Health care insurance costs- personal rant

[Mountainman]

Last night I tried to listen to Gene Burns on KGO. He was asking why people thought that their health care insurance should be paid for by someone else. "Why do people think their employer or the government should pay for their health insurance?" he was asking. I got so mad at the question I turned the radio off.

If you could afford to pay for health care you wouldn't ask for anyone to pay for it!

I got laid off over 2 months ago. I got a letter from the HR dept of the company saying that if I wanted to continue my health care coverage it would cost $510 a month and the first payment was due in 2 weeks. I wrote back asking how in the hell can I pay $510 a month when you just laid me off and I have no income?

I have clinical depression and acute anxiety and I use to take meds but they ran out and I can't afford to get the prescriptions refilled. I can tell that the depression is coming back because I have trouble sleeping and I am depressed all the time now.

So why do I want the government to pay my medical insurance? Because I can't pay it that's why!

Why should medical treatment go only to those who have the means to pay for it? I guess we should all just suffer and die and get off the planet if we can't afford health care.

I think we need universal health care paid for by the government since health care is a basic necessity.


Do we really want a country were we have homeless, sick people starving and dying in the background while those who have decent incomes live in walled-in communities partying and ignoring the problems around them?

I have been to countries like Costa Rica where that is the case. The wealthy live in walled-in communities with guard houses on the corners and the working class and poorer live in shacks all piled up upon each other.

I don't know whom the Dem candidate is going to be, but for me, the person I'll back is going to be the one who can make a case for social justice in this country.

Rant over!

[Clete]

1. I sympathize with you and it's because of people like

you that we need universal health care. It's the sick and elderly people that need health care, not the healthy ones the for profit health plans prefer to cover.

[mmonk]

2. What Gene Burns doesn't realize

is some of us are "rated" like one of my children and my wife. We are "rated" and pay outragious amounts, not because we go to the doctor or hospital more, but because insurance company actuaries control access and amount of care, costs, and are allowed to because of the people they elect to office and buy off. I pay taxes and should have representation too. Why should I pay more than Gene Burns?

[flpoljunkie]

3. Offering people health care they can't afford when they lose their jobs...

is unacceptable in a country as rich as ours. The Rethugs who are bought and paid for by the big insurance and drug companies will never act in the best interests of the people.

Not one Republican voted for Social Security and Medicare. The GOP is captive to the health care special interests, and that is why we must vote them out in 2004.

I hope you are able to receive help for your depression and things get better for you soon.

[MI Cherie]

4. Health Care ...

Shouldn't it be part of "Life, Liberty, and Happiness"?

It would actually help big and small businesses, too. Think how many more employees could be hired if they didn't have to pay for health care! They could even get back to offering above the norm to attract good workers!

Sounds like a win-win situation.

[Clete]

30. It is a win win situation for all but those corporate

health care industry profiteers, who stand to lose a lot of money that should be but isn't being funneled into actual health care. Everyone else, the population, the health care providers and legitimate businesses all stand to gain from it.

[MI Cherie]

50. Silly me ...

... ignoring the profit suckers!

[ikojo]

64. Anthem Blue Cross buys Wellpoint, Inc

and the CEO of Wellpoint stands to make a nice payday if the "merger" is approved by all the regulators. He owns approx. 3.3 million shares of Wellpoint stock and stands to make $335 MILLION dollars on stock alone. He then will be paid $27.5 MILLION dollars because instead of being CEO he will be chairman of the board so he gets the money due to a change in status or something like that.

http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/2/088097-8442-095.html

"The $15 billion cash and stock deal would increase the value of Leonard D. Schaeffer's nearly 3.27 million shares by $56 million to $330 million, based on the two companies' share prices before the deal was announced Monday.

However, Schaeffer also is entitled to receive $27.5 million under a change-of-control clause in his contract. That amounts to three times his 2002 salary and benefits of $6.9 million, plus medical and life insurance benefits, said Ken Ferber, a spokesman for Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based WellPoint.

The 58-year-old also would see his executive retirement benefits grow by $10 million."

Trust me it's the executives of insurance companies that are rewarded HANDSOMELY. Regular employees receive VERY little in the form of rewards.

NATIONAL UNIVERSAL (meaning for ADULTS and children) HEALTHCARE NOW!

