Healthcare costs.

I just need to vent.

I added my second daughter to my health plan when she was born a couple months ago. I have my own insurance since I own my company. It went up by 140 a month for the second newborn. I just got the bill and they won't pay for any of the existing care or future care for her until I am three months paid in advance. They won't let me pay monthly since I am policy holder but I have to pay three months in advance. So every three months they want over 2500 bucks. How is this not robbery?

I just don't get it! I know I have been against O'care from day one but it was supposedly designed to make things more affordable yet my policy has more than tripled in cost since it came into affect..

Tonight I did some shopping around to see if O'care could help me if I went that route. Went to the stupid marketplace and low and behold the price is 100% based on your income. I put in what I make and my yearly costs would have been over 12k with O'care. I put in that I made closer to the minimum wage and my care would have been about a grand a year. Please someone tell me how or why since I make more than someone else that my care should cost me more? To me this whole thing is Bull****! where have we come to that I pay more for heath insurance than anything else in life.

Sorry for the rant but I think we are falling off a cliff here.

I've been paying for my own healthcare for years, and it was expensive then and it is now. The ACA (Obamacare) helped a little this year because my income was down. But it's the insurance companies that are doing the damage by soaking us for every penny they can make.

We have a single payer, Gov. Ambulances and most hospitals are own buy the same Gov.. They give the hospitals a budget and negotiates with the doctors on flat rate charges for prceedures.
But our basic coverage dosn't cover drugs for home use, we need private insurance for that.
You still have Doctors, hospitals, and everyone else, greedy.

Chris said:

I just need to vent.

I added my second daughter to my health plan when she was born a couple months ago. I have my own insurance since I own my company. It went up by 140 a month for the second newborn. I just got the bill and they won't pay for any of the existing care or future care for her until I am three months paid in advance. They won't let me pay monthly since I am policy holder but I have to pay three months in advance. So every three months they want over 2500 bucks. How is this not robbery?

I just don't get it! I know I have been against O'care from day one but it was supposedly designed to make things more affordable yet my policy has more than tripled in cost since it came into affect..

Tonight I did some shopping around to see if O'care could help me if I went that route. Went to the stupid marketplace and low and behold the price is 100% based on your income. I put in what I make and my yearly costs would have been over 12k with O'care. I put in that I made closer to the minimum wage and my care would have been about a grand a year. Please someone tell me how or why since I make more than someone else that my care should cost me more? To me this whole thing is Bull****! where have we come to that I pay more for heath insurance than anything else in life.

Sorry for the rant but I think we are falling off a cliff here.

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wealth redistribution

the more you make the more you will pay Obummernocare so it will offset the "free" health care the unemployed get.

do like I do, I email a letter each week to my congressmen, telling them to repeal this crap.


:rofl: redistribution of wealth, i'm a little short this month, would you mind w ..working a little harder?
..I have some bills to pay.

Just as an aside...it's reported that about 400,000 people die each year from medical mistakes. With the ACA goal of adding 10 to 20 million new patients, the Democrats Obamacare will kill more people than guns have in the last 10 years plus. Now that's ironic.

I agree the insurance companies are a big part but they are working right along with the government.

I have a good friend that used to work for me but kept coming to work drunk so I let him go. He is getting unemployment off of my company and working full time making 30 an hour under the table. He has an issue with his wrist for getting drunk and hitting the floor so he went to get insurance. I had my guy quote it for him at 240 a month so he went to Obamacare and gave them what he made on unemployment and he signed up paying 23 a month for a plan better than mine. This bothers me because I know more than a handful of people doing this. I know business owners that are changing how they pay themselves to get cheap care.

I don't mind paying my way in life but when identical things cost different costs because of ones income is where I have to draw the line.

I read an article that the commissioner of insurance tried to get the laws changed on how much insurance companies can charge for premiums. He wanted to include how much money the companies have stored up in banks in reserve as part of their assets when evaluating whether or not a rate increase is justified. Right now they are NOT allowed to take the stored money into account, which allows the insurance companies to jack up their rates the bilk the crap out of people.

It's just pure greed. If its any consolation, because I'm an unpaid caretaker for my mother (my state does not pay people to be caretakers for family members) and basically have no income, I don't even qualify for Obamacare, and the healthcare prices are absolutely insane. The insurance companies were being greedy even before Obamacare though. Before Obama was even in office the health insurance I had tripled my premiums, doubled my deductible, and cut my lifetime payout to less than I had already paid in over the years-- and I had not needed to go to the doctor for a few years so its not like they were constantly having to pay stuff for me. I had to drop it.

I think a key element was missed when they were trying to come up with a plan for "affordable" healthcare: The prices charged by hospitals and doctors. I've read numerous articles about how arbitrary and insane some of the prices are. They did a study where they looked at the prices for things from multiple hospitals and they found a $100k difference in the price of the same exact treatment using the same type of equipment from too hospitals that were only a few miles apart. It's one thing if its a difference of a few dollars or even a few hundred dollars, but that is just ridiculous. They charge thousands of dollars for procedures that should cost less than $100.

