how I hate insurance

[RamblingMad]

Interesting write up in Vice on millennials healthcare costs. It’s boils down to more mental healthcare problems overall that aren’t covered by their insurance with expectations for much higher costs of insurance and lower income. Pretty depressing read.

 

[kimblebee]

Every insurance policy in America is different, no need to call someone a liar.

I wasn’t calling him a liar, and wasn’t trying to imply it either. After the explanation it seems there should have been more added to make it really clear. As a Canadian, I don’t know all the ins and outs of your system.

 

[LSUmiss]

Can agree as an expate living in Germany. I work and so does my husband. My husband is "private" and the kids are under him. I pay my "state" insurance. Between us we pay more than the average, because we make more.. About 500 euros a month. but no deductables. German Drs are smart but what bugs me is they do not do the basics. In the US, first thing is a nurse takes BP, fever, basics regardless of what you are in for. NEVER done here. You go in and tell them what is up. I feel that US Dr. talk and explain more.. That is my only jiff with the German system. Nurses are also less qualifed in Germany. Many things they do in the states, a Dr. has to do here, example giving shots. Even when my kids was in the hospital only DRs could draw blood, strange as this is a basic thing a nurse should be able to do.. Ask your pediatrician what is up with that.

In the end, I MUCH prefer the Germany system better than the US. There really is a safety net that makes me sleep better at night.

I also feel here they really try to treat thing before prescribing things.. ex. mental things. half of my friends in the states ( working moms) are on some type of anti-depressent/ anxiety pill. It's crazy, they just go to their GP say they have stress, cant sleep and bam get a script for pills. , even kids.. Where I live in Germany I know of no kids or moms on those drugs.. in the States, I need 2 pairs of hands to count... Here you would get sent on an impatient program a few weeks for stress etc.., Seems the US focuses more on giving pills and not looking at the underlying issues. Just my observation... Pillls cost and make money...

I agree on the pills, but inpatient program for stress is crazy! Regular outpatient therapy should suffice except for extreme cases.

 

[jerseyduke]

No system is perfect, and every policy is different.

However, in the US, health care is about 18% of our GDP. In most other first world nation it runs about 12%. Hmmm...........

 

[mnrose]

Can agree as an expate living in Germany. I work and so does my husband. My husband is "private" and the kids are under him. I pay my "state" insurance. Between us we pay more than the average, because we make more.. About 500 euros a month. but no deductables. German Drs are smart but what bugs me is they do not do the basics. In the US, first thing is a nurse takes BP, fever, basics regardless of what you are in for. NEVER done here. You go in and tell them what is up. I feel that US Dr. talk and explain more.. That is my only jiff with the German system. Nurses are also less qualifed in Germany. Many things they do in the states, a Dr. has to do here, example giving shots. Even when my kids was in the hospital only DRs could draw blood, strange as this is a basic thing a nurse should be able to do.. Ask your pediatrician what is up with that.

In the end, I MUCH prefer the Germany system better than the US. There really is a safety net that makes me sleep better at night.

I also feel here they really try to treat thing before prescribing things.. ex. mental things. half of my friends in the states ( working moms) are on some type of anti-depressent/ anxiety pill. It's crazy, they just go to their GP say they have stress, cant sleep and bam get a script for pills. , even kids.. Where I live in Germany I know of no kids or moms on those drugs.. in the States, I need 2 pairs of hands to count... Here you would get sent on an impatient program a few weeks for stress etc.., Seems the US focuses more on giving pills and not looking at the underlying issues. Just my observation... Pillls cost and make money...

We DID have a conversation about that. She told me it's a REQUIREMENT that doctors give the shots. Which was interesting to me. She also was quite surprised to learn how many kinds of drugs people can "self prescribe" in the US without any doctor or pharmacist being involved. You can't just "buy" ibuprofen for example, without going to a pharmacist and asking for it. Here, you can buy it at any number of stores with no human interaction required. She thinks drugs are overused by Americans. 500 Euros a month, while not cheap, is really a very good deal. We are insured primarily by DH's employer, but "on the street" we'd be paying AT LEAST $1500 a month, WITH large deductibles and co-pays.

 

[emmybee]

I am going to allow myself to feel hopeful after reading this thread because maybe now people as a whole are finally fed up enough to stop taking elections for granted. An overhaul to the healthcare system should frighten HC executives, but it needs to be championed by citizens.

 

[RamblingMad]

I am going to allow myself to feel hopeful after reading this thread because maybe now people as a whole are finally fed up enough to stop taking elections for granted. An overhaul to the healthcare system should frighten HC executives, but it needs to be championed by citizens.

I have no faith in middle America changing their ways. I can only count on rural flight to over time have an impact.

