Any good health care stories out there?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jordan Doucet on October 31, 2013 at 3:52pm

Only story here is our small business is getting raped and my paychecks are about $200 lighter every month then they were previously. 

I'm with Dana, I just saw that the approval rating is down to an all time low of 42% but i'm wondering what the hell are those 42% thinking - actually now that I think about it, that's probably the percentage of people that don't work, are on welfare, get free healthcare, get a free cellphone, and milk off the teet of the hardworking Americans like Dana and I! 

Permalink Reply by Daniel Caffrey on October 31, 2013 at 6:00pm

Stay unmarried and without kids!  My health insurance is awesome, and it still costs me less than $10 a week. I'm not going to go the political route and say Obama is good, or bad; but remember wounds take time to heal. How were we 7 years ago??  Yeah let's blame the new pres. haha I think that's why they change 'em every 8 years. But then again I'm not a hard working guy, I'm a plumber. My heart does go out to those negatively affected by this plan, It does sound like a bad idea to me I just fall into a bracket where it does not affect me. Oh and I never got a chance to go fishin' in the last few weeks just to stay on the fish subject.

 

  
 
Jordan Doucet said:

Only story here is our small business is getting raped and my paychecks are about $200 lighter every month then they were previously. 

I'm with Dana, I just saw that the approval rating is down to an all time low of 42% but i'm wondering what the hell are those 42% thinking - actually now that I think about it, that's probably the percentage of people that don't work, are on welfare, get free healthcare, get a free cellphone, and milk of the teet of the hardworking Americans like Dana and I! 

Permalink Reply by Daniel Caffrey on October 31, 2013 at 7:43pm

 Whoa! Dana you just made me check a paystub of mine it went wayyyyyyyyy up! I can't help any one the company i work for has good bene's.

 

It's $12.93 a week now ugh!

However you have made me aware that other's might not have it so well. Like i said originally the obamacare plan is a bad idea. I never knew, and still don't know how much others are paying. It just never seemed to bother me too much.

Permalink Reply by Daniel Caffrey on October 31, 2013 at 8:14pm

So yes

Jake there is a good health care story out there. Although it may be the only one it's mine

 

Permalink Reply by Joe Boyd on October 31, 2013 at 10:04pm

I have a Medigap policy from Regence Blue Shield that went down about nineteen dollars a month.  My wife's plan with Group Health went up substantially, but when she went on the Washington website, she found she qualified for about a $315 subsidy, which helped.  My first wife died in 2008 after a ten-year illness.  We had health care coverage, but I had to pay premiums for nine months before I could file claims, due to her pre-existing condition.  Even when we were covered, I still had to pay more than $12,000 in one year, just for her prescriptions.   I guess everyone has the right to rant, which is easy and possibly cathartic, but real change can only take place if we step away from our computers and get involved.  Personally, I'm still at the "wait and see" stage.  I do know that 75% of Americans who filed for bankruptcy had health care insurance when they became ill.  Agent commissions in 2007 ran 100+% of FYAP (first year annual premium).  That meant if your coverage cost $100 per month, the agent got at least a $1200 check when your first month's premium hit the books.  The crappier the insurance, the better the commission, since the company could cancel if the insured filed too big of a claim.  Some of these companies have had to cancel their policies because they were junk policies.  Some of those same companies are trying to capitalize on the confusion by offering insurance coverage at a higher rate, hoping no one will look into other options.  While insurance companies were cancelling policies when their customers got sick, the agents were enjoying lavish trips and vacations as rewards for sales volumes.  How do I know this?  The company I worked for introduced lines of health insurance and required us to become licensed agents.  The ones who successfully sold the policies got free trips and eventually moved on.  Finally the company dropped the health insurance programs because, although they were making money for the agents, the long-term income for the company just wasn't there.  Part of the new Obamcare program requires insurance companies to devote 80% of premium costs to actual health care; if that number falls, the company is required to rebate premium payers accordingly, and pre-existing conditions can't be used to delay or deny insurance coverage. Don't get me wrong, I am skeptical of everything; I hate insurance companies.  I look for documentation on everything, and if I find something amiss, I holler long and hard at people who have the ability or authority to make changes.    I'm not the most popular person as a result, (what can I say, pissing people off is my gift) but I'd rather be a pain in some elected official's backside than to declare myself helpless and be run over by the bureaucracy.