[in_cog_ni_to]

5. Mountainman,

I'm so sorry you have lost your job. The insurance quote of $510.00 a month must be COBRA? That is sooooo expensive and unfordable for the average laid off worker. Ridiculous! Check into a personal insurance policy....it's cheaper. I don't know how that would affect your drug coverage though. Usually, there's a waiting period for pre-existing illness. OR....check into Medicaid. Call around your county and ask for help. Look in the front of your phone book for local charities who may be able to offer you some kind of assistance. I'm so sorry. My heart breaks for you. :hug:

>>>>>Do we really want a country were we have homeless, sick people starving and dying in the background while those who have decent incomes live in walled-in communities partying and ignoring the problems around them?<<<<<

THAT is exactly what the rich repukes want! They want more money than they could possibly spend in a lifetime and let the poor and less fortunate suffer. They truly don't care as long as they have their's. :mad:

[leetrisck]

6. People all over this country are having bake sales

and auctions trying to save their lives or the lives of their families. Health care costs are thru the ceiling. Know people who work just for their health insurance - it takes every dime they make for the insurance - nothing left for anything else.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

41. I saw a television show the other day where they were talking to the...

...operator of a food line in Ohio, and the line was as long as any I've ever seen. The operator stated that his operation was typical and that there were lines like his all over Ohio and every other state in the country.

I used to listen to my parents talk about what it was like during the Great Depression. Sounds like we're getting very close to that under the able leadership of Ensign Bunnypants.

[Fescue4u]

62. All over Ohio?

Seriously?

Im an Ohioan and haven seen one.

[DuctapeFatwa]

7. Health care is just like any other product. In a free market, you are free

to earn money.

With that money, you can purchase gold jewelry, designer clothing, health care - you have the freedom to choose how you will spend your money!

If you want things that cost more than your labor is worth, you have the freedom to start your own business, get new skills training, or both!

[Mountainman]

11. If you ask me you are a fool.

What good does it do anyone to spout free market dogma when the reality of things is much different?

I don't understand statement like yours. Are you living on the same planet as the rest of us?

Do you look out at the world and see that free market model really happening?

If you are going to say shit like that please explain why the rest of the world disagrees with you!

[DuctapeFatwa]

15. I see you are an evildoer who hates freedom

Report immediately, with your family to the Homeland Security Department for intensive interrogation in a friendly country like Egypt or Jordan.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

23. It's is a combination of sarcasm and lack of compassion.

Why he thought it is OK to make fun of your bad fortune and your suffering is beyond me.

[DuctapeFatwa]

29. I am making fun of no one's bad fortune, I stated the policy of the US

Apparently you assume that I also make the policy, since you accuse me of lack of compassion.

What I did was summarize it accurately and succinctly.

If you don't like the way it sounds reduced to a few sentences, should you direct that concern to its authors, or to me?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

38. He's already stated that he's pissed off and can no longer pay...

...for the meds that he needs. Why did you feel compelled to antagonize him even more?

You are the auther of your post, are you not?

And you do take responsibility for what you post, isn't that correct?

Common decency dictates that you should take the time to apologize for kicking a man while he's down. Based on your posts in this thread, I personally don't believe you have ANY common decency

[DuctapeFatwa]

42. What I posted is US policy in a nutshell. Rather than attack me, why

don't you defend the policy, if that is your intention?

Or refute my post. Explain to me, and to him, how that is NOT the policy.

While I am not able to respond to personal attacks, I will be happy to discuss the policy with you, and whether it is in your best interest, the original poster's best interest, or mine.

I will also be happy to reiterate that I did not make the policy and respectfully suggest that if the policy displeases you, your displeasure would be more constructively directed toward the authors and perpetuators of and those who profit from the policy itself, rather than at me, but of course, you must make the choice that is right for you :)

[camero]

55. I will refute your post. Health Care is NOT a commodity.

Do you think that police and fire protection are also commodities?
No, they are not, they are life and death situations, much like health care. It is the attempts of the right wing and business interests to put a dollar value on human life that is contributing to the loss of morality that these same people harp against.

[DuctapeFatwa]

60. Maybe you don't think it SHOULD be, but in the US, it is

Yes, business interests put a dollar value on human life.

A very low one, but a value, nonetheless.

A human life is worth the profit it produces for business.

Because there is a near-endless supply of humans, and because the free market value of a day's work has now fallen below the free market value of a day's survival, a human life actually has a negative value, unless it is the life of a very wealthy person.

No, that is not in your best interest, or mine, or the original poster's.

But it is the way it is, and it enjoys the broad and enthusiastic bipartisan support of the affluent classes, and more importantly, the corporate elite.

[camero]

61. People like you do, and that is the problem.

It is also a problem that you will have to deal with in your lifetime because nobody just dies. You will need some health care before you go.

Human life is sacred. There should be no dollar value attached to a human life. It is priceless.

[DuctapeFatwa]

63. People like me do what?

Refuse to dress reality up in pretty words to make it easier for you to live with?

Oppose the regime?

Actively seek the disarming and overthrow of the US government?

Hell, yes, I am proud to be an Enemy of the State, card-carrying, with fully functional secret code ring and treehouse pass.

