Health Insurance...seriously?

[tnarg]

Me, my wife, and my toddler are insured through Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield...well, we got a lovely letter in the mail today, stating our premiums are going up, effective 2/1/2010

Its an HSA plan, and we do have maternity coverage. $2k deductible, no co pay, yada yada.

Last year we got the letter that our rates increase from $404 to $549.

Today's letter....$938!!!!!


You've got to be fecking kidding me. That's like a mortgage payment for a small little lake cottage out here. Something's got to give. Needless to say we'll be sitting down with our agent in a couple weeks.

Just had to rant. Unbelievable. Whether or not I can afford it isn't the issue, it's the principle. I thought $550 a month was ridic, but 60 bucks shy of a G is absurd.

[deboesports]

i heard alot is going up as of jan 1st

[IndySportsCards]

My Health insurance is $0 a month. That's right, I have none. I have Life, but that's it. Way too expensive. Doesn't mean I want our inept, inefficient, brain-dead government running it though.

[CaptainBOHICA]

well.. i guess this is part of the CHANGE he was talking about.

how's your guys' vote lookin now?

[tnarg]

Originally Posted by CaptainBOHICA

well.. i guess this is part of the CHANGE he was talking about.

how's your guys' vote lookin now?

Wish more people voted how I voted. Love Mccain

[CaptainBOHICA]

and here starts the debate.

this thread is about to become a good one to read. watch and let it unravel

[rudyjustinfarrell]

What debate? Join the military and don't worry about it? Free dental, cheap life insurance. You get it all boys and girls

[wcbraun]

Originally Posted by rudyjustinfarrell

What debate? Join the military and don't worry about it? Free dental, cheap life insurance. You get it all boys and girls

I second that! It was and still remains great for me.

[gman71]

Yikes!
My rates thankfully are staying put(thank you Harrah's corp!)
That is brutal
Like stated earlier,there's some of that change a coming

[Semper_PatsFan]

Originally Posted by CaptainBOHICA

and here starts the debate.

this thread is about to become a good one to read. watch and let it unravel

Agree. I love the political threads. That's when people start getting banned. Tiz the season!

[bmc398]

First let me preface my statements: I work in the insurance industry (for a group health carrier) and am a conservative and voted for McCain. The reason your premiums went up is about 25% government meddling and the other 75% os insurance company greed. You said you had maternity coverage...did your family just add a child? I only ask because rates go up due to plan usage...if you just had a child OB/GYN costs are extreme and extensive and could easily cause your premiums to skyrocket! I am in sales support but there is an equation to factor is last years usage to determine what kind of increase you will be getting when the policy is due to renew every year. I don't really see what Obama and his socialized health care have to do with the rates going up...especially since you are paying in to Anthem at this point.

The company I work for has a pretty good High Deductible/HSA type plan. Ask your agent if they represent Principal Financial!

On the other side...I hate the thought of government run healthcare (especially because my job depends on it!). What needs to happen is serious reform to curtail cost increases that have hit you. The increases cause people to jump from company to company which in turn forces the companies to charge the maxium they can because they don't know if they will have that premium dollar from you next year to balance costs.

If consumers were given a choice of signing long term contracts that clearly state the maxiumum rate they can increase your premium (say no more than 10% a year) they could easily balance costs because they know they'll have your $$$ next year and ccan better project costs and what kind of profit they can make. Where I don't like Obama and his cronies is that instead of focusing on reforming the current system he throws that in the back seat and wants to try something that hasn't proven to be successful in other countries.

And before the neo-libs try to post polls stating that the US has terrible health care all of those polls are run by neo-libs as well where the huge factor is not the quality of healthcare....but the COST of healthcare and how open the access is. If something is good...its supposed to cost more right? The better the Drs. the better the facilities the more it costs to keep things going and the more it costs the consumer. The only people who say Canadian healthcare is great are the ones NOT using it!

[alpine]

Indy,
I am truly sorry to hear you don't have any medical insurance. Best of Health to you in the coming year.
To keep this thread non-political is impossible. Before you guys start blaming the Dems or the Repugs, just remember its the Insurance companies who are creating the mess. Why are some Health Company CEO's making Millions of Dollars in bonuses & salary? That's the whole problem. Corporate Greed. It's only going to get worse for anyone & their family who is middle-class or lower.

Also look at the millions in dollars in lobbyist funds that BOTH political parties partake in. Lieberman is the worst. Any type of meaningful Health reform that makes common sense is impossible.

[IndySportsCards]

Originally Posted by bmc398

On the other side...I hate the thought of government run healthcare (especially because my job depends on it!).

This is why I have no job right now. The mere fear of them taking over. Massive layoffs.

And on the massive greed part, the owner of the company I used to work for is currently building his 3rd house.

Unfortunately, we are governed by materialistic, selfish, greedy people. I don't see them ever coming to any sort of progress that truly helps this country. Only legislation that helps themselves. I don't place my faith in the government.

[MasterOfTheDark]

Originally Posted by alpine

It's only going to get worse for anyone & their family who is middle-class or lower.

Agreed.

What needs to happen is the cost of medicine needs to come down. Sure, the insurance companies are at fault for bilking people out of billions, but at the very core of it all are the doctors and hospitals, moreso the hospitals. What they charge versus their actual costs are absurd. Starts with them, moves to insurance, and the people are stuck without insurance simply because they cannot afford it. Basically it works like this, the hospital bills $10 for a $1 item, the health insurance company charges $30 to cover the cost of the $10 they pay the hospital, so the person buying the insurance is paying out $30 for a $1 item, but it is happening with billions and trillions of dollars. If the costs were cut and/or there were limits imposed on the bilking at the very core of the issue, the entire country would have reasonable and affordable healthcare coverage.

