Okay I do not have health insurance never have had it. Is Health Insurance very handy? What is the best place to get health insurance?

You live in the US?

The best place to get it is through your employer. If you're a student, check with your school. They may have some programs. As Chaos said, where you live will help determine your best course of action. And yes, it is very useful.

I live in Montana, USA.

An absolute necessity! You may never need it but if someday you do you, will be very sorry that you didn't take out a policy.
Medical costs here in the US are INSANE and could easily wipe out everything that you have.
Example: My son got bacterial spinal meningitis when he was 3 1/2 years old and we almost lost him. The hospital bill for intensive care and hospital stay were over $35,000 and that's nothing compared to some stories that I have heard.
He is 17 and doing fine now. Well almost fine..... he spends WAY TOO much time on his computers. :D

yha when my brother was I think 17 that was I dont know 5 mabey 6 years ago he got in a car accident. He had to get stiches for his forhead (split right above his eye browe) well the hospital charged 1000 dollars for 1 day well not even a day.

How much does health insurance cost around? I know its alot of money =/

Rates vary by location. I can't answer for Montana, but you should be able to find a plan for $300/month or less. If you're a student, you probably can get it cheaper through your school. And if you work, your employer usually will pick up the majority of the tab.

You can't always get coverage, if you have had an illness, you can be rejected by all. There needs to be a national haelth care system in the US, . .. but it'll never happen for obvious enron reasons.

Goto bcbs.com to get a quote.

You really should get medical insurance.

In the past 18 months, my insurance has paid out enough to buy a condo where I live.

Originally posted by Jimbob
There needs to be a national haelth care system in the US, . .. but it'll never happen for obvious enron reasons.

Goto bcbs.com to get a quote.

I agree 100%.
But that'll never happen with the people in control right now. Self employed people like myself get screwed every year. My family premium is almost $1000 per month and it will probably go up only a couple of hundred a month next year...... if I'm lucky. :angry:

I'm in IL and pay $115/month for a full coverage PPO that lets you choose any providers you want and has $0 deductibles and $0 copay on prescriptions. It is great!

People make fun of Cuba but it has excellent healthcare.

You should take a look at www.ehealthinsurance.com and get some quotes, they also have some helpful people to chat with to get all the information you need.

I recommend getting a PPO rather than an HMO as a PPO pays for all doctors selected covered with them and a certain percentage of doctors out of the PPO. Say you have a serious injury and you need medical assistance right away and go the the emergency room at a hostpital which is not covered under your HMO you end up usually paying everything so it is something to look for.

I did not know this at first and made that mistake not knowing so I would say this should be one of your MAJOR factors in choosing a plan.

As far as what insurance coverage has done for me here is a small breakdown:

Compound Fracture to right arm - Hospital costs $27k out of pocket about 3k, insurance paid 24k of it.

Rod in right arm after above accident breaks, need new rod another major surgery - Hospital costs $12k out of pocket around 2k.

Lat year needed splein taken out and was diagnosed with sarcoidosis spend 4 weeks on and off in hospital - Hospital costs 57K, out of pocket about 3.5k.

I would say that if you are a person and you own anything such as money, house, car etc and you want to keep it then you make sure you always have health insurance, if you don't and you get sick and have major medical bills due then get ready to fight for your stuff in a long drawn out battle which you will most likely loose.

If you are self employed and belong to the local chamber of commerce/ small business assoc. they often times can get you a pretty decent rate.

I don't know much but if you have any questions feel free to PM me and I can try and find it out.

To let you know offhand, I have my bias, I'm the son of 2 doctors.

The primary reason the American healthcare system sucks today, government intervention. They have turned a market system into a corporate system over the last 50 years. They have legislated HMOs and their corporatism into existance. Yet another middle man skimming profits on healthcare is simply obscene. The tort lawyers certainly don't help either, but then, the U.S. house is replete with lawyers, they like things just the way they are.

At this sad point, it would seem the only other alternative is the dreaded socialist system. Cuba is a good example only in health care, a better example would be Australia or Canada's single payer systems. Cuba's communist economy will be hard pressed to maintain itself as we've seen it nearly collapse entirely several times since the fall of the iron curtain. Maintaining a strong capitalist economy is key to protecting and supporting a single payer system.

