People who pay for their own Health Insurance

[Lewski709]

Look at this email I got. There has got to be some scam. I tried to email her back and the email was returned. What do you think and how much do you pay for yours? I did not call.

Affordable Health Care Plan!

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*Not available in Oregon or Maryland

Anyone want to call to check it out?

 

[Bichon Barb]

Hey chicky! Call me a negative Nancy, but I think that if it looks to good to be true, it probably is.

DH's business is just he and I, and we have Excellus (Blue Cross Blue Shield) family plan with a deductible. The business pays over $10,000 a year! Meanwhile, I read in the local paper that Excellus, which is a not for profit, made an 88 percent profit over last year. The paper also printed salaries at Excellus.

I'm completely disgusted. But try to find an insurance plan for just one family.

 

[llebrekniT]

Our family plan is $495.30 per month, $25 co-pay for office visits (we have to pay for any tests and shots), $800 deductible after which we pay 15% up to $3000 out of pocket.

Our dental insurance is $65 a month.

It's all too high, but we get to deduct it from our taxes.

 

[Lewski709]

Tell me about it! It's nice and all that we can write it off at the end of the year, but paying a lot of money out monthly doesn't help with my monthly income.

 

[Bichon Barb]

llebrekniT, you husband is self-employed?

This is too weird. I heard the fax machine printing, I look over and this is what just came in:

Beat the High Cost of Health Care
Medical Dental
RX
Health Care Entire Household $99.95 Per Month

LOL. I told you these coincidences always happen to me.

 

[llebrekniT]

Barb, do you EVER read my posts?

Yes, my DH and I run a plumbing business TOGETHER! Remember, a couple weeks ago I was thisclose to resigning? He's been really well behaved since that day, he knows he was wrrrrrrrr, he won't say it, but he knows.

Anyway, we are a little tiny incorporated plumbing business. Just new buildings and homes. NO service work! Unless you are family, and not even then sometimes, right DHB?

Oops, forgot I'm not at the home base, doubt DHB is reading this.

 

[mom2boys]

I received an email from the National Assoc for Self-Employed announcing "Cover the Uninsured Week" which is May 10th-16th. I pay way too much for insurance coverage for my family & then end up paying an extrodinary amount out of pocket. Would love to "self-insure" but we fear that we may be denied care altogther.

It really stinks

 

[Bichon Barb]

Whoa llebrekniT, put down the tea and stop yelling at me. I can't help it if my middle name is Dory.

Seriously, I knew he was a plumber, but I didn't know if he was on his own or with a group.

I heard there is some kind of "disaster" or "catastrophe" insurance you can get. You would have to pay all your doctor visits, but if you had a hospital stay that was over $2,000, then the insurance would kick in. Right now, when Excellus pays a physician, they only pay a portion, and the doctor usually writes off the rest. But if you had to pay it yourself, you'd probably have to pay the full amount.

 

[llebrekniT]

That's OK Dory. If we have to have this conversation again in the future, I'll try not to yell.

Oh, if I was a gambler, I might go for it. Right now we pay about $6000 a year in premiums, $25 for each visit, plus alot more for Ella's visits because of the shots.

But we have 3 kids and accidents happen, so I play it safe. I think.

 

[floridafam]

I wish this were true.

My Dad pays $1,300 a month for his health insurance. He is self employed!

 

[beattyfamily]

It must be too good to be true!

My DH is self-employed. We pay $1,100 a month so $13,200 a year for Blue Choice of NE.

We pay $5. co-pays for doctor's visits, $25 for ER, and our prescriptions are $20, $30, $45 tier. All hospital visits, tests etc... are covered. It's exactly what we had when my DH was not self-employed.

We do not have dental cause we can't find any plan worthwhile for the self-employed.

 

[pixiemomma]

It does seem too good to be true but compared to most of the other posters I feel like we have a real bargain!

We have Carefirst Blue Cross Blueshield of MD. We pay $337 a month for the four of us, ages 30, 24 4 and 3. We have an idemnity plan, so we can see any doctor. Our deductible is $800 but well baby visits, OB/GYN annuals and annual checkups are covered before the deductible ($10 co-pay).

 

[Dan Murphy]

SCAM

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

I used to be in the insurance business, and that sounds like what we would call our "non-insurance" option. If that is what it is, then it is merely a discount plan. Basically a stopgap between no insurance and real insurance. We used to use it for people who are unisurable due to health issues or monetary issues. Not a SCAM, but not insurance either. If you investigate, read the fine print carefully!

 

[Bichon Barb]

This is a portion of an article that was in our local paper this morning. When I started working with my husband in January of 1999, we paid about $475 a month. We now pay $886 a month for the same coverage.

OT, but llebrekniT, what did you say your DH does for a living?

Excellus profits interest legislators

March 17, 2004

By James T. Mulder
Staff writer

Some area state legislators say soaring profits and salaries at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield underscore the need for much closer state scrutiny of health insurance rate hikes.

Insurers have been free to raise rates without regulatory review since 2000, when a state law requiring state Insurance Department approval of rate increases expired.

The state Assembly unanimously approved a bill last month that would reinstitute regulatory reviews and public hearings on any premium increase of more than 5 percent. An identical version of the bill in the Senate is being co-sponsored by Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse.

DeFrancisco said a story in The Post-Standard Saturday reporting that profits at Excellus nearly doubled last year while the insurer was imposing double-digit rate increases on members will build support for the bill.

"Every time there is an expose like the one in the newspaper, this bill gets more and more converts," he said.

The newspaper reported Excellus generated net income of $161.5 million in 2003, up from $85.7 million in 2002 - an 88 percent increase. During the same year, the insurer raised premiums about 16 percent. The story also showed Excellus paid four executives more than $1 million last year, while another 58 Excellus employees made more than $200,000.

Excellus said profits soared because medical expenses were lower than expected. The nonprofit company said it used those gains to reduce the size of its 2004 rate hike, but has no plans to refund any of the profits to

members, as have some Blues plans in other states. Rochester-based Excellus operates Blues plans in Syracuse and other markets across Upstate New York.