Anyone else have serious health problems and no Insurance coverage!
- Thread starter hybridtheoryd16
- Start date
buck_wildest;3297240; said:
I wish it were that easy...
No single healthcare system is perfect but I it would be great if what has been demonstrated to work elsewhere were being seriously considered here in the US.
dogofwar;3296090; said:
Yes but remember it is PRE-TAX so $2,000 pretax for most people is like $1400. And if you dont use it, you keep it. Say you had $2,000 left over from last years HSA and your new plan has a $2,000 ded all you will be paying your premiums and nothing else. Say you injured your back and get an MRI, that pretty much wipes out your deductible and you wont have to pay a cent more for any other covered service the rest of the plan year.
So do most working families have $2,000 - $5,000 cash up front for medical expenses... and - assuming that they itemize their taxes at the end of the year - would be willing to wait for the benefits after taxes?
The answer is, of course not... which is why those on high deductible types of plans frequently don't take advantage of preventative services as much as they should (becuase it's often out of pocket).
CDHP (Consumer directed health plans) are often called "Consultant" directed health plans because they're better for the company shifting to them than the people covered by them.
The answer is, of course not... which is why those on high deductible types of plans frequently don't take advantage of preventative services as much as they should (becuase it's often out of pocket).
CDHP (Consumer directed health plans) are often called "Consultant" directed health plans because they're better for the company shifting to them than the people covered by them.
dogofwar;3298350; said:
Do you ever go to the doctor and pay your bill straight up? Even if your plan has only a $500 deductible?! NO! You set up a payment plan.
Let me tell you what I do. Lets say I get paid 26 times a year and to make the math simple lets say my deductible is $2600. I contribute $100 a pay period so that by the time the plan year is up, I have my deductible met, if say I have a $2600 MRI at the begininng of the year that completely covers my deductible I will set up a payment plan with the provider and tell them I will pay $200/month for a year (you know they work with you). As my HSA accumulates I give them my debit card number for my HSA account and boom they are paid. They are begninng to set it up where there is an instant claims adjudication process and I can swipe my card at the providers office as if I was getting gas!
This i where I believe reform needs to be mainly and that is in the administrative costs. We need to implement a system that standardizes communication and information systems and probably even the way billing is set up.
Also health education is important. America is VERY unhealthy due to many factors, we need people to realize that an unhealthy lifestyle costs us all.
going to the doctor, showing them your health card, getting treated and not paying anything directly is still a better system IMO.
it eliminates all the financial hassles and financial obsticles.
we all pay taxes and it all goes into one pot.
if I need to take from the pot for medical problems, I get treated and its done.
there is no worry about how to pay for it. or if I can pay for it.
I will never have my health threatened because I don't earn enough money or dont have health insurance.
to me, that is the way to go.
granted, the system is not perfect -as I said, there can be long wait times.
but I think as a system it is probably the better method.
it eliminates all the financial hassles and financial obsticles.
we all pay taxes and it all goes into one pot.
if I need to take from the pot for medical problems, I get treated and its done.
there is no worry about how to pay for it. or if I can pay for it.
I will never have my health threatened because I don't earn enough money or dont have health insurance.
to me, that is the way to go.
granted, the system is not perfect -as I said, there can be long wait times.
but I think as a system it is probably the better method.
Canada has worked hard to address waiting times in its system. They're mostly for elective (not necessary) procedures. It would be false to say that there are no wait times for healthcare in the US, especially for the 47 million without coverage.
The US spends roughly two times per capita what Canada does (and doesn't cover many, many people). Canada knows that spending more would hurt its economy and cause imbalances in its budget. Canadians have chosen to have wait times for some elective procedures instead of letting its healthcare budget go out of control.
JD if administrative costs are where we should focus health reform, check out whether a single payer system (like Canada) has lower or higher administrative costs than the system that we have (with literally thousands of insurers, each with their own rules, forms, etc, etc.).
To get back to the OP's situation: it wouldn't happen in Canada (or anywhere in the industrialized world other than the US).
The US spends roughly two times per capita what Canada does (and doesn't cover many, many people). Canada knows that spending more would hurt its economy and cause imbalances in its budget. Canadians have chosen to have wait times for some elective procedures instead of letting its healthcare budget go out of control.
JD if administrative costs are where we should focus health reform, check out whether a single payer system (like Canada) has lower or higher administrative costs than the system that we have (with literally thousands of insurers, each with their own rules, forms, etc, etc.).