Managed systems suck, whether HMO or single payer, which will without a doubt, slow progress and R&D on new technologies and drugs, and serious delays in treatment, that is proven. That's the trade off, I'm sure it's worth it to many people, I just worry because I'm aware of how horribly ineffecient the government is at managing anything.

The health insurance industry is almost as bad as the lawyers suing them, they often don't fight legitimate cases, instead they settle and turn around to hike the rates, so they lose nothing, it's the consumer that gets hosed. It's the same thing that's happening with auto insurance.

30 some odd years ago, my dad would make free house calls, yes house calls, to the elderly and uninsured. The government put an end to that with miles of red tape and regulations. My dad was the one that told me not to get into medicine.

We are seeing the worst of unchecked capitalism. Corporatism of healthcare is just one sign of a huge long festering problem, buying favors in government, and all the stinking parties are guilty, whether it's the unions or oil companies, it's the average American paying the bill and losing qaulity of life in the end.

For the self-employed, health insurance is totally not affordable. For my family, its over $1200 a month for coverage...and our doctor bills are right around $1000 every month. It totally sucks. I want to be able to provide insurance not only for MY family...but for my employees as well. I just don't see that happening any time soon.

For those of you who are quoting $300 a month for insurance...that's through your employer, correct? You realize that you are only paying a small portion of your insurance and your employer is covering the rest?

--Tina

You can actually get insurance for an individual for $300 or less. However, the coverage can be limited. E.g. you'll pay a portion of the costs.

Originally posted by JTY
You can actually get insurance for an individual for $300 or less. However, the coverage can be limited. E.g. you'll pay a portion of the costs.

I have a family...if I didn't, I wouldn't even care about insurance.

Originally posted by Jon FB
Health Insurance very handy?


Best saying concerning this and war:

Pray for the best and prepare for the worst...

I've lived my entire 19 years without insurance, worked out great for 18 years of it.. I might get sick one or two times a year and get over it in a few days...

But of course last December I got extremly sick and needed to go to the ER.. Ended up bouncing through 4 doctors after that and several hospital visits, numerous blood tests... Finally I get to the proper doctor.. Runs very expensive tests to confirm his diagnosis..

I end up getting hospitalized 4 more times before I need major emergency surgery.. My last stay was 2 weeks long.. So far in the last 12 months my grand total for medical bills.. Around 68k.. And lucky me.. I'll prolly never be able to get private insurnace, you don't want to hear about the drug costs.. The only way I can get it is through my employer...

Canada is looking better and better :D

My son has OCD and Tourette's...he requires several different drugs to function, and the least expensive one is $145 a month. My daughter is hearing impaired and is getting ready to undergo her 3rd surgery to give her a little hearing (she depends on hearing aids, and outgrows them all the time). I have Muscular Dystrophy and, because of muscle strength, I'm suceptable to things like pneumonia and dislocated joints.

We have NO insurance and probably never will. I've accepted the fact that I will probably be paying off massive medical bills for the rest of my life.

Am I bitter that we're spending billions of dollars to help rebuild Iraq? Let me just say I think its a slap in the face that I have to pay 28% of my income in taxes...and yet I had to choose NOT to take my daughter to the doctor 3 weeks ago when she was sick, because it would have meant not being able to afford my son's appointment the next day (issue with him was a bit more severe).

I think our country has some pretty fscked up priorities.

--Tina

Originally posted by AffordableHost
We have NO insurance and probably never will. I've accepted the fact that I will probably be paying off massive medical bills for the rest of my life.


.....


I think our country has some pretty fscked up priorities.

--Tina


Missouri has a plan with Blue Cross Blue Sheild that anyone can get insurance no mater the health problems.. Of course its cerainly not cheap, but its better than paying off the kinds of medical bills like those...

I would also have to agree with the priority statement, few things we should have fixed here before we fixed the world.. But hey...

Not sure if Michigan has something like the plans but they might.. Always worth a check....

Yep, if you're sick, they will not insure you. If you 100% fit and well, of course they'll insure you for $150 a month, but most people who need it aren't this fit of course.

