Re: People are satisfied with their health insurance?

On 2009-06-26, CheeseHusker dos <jonruss63@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jun 26, 11:48 am, Con Reeder <consta...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 2009-06-26, Zaphod Beeblebrox <victor.ki...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Con Reeder presented us with the following on 6/26/2009 12:23 PM:
On 2009-06-26, Ben Stewart <benjstew...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jun 26, 8:41 am, Jon Enslin <jens...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I am personally satisfied with my medical insurance.  My wife has had
three extended stays in the hospital for three different reasons over
the past few years, and we have not had to pay one single cent in
deductibles or co-pays.  The taxpayers of the State of Wisconsin cover
all but $55 a month for the plan.  A couple of things though...

First, the optical and dental aren't all that great so we have had to
buy some supplemental insurance.  Yesterday, I had to spend a good
half-hour figuring out what plan would give us the best deal to help
pay for my son's new glasses.  Incredibly frustrating.

Second, as xyzzy states, if I ever lose my job, I am royally fucked.
My wife doesn't have a job that offers insurance and COBRA only lasts
so long and would be very expensive.  Furthermore I would have to find
a job that offered a plan that covers pre-existing conditions because
of my wife's illness.

Jon
We are in a very similar situation with my wife being a teacher. Her
insurance is great, but it has become obvious to us that we are
subsidising those without insurance already.

Here's a recent example: My 6 year old daughter woke up in the middle
of the night with a bad sore throat. We didn't take her to ER, because
we knew it wasn't a life threatening situation. We waiting until
"urgent care" (not ER) hours opened the next morning.

She had a 5 minute visit with a nurse, we sat there for a half hour or
so, and then another nurse came in to swab her throat.

She tested positive for strep, we elected to get the anibiotic shot,
we talked to a doctor for 5 minutes, the nurse came back and gave her
the shot, and we were done.  45 minutes from start to finish.

Total bill: $1,300. For FRICKIN STREP THROAT!

I strongly suspect your insurance company negotiated that down to
$650 or even less.

I find this intensely annoying - there's some arbitrary number that's
negotiated down to some arbitrary amount and then the patient is
responsible for some arbitrary portion of this.  What is the true cost
of the service?  Nobody has a clue!

Yup. While I was investigating self-insuring, I called several
"Immediate Care" types of facilities trying to get some sort of
price list. They don't have them. They basically try and bill as
much as they can, and if the payor has some traction (like large
insurers and Medicaid) they negotiate it down. I got no sense that
they would be willing to work with someone like me.

The way to do it appears to be working with a family physician
group as much as possible. They tend to have set prices and
can tell you how much lab work is going to be.

There is a small but growing movement toward cash payment health care
- not sure if there's a group in your area doing that at all. This in
addition to companies like WalMart and ShopKo offering instore flat
fee base medicine.

Yes, I went to one of the CVS in-store setups in Miami some time back
when ironically I had suspected sinus infection. I wanted an anti-
biotic. They seemed very good -- I had an nurse practicioner see me and
basically tell me that they would refuse to prescribe me without a swab,
and not only that they would not recommend I have a course of
antibiotics until I had cleared some time from a previous course. No
charge, even though she saw me.

I think in the rural area I live in my options are less plentiful, but
the good news is that the prices for doctors and other care are probably
less in general.

--
There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make
a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 12. -- Dave Barry
.

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