To get back to the OP's situation: it wouldn't happen in Canada (or anywhere in the industrialized world other than the US).
12 Volt Man;3299251; said:
It sounds good in theory, but read the fine print!!
"When we first saw the paragraph Tuesday, just after the 1,018-page document was released, we thought we surely must be misreading it. So we sought help from the House Ways and Means Committee.
It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of "Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage," the "Limitation On New Enrollment" section of the bill clearly states:
"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.
So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers."
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=332548165656854
If this leghislation is soooo dang good for ALL Americans, then why the sneaking around with back-door provisions ? Why the big CRAMDOWN, "gott'a get er' done before the Congressional Summer Recess". Why ?
Why is your President telling you that you can keep your existing insurance without telling you if you change jobs you'll be forced by law into the government system ? Why ?
"From the beginning, opponents of the public option plan have warned that if the government gets into the business of offering subsidized health insurance coverage, the private insurance market will wither. Drawn by a public option that will be 30% to 40% cheaper than their current premiums because taxpayers will be funding it, employers will gladly scrap their private plans and go with Washington's coverage.
The nonpartisan Lewin Group estimated in April that 120 million or more Americans could lose their group coverage at work and end up in such a program. That would leave private carriers with 50 million or fewer customers. This could cause the market to, as Lewin Vice President John Sheils put it, "fizzle out altogether."
"What wasn't known until now is that the bill itself will kill the market for private individual coverage by not letting any new policies be written after the public option becomes law."
"The public option won't be an option for many, but rather a mandate for buying government care. A free people should be outraged at this advance of soft tyranny."
"When we first saw the paragraph Tuesday, just after the 1,018-page document was released, we thought we surely must be misreading it. So we sought help from the House Ways and Means Committee.
It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of "Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage," the "Limitation On New Enrollment" section of the bill clearly states:
"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.
So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers."
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=332548165656854
If this leghislation is soooo dang good for ALL Americans, then why the sneaking around with back-door provisions ? Why the big CRAMDOWN, "gott'a get er' done before the Congressional Summer Recess". Why ?
Why is your President telling you that you can keep your existing insurance without telling you if you change jobs you'll be forced by law into the government system ? Why ?
"From the beginning, opponents of the public option plan have warned that if the government gets into the business of offering subsidized health insurance coverage, the private insurance market will wither. Drawn by a public option that will be 30% to 40% cheaper than their current premiums because taxpayers will be funding it, employers will gladly scrap their private plans and go with Washington's coverage.
The nonpartisan Lewin Group estimated in April that 120 million or more Americans could lose their group coverage at work and end up in such a program. That would leave private carriers with 50 million or fewer customers. This could cause the market to, as Lewin Vice President John Sheils put it, "fizzle out altogether."
"What wasn't known until now is that the bill itself will kill the market for private individual coverage by not letting any new policies be written after the public option becomes law."
"The public option won't be an option for many, but rather a mandate for buying government care. A free people should be outraged at this advance of soft tyranny."
I'm struggling to find words. The following describes MANDATED elder and end-of-life counseling....yes MANDATORY......as detailed in the Democrat / Obama Health Care legislation that THEY will be cramming down your throat in the next couple weeks.
This is copied and pasted from a blog....
Go to page 424, Section 1233, for the beginning of this section.
This is the link to the bill.
http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/1...ext-071409.pdf
Here's the pertinent text (p. 426):
Advance Care Planning Consultation
‘‘(hhh)(1) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), the term ‘advance care planning consultation’ means a consultation between the individual and a practitioner described in paragraph (2) regarding advance care planning, if, subject to paragraph (3), the individual involved has not had such a consultation within the last 5 years. Such consultation shall include the following:
‘‘(A) An explanation by the practitioner of advance care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to.
‘‘(B) An explanation by the practitioner of advance directives, including living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses.
‘‘(C) An explanation by the practitioner of the role and responsibilities of a health care proxy.
‘‘(D) The provision by the practitioner of a list of national and State-specific resources to assist consumers and their families with advance care planning, including the national toll-free hotline, the advance care planning clearinghouses, and State legal service organizations (including those funded through the Older Americans Act of 1965).
‘‘(E) An explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice, and benefits for such services and supports that are available under this title.
