Sunday, December 14, 2014
Insurance Disclosure
From time to time I rant about medical insurance. Recently I wrote a blog ranting how none of the insurance packages being offered in my area did me any good. My lovely wife convinced me to take another look. She worries about me.
There was a plan that was affordable, but it didn't cover any of the doctors in my area. Just out of curiosity I gave it another look. Much to my surprise all the local doctors are now covered by that system. Either the web site had a glitch the first time I checked it or the plan just expanded.
A few years ago when I'd dropped insurance coverage my cost had risen to almost $1000/month. That was totally out of reach. The plan I signed up for will cost me less than $350/month. While I hate to spend money on something I might not use, it's not going to break my budget.
I am one of those people who benefits from the new rules about preexisting conditions. Had the old rules been still in place they would not accept me.
It's still a messed up way to run a health care system. A wise man takes care of his own health and only relies on the system for things he can't fix himself. As a disabled firefighter I've learned how to manage my issues with alternative treatments. At least now I'll be covered in case I do something stupid like fall off my roof and break a leg.
-Sixbears
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I would be careful enough to check just what coverage of services your doctors may be able to do or be restricted against....
ReplyDeletegaurds against surprises later on..
Wildflower
Good advice.
DeleteBetter to have insurance and not need it than to need it and not have it. Knowing you have insurance will make it easier to decide when to see your doctor.
ReplyDeleteIt takes a lot for me to go see a doctor, but insurance might have me see one rather than put off a dangerous condition.
DeleteAnd it now protects you from you lovely wife's wrath if you had not done it!
ReplyDeleteShe worries.
DeleteUnfortunately, $350 WOULD break my budget, so I still have none.
ReplyDeleteAll the financial crap I dealt with this past summer freed up the budget a fair bit. Got rid of a lot of bills. That made the decision a bit easier.
DeleteIt's usually the "copayment" and "coinsurance" that make otherwise affordable policies pretty useless.
ReplyDeleteIt was enough to bankrupt my parents, so I know the limits of what insurance can do for me.
DeleteThree hundred and fifty dollars a month is a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteTo pay that amount you have to earn considerably more to arrive at that net amount.
To earn the gross amount will cause you stress of some kind or other, it will take time that you could be doing other things with like sailing or visits with friends or family.
I went through this exercise many years ago for a lesser amount and decided that it just wasn't worth the time, my precious time to earn the money to pay for something I may never need... but then it wasn't medical insurance I was paying, it was life and endowment... your medical costs in the US are horrendous aren't they. It costs an arm and a leg to have a mole removed...
You're somewhere between a rock and a hard place...
I am between a rock and a hard place. The US has the most messed up medical system in the developed world.
DeleteI have just enough life insurance to pay for burial and it comes as a few perk from something I belong to.
The trouble is that $350 might be in the budget but next year or the year after that $350 will grow to $450 or $500 or some other crazy amount...but never a lesser amount.
ReplyDeleteIt's a rigged system, regular folks can't win.
-Moe
It would not be the first time I dropped an insurance plan for pricing themselves out of my budget.
DeleteThe system is truly rigged.
You might want to call the doctors offices and make sure that they are really in the plan. I have heard more than one horror story of people choosing a plan and doctor and then discovering that the doctor is not in network and can't get their names off the "list".
ReplyDeleteGood point. Something to check out. I've been messed up by insurance plans before.
Deletemy lady is going to the doctor and we will see what it costs. we picked BLUE CROSS silver plan at $350 a month. Hope the co-pay or deductible does not come back huge. But best to experiment with a simple doctor office visit.
ReplyDelete