As to the "politics" portion of this discussion, Obama campaigned that he was against a forced, mandated healthcare policy, yet that's exactly what he's trying to push through Congress and sign. If mandated healthcare passes, I won't care at all about anything else the man does. Bankrupting the middle class will be enough for me to count down the days until he loses the next election.

[MikeB]

I retired June 2008 and we get paid health for life. At that time, a family BCBS monthly family premium was approx. $1400, Jan 2009 went to $1650, Jan 2010 going to $1800+. All I can say is thanx to the union in my town that negotiated this because over the next contract or 2, this will certainly be taken off the table for new retirees...

[Riverdome]

For an HSA 2k ded seems a little low, is there an option to increase thus lowering your premiums?

I like the idea of an HSA, making consumers responsible for their health costs. Never made sense to me that we quibble of 50 cent coupons at the grocery store but never even ask the real price of our drugs or Dr. fees.

[37Jetson]

I imagine there are some sheep in this room who think they will be able to keep their own healthcare plan when the Government rams its program down our throat. Technically you will be keep your insurance until your insurance company totally prices you out of coverage when they are not allowed to sign up new customers.

Healthcare legislation is a greedy takeover by Government and has nothing to do with covering everyone (which it will not), reducing costs (I have swamp land in Florida to sell you if you believe this), maintaining your privacy.

Why are people so willing to give up their freedoms to the Government?

[gman71]

Originally Posted by 37Jetson

I imagine there are some sheep in this room who think they will be able to keep their own healthcare plan when the Government rams its program down our throat. Technically you will be keep your insurance until your insurance company totally prices you out of coverage when they are not allowed to sign up new customers.

Healthcare legislation is a greedy takeover by Government and has nothing to do with covering everyone (which it will not), reducing costs (I have swamp land in Florida to sell you if you believe this), maintaining your privacy.

Why are people so willing to give up their freedoms to the Government?

Because we are a lazy,and uneducated society today. It's the whole "well if they say it's good for me,it must be" frame of mind that the lemmings take and when things go wrong,they still don't catch on that they're getting it every which way from Washington

[frozenntimesports]

Originally Posted by gman71

Because we are a lazy,and uneducated society today. It's the whole "well if they say it's good for me,it must be" frame of mind that the lemmings take and when things go wrong,they still don't catch on that they're getting it every which way from Washington

No, its because the Progressives have taken over our schools and raised a generation of people who think the government should care for their every need.

Its because the Progressives are now in power in Washington.

And its the reason the torches and pitchforks are coming, because as Margaret Thatcher said, the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.

[jacobbigshow]

Just talked about health insurance today at lunch today, it is a joke why it is so much. Really, they should not be fixing the health care system to give everybody coverage, they should fix the health care system to cut the cost of it to an individual family.

[IndySportsCards]

Originally Posted by jacobbigshow

Just talked about health insurance today at lunch today, it is a joke why it is so much. Really, they should not be fixing the health care system to give everybody coverage, they should fix the health care system to cut the cost of it to an individual family.

This just goes to show you that they are not really concerned with this as an issue. they are not fixing anything, except the system to benefit themselves and their socialist agenda.

Pitchforks, Guns, and Anger. Lots of it.

[shadetre]

I was in a pretty nasty accident on Halloween Day. I was taken via ambulance to ER where I stayed for 4 hours---I was checked out--CAT scan--IV--ect ect. No surgery--no cuts--no broken bones---pretty sore--whiplash---otherwise I am ok---

oh and the bill--------$13,000.00. My health and car insurance will probably go up too----even though the other driver was completely at fault.'


fidrych

[VinnyH]

Originally Posted by shadetre

I was in a pretty nasty accident on Halloween Day. I was taken via ambulance to ER where I stayed for 4 hours---I was checked out--CAT scan--IV--ect ect. No surgery--no cuts--no broken bones---pretty sore--whiplash---otherwise I am ok---

oh and the bill--------$13,000.00. My health and car insurance will probably go up too----even though the other driver was completely at fault.'


fidrych

If you, like Indy, didn't have any insurance you'd be liable to pay most of that bill whether it was your fault or not. It may eat into your savings or credit balances.
I honestly don't know the answer but it would be nice if we gave everyone some minimum coverage. At least for early preventive checkups and services.

Vinny

[papajim]

Unreal what people have to pay Wife and I covered through my military retirement little over $400.00 and that is a year
That also covered my two daughters until they turned 23.
Only took 24 years of my life and Uncle Sam sends me a big check every month also

You youngins should think about a military career

[IndySportsCards]

I have had two kids with no health insurance. They're not cheap. First one was $5800, the second was $8300. Resale value on kids is horrible too. In fact, they depreciate at least $1k the second you walk off the hospital lot.

I don't think it's possible to go through modern life without incurring any sort of debt. Too many unknowns, and insurance helps at times, but it's no catch all. Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.

Knowing big mommy government is there to cradle me is not going to help people either. Nothing will change, if anything, it's going to be worse. Imagine the post office line, or the BMV lines as your doctors office. That's what we're moving towards. Oh, and the FREE part of Free Health care for all will be anything but free. You're going to be paying for it in higher taxes, higher food prices, higher gas prices... Nothing in life is free.