‘‘(F)(i) Subject to clause (ii), an explanation of orders regarding life sustaining treatment or similar orders, which shall include—
‘‘(I) the reasons why the development of such an order is beneficial to the individual and
the individual’s family and the reasons why such an order should be updated periodically as the health of the individual changes;‘‘(II) the information needed for an individual or legal surrogate to make informed decisions regarding the completion of such an order; and
‘‘(III) the identification of resources that an individual may use to determine the requirements of the State in which such individual resides so that the treatment wishes of that individual will be carried out if the individual is unable to communicate those wishes, including requirements regarding the designation of a surrogate decisionmaker (also known as a health care proxy).
(The next part is on life-sustaining treatment.)
I think it is helpful for people to make living wills, but to have the State - which will be funding your care - mandate discussion of how much treatment to give and when to pull the plug, especially when a "health care proxy" is involved, is just plain SINISTER. And add to the mix Social Security, well, as one writer put it, "you don't go out of your way to extend the life of somebody to whom you're sending a monthly check."
http://www.rr-bb.com/showthread.php?p=1360125
End of blog.
I can see it now....Jack The Dripper Kevorkian resurrected and named "The End-of-Life Czar".
You thought I was kidding when I said this is the battle for your life a few months ago. I'm not kidding about the following either. Some faceless End-of-Life Panel will get a computer generated alarm (like contact management software) if your doctor visits or prescriptions increase. The computer will rate your age vs. revenue generation value (read how much more tax can THEY still suck out of you before you retire or die) and the 50-60 year old crowd better look out !
Next will come "the letter". Your heart will sink along with your ailing prostate as you read, " Dear Mr. Fisherman, ....bla bla bla bla bla bla ....for the betterment of the wider community. Therefore, we took the liberty of scheduling you for a counseling session to help you "get things in order". By law, you MUST attend on such and such time and date because this is what you voted for back in November of 2008....hey...you elected the guy".
Sincerely,
Jack the Dripper
Here is your man openly admitting he hasn't even read the legislation he wants to sign into law before the August Recess....
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/07/21/morning-bell-obama-admits-hes-not-familiar-with-house-bill/
Posted July 21st, 2009 at 9.16am in Health Care.
With the public’s trust in his handling of health care tanking (50%-44% of Americans disapprove), the White House has launched a new phase of its strategy designed to pass Obamacare: all Obama, all the time. As part of that effort, Obama hosted a conference call with leftist bloggers urging them to pressure Congress to pass his health plan as soon as possible.
During the call, a blogger from Maine said he kept running into an Investors Business Daily article that claimed Section 102 of the House health legislation would outlaw private insurance. He asked: “Is this true? Will people be able to keep their insurance and will insurers be able to write new policies even though H.R. 3200 is passed?” President Obama replied: “You know, I have to say that I am not familiar with the provision you are talking about.” (quote begins at 17:10)
This is a truly disturbing admission by the President, especially considering that later in the call, Obama promises yet again: “If you have health insurance, and you like it, and you have a doctor that you like, then you can keep it. Period.” How can Obama keep making this promise if he is not familiar with the health legislation that is being written in Congress? Details matter.
We are familiar with the passage IBD sites, and as we wrote last week, the House bill does not outright outlaw private individual health insurance, but it does effectively regulate it out of existence. The House bill does allow private insurance to be sold, but only “Exchange-participating health benefits plans.” In order to qualify as an ?Exchange-participating health benefits plan,? all health insurance plans must conform to a slew of new regulations, including community rating and guaranteed issue. These will all send the cost of private individual health insurance skyrocketing. Furthermore, all these new regulations would not apply just to individual insurance plans, but to all insurance plans. So the House bill will also drive up the cost of your existing employer coverage as well. Until, of course, it becomes so expensive that your company makes the perfectly economical decision to dump you into the government plan.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/20/obama-calls-on-bloggers-t_n_241570.html
This is copied and pasted from a blog....
Go to page 424, Section 1233, for the beginning of this section.
This is the link to the bill.
http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/1...ext-071409.pdf
Here's the pertinent text (p. 426):
Advance Care Planning Consultation
‘‘(hhh)(1) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), the term ‘advance care planning consultation’ means a consultation between the individual and a practitioner described in paragraph (2) regarding advance care planning, if, subject to paragraph (3), the individual involved has not had such a consultation within the last 5 years. Such consultation shall include the following:
‘‘(A) An explanation by the practitioner of advance care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to.
‘‘(B) An explanation by the practitioner of advance directives, including living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses.
‘‘(C) An explanation by the practitioner of the role and responsibilities of a health care proxy.