I'd be in Gitmo, but they just can't seem to find me....

[camero]

68. Think healthcare is a commodity obviously

Nor do you seem to have any respect for human life unless they can afford prescriptions that equal most people's car payments for a month.

I seriously doubt you're going to Gitmo with your prior posts.

[DuctapeFatwa]

70. In the US, health care IS a commodity

You can argue that it *shouldn't* be that way, but that does not change the reality.

My posts neither make nor implement regime policy.

They do sum up what it is.

If you don't mind a suggestion, I think your passion might be more constructively directed toward the policy itself, and the regime that profits from it, as opposed to crafting assumptions about me, however baseless (but creative) they may be.

[camero]

71. Point taken

Maybe you could help us argue that, how about it?

[Le Taz Hot]

13. May I direct you to response #10

This poster states it beautifully. Health care is NOT a commodity.

[DuctapeFatwa]

17. The regime decides what is or is not a commodity. Praise the Regime.

Your anti-American activities have been noted and your measurements have been sent to Halliburton. Do not resist the operatives in the helicopter. They will have your jumpsuit.

[lapislzi]

18. Thanks, LTH

:7

[KayLaw]

34. It's just not true either

You can't compare health care to buying things. If I want a piece of gold jewelry, like you say, I can go to a nice jewelry store, or a WalMart, I can check out garage sales, or just do without. Not so with illness. If Mountainman has an badly infected throat there's not much he can do but go to a doctor. Even if he knows from experience it's caused by a bacterial infection, he can't shop around for a bottle of antibiotics and a box of codeine - it's against the law, the government won't allow it.

[DuctapeFatwa]

39. and it is the government that decrees that it IS just another product

The policy may not be in your best interest, or in mine, but it is in the best interests of the corporations who sell health care, and health insurance, and who give both Dems and Repubs the money to finance their political careers.

[lapislzi]

45. Everything's a product

(This goes back to my other favorite rant, the language.) They've managed to commodify (is that a word?) everything. Anything can be bought and sold as long as you can couch the language. Why do you think they call it "the abortion industry?" That's the only way they seem to think about things. And that's why it suits them so very well to have a "CEO" instead of a president.

(To clarify: "them" = republican business interests)

[DuctapeFatwa]

47. Sadly, business interests are completely bipartisan

You will note that all the moneyed candidates "health plans" are essentially tweaks, heavy on the window dressing, that take great pains not to disturb the profit margins of the industries on whom they depend for their campaign funds and fancy houses and cars, and yes, health care.

The original poster mentions the situation in Costa Rica.
Well, Costa Rica is a Scandinavian Socialist Paradise compared to Honduras, for example, or El Salvador, and not only is it where we are headed, it is where we already are in some communities.

The situation has already become so extreme that a political solution is no longer realistic.

[lapislzi]

48. Ah. You and I are on the same page then.

See you on the barricades...

[DuctapeFatwa]

49. I'll look for your cage on my way to interrogation

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=590664

[mmonk]

8. If countries with universal healthcare pay less,

there's no good reason to stay with the present system. Hope you are rehired or given a solution.

[terrisel]

9. Glad you turned the radio off..

1.Health care insurance premiums paid by employers is a part of one's salary. It began sometime after World War II as a way for companies to circumvent wage and price controls which were in effect at the time. They started offering it to executives and then it grew and grew.

2. If all companies stop offering to pay health insurance premiums as part of salary the following will happen:
A. Salaries will increase somewhat to make up for the lost "benefit."
B. The prices charged by all health care providers and drug companies will decrease drastically--plummet!
C. Insurers will scramble to offer health insurance directly to consumers at much lower prices than your cobra continuation.

This Gene Burns is well aware of the facts and is trying to make a living on spreading disinformation or propaganda.

Incidentally, there was a news report several months ago about a business in Connecticut that moved production to Ireland.(I don't remember the name) One reason they gave is that they would no longer have to pay health insurance costs because Ireland has national health care paid through taxes. Amazing what taxes can pay for if your country is not supporting fat cat corporations and a military-industrial complex.

A couple of suggestions:
Tell your doctor you are unemployed-see if he/she has samples to give you; call your congressperson's office and tell them you need prescriptions and ask them to come up with some suggestions. Put their tax-paid office caseworkers to work on real problems. They hear from the drug companies daily.

[shimmergal]

54. Good points.

I also wonder, if in place of your step three, what would happen if insurance companies were _forbidden_ to offer insurance for medical care. Most health care charges would fall by about 90%, I'll bet.

When you look at the medical-type procedures that are typically not covered by insurance, you can see how this works right now. Cosmetic surgery costs may seem high, but compared to other operations in terms of complexity they really aren't. Ditto for veterinary services and operations

[lapislzi]

10. Shift the paradigm, please

It's not a question of who pays for health insurance. It's a question of why health insurance (such as it is) is necessary in the first place.

