditions and options (such as private room or infirmary bed, maternity costs or not, heart diseases, etc.). You can choose just about anything on what your plan will cover, and last I heard you could have full coverage (nothing comes out of your pocket) or you could pay a little less a month and pay 5%, 10% etc whenever you used the plan.

I don't ever recall people denied with pre-conditions, they just pay more, but I could be wrong.

Also public healthcare is there, it sucks, it's horrible, but it's there. One thing we do have free that I haven't seen here and we're complimented on is vaccination. You don't ever need to pay a single cent for any vaccines. All my vaccines that I had to take during the K1/AOS were free (except the last dose of 2 that I had to take here in PR, and they were expensive) and for instance, I went to visit the Amazon and Yellow Fever vaccine was free, just walk up to the clinic, and ask for it, show your card, done. I tried getting hubby vaccinated here before leaving and they said it would cost 200 dollars for the shot.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

There are thousands of actual experiences that disagree. I too thought the system is awesome until I actually had to use it.

What you are suggesting in the last sentence can only be achieved by means of government legislation.

People, companies and even countries tend to emulate what works best. Strange how no one wants to emulate the US system. Actually, many use it as an example of what not to do. You seem to overlook this little reality. Or do you see it but still believe, we are the US!, screw the rest.

If someone came to AUS and said look at what Canada is doing for xyz, it's awesome. Government officials would fund a study to research it. They'd discuss it, consider it and most likely implement it - or a version of it. What they wouldn't do is say, who cares, we are the best bla bla bla bla snore.. The latter attitude is just idiocy and pride. It's also why what the rest of the first world is doing is of no interest to anyone against the reform.

I'm not too worried about thousands or even a few million who might disagree.

As I've said, I look at everything in context of population... If the majority of the population in a country our size are covered and happy with their coverage, then let it be.

Granted, "coverage" is not the problem it's overall COST as I keep saying.

It's pure idiocy to think that placing more people on an already overburdened system would cause costs to go down when doctors/hospitals are expected to follow the same policies they always have.

The fact of the matter is, you're right. Government DOES need to step in and step back at the same time. There are too many laws on the books on the federal level and too many in many cases on a state level that have attributed to continued rising costs. Too many special interests in the fields of pharmaceuticals and even in medical equipment have gotten by with too much ####### for too long because Washington is BROKEN when it comes to lobbyists...

If COST was down and insurance premiums were ridiculous, then there'd be an argument for government intervention in insurance. As it stands though, that's not the case when you look at what many people "pay in" and what they actually end up "taking out" if they need a major procedure.

I'm not for Government doing nothing, but a bill that does nothing but mandate coverage, not allow for denial of coverage, increases taxes out the #######, and cuts medicare, is NOT going to help the problem.... It's going to contribute to it and lead to even higher Costs overall and at the same time possibly bankrupt the insurance industry. Of course, part of me thinks that might be their overall goal....

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Wow this thread is still going strong! onwa must be so proud.

I have so much catching up to do. Read VJ or read work emails? Decisions, decisions.

[chri'stina 190]

As for healthcare being a right, even though I know some are just being sarcastic about certain parts of the argument , well I thought when you need a right it means something is not accessible to you? Shouldn't the argument be that people have a right to affordable insurance?

You do have the right to be treated by a hospital in the US already. Isn't this why the ER has to treat anyone, and why they have a plaque on their walls saying no one can be turned away from treatment? Because it's a right, already. So to me the issue is not needing a right to healthcare, it's there, right there for anyone to go to the ER or go to your local DR. But yeah you are going to have to pay if you don't have insurance. It's the affordability issue that ruins people's lives (even with insurance, when ppl reach the limits for issues like cancer), while they can often get the treatment they need.

On a complete side note, although I don't post on VJ much, this has been my most popular thread and that makes me happy (and a loser). So easily pleased am I.

By the way I like what it says as your member title.

From a mathematical perspective, yes. But in most aspects the zeros are of importance.

Caveat: I haven't read the entire argument and have no idea the context or significance of this argument.

