What are you paying for Health Insurance (USA Only)

[Juicy D. Links]

Myself and my brothers are on a business plan and it just got jacked to $554/ individual per month....

NY - Long Island region


50/75 Doctor Primary / Specialist...





crazy shit......

[Juicy D. Links]

We also have that Aflac shit as well

[96ukssob]

Individual is $443, family is $901/mo.

We have small group, but no Aflac and our one partner is from Long Island which F's our rate up

[atom]

Our Health insurance just went up as we switch company plans. For myself, wife and our son we pay $914 per month. $2500 deducatable, flat rate clinic visits of $20, ER $50.

I feel anally raped every month.

[marcop]

I'm paying $566/month with Anthem California. They raised my premium 43% between August last year and March this year.

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by Juicy D. Links

Myself and my brothers are on a business plan and it just got jacked to $554/ individual per month....

NY - Long Island region


50/75 Doctor Primary / Specialist...





crazy shit......

$398 -$20 copay dr, $20 on pharmacy...10K deductable

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by marcop

I'm paying $566/month with Anthem California. They raised my premium 43% between August last year and March this year.

aren't they living cally on the 31st dec?

[slapass]

$259/month and 5k deductible.

[DomainPimpMark]

Vegas baby! Payin $350/family through a state insurance company here, usin that Health Savings Account thing, savin us a fortune (for stayin healthy, $10K deductible).

Once upon a time was in Cali, lost coverage after being short $2 one month, was denied re-enroll. Love ya Cali, hate ya Cali.

[sperbonzo]

Family plan just went from $623 a month up to $835 a month, and in October we will be getting the estimated rate increases for next year when Obamacare really starts to ramp up.




.

[baryl]

$115/month single individual HMO $750 deductible

[mikesouth]

$310 -$30 copay dr, $15 on pharmacy...2500 deductable

[TrashyGirl]

$302 single NJ Blue Cross PPO incl. dental and vision. Can't remember my deductible. Haven't used my insurance in over 2 yrs other than free dental cleanings every 6 ms.
But it's there if I need it.

[rocky1234]

paying $850 a month. sucks.

[Best-In-BC]

Originally Posted by bossku69

Individual is $443, family is $901/mo.

Just WOW.


Now there, I found a reason to be happy to be Canadian . Its insane how anyone argues a national health care system, my wifes work pays for mine here and Its like 10% what you guys pay and since I always go to a brand new hospital I get top quality care, or at least all I need.

[bushwacker]

$279.00 with a $5,000 deductible.

[Zeiss]

I was living in USA. I only remember they gave all $ back to me when I got back home.

[baddog]

$0.00 with no deductible.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

I've been denied medical coverage for the past 14 years that I have been self-employed due to a pre-existing condition (Psoriasis).

Around 20 million Americans dont have medical insurance. Paying for medical care is also the biggest cause of bankruptcy in the United States, so alot of people suffer under this system.

Prior to the Affordable Care Act, in the vast majority of states, insurance companies in the individual market could deny coverage, charge higher premiums, and/or limit benefits based on pre-existing conditions. Surveys have found that 36 percent of Americans who tried to purchase health insurance directly from an insurance company in the individual insurance market encountered challenges purchasing health insurance for these reasons.

Many uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions have already enrolled in the temporary high-risk pool program called the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP), which provides private insurance to those locked out of the insurance market because of a pre-existing condition. The PCIP program ? which has already saved people?s lives by covering services like chemotherapy ? serves as a bridge until 2014, when insurance companies can no longer deny or limit coverage or charge higher premiums because of a pre-existing condition.

I'm hoping to take advantage of the Affordable Healthcare Act (ObamaCare) sometime soon.



ADG

[Evil Chris]

Health for Profit = Fail.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by Evil Chris

Health for Profit = Fail.

Yeah, heaven forbid someone turn a profit on the medical degree they paid for or all the time they spent in school.

[Evil Chris]

Originally Posted by baddog

Yeah, heaven forbid someone turn a profit on the medical degree they paid for or all the time they spent in school.

That's a debatable comment. Some might say that one becomes a Doctor to help/heal people as the primary reason, profiting or at least earning a good living is secondary.

Health (and education for that matter) for profit only ensures that those with money get proper health and education. It ensures a very wide gap between the rich and the poor, and thus a society that isn't anywhere near as productive as it ought to be. Or is that what you'd call socialism?

