how I hate insurance

[Turn the Page]

We are really fortunate in that dh's employer pays roughly 95% of our insurance premiums. The total is around $25,000 per year and we still pay about $8,000 out of pocket. Of course my medication alone runs about $60,000 per year so we don't complain but we also know if dh loses his job or they change health benefits drastically we will be in real trouble. We are in favor of some sort of national healthcare in this house. Being that we live in a rural area we already deal with restricted access and waits that others cite as a downside to such systems.

 

[tvguy]

I pay less only because my income is high.

LOL. Even the definition of "high income" isn't easily agreed to on the DIS boards. Or "middle class". There are people here who sincerely think making $150,000 a year is middle class income. I live in expensive California and I consider $50,000 a year income middle class.

 

[allison443]

I get it. This is why I invest in UNH. Folks are so terrified of public healthcare that I make good on this investment. Meanwhile, my friends in Norway are laughing at how ridiculously expensive my healthcare costs.

What’s UNH? Do you mean UHG?

 

[mjkacmom]

LOL. Even the definition of "high income" isn't easily agreed to on the DIS boards. Or "middle class". There are people here who sincerely think making $150,000 a year is middle class income. I live in expensive California and I consider $50,000 a year income middle class.

Well, unfortunately I live in an area where the higher number is closer to middle class, $50,000 your kids get free lunch. https://nj1015.com/are-you-middle-class-depends-where-you-live-in-nj/

 

[RamblingMad]

What’s UNH? Do you mean UHG?

United Healthcare.

 

[RamblingMad]

LOL. Even the definition of "high income" isn't easily agreed to on the DIS boards. Or "middle class". There are people here who sincerely think making $150,000 a year is middle class income. I live in expensive California and I consider $50,000 a year income middle class.

My household income is over $300k. And I consider health insurance expensive in the US. And I live in a low tax state.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

That would be a question to be directed to the specific base. I'm not sure, unless the grandchild has a more direct military connection, it would be allowed, but you never know until you ask.

DH is insured through work, we are keeping dd23 on it even though her company offers health insurance because she doesn’t cost us any extra.

That's the best thing to do. Just make sure that your company doesn't have any restrictions on that. My husband's employer would charge us more if any member of the family was eligible for insurance elsewhere. More companies are starting to do that. We had to sign a statement every year that no one in our family was eligible for insurance at another job. I actually had a part time job and it meant that my hours were limited, because if I had worked more I would have been eligible for insurance. If I turned it down, my husband's employer would charge more for me, that would have taken care of any extra money I would have made. His insurance was better so I wasn't about to take what my job offered.

We just finished our open enrollment for benefits this week. We also left our DS22 on our health care plan vs having him pay for his own through his job since we have to have family coverage anyway due to DD20, so he doesn’t cost us any extra. The penalty for having access to but not using other insurance only applies to spouses on my husband’s plan. We pay a penalty of $150 extra a month for me to be on his plan. It ends up being about +$1300 a year difference when you considered what it would cost me to be on my own plan via my job. We all stay together on one plan because it’s a high deductible plan, and we want all our family healthcare costs to go towards the same deductible.

 

[tinatark]

DH is insured through work, we are keeping dd23 on it even though her company offers health insurance because she doesn’t cost us any extra.

Not typically "allowed" if your dependent has coverage available through their employer

 

[starry_solo]

LOL. Even the definition of "high income" isn't easily agreed to on the DIS boards. Or "middle class". There are people here who sincerely think making $150,000 a year is middle class income. I live in expensive California and I consider $50,000 a year income middle class.

Really? I guess so but I would consider it low middle class in CA.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

My Wife and I were just this minute talking about that. We pay around $1500 a month for insurance and we only spent about $2300 for actual health care last year. It's ridiculous.

And all it will take is one serious illness with a hospital stay to get all of the money you paid into the healthcare system back.

 

[tvguy]

Really? I guess so but I would consider it low middle class in CA.

I'm getting by just fine.

 

[tvguy]

Well, unfortunately I live in an area where the higher number is closer to middle class, $50,000 your kids get free lunch. https://nj1015.com/are-you-middle-class-depends-where-you-live-in-nj/

They've done away with the income test for free lunches here in an effort to get more kids to take the free breakfasts and lunches. Apparently in the Sacramento City Unified School district only about half the eligible kids were taking the lunches. They are always after us to do stories on the program to get more kids to take them. A good program, but the other motivation is the district makes money on free lunches since they cost less to provide than the Federal reimbursement.

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

Yes, we do pay more for health care than anyone else. But we also expect more, and faster access. And we expect to see a Doctor, not a Physician Assistant, or Nurse Practioner. My neighbor had knee replacement surgery and had to wait 3 weeks. My Uncle in Canada had to wait 11 months. When I get sick, I go see my Doctor. When my family in Canada gets sick, they go to the local drug store and the Pharmacist treats them.
Our healthcare premiums cost just under 5% of our gross income. Our combined state and federal income tax rate is 27%, so combined that is 32%. Far less than the base tax rate in Norway. So they pay for their care likely at a higher rate than us.