      

Permalink Reply by Jake Anderson on November 1, 2013 at 9:59am

You said you were paying $40 per month.  That is $9.30 per week.  (4.3 weeks per month).  

You say you are paying $12.93 per week now which suggests a 39% increase in your monthly premium.

You are paying $188 dollars per year MORE for the same product you had yesterday....Or is it?   When the full effect of this program is felt, the quality of your health care will decrease.  Talk to any doctor and they can explain this to you clearly. I can tell you with absolute certainty, the market is being flooded with Dentists, who originally went to school to become Medical Doctors.  Since Dentistry is fee for service, and Insurance is nothing more than a small coupon in dental, they want to be a part of that system rather than a part of this insurance circus.

Your health care, when needed, is going to decline in quality. We will have a shortage of doctors in this country.  So you are paying more, and will be getting less.   And I haven't even delved into the myriad of other considerations your company is facing that may impact your healthcare, and maybe even your very employment. 

BEST CASE.....you just spent $188 dollars per year to have what you had yesterday.  Again, that is an oversimplified best case story, that is so watered down and sugar coated, I have a hard time even typing it.

Everyone's definition of "good" is different, but I can clearly see why our country continues its regressions.  The minute citizens start accepting declines in their wallets and in the quality of coverage as "good" is the minute my mind goes numb. 

Daniel Caffrey said:

So yes

Jake there is a good health care story out there. Although it may be the only one it's mine

 

Permalink Reply by Joe Boyd on November 1, 2013 at 10:47am

Short answer, yes, I'm cautiously optimistic.  Now before you start loading your AR and drawing a bullseye on my forehead, let me explain:  I know a lot of people would rather rant than research, but when the act was first proposed, I compared it to what I was doing when my wife was alive.  Had the act been in place when my wife was alive, I would have saved more than $15,000 in one year, assuming premium increases of 5% per year, which I averaged based on costs by three major carriers.   As for agents getting 100+% of the first year premiums for commissions, I personally think that's too much.  So yes, I think it has its plusses and I support it right now.  Trying to find the facts amid all the BS that's being thrown around is difficult, and I'd much rather be doing other things, but before you hang the commie label around my neck you might want to look at some of the architects of the plan which includes the Heritage Foundation.  You might also want to read up on John Avlon.  I hope this clears up your confusion. 
Dana Steiner said:

Joe,

So are you saying that you support the current Affordable Health Care Act? I'm a little confused here.
 
Joe Boyd said:

I have a Medigap policy from Regence Blue Shield that went down about nineteen dollars a month.  My wife's plan with Group Health went up substantially, but when she went on the Washington website, she found she qualified for about a $315 subsidy, which helped.  My first wife died in 2008 after a ten-year illness.  We had health care coverage, but I had to pay premiums for nine months before I could file claims, due to her pre-existing condition.  Even when we were covered, I still had to pay more than $12,000 in one year, just for her prescriptions.   I guess everyone has the right to rant, which is easy and possibly cathartic, but real change can only take place if we step away from our computers and get involved.  Personally, I'm still at the "wait and see" stage.  I do know that 75% of Americans who filed for bankruptcy had health care insurance when they became ill.  Agent commissions in 2007 ran 100+% of FYAP (first year annual premium).  That meant if your coverage cost $100 per month, the agent got at least a $1200 check when your first month's premium hit the books.  The crappier the insurance, the better the commission, since the company could cancel if the insured filed too big of a claim.  Some of these companies have had to cancel their policies because they were junk policies.  Some of those same companies are trying to capitalize on the confusion by offering insurance coverage at a higher rate, hoping no one will look into other options.  While insurance companies were cancelling policies when their customers got sick, the agents were enjoying lavish trips and vacations as rewards for sales volumes.  How do I know this?  The company I worked for introduced lines of health insurance and required us to become licensed agents.  The ones who successfully sold the policies got free trips and eventually moved on.  Finally the company dropped the health insurance programs because, although they were making money for the agents, the long-term income for the company just wasn't there.  Part of the new Obamcare program requires insurance companies to devote 80% of premium costs to actual health care; if that number falls, the company is required to rebate premium payers accordingly, and pre-existing conditions can't be used to delay or deny insurance coverage. Don't get me wrong, I am skeptical of everything; I hate insurance companies.  I look for documentation on everything, and if I find something amiss, I holler long and hard at people who have the ability or authority to make changes.    I'm not the most popular person as a result, (what can I say, p****** people off is my gift) but I'd rather be a pain in some elected official's backside than to declare myself helpless and be run over by the bureaucracy.