And as I am typing this, the US middle-class is melting away. Obama's fault, right?

[bronco67]

I wouldn't know because I jumped onto my wife's state employee (teacher) insurance. My doctor tells me it's very good insurance.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by Evil Chris

That's a debatable comment. Some might say that one becomes a Doctor to help/heal people as the primary reason, profiting or at least earning a good living is secondary.

Yeah, I'd spend a few hundred grand out of my own pocket so I can help others.

[Evil Chris]

Originally Posted by baddog

Yeah, I'd spend a few hundred grand out of my own pocket so I can help others.

Well it's tough debating this with you if you can only see it from one angle.

Doctors, based on the time and money they invest in their education, should indeed be well remunerated for their services. But ask any doctor why they became a doctor and none of them will tell you because they wanted to earn a lot of money. I would stay away from any doctor who said otherwise.

I saw this bit on the "Africa Mercy" on 60 Minutes the other night.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50141230n

Guess how much these doctors earn? Nothing. In fact, they have to raise money in their US-based communities in order to continue serving in this way. It's because their mission in life is to HELP others.

[Barefootsies]

Blue Cross Blue Shield, $281.00/month.

That's for one person with a $2500.00 annual deductible I believe and includes prescriptions.

The savings on my monthly allergy prescriptions alone more than pay for the monthly cost of the coverage easily.

[Dvae]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

I've been denied medical coverage for the past 14 years that I have been self-employed due to a pre-existing condition (Psoriasis).





I'm hoping to take advantage of the Affordable Healthcare Act (ObamaCare) sometime soon.



ADG

Oh no! More hope and change!

[baddog]

A doctor would not admit they are doing it for the money; that is a shocker.

Yes, I am sure there were and are a couple that do it for the greater good . . . I'd venture to suggest they are in the minority . . . by a long shot.

[Dvae]

Originally Posted by baddog

A doctor would not admit they are doing it for the money; that is a shocker.

Yes, I am sure there were and are a couple that do it for the greater good . . . I'd venture to suggest they are in the minority . . . by a long shot.

Imagine being a proctologist or a urologist and saying you don't do it for the money.

[brassmonkey]

damn

[baddog]

Originally Posted by Dvae

Imagine being a proctologist or a urologist and saying you don't do it for the money.

Maybe Canadian doctors do it for something other than money since they get free healthcare up there.

[Juicy D. Links]

Originally Posted by Dvae

Imagine being a proctologist or a urologist and saying you don't do it for the money.

they are called "Colo Rectal Surgeons" now.....

[Dvae]

Originally Posted by baddog

Maybe Canadian doctors do it for something other than money since they get free healthcare up there.

HaHa. I can't imagine. There has to be a payoff of some kind. It would be interesting to see what a proctologist in the CA gets vs one in the US.

[Barry-xlovecam]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

I've been denied medical coverage for the past 14 years that I have been self-employed due to a pre-existing condition (Psoriasis).

ADG

https://pcip.gov/Whos_Eligible.html

[96ukssob]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

I've been denied medical coverage for the past 14 years that I have been self-employed due to a pre-existing condition (Psoriasis).

I'm hoping to take advantage of the Affordable Healthcare Act (ObamaCare) sometime soon.



ADG

I have psoriasis and on Enbrel (amazing results btw), however we're covered under my wife's plan right now and moving to my company's policy at the end of this month. Our rate is a bit higher because of that and one of our partners had chrons/colitis - even tho he had a surgery to fix it and is healed, they still consider it a condition.

However... There are groups you can join with others who share the same conditions. We looked into it before, and easy search will find you some.

I have a few links saved from before, let me know and I can forward you them.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Originally Posted by Barry-xlovecam

https://pcip.gov/Whos_Eligible.html

Your link didn't work, but here is a good link to the US government's Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP):

https://www.pcip.gov/Whos_Eligible.html

I am in the process of getting new denials so that I can apply, even though I have the same pre-existing condition (Psoriasis) as I did the last time I was denied.

Psoriasis is hereditary and currently incurable, and in my case only a mild nuisance, but the healthcare industry has these convoluted rules which until now made it difficult/extremely expensive/impossible to obtain healthcare.

To insurance companies, it doesn't matter that I had the same pre-existing condition, but was fully covered for decades while in the military and working for corporations. It was only when I applied for individual healthcare after opening my own business, that I was denied coverage.