Huh. I live in British Columbia. When I get sick, I walk into my local walmart's walk-in clinic and see a doctor (same day, no wait, no charge). When I first developed symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis last year, my gp got me in to see a rheumatologist in 48 hours. Had my blood and x-ray results 24 hours after that. I now see him every three months. No charge for any of it. Yes, there tends to be longer waits for non-emergent issues. But I'll never go broke because of medical debt.

However, I'm sure you will discount my experiences, since you have your anecdata from your relatives to back you up.

 

[Nagle]

Yes, we do pay more for health care than anyone else. But we also expect more, and faster access. And we expect to see a Doctor, not a Physician Assistant, or Nurse Practioner. My neighbor had knee replacement surgery and had to wait 3 weeks. My Uncle in Canada had to wait 11 months. When I get sick, I go see my Doctor. When my family in Canada gets sick, they go to the local drug store and the Pharmacist treats them.
Our healthcare premiums cost just under 5% of our gross income. Our combined state and federal income tax rate is 27%, so combined that is 32%. Far less than the base tax rate in Norway. So they pay for their care likely at a higher rate than us.

Not sure where in Canada your family lives, but here in Ontario, pharmacists ‘treating’ people who are sick is a complete fabrication. Pharmacists fill prescriptions, they do not write prescriptions! They may offer advice but they do not treat patients.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

That's the best thing to do. Just make sure that your company doesn't have any restrictions on that. My husband's employer would charge us more if any member of the family was eligible for insurance elsewhere. More companies are starting to do that. We had to sign a statement every year that no one in our family was eligible for insurance at another job. I actually had a part time job and it meant that my hours were limited, because if I had worked more I would have been eligible for insurance. If I turned it down, my husband's employer would charge more for me, that would have taken care of any extra money I would have made. His insurance was better so I wasn't about to take what my job offered.

And on the flip side of that:

There is a married couple who works at my company. Each of them is a full time benefits-eligible employee. One of them is enrolled in a family plan which covers both of them, and the other is declining the health insurance that they would otherwise be eligible for, thus saving the company a significant amount of money. In a perfect world the company would offer some sort of additional compensation to employees that choose decline health insurance, but they don’t.

And like you, every year we have to prove everyone on our family plan is actually eligible to be covered.

 

[Southernmiss]

Huh. I live in British Columbia. When I get sick, I walk into my local walmart's walk-in clinic and see a doctor (same day, no wait, no charge). When I first developed symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis last year, my gp got me in to see a rheumatologist in 48 hours. Had my blood and x-ray results 24 hours after that. I now see him every three months. No charge for any of it. Yes, there tends to be longer waits for non-emergent issues. But I'll never go broke because of medical debt.

However, I'm sure you will discount my experiences, since you have your anecdata from your relatives to back you up.

I'd take your Universal health care any day over our good ole USA crummy healthcare.

17 year old daughter got sick the day after Easter and quickly lost 20 pounds in 3 weeks waiting to squeeze into a rheumatologist to get a diagnosis and treatment.

Very scary time as we watched our 'healthy as a horse' child decline so fast as we were told that she couldn't get an appointment until January 2020. She'd have been dead if it wasn't for her pediatrician calling in a favor to a former colleague.

This led to a summer of specialists (heart, lung, optometry, kidney) and the bills that come with it to see how far her disease had progressed. Thankfully, we caught it early. Fortunately, dh and I manage $ well and had the few thousand it required us to pay after insurance out of pocket.

She now has a lifelong disease and the appointments, meds and bills that go along with it.

I now have the fear she can never be without a decent job while taking care of herself as an adult to maintain her health and insurance.

Yea, our system is not working.

 

[RamblingMad]

Huh. I live in British Columbia. When I get sick, I walk into my local walmart's walk-in clinic and see a doctor (same day, no wait, no charge). When I first developed symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis last year, my gp got me in to see a rheumatologist in 48 hours. Had my blood and x-ray results 24 hours after that. I now see him every three months. No charge for any of it. Yes, there tends to be longer waits for non-emergent issues. But I'll never go broke because of medical debt.

However, I'm sure you will discount my experiences, since you have your anecdata from your relatives to back you up.

We get a lot of fake news in the states. The insurance companies here make so much money. It’s in their interest to push the narrative that public healthcare is a socialist paradise.

 

[tvguy]

However, I'm sure you will discount my experiences, since you have your anecdata from your relatives to back you up.

Yes. When you have a family member die because of fla

Not sure where in Canada your family lives, but here in Ontario, pharmacists ‘treating’ people who are sick is a complete fabrication. Pharmacists fill prescriptions, they do not write prescriptions! They may offer advice but they do not treat patients.

Ottawa is where this Aunt lived.

 

[Nagle]

Yes. When you have a family member die because of fla

Ottawa is where this Aunt lived.

Then I call nonsense. If pharmacists treat patients, maybe my dentist can perform a knee replacement too.

 

[tvguy]

Then I call nonsense. If pharmacists treat patients, maybe my dentist can perform a knee replacement too.

https://www.opatoday.com/how-your-pharmacist-helps/home
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada...efill_prescriptions_prescribe_some_drugs.html

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-...ribe-medication-for-common-ailments-1.4384569