What is the insurance business doing meddling in matters of health? Health is not a "business." Health is not an "industry." It only looks that way because corporations (pharmas and insurance, most notoriously) know that there's big bucks to be made by meddling in health matters.

Health care should be free. "Insurance" is a complete contrivance, a canard. It is not necessary.

The question you should be asking, Mountainman, is "why can't I just show up at the doctor's when I'm sick, and receive treatment?" "Why can't I visit the pharmacy and receive the medicine I need?" "Why does someone's pocket need to be enriched from my misery?"

Turn that rock over, baby...and see what's underneath.

[pnb]

14. One problem

Where are you going to find physicians willing to work for free or for far reduced compensation than they get now?

[lapislzi]

16. The whole system's gotta go

I'm talking overhaul. I am no expert on these matters, but national health seems to work in the UK and the rest of Europe. What's the problem here? Don't tell me I'm the only person who sees the huge disconnect between wealth in America and the poor quality of services to its citizens.

[Mountainman]

21. One of the thoughts is who are the stake holders

In this country, we see the owners of corporations as the only ones who have a stake here. They have a right to their profits.

In other countries the citizens are also stake holders since the corporations are a part of the community they should consider the needs of the rest of the community.

[lapislzi]

25. Profit is exactly what I object to

Where is it written that corporations have the "right" to profit? Sorry, but that is bullshit of the purest ray serene. The republicans have been shoving this crap down our throats for decades. In no compassionate society do the rights of corporate entities trump the rights of human beings.

[pnb]

43. I understand

But we don't have a right to the labor of someone else and that seems to be what you want. Aside from all the corporations and pharmaceutical companies are the physicians themselves who invest a lot of money in time in learning their trade. We do not have any rights to their investment.

[lapislzi]

46. A qualification: excessive profits

IF (and that's a big "if") we're going to accept a capitalist society in pricinple, then profit is certainly a part of it. I would never suggest that anybody work for free, or not be compensated for his labor, or what have you. Not at all. The profits are excessive. There is simply no doubt about this.

Why, for example, isn't research subsidised? Either the Canadian OR the UK model would work for me. Physicians are compensated for their labor. Of course that would involve the evil "T" word, and we can't do that...no siree...heaven forfend they lob that "tax and spend" epithet at us.

My point is this: the insurance industry has no business in health care. It is there ONLY to make a profit where none needs to be made. It is a scam, pure and simple.

[berry]

51. Go to www.pnhp.org to find an organization of 9,000+ doctors

(including 5 former surgeons-general)who want a national health program with universal coverage. They argue that it would be good for doctors too--only the insurance industry and some HMO-type companies have anything to lose (obscene profits).

I just googled "PNHP" to check if it was .org and found that there are lots of grassroots groups in this movement--like at medical schools. Do check it out.

If every concerned patient told his/her doctor about this group, I think it would maybe lead to a groundswell. One of the network news programs (ABC I think) had a segment recently on the size and cost of the "health insurance industry". It was staggering.

[lapislzi]

52. Thanks!

heading there right now.

[KayLaw]

27. India, perhaps?

I guess they'll just have to be happy making a little less money like many other workers do today.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[redqueen]

12. Universal Health Coverage?

Only a few candidates advocating that. Carol Mosely-Braun, Al Sharpton, and Dennis Kucinich.

Bob Herbert wrote an article about a woman in New York who found herself in this situation as well. Very sad, and most of the people who have not been personally affected seem not to realize how much the ones who are affected suffer.

You should also look into whether there's a low cost psychiatric center nearby. We have one here. There's a long waiting list and you have to ride a bus for hours to get there, and there's a small co-pay, but at least you can get treatment and medication for a good price.

Good luck. I'll be praying for you.

[roberthall10]

19. Health Care Costs

2004 will be the fourth year in a row of 12-15% premium increases for my HMO. How can the Republicans assert that these organizations are efficient at controlling costs, that there is anything like free market competition occurring?

[lapislzi]

20. This is pure speculation on my part, but...

...I'll bet net costs for services haven't gone up. I don't think the doctors are charging more, for example, or the radiologists, or whoever. These higher costs are going towards: admin costs (filing the acres of paperwork required to deny you your MRI or your medication) and profits. Again, I emphasize that this is my gut feeling. Any DUer with statistics, please jump in at any time.

[NashVegas]

26. Are You Kidding?

$1,000 out of pocket for an MRI for what both I and the doctor were both 99% sure was a cyst. And were right. Talk about your scams.

[lapislzi]

28. No argument there...but...

Of course the cost for services is ridiculously high. I'm not arguing that. However, is the cost rising in keeping