If you read why this came up, you'd probably have a good laugh.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

As for healthcare being a right, even though I know some are just being sarcastic about certain parts of the argument , well I thought when you need a right it means something is not accessible to you? Shouldn't the argument be that people have a right to affordable insurance?

Insurance cost is not the problem, it's health care cost.

If health care costs are high, premiums are going to be high.

You can't expect an insurance company to pay-out $150,000 or more for a procedure when they are collecting $40 in premiums... It's just not feasible.

The key is to figure out where the actual cost factor is and why a certain procedures have such a high cost (usually it's in regards to drugs used, medical equipment used, disposable equipment used, risk, staff needed, etc..)

Granted, this is why I'm a fan of "Ala Carte" insurance plans if they were legal... If I could have a plan that just covered castrosphic insurance and then whatver I wanted to add on top of that, it'd be awesome.... That would help alleviate some of the premium costs in this current hostile enviroment... To some that idea may not seen ideal, but at the same time, we are a people who believes in 'choice' and you should be able to choose the coverage you feel that works best for you. --- Why do I need to pay for asthma coverage when that doesnt' effect me? Only because Government says I have to....

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

You can't expect an insurance company to pay-out $150,000 or more for a procedure when they are collecting $40 in premiums... It's just not feasible.

That is not necessarily true. It depends on how many people exist within the shared risk pool and how many of them incur that particular expense.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

That is not necessarily true. It depends on how many people exist within the shared risk pool and how many of them incur that particular expense.

That's one example of the cost factor, then you add in all basic procedures, blood work, lab work, mulitple users, etc.. it all adds up in the end.

It would take 3,750 people paying that premium for that month to pay for that large procedure. Now add that up on multiple people using it, plus other procedures that might cost less and some that might cost more, or those who use the system multiple times.

Granted, this is the exact reason why insurance companies don't make their money off premiums, they make it off investing the premiums. Insurance companies would be broke/bankrupt if the monies they collected weren't invested and had nice returns.....

[NickD 203]

Everything is fine for now, provided you don't get a mild stroke or a heart attack. That is then labeled as a pre-condition where either your rates will skyrocket or will simply get kicked off your policy, even though you were paying premiums for years while healthy.

Know a 58 year old guy that had a mild stroke, his rates went up $36,000.00 per year, he can't afford that, period. With him having an retirement plan, a home, cars, all that will have to go to pay his medical bills, that is how the system works today if you can't afford the premiums, then he would get care. Either that, or just die.

In my observation, all congress has to do is to revert back to the laws we had prior to Reagan, medical insurance and health care cost was not an issue back then. More BS is malpractice, not very often is the wrong leg cut off, and if you don't have enough brains to take care of your own body, that is your own damn problem. Also use to be that way.

Another crime is dentistry, did break a tooth prior to Reagan, if nothing else, just a time element of measure, cost me 40 bucks to have it rebuilt and still in damn good shape. Wife has a similar problem with one tooth, now, they are talking about 2,500 bucks to rebuild it, that is next to criminal. Yeah we shopped around, a monopoly and price fixing. Maybe we should have searched in Colombia for rates while we are there. She still is forced to maintain her Colombian citizenship due to our DOS regulations by putting her place of birth on her not quite worn US passport. Should get something for the price we have to pay for her to maintain Colombian citizenship.

[onwa 6]

Wow this thread is still going strong! onwa must be so proud.

Yes. I am the proud mama of this popular thread.

[onwa 6]

Insurance cost is not the problem, it's health care cost.

If health care costs are high, premiums are going to be high.

You can't expect an insurance company to pay-out $150,000 or more for a procedure when they are collecting $40 in premiums... It's just not feasible.

How much a person pays in premiums is usually the result of what their company passes on to them for cost. So the insurance company gets way more then $40 in premiums. My cobra statement showed i would need to pay $650 a month for what I payed $67 a month at my last job.

By the way I like what it says as your member title.

Thanks!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

anyone?

Bueller?

Stay on Topic ?

Can?

Purty Please?

Bucking for moderator, or a section 8?