They need to do something to get the prices somewhat regulated so there aren't such huge discrepancies and make sure that the hospitals and doctors aren't charging such ludicrous prices.

After I had to cancel my insurance I ended up not being able to get an appointment with my doctor (because he had a clerk who was a total bitch and wouldn't make an appointment for me) so I ended up having to go to the ER. I spent less than 2 minutes being examined by some doctor from Nigeria who I could barely understand, got one shot and an oral medication, and went home. They billed me for four medicines, two days stay, and other bull. Bill was over $1k and that did not include the $640 for the doctor's fee.

I do agree that it is absolutely retarded to make someone pay more for the same treatment or insurance because they have a higher income. Especially with the amount they are trying to charge. It's like people going in to a restaurant and being charged more for the same piece of steak just because they have more money-- but the amount of money a person has, doesn't make the treatment cost any more or less.

Basically, our system is just borked and I won't pretend to know how to fix it.

All I can do is just shake my head at the people who voted for that "Robbing Hood", who only finds ways to rob from the rich to give to the poor.

Chris, I bet when you really think about it, if you quit your job, started collecting welfare, electronic food stamps, government subsidies, grabbed a few Obama phones and got your free medical insurance, you would probably be doing better than you are now.

Well; Chris is one illness away from zannej's story of life time limits and cancilation under your old system.

You may be able to have insurance now, but it's of little real help. Who can afford the deductables if something happens? Liberals think they can fix everything--they can't.

It will take all branches of your Gov. and both parties to stand up to big business to work thru this and make it work for everyone... good luck with that.
If they work thru it your grandchildren will think it is wonderfull. We all have to make some sacrifices to make life better, just like our parents did. As long as we blame the lazy poor or the supper rich, we don't have to take responsibilty for what we can do. The country is nothing more than a team of people working together for a common goal, are you doing my part.
I suggest that this site is just that, we are here to help less fortunate not so lazy people get ahead.

. I worked with a father, son backhoe crew. we put in sewers/waterlines for new homes.
At lunch, I opened my lunch bucket and brought out the ole bolognia sammich. As he and his son, pulled out STEAK from their bucket. He scoffed at my lunch,
i told him i cant afford steak. he asked why not its free.
Then he told me how its done.
This is also where the word "stays" comes from
He said his wife collects welfare, housing subsistence,food stamps, wic, and anything else I have forgotten.
by telling the gubment, He abandonded them,
he keeps all his clothes and belongings at his mommas house
he just "stays" their.
welfare visits, no sign of him,
he said thats how they all do it," I's don eats no bologna" we's only eats steaks" " it bes free"

this has absolutely ZERO to do with the ACA (Obamacare).

This has to do with INSURANCE COMPANIES screwing you which is what the ACA is attempting to try to stop.

The only real solution is a Medicare for All from cradle to grave type thing, where everyone is covered at a very low like $100/month rate for full coverage.
Universal Healthcare is the only viable option.

While the ACA HAS slowed down rising cost for most people, has given some people insurance that never could have gotten it before at any cost because of pre existing conditions.
It is NOT the answer, it is just a stopgap to help slow down the cost.

Just imagine if Tpublicans get their way and they get rid of Medicare, 60+ Million Seniors, AKA the highest risk group for medical care by far.
Now take those 60 Million seniors of which virtually none of them could ever possibly afford what the Insurance premium would be for someone over the age 65 and most would obviously have preexisting conditions.
Then imagine if these same Tpublicans manage to repeal the ACA.
We will have seniors dying, going to the ER running up massive medical bills of we ALL get to pay for.
Children will get saddled with the care for the their parents forcing most into bankruptcy.
EVERYONES premiums will skyrocket because of those that get healthcare are a much higher risk group, those that do not will simply wind up in the ER and not able to pay those bills which just gets added to those already insane hospital bills.

Think about that for a second and let it sink in.

frodo said:

. I worked with a father, son backhoe crew. we put in sewers/waterlines for new homes.
At lunch, I opened my lunch bucket and brought out the ole bolognia sammich. As he and his son, pulled out STEAK from their bucket. He scoffed at my lunch,
i told him i cant afford steak. he asked why not its free.
Then he told me how its done.
This is also where the word "stays" comes from
He said his wife collects welfare, housing subsistence,food stamps, wic, and anything else I have forgotten.
by telling the gubment, He abandonded them,
he keeps all his clothes and belongings at his mommas house
he just "stays" their.
welfare visits, no sign of him,
he said thats how they all do it," I's don eats no bologna" we's only eats steaks" " it bes free"

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Conspiracy to commit fraud, the whole bunch should be in jail, only makes it worse for the real poor.

I have a fellow mod who gloated to everyone that since he is poor, he was able to get ACA for less than $20 a month. He just said he had two MRI's and lots of other preventative stuff done, for no deductible at all. Now, how in their right mind believe that is only a $10 procedure. Yep, it came off the backs of people like Chris. No, it is not fair, and anyone who believes in this system has consumed just too much Obama Kool Aid for me.

nunyabiz1 said:

this has absolutely ZERO to do with the ACA (Obamacare).