      

Permalink Reply by AaronW on November 1, 2013 at 11:08am

Before Obamacare, I was paying $0 for healthcare.

After Obamacare, I am still paying $0, same plan.

So, yeah, unaffected by it all, thankfully.

Permalink Reply by Daniel Caffrey on November 1, 2013 at 12:30pm

Well they just gave me a $2 per hour raise so I'm not worried about missing out on that. And like I said I have no dependents on my plan. There are different plans employers can choose from. The plan my employer chose seems to fit the mass of the company best. To keep prices low for MOST of us. Guys without dependents. Now if I chose to add a dependent my rates would increase tremendously and I am well aware of that. As far as the 39% increase, that number is paltry when considering the overall final cost of the insurance. which is an increase of not quite $4 per week. That's like the price of a cup of coffee.  As I see it when I go to work monday, by the time I get paperwork from the boss and load up my van, before I even get on the road heading towards my job site, my insurance is paid for for that week. I guess it's all in how you look at it.
 

Like I said before I'm not a fan of the plan because yes it does cost the majority of people more money. I'm just saying that it doesn't bother ME.
 Panic Minnow said:

Daniel,

You may be only paying 12.93 per week, but your company is going to feel the brunt of this.It will either be felt in your pocket as a raise that is not there, or by some other means.  We found out that our health insurance thru the sheetmetal union is considered to be "Cadillac" insurance, which means that we are over covered. Well because of that we are going to be charged a penalty for being over covered..... per the words of our employer. And .50 cents of our last 1.00 raise went to cover increasing medical costs. Wow!

Remember when the car insurance became mandatory for our state. If everyone needs to by car insurance, then wouldn't the rates go down because there is a bigger pool of dollars to cover the insurance companies? Haha......and they still issues licenses and renew tabs without any proof of insurance. So it really did nothing to stop the uninsured drivers. I know, way off subject....

Daniel Caffrey said:

So yes

Jake there is a good health care story out there. Although it may be the only one it's mine

 

Permalink Reply by Jake Anderson on November 1, 2013 at 5:05pm

Daniel,

You are missing my point.

My point, is that if you pay more and get the same or even equal, then that isn't a good story, and never will be.  It doesn't matter if its a ton of money in the grand scheme or not.   Most guys at the end of the year when they get their tax return would much rather get $188 dollars rather than $0 dollars correct?  

If you put a brand new Curado up for grabs in the classifieds how long you think it will last?  Very long?  No?  Not so much?  

Humerous that you went from "I have a good story" to now suggesting "It doesn't bother ME".

Those are two very different things

 

Daniel Caffrey said:

Well they just gave me a $2 per hour raise so I'm not worried about missing out on that.  As far as the 39% increase, that number is paltry when considering the overall final cost of the insurance. which is an increase of not quite $4 per week. That's like the price of a cup of coffee.  As I see it when I go to work monday, by the time I get paperwork from the boss and load up my van, before I even get on the road heading towards my job site, my insurance is paid for for that week. I guess it's all in how you look at it.

