Health Insurance ... ? questions

Kento-Moto

Kento-Moto

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I dont want this to be a political commentary, so please dont go there... But what ever recent changes were made to health care coverage made my rates go thru da roof!


SO, Whats everyone doing for health care coverage? My full coverage med, dent & phar insurance has been through my Hawaii business for the last 20 years but rates have doubled recently and I am shopping for alternatives.

Does the tax benefit for an HSA account really make that big of difference? Iam looking at just major med policy with a deductable of about $3K for me and the mrs. The price range I am seeing is about $300-$500 per month which I think is still too high but ... ???

What are you guys doing? - K
 
To answer your last question..suffering just like you. Mine is up 40%! Where are my lower costs? This is for two healthy mid 40 non smokers. We have a High Deductable Plan with a Health Savings Account. The first 3K per person is ours then the plan covers 80%.

Kento-Moto said:
I dont want this to be a political commentary, so please dont go there... But what ever recent changes were made to health care coverage made my rates go thru da roof!


SO, Whats everyone doing for health care coverage? My full coverage med, dent & phar insurance has been through my Hawaii business for the last 20 years but rates have doubled recently and I am shopping for alternatives.

Does the tax benefit for an HSA account really make that big of difference? Iam looking at just major med policy with a deductable of about $3K for me and the mrs. The price range I am seeing is about $300-$500 per month which I think is still too high but ... ???

What are you guys doing? - K
Click to expand...
 
Canadian here, taxed to death but have no premiums only bill I get is the co pay on my pharmacuticals. normally 25 cents per perscription
 
I'm with Kaiser here in NorCal.

My rates went up 16% effective 12/1. I switched plans to save a few hundred per month. I still have the co-pay of $20 per visit and $5 for generic prescriptions but in case of hospital I have a max out-of-pocket of $3K/person before they start covering it.

Had I not changed I'd be paying $1,200/month for medical (no dental) insurance for 2 adults. As it is I'll now be paying $800/month. I'm putting the extra $400 into savings in case I need to pay that deductible someday.

I'm not happy. My benefits went down and my cost went up.
 
it's impossible to open the health Kare Kan o' worms and not make it (somewhat)
political.

But I'll leave it at this...
Healthkare costs go up...All I can say is..told everybody so and....DUH. :poke:
 
I have no problems paying taxes to take care of service members. If they ever try to make servicemen/women pay for their health insurance, well, :moderator:
 
PandaNin said:
I have no problems paying taxes to take care of service members. If they ever try to make servicemen/women pay for their health insurance, well, :moderator:
Click to expand...

Thanks! :thumbsup: Although since I am also a taxpayer, you could say I'm also paying a bit :beerchug:
 
But you earned it. Unlike others who will go nameless for fear of making this "political."
 
Yes for most of us healthy adults in looks like a case of "the MANY" paying for the "FEW" ...

Is there really much tax benefit to an HSA?


any other tricks of the trade anyone can suggest?

If it was cheaper I would be interested in a plan where I pay everything up front then get reimbursed...
 
As long as providers (doctors, hospitals, etc.)keep charging an arm and a leg for services the premiums will continue to rise. My company (that I work for) is a non-profit. 90 cents of every premium $$ goes to medical costs. It sux...I thank god that Dave and I were covered by his plan rather than mine at the time of our accident. Hate to think of the bills we'd have otherwise!!
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I don't think you'll find many doctors overcharging, in fact, general practice you'll find that a majority of those providers are now foriengers since the Americans don't want to work for the pennies that the insurance and medicare provide for general visits.

Hospitals on the other hand....yeah, I'm with you there. But even so, we're paying for the 20 other patients that will never pay their bill. It's socialized medicine, it's just not government run...yet.
 
Be careful with major medical plans. They are cheaper, but usually only cover hospital. My Mom had cancer and only had a major medical plan. It covered surgery, chemo and radiation, but not the doctors visits. For specialist, they can run a couple hundred dollars per visit, and you have a lot of visits and sometimes more than one specialist. A old indemnity plan usually work pretty well.(80%/20% with deductible) Just take a high dedutible, to lower premium. They usually have office visit and pharmacy co-pays. Health Savings Plans are good if you plan correctly. If you don't use it, you loose it. Hope not too confusing.
 
To blame the healthcare reform for your costs rising is not correct. Most of the reform bill hasn't really hit us yet. I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't an insurance company backlash to what was passed. They are sticking it to us because of the reform bill, I haven't heard anyone yet say their costs haven't shot up.

Doctors and hospitals charge an arm and a leg because this shiz ain't cheap! A doctor has to go through a minimum of ELEVEN YEARS COLLEGE EDUCATION. You do the math, that is 4 years university undergrad, 4 years medical school ~ $200k, and 3 years residency making ~40k. That is roughly a quarter million dollars of college education DEBT that they need to pay off between the ages of 30-60. Then they have to cover their arse from being sued as well. Depending on your specialty, each doctor has to carry liability insurance that can reach up to $75k a year. I don't even MAKE $75k a year, let alone could I imagine paying that much for INSURANCE. You wanna know something? Doctors get the short straw when it comes to health insurance too. I was talking to a pediatrician the other night, younger healthy guy, 12k a year for his family. Lets not talk about the deductibles either.

Lets not even get into Medicaid...That hideous abomination of a gov't plan...

Last night I had to hear an earful from a parent because their child wasn't rushed to a doctor because of a 102 fever. I honestly thought it was going to turn violent because I told them they had to wait in the WR because no beds were available. Unfortunately, this is something I face on a weekly basis in the ER. Do you want to know what the most common answer is to "Did you give your child anything for their fever?" Do you wanna take a guess? If you want to cut down on healthcare costs and make it affordable for everyone, require licensing to give birth to a child. too many parents are not fit to be parents, and stupid is breeding stupid.
 
No plan is going to fix health care until there is control of the cost. Any time you allow a business to charge the max someone is willing to pay rather than a set cost. A broken arm can cost from $3,500 to $12,000? Imagine buying a Busa; you have $12,000 so they charge you $12,000, then someone else comes in and cause they have $3,000 they only play $3,000.
 
Vonderbach said:
But even so, we're paying for the 20 other patients that will never pay their bill. It's socialized medicine, it's just not government run...yet.
Click to expand...

oh dear..does this open THE can o'worms? :whistle:

sorry Kento but have to throw this in the pot: a non-citizen who has never paid a cent in taxes comes to the USA illegally and gives birth here. VIOLA!
 
Yup, I have alot of opinion myself ... like why does one tylenol cost $68 when given in the hospital, why can a Dr charge you one price if you have insurance and a much lower price if your paying "cash" ? if I did that it in my business it would be called "fraud" !

BUT all that being said, I was still interested in learning how some of us are dealing with the ins cost and I got some good feed back... keep em comin if you folks have any more ideas. I'll let you know what I come up with. hmmmm just had an idea I have like 1/12 Cherokee ... You think I could apply for med as a native american? :whistle:
 
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