Please note, that I don't need to see a doctor about Psoriasis, nor have I needed to. In fact, I have only seen a doctor maybe 4 times in my life to get a prescription for Psoriasis (and not in the past 20 years).

The healthcare system needs to be fixed. The Affordable Healthcare Act is a step in the right direction imho, even though it has been diluted, and many Republicans have tried to delay implementation, or scuttle the law altogether.





ADG

[BFT3K]

I don't know for sure, but I would imagine a doctor in Australia makes more than a low or unskilled worker. Same with doctors in Canada, France, etc.

[sperbonzo]

http://lfb.org/today/a-cure-for-obam...ada-with-love/


"A recent study on Canadian health care has been released late last year. In it, the authors examine the deleterious effects of socialized medicine on patient wait times and the delivery of care. It offers Americans a revealing glimpse of the future economic implications of Obamacare.

Released by the Fraser Institute, the December 2012 survey of specialists reveals that Canadians are now waiting 17.7 weeks between the referral to a specialist and the delivery of treatment. This is 91% longer than in 1993, when the institute began studying wait times.

In essence, wait times in Canada have doubled in the past 20 years. Sadly, the rationing of care that results in lengthy wait times for patients is a predictable consequence of government interference in the medical system.

Moral Hazard and Overconsumption

Other things the same, consumers (in this case, patients) seek out more medical care as its price decreases. This is simply a reflection of the law of demand. Because patients living under government medical ?insurance? pay nothing directly, they seek out medical treatment for increasingly frivolous reasons, squandering valuable resources in the process.

Suddenly, a runny nose during cold and flu season is reason enough to proceed to the hospital. Or an otherwise healthy individual travels to the nearest medical clinic on a weekly basis to have the doctor check his blood pressure. Or an elderly widower visits the emergency room on Christmas Day because he?s lonely. Moral hazard of this sort is all too common in Canada.

No Medicine, No Care

On the other hand, the skyrocketing costs associated with growing use of the state-funded medical system cause the government to institute price controls on health care services. Economic calculation, a characteristic feature of the unhampered market economy, is progressively eliminated as prices become increasingly arbitrary. This neuters the market allocation of resources, resulting in persistent shortages in critical areas. Medical care is then rationed to patients. Long wait times are but one symptom.

In addition, barriers to entry, such as state licensing requirements and the accreditation of educational institutions, cartelize various medical professions and further exacerbate these circumstances.

Ultimately, as Murray Rothbard predicted, ?everyone has the right to free medical care, but there is, in effect, no medicine and no care.?

The wait times, for example, satisfy the needs of seemingly everyone but the patient. According to the specialists consulted in the Fraser study, Canadians are waiting approximately three weeks longer than is reasonable between the initial consultation with a specialist and elective treatment. Importantly, a wait time that is deemed reasonable by a physician, especially one accustomed to practicing within the framework of socialized medicine in Canada, is likely less tolerable for the individual patient.

For example, while a median 12-week wait time for orthopedic surgery may seem reasonable to a specialist, it may not be for a bedridden long-term care resident awaiting hip replacement surgery. Nevertheless, these results were deemed satisfactory by Canadian provincial governments, who evidently hold themselves to lower standards of performance.

Currently, Canadians are awaiting an estimated 870,462 procedures. Life on a waiting list isn?t pretty. It involves living in a state of poorer health, in constant fear that treatment will come too late, increased suffering, lower quality of life, and financial and economic loss. According to Dr. David Gratzer, author of Code Blue: Reviving Canada?s Health Care System, some patients even die without treatment. Others will travel in search of health care. In fact, an estimated 0.9% of patients left the country in 2012 in preference for treatment outside of Canada.

The Cure

It doesn?t have to be this way. As Rothbard, describing the U.S. medical system of his time, explains:

?Everyone old enough to remember the good old days of family physicians making house calls, spending a great deal of time with and getting to know the patient, and charging low fees to boot, is deeply and properly resentful of the current assembly-line care. But all too few understand the role of the much beloved medical insurance itself in bringing about this sorry decline in quality, as well as the astronomical rise in prices.?

Rothbard saw the rise of the HMO/PPO state in America, which Obamacare essentially puts on steroids. Under this system, Americans received health ?insurance? beyond catastrophic care. This amounts to an all-you-can-eat health care buffet for consumers, just as it did in Canada ? only without the rationing. Care providers and health insurers formed a cartel around these profligate consumers and divided the spoils.