Daniel Caffrey said:

So yes

Jake there is a good health care story out there. Although it may be the only one it's mine

 

Permalink Reply by Joe Boyd on November 1, 2013 at 5:11pm

The more I read your question, the more pissed I get.  You spout off about what a great American you are when all I see from you is that you're a low information bigot.  It's one thing to huff and puff and criticize, but I see nothing else from you.  You seem to leave the real heavy lifting to the adults in the room.  Let me tell you, Dana, my dad is a Pearl Harbor survivor, and I did two combat tours in 1967 and 1968, and I do not appreciate you questioning my patriotism or my position as an American just because I might have a different opinion.  If you even hint that I'm somehow less of an American than you are, I will bury you up to your eyeballs in facts that will make you look like a posturing clown.  So don't even try.  You have neither the knowledge nor the horsepower.

   

Dana Steiner said:

Joe,

So are you saying that you support the current Affordable Health Care Act? I'm a little confused here.
 
Joe Boyd said:

I have a Medigap policy from Regence Blue Shield that went down about nineteen dollars a month.  My wife's plan with Group Health went up substantially, but when she went on the Washington website, she found she qualified for about a $315 subsidy, which helped.  My first wife died in 2008 after a ten-year illness.  We had health care coverage, but I had to pay premiums for nine months before I could file claims, due to her pre-existing condition.  Even when we were covered, I still had to pay more than $12,000 in one year, just for her prescriptions.   I guess everyone has the right to rant, which is easy and possibly cathartic, but real change can only take place if we step away from our computers and get involved.  Personally, I'm still at the "wait and see" stage.  I do know that 75% of Americans who filed for bankruptcy had health care insurance when they became ill.  Agent commissions in 2007 ran 100+% of FYAP (first year annual premium).  That meant if your coverage cost $100 per month, the agent got at least a $1200 check when your first month's premium hit the books.  The crappier the insurance, the better the commission, since the company could cancel if the insured filed too big of a claim.  Some of these companies have had to cancel their policies because they were junk policies.  Some of those same companies are trying to capitalize on the confusion by offering insurance coverage at a higher rate, hoping no one will look into other options.  While insurance companies were cancelling policies when their customers got sick, the agents were enjoying lavish trips and vacations as rewards for sales volumes.  How do I know this?  The company I worked for introduced lines of health insurance and required us to become licensed agents.  The ones who successfully sold the policies got free trips and eventually moved on.  Finally the company dropped the health insurance programs because, although they were making money for the agents, the long-term income for the company just wasn't there.  Part of the new Obamcare program requires insurance companies to devote 80% of premium costs to actual health care; if that number falls, the company is required to rebate premium payers accordingly, and pre-existing conditions can't be used to delay or deny insurance coverage. Don't get me wrong, I am skeptical of everything; I hate insurance companies.  I look for documentation on everything, and if I find something amiss, I holler long and hard at people who have the ability or authority to make changes.    I'm not the most popular person as a result, (what can I say, p****** people off is my gift) but I'd rather be a pain in some elected official's backside than to declare myself helpless and be run over by the bureaucracy.

      

Permalink Reply by Jake Anderson on November 1, 2013 at 5:13pm

I'm in the same boat Aaron.... but I am definitely being affected.  

As an employee of a medical device manufacturer, we have had a 2.3 top down tax.  Basically, while 2.3 doesn't sound so bad, it ends up being about a 10% tax on our margins the way the accounting really works.

I'm now covering 8 states instead of 3, and we are raising our prices to our customers, and they are in turn raising their rates to the end users....YOU!

I think the general public has very little idea whats going on here.  Like Joe Boyd said, the fact from fiction is tough...  I think if more people really knew all the facts...they wouldn't be so comfortable with it.

AaronW said:

Before Obamacare, I was paying $0 for healthcare.

After Obamacare, I am still paying $0, same plan.

So, yeah, unaffected by it all, thankfully.

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