‘‘(D) The provision by the practitioner of a list of national and State-specific resources to assist consumers and their families with advance care planning, including the national toll-free hotline, the advance care planning clearinghouses, and State legal service organizations (including those funded through the Older Americans Act of 1965).
‘‘(E) An explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice, and benefits for such services and supports that are available under this title.
‘‘(F)(i) Subject to clause (ii), an explanation of orders regarding life sustaining treatment or similar orders, which shall include—
‘‘(I) the reasons why the development of such an order is beneficial to the individual and
the individual’s family and the reasons why such an order should be updated periodically as the health of the individual changes;‘‘(II) the information needed for an individual or legal surrogate to make informed decisions regarding the completion of such an order; and
‘‘(III) the identification of resources that an individual may use to determine the requirements of the State in which such individual resides so that the treatment wishes of that individual will be carried out if the individual is unable to communicate those wishes, including requirements regarding the designation of a surrogate decisionmaker (also known as a health care proxy).
(The next part is on life-sustaining treatment.)
I think it is helpful for people to make living wills, but to have the State - which will be funding your care - mandate discussion of how much treatment to give and when to pull the plug, especially when a "health care proxy" is involved, is just plain SINISTER. And add to the mix Social Security, well, as one writer put it, "you don't go out of your way to extend the life of somebody to whom you're sending a monthly check."
http://www.rr-bb.com/showthread.php?p=1360125
End of blog.
I can see it now....Jack The Dripper Kevorkian resurrected and named "The End-of-Life Czar".
You thought I was kidding when I said this is the battle for your life a few months ago. I'm not kidding about the following either. Some faceless End-of-Life Panel will get a computer generated alarm (like contact management software) if your doctor visits or prescriptions increase. The computer will rate your age vs. revenue generation value (read how much more tax can THEY still suck out of you before you retire or die) and the 50-60 year old crowd better look out !
Next will come "the letter". Your heart will sink along with your ailing prostate as you read, " Dear Mr. Fisherman, ....bla bla bla bla bla bla ....for the betterment of the wider community. Therefore, we took the liberty of scheduling you for a counseling session to help you "get things in order". By law, you MUST attend on such and such time and date because this is what you voted for back in November of 2008....hey...you elected the guy".
Sincerely,
Jack the Dripper
Here is your man openly admitting he hasn't even read the legislation he wants to sign into law before the August Recess....
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/07/21/morning-bell-obama-admits-hes-not-familiar-with-house-bill/
Posted July 21st, 2009 at 9.16am in Health Care.
With the public’s trust in his handling of health care tanking (50%-44% of Americans disapprove), the White House has launched a new phase of its strategy designed to pass Obamacare: all Obama, all the time. As part of that effort, Obama hosted a conference call with leftist bloggers urging them to pressure Congress to pass his health plan as soon as possible.
During the call, a blogger from Maine said he kept running into an Investors Business Daily article that claimed Section 102 of the House health legislation would outlaw private insurance. He asked: “Is this true? Will people be able to keep their insurance and will insurers be able to write new policies even though H.R. 3200 is passed?” President Obama replied: “You know, I have to say that I am not familiar with the provision you are talking about.” (quote begins at 17:10)
This is a truly disturbing admission by the President, especially considering that later in the call, Obama promises yet again: “If you have health insurance, and you like it, and you have a doctor that you like, then you can keep it. Period.” How can Obama keep making this promise if he is not familiar with the health legislation that is being written in Congress? Details matter.
We are familiar with the passage IBD sites, and as we wrote last week, the House bill does not outright outlaw private individual health insurance, but it does effectively regulate it out of existence. The House bill does allow private insurance to be sold, but only “Exchange-participating health benefits plans.” In order to qualify as an ?Exchange-participating health benefits plan,? all health insurance plans must conform to a slew of new regulations, including community rating and guaranteed issue. These will all send the cost of private individual health insurance skyrocketing. Furthermore, all these new regulations would not apply just to individual insurance plans, but to all insurance plans. So the House bill will also drive up the cost of your existing employer coverage as well. Until, of course, it becomes so expensive that your company makes the perfectly economical decision to dump you into the government plan.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/20/obama-calls-on-bloggers-t_n_241570.html
Knowdafish, your location says So Cal and the Philippines, I sure as hell hope your residence is in and you are a citizen of the US and VOTE. This country and especially California need more votes from people with minds like you!