The result has been steady medical inflation in America. But without accurate price signals for patients, rationing will have to follow. The Canadian example demonstrates that the egalitarian desideratum of ?equal care for all? condemns society to poorer care for all. That is why Obamacare too will fail.

Instead, the cure for our metastasizing health care ills is freedom ? that is, a restoration of the market process with the patient at the center. This restoration of patient sovereignty in the medical system is the only way to allocate health care resources efficiently and without shortages.

Wanna treat American health care? Prescribe capitalism."











.

[Diomed]

$220 a month individual.

Blue cross.

Shit is so shady these days, I would be scared as fuck to not have health insurance

[BFT3K]

Health Costs: How the U.S. Compares With Other Countries...

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/...countries.html

[baddog]

If it's on the Internet . . .

[sperbonzo]

Originally Posted by sperbonzo

http://lfb.org/today/a-cure-for-obam...ada-with-love/


"A recent study on Canadian health care has been released late last year. In it, the authors examine the deleterious effects of socialized medicine on patient wait times and the delivery of care. It offers Americans a revealing glimpse of the future economic implications of Obamacare.

Released by the Fraser Institute, the December 2012 survey of specialists reveals that Canadians are now waiting 17.7 weeks between the referral to a specialist and the delivery of treatment. This is 91% longer than in 1993, when the institute began studying wait times.

In essence, wait times in Canada have doubled in the past 20 years. Sadly, the rationing of care that results in lengthy wait times for patients is a predictable consequence of government interference in the medical system.

Moral Hazard and Overconsumption

Other things the same, consumers (in this case, patients) seek out more medical care as its price decreases. This is simply a reflection of the law of demand. Because patients living under government medical ?insurance? pay nothing directly, they seek out medical treatment for increasingly frivolous reasons, squandering valuable resources in the process.

Suddenly, a runny nose during cold and flu season is reason enough to proceed to the hospital. Or an otherwise healthy individual travels to the nearest medical clinic on a weekly basis to have the doctor check his blood pressure. Or an elderly widower visits the emergency room on Christmas Day because he?s lonely. Moral hazard of this sort is all too common in Canada.

No Medicine, No Care

On the other hand, the skyrocketing costs associated with growing use of the state-funded medical system cause the government to institute price controls on health care services. Economic calculation, a characteristic feature of the unhampered market economy, is progressively eliminated as prices become increasingly arbitrary. This neuters the market allocation of resources, resulting in persistent shortages in critical areas. Medical care is then rationed to patients. Long wait times are but one symptom.

In addition, barriers to entry, such as state licensing requirements and the accreditation of educational institutions, cartelize various medical professions and further exacerbate these circumstances.

Ultimately, as Murray Rothbard predicted, ?everyone has the right to free medical care, but there is, in effect, no medicine and no care.?

The wait times, for example, satisfy the needs of seemingly everyone but the patient. According to the specialists consulted in the Fraser study, Canadians are waiting approximately three weeks longer than is reasonable between the initial consultation with a specialist and elective treatment. Importantly, a wait time that is deemed reasonable by a physician, especially one accustomed to practicing within the framework of socialized medicine in Canada, is likely less tolerable for the individual patient.

For example, while a median 12-week wait time for orthopedic surgery may seem reasonable to a specialist, it may not be for a bedridden long-term care resident awaiting hip replacement surgery. Nevertheless, these results were deemed satisfactory by Canadian provincial governments, who evidently hold themselves to lower standards of performance.

Currently, Canadians are awaiting an estimated 870,462 procedures. Life on a waiting list isn?t pretty. It involves living in a state of poorer health, in constant fear that treatment will come too late, increased suffering, lower quality of life, and financial and economic loss. According to Dr. David Gratzer, author of Code Blue: Reviving Canada?s Health Care System, some patients even die without treatment. Others will travel in search of health care. In fact, an estimated 0.9% of patients left the country in 2012 in preference for treatment outside of Canada.

The Cure

It doesn?t have to be this way. As Rothbard, describing the U.S. medical system of his time, explains:

?Everyone old enough to remember the good old days of family physicians making house calls, spending a great deal of time with and getting to know the patient, and charging low fees to boot, is deeply and properly resentful of the current assembly-line care. But all too few understand the role of the much beloved medical insurance itself in bringing about this sorry decline in quality, as well as the astronomical rise in prices.?