 

[mousefan73]

I agree on the pills, but inpatient program for stress is crazy! Regular outpatient therapy should suffice except for extreme cases.

For impatient you need to reach burn out leve, beyond normal stressl. A colleague was gone for 6 months came back and was effective and productive. Some milk the system too. Have another who is constantly „ sick“.

 

[LSUmiss]

For impatient you need to reach burn out leve, beyond normal stressl. A colleague was gone for 6 months came back and was effective and productive. Some milk the system too. Have another who is constantly „ sick“.

I assume that person doesn’t have a family. I can’t imagine leaving my child for 6 mos b/c I was “stressed”.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Oh, thank you for this info. I was trusting the person I asked was being sincere..guess not.

So, it sounds like $5000 isn’t actually $5000.

I honestly haven't had an insurance policy that didn't cover 100% (qualifying expenditures of course) after OOP max has been completed for in-network as well (out of network I forget what the percentage is). That's a norm for me rather than a "most unusual".

It's more common in the insurance policies I've had to be 80%/20% on the co-insurance aspect though that is for in-network.

There are specific plans where co-pays, co-insurance, etc do not count towards OOP max but there are policies that do. For the other poster that's quite a gap between what's being counted towards OOP max and what they are paying I can understand their frustration.

There's PPO, HMO, FSA, HSA, non-HSA, etc type of insurance plans and all sorts of subsets within that. Then you add in Dental and eye plans. You may or may not have the same insurance provider for each of those. For instance in the past I had UnitedHealth for medical, Aetna for Dental and then VSP for eye. Then the company I worked for switched to EyeMed for eye then switched back to VSP. On my husband's plan we have UnitedHealthcare for both medical and dental and VSP for eye. My mom now has Aetna for medical and dental and VSP for eye.

For so many of us the answer becomes a frustratingly "it depends" kinda of answer that it's quite difficult to get a grasp on what a norm for us is.

 

[shelemm]

Our system of health care is just plain weird. And it's not even really a system. We just kind of stumbled into the idea that many working people get their insurance through their workplace. It's a terrible idea.

First off, you will wind up getting paid less. Second, you are even more beholden to your workplace. Want to change jobs? Or strike out on your own? Losing your insurance (or losing the money you put into a deductible) will hurt a lot of folks. These are all 'taxes' that we already pay.

The first two years of the ACA, I had to go on it because I couldn't get insurance otherwise. Insurance companies just flat out refused to offer us insurance. Thank God for the ACA, because my wife was diagnosed with cancer that first year.

Want to hear something odd? Nobody can prove it's true, but this is what I was told by a Brit: England adopted nationalized medicine in 1946 right when there was the will to do it. Nowadays, although there is zero impetus to change the system (and I don't think any successful politician has suggested dismantling the system), the same political will would not be there today, if it didn't already exist. Like I said, I don't think anyone could possibly prove it's true, but if true it seems a sad commentary on human nature.

 

[mnrose]

Our system of health care is just plain weird. And it's not even really a system. We just kind of stumbled into the idea that many working people get their insurance through their workplace. It's a terrible idea.

First off, you will wind up getting paid less. Second, you are even more beholden to your workplace. Want to change jobs? Or strike out on your own? Losing your insurance (or losing the money you put into a deductible) will hurt a lot of folks. These are all 'taxes' that we already pay.

The first two years of the ACA, I had to go on it because I couldn't get insurance otherwise. Insurance companies just flat out refused to offer us insurance. Thank God for the ACA, because my wife was diagnosed with cancer that first year.

Want to hear something odd? Nobody can prove it's true, but this is what I was told by a Brit: England adopted nationalized medicine in 1946 right when there was the will to do it. Nowadays, although there is zero impetus to change the system (and I don't think any successful politician has suggested dismantling the system), the same political will would not be there today, if it didn't already exist. Like I said, I don't think anyone could possibly prove it's true, but if true it seems a sad commentary on human nature.

Just use the word "socialism" and people run away screaming. European countries with a single payer system are NOT socialist. They have freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of the press, and they elect their leaders just like we do. They have capitalism, just like we do. They also happen to NOT have to worry about health care, unlike we do. I think people are afraid of change, and those with a vested interest in the current system (insurance companies, big pharma, device manufacturers) love to scare people about the evils of these system. Like I said before, none of these systems are perfect, but for the huge majority of Americans, it would cost them less than the current system (when you factor in premiums, deductibles, co-pays, etc), and would deliver for them, the same or better level of care. People who think the German system, for example, delivers lesser care are simply wrong. It's why you do not see any out cry in ANY of these countries to switch to private insurance. If ours truly was the best, wouldn't there be a massive effort by people in these countries to move to it? Oddly, there is no such movement in any of these countries.