Why it costs a lot? The DRs make a LOT of money of course. But if we get rid of the middle man (the insurance) and pay the money every month straight to the health system, everyone pays in. Much better off.

BUT the people at the top AND the DRs do not want this, why . . . they'll make less money.

Drs don't make as much as you think they do. Quite a bit of their income goes towards taxes and malpractice insurance.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I do have a question pertaining to how the self employed people in this community handle their health insurance. I'd be interested to hear some feedback.

If you live in a NY and are self employeed you should like into HealthyNY ... http://www.healthyny.com/. They have very good prices but you can't make over a certain amount or you won't quailify.

The Australian health system is in turmoil, but compared to most other's, it's IMO in not too bad shape. The public hospital system is still free [ok, massively underfunded etc], but somewhat very slow for elective procedures etc. We're an extremely healthy family. No allergies, major illnesses etc. We're very very lucky, but we're currently looking into private health cover for the whole family. It's a minefield to navigate through, to say the least. :eek3:

me lucky me lives in belgium

I've had my own personal health insurance through bcbs even while I was an employee and not self-employed simply because I didn't want to depend on an employer since I was changing contracts/employers every few months or years and insurance on my own was actually cheaper than the group plan through my last employer. I have a $0 deductible HMO plan for less than $200/m and with my last 2 eye surgeries totalling somewhere around $35,000, I'd say my insurance has already paid for itself.

Wow.

I just spent a week in the hospital, had a plate put over my right tibia - and well ... was in there for a week.

The total hospital bill came to $31,000 dollars. That didn't include the $1,1000 ambulance ride, or the $4,000 to the doctor for the surgery.

So, a good $36,000 for getting swiped by a truck while riding my bike.

Insurance has covered 99% of it all.

Then again, my parents insurance policy is $800/mo.

Originally posted by KIAHost
If you live in a NY and are self employeed you should like into HealthyNY ... http://www.healthyny.com/. They have very good prices but you can't make over a certain amount or you won't quailify.


There's the problem. We take care of poor people and rich people take care of themselves. Those that work hard and earn a decent living get screwed. We make too much for any kind of "help"...but we barely make enough to be able to cover our medical expenses.

--Tina

I am not sure about you, but the doctors get paid around 150 to 200 dollars an hour. Some of it goes to pay the nurse, the other people, and bills. Though I still see doctors with corvettes, and big houses. Any ways that’s not the point.... What does PPO stand for?

Originally posted by Jon FB
Where do I get a PPO at?

go to www.ehealthinsurance.com and see what types of rates you can get.

What does PPO stand for?

I am pretty sure is the preferred physician something or other but not 100% sure.

Originally posted by Jon FB
What does PPO stand for?

Preferred Provider Organization -- it means that you can visit any physician within the network of the insurance company at a very reduced rate. You can also visit physicians outside the network but you will pay more.

An HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) generally has their own resources and you have to visit their office (Kaiser Permanente is an example of an HMO), so there is a lot less freedom. It is also generally more difficult to see a specialist under an HMO.

Originally posted by Jon FB
I am not sure about you, but the doctors get paid around 150 to 200 dollars an hour. Some of it goes to pay the nurse, the other people, and bills. Though I still see doctors with corvettes, and big houses. Any ways that’s not the point.... What does PPO stand for?

I am not sure where you got your information, but most doctors don't charge by the hour (unless you are talking about pschologists ;)). You rarely see young doctors driving around in Corvettes -- except those who work primarily in elective surgery areas (like plastic surgery). Our family doctor broke away from another practice to start his own and his monthly expenses are crushing, at least compared to other businesses of his size. He is lucky because his wife makes a good living, but it usually takes doctors many years before they are in the position to drive a Corvette.

We've had a lot of turnover in my HMO doctors office so I would venture to guess that the HMO isn't paying them a whole heck of a lot compared to their normal rates. As for my surgery, It seems like the hospital and eye doc had to write off probably 1/2 of their total bill since the insurance agreement was for the reduced rates. I even had to change dentists because my previous dentist couldnt afford to keep my insurance since they weren't paying him enough. It seems like they were paying him $5-10 per cleaning when they normally charged around $35 or more. Practitioners may be able to afford these reduced rates if malpractice insurance wasn't so expensive but I guess these patients fill in some money during quiet times with regular paying clients. It's no wonder us cheapy insurance clients have to wait forever and/or end up getting lesser quality staff it seems like. It's kind of a two sided coin. I still have most of my eyesight because I DID have insurance but because of the delay, I permanantly lost a portion of it.

Originally posted by allan
I am not sure where you got your information, but most doctors don't charge by the hour (unless you are talking about pschologists ;)). You rarely see young doctors driving around in Corvettes -- except those who work primarily in elective surgery areas (like plastic surgery). Our family doctor broke away from another practice to start his own and his monthly expenses are crushing, at least compared to other businesses of his size. He is lucky because his wife makes a good living, but it usually takes doctors many years before they are in the position to drive a Corvette.


Yup. Consider the cost of medical school alone...you think YOUR college loans took a long time to pay off?!? Then you have income and medical malpractice insurance....not to mention building rent, employees (nurses, receptionists, accountants, attornies, etc.) and supplies.

Now, you figure the average office call (where I am) is about $70 and takes about 1/2 hour. Figure the doctor makes MAYBE $140 gross per hour. He probably pays about 25% in taxes...which brings it to $105 per hour. Figure an 8 hour day, of which 6 hours are actually spent seeing patients, that's about $630 per day without even paying his employees (figure a minimum of 5 employees per office).

I'm sure these numbers aren't representative of the whole...but it gives you an idea that general practitioners aren't rolling in the dough, like you think they are.

--Tina

Originally posted by AffordableHost

Now, you figure the average office call (where I am) is about $70 and takes about 1/2 hour. Figure the doctor makes MAYBE $140 gross per hour. He probably pays about 25% in taxes...which brings it to $105 per hour. Figure an 8 hour day, of which 6 hours are actually spent seeing patients, that's about $630 per day without even paying his employees (figure a minimum of 5 employees per office).


The only thing I would point out is that, at least according to our doctor, he has to keep at least 3 out of 5 of his paitent rooms full 65% of the time in order to make a profit.

So, you are correct that the average visit runs about $70, and each visit lasts about 1/2 an hour, but you have to multiply that by 3. Typical visit to the doctor:

Sit in the waiting room for 5-10 minutes. Nurse comes in and takes me back to the room. She then proceeds to take my temperature, blood pressure, etc and find out what is wrong with me. She puts all this into a little PC Tablet she has that updates to some centralized database in the office. She leaves and 5 to 10 minutes later the doctor comes in asks me a few more questions, talks a little bit about the family, tells me I am too fat (he always makes a point of telling me this ;)), makes a diagnosis, writes me a prescription -- or tells me to take something over the counter if it is minor and then he is off to another room.

Now, we have been seeing this doctor for 6 years, so I trust him to diagnose me in the 10 minutes he has, but if this were a new doctor I would be very worried.

Nurses do more work than the DRs as far as I have seen.

I agree DRs don't make tons of money, just enough to pay for his $2 million house on the coast, his 4 divorces etcc. . . waa waa waa, poor people.

Yes, otherwise you will be paying 3-4 times more if you are admitted and don't have it. I pay around $700/year for mine next package up is $1500

I usually seem to spend more time in the waiting room that with the practitioner. I'm lucky to get 10-15 min with a practitioner but may wait 30 min or more to see them. I'm almost to the point that I make my appointment 30 min earlier than I expect to show up. If I can show up on time though, I expect to be seen on time. I don't want to spend all of my lunch hour in a waiting room twidling my thumbs. Afterall, time is money, and to me, my time is as valuable as theirs whether they be a nurse, doctor, dentist, optometrist, chiropractor, etc.

Originally posted by Alex042
I usually seem to spend more time in the waiting room that with the practitioner. I'm lucky to get 10-15 min with a practitioner but may wait 30 min or more to see them. I'm almost to the point that I make my appointment 30 min earlier than I expect to show up. If I can show up on time though, I expect to be seen on time. I don't want to spend all of my lunch hour in a waiting room twidling my thumbs. Afterall, time is money, and to me, my time is as valuable as theirs whether they be a nurse, doctor, dentist, optometrist, chiropractor, etc.

:rolleyes:

read a book