Rothbard saw the rise of the HMO/PPO state in America, which Obamacare essentially puts on steroids. Under this system, Americans received health ?insurance? beyond catastrophic care. This amounts to an all-you-can-eat health care buffet for consumers, just as it did in Canada ? only without the rationing. Care providers and health insurers formed a cartel around these profligate consumers and divided the spoils.

The result has been steady medical inflation in America. But without accurate price signals for patients, rationing will have to follow. The Canadian example demonstrates that the egalitarian desideratum of ?equal care for all? condemns society to poorer care for all. That is why Obamacare too will fail.

Instead, the cure for our metastasizing health care ills is freedom ? that is, a restoration of the market process with the patient at the center. This restoration of patient sovereignty in the medical system is the only way to allocate health care resources efficiently and without shortages.

Wanna treat American health care? Prescribe capitalism."











.

And here is the study that's cited:

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/uploa...-turn-2012.pdf



.


.

[The Heron]

256/month 1500 deductible. Dental is part of that too. Single 30 yo male. BCBS
Really not too horrible so I'm waiting for the healthcare law to fuck me.

[BFT3K]

[sperbonzo]

BTF3K.... Have you looked at the methodology of the "study" that found the US 37th? It put a weighting of over 50% on how similar care was across the board in a given country. This meant that systems that have universally CRAPPY healthcare ranked higher than the US, even when the US's worst care was better than their average care.

Just FYI..... Look it up for yourself.



As for the $10 aspirin, blame mandated insurance coverage terms by the states. It isn't about "allowing" hospitals to charge that much, it's about forcing insurance to cover EVERYTHING, thus removing free market from controlling prices. In places like Panama, for instance, people get insurance that only covers the really big catastrophic stuff. Everything else is paid in cash. Thus people actually pay attention to what things cost and will not go to a provider that charges too much. Subsequently, prices are a fraction of what they are in the US.





.

[_Richard_]

pay $50 per month, no deductible, all services.

strangely, the doctors up here still make a lot of money on their degrees. i guess old man bullshit is just.. old man bullshit.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by sperbonzo

BTF3K.... Have you looked at the methodology of the "study" that found the US 37th? It put a weighting of over 50% on how similar care was across the board in a given country. This meant that systems that have universally CRAPPY healthcare ranked higher than the US, even when the US's worst care was better than their average care.

.

That's not a talking point with a cool, shocking picture with outlandish claims.

[Elli]

There is no perfect system, but my 87 year old grandmother has been in hospital since May now. She went in for a fairly routine vein surgery, shortly after which she fell and broke her hip. So she had a hip surgery (replaced the ball, not the socket.) During which surgery she had a stroke, so she now can't talk sense and has lost motor skills in her legs and right arm. She also had a slight infection that they cleaned up. She had a reaction to the anasthetic and had to be on a feeding tube for two weeks. Cost? 0$ (Do I want to sue them for some malpractice? probably but wouldn't get anything anyway)

I wonder what that would have cost in one of the States. Would she have died leaving the rest of our small family with hundreds of thousands in debt?

[BFT3K]

Americans don?t want to extend their declining years....



Would you like to live forever? Probably not. According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center, most Americans don?t want to stick around much longer than current life expectancy. Sixty percent don?t want to live past 90. Thirty percent don?t want to live past 80. People who make lots of money don?t want longer lives any more than the rest of us do. Nor do people who think there?s no afterlife.

What?s driving our misgivings? Much of it is uncertainty about what kind of lives we?d be living. Would medical progress keep us feeling young? Or would it only stretch out our declining years?

Story continues here...

http://www.slate.com/articles/techno...ve_longer.html

[baddog]

Originally Posted by BFT3K

Americans don?t want to extend their declining years....



Would you like to live forever? Probably not. According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center, most Americans don?t want to stick around much longer than current life expectancy. Sixty percent don?t want to live past 90. Thirty percent don?t want to live past 80. People who make lots of money don?t want longer lives any more than the rest of us do. Nor do people who think there?s no afterlife.

What?s driving our misgivings? Much of it is uncertainty about what kind of lives we?d be living. Would medical progress keep us feeling young? Or would it only stretch out our declining years?

Story continues here...

http://www.slate.com/articles/techno...ve_longer.html

I presume you have a study that shows people in other countries want to live to be 150, right?