This has to do with INSURANCE COMPANIES screwing you which is what the ACA is attempting to try to stop.

The only real solution is a Medicare for All from cradle to grave type thing, where everyone is covered at a very low like $100/month rate for full coverage.
Universal Healthcare is the only viable option.

While the ACA HAS slowed down rising cost for most people, has given some people insurance that never could have gotten it before at any cost because of pre existing conditions.
It is NOT the answer, it is just a stopgap to help slow down the cost.

Just imagine if Tpublicans get their way and they get rid of Medicare, 60+ Million Seniors, AKA the highest risk group for medical care by far.
Now take those 60 Million seniors of which virtually none of them could ever possibly afford what the Insurance premium would be for someone over the age 65 and most would obviously have preexisting conditions.
Then imagine if these same Tpublicans manage to repeal the ACA.
We will have seniors dying, going to the ER running up massive medical bills of we ALL get to pay for.
Children will get saddled with the care for the their parents forcing most into bankruptcy.
EVERYONES premiums will skyrocket because of those that get healthcare are a much higher risk group, those that do not will simply wind up in the ER and not able to pay those bills which just gets added to those already insane hospital bills.

Think about that for a second and let it sink in.

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If it had absolutely nothing to do with O'care then why did my premiums triple last January when it went into effect? My plan did not change for the better. When I asked my insurance guy I was told it was because the insurance companies are being forced to accept anyone that applies now regardless of pre-existing condition and that many many more things were covered which were not before and the insurance companies are charging for all that.

Free healthcare for someone just means that someone else is paying for it, whether it be from our tax dollars or any other avenue.

My monthly insurance cost a little over a year ago was 80 dollars per month including dental. January 1st it jumped to 265 per month for the exact same plan yet they dropped my office copays from 45 a visit to not covered. My wifes company family plan went from 400 a month to 1640 a month so I got a new plan for the family at 700 per month then had a second child and it went up to 840 a month. Before O'care you could have up to four children before the price of the plan went up.

The insurance companies are doing two things, they are adjusting the cost of their service to accommodate what they are being forced to cover and they are also in retaliation to the government for forcing them to do things so we are getting to pay for it.

Please tell me more on how this has nothing to do with O'care at all?

havasu said:

I have a fellow mod who gloated to everyone that since he is poor, he was able to get ACA for less than $20 a month. He just said he had two MRI's and lots of other preventative stuff done, for no deductible at all. Now, how in their right mind believe that is only a $10 procedure. Yep, it came off the backs of people like Chris. No, it is not fair, and anyone who believes in this system has consumed just too much Obama Kool Aid for me.

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I think I'm in my right mind and I think that's fair.
Your friend has very limited income with something serious wrong to require that proceedure.
Are you saying it would be better that if he had private insurance it should stop at a limit or if he had non, he should just die. Once he is to sick to work looses everything he has and still shows up at hospitals for treatment, who pays for that. That is one of the things that drive the price up. That's all great if you are trying to build a third world country.

For years I paid cash for all my doctors vists, including MRI's and any other procedures I had done and it was way cheaper than just the cost of my insurance plan. I had an MRI a little over two years ago for a hip issue I was having and it cost me 500 Cash, I had an MRI last week and with my insurance it cost me 1200 Copay. I pay 45 a visit now in my copay but if I tell them I don't have insurance it costs me 50 a visit.

havasu said:

I have a fellow mod who gloated to everyone that since he is poor, he was able to get ACA for less than $20 a month. He just said he had two MRI's and lots of other preventative stuff done, for no deductible at all. Now, how in their right mind believe that is only a $10 procedure. Yep, it came off the backs of people like Chris. No, it is not fair, and anyone who believes in this system has consumed just too much Obama Kool Aid for me.

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that is incorrect.
EVERYBODY gets Preventive care for free, it is part of the ACA regulations.
My wife just got a colonoscopy last week, cost was zero not even a deductible or co pay .
So we all get the same benefits as far as preventative care goes.

In respect to "people like Chris" paying for others, that is what ALL insurance is.
Want to make that bill higher for everyone? Simply have fewer and fewer people insured, have them go to ERs when their condition becomes so bad they have no choice and then WHO pays for that bill?
We all do.

No matter how you look at it we ALL are going to pay for it one way or another, far less expensive to get the poor insured and going to the doctor regularly than pay for the insanely high ER bills.

Best possible solution is Universal Healthcare, then EVERYBODY is treated exactly the same, same cost no matter what you make.
That is why the healthcare in the US is rated 37th in the world even though we pay far more than anyone else.

Chris said:

For years I paid cash for all my doctors vists, including MRI's and any other procedures I had done and it was way cheaper than just the cost of my insurance plan. I had an MRI a little over two years ago for a hip issue I was having and it cost me 500 Cash, I had an MRI last week and with my insurance it cost me 1200 Copay. I pay 45 a visit now in my copay but if I tell them I don't have insurance it costs me 50 a visit.

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All that cash goes in the other pocket un-taxed and shows up in his books as a lose and proves why he needs to charge so much, adding to cost for all.

Tell us again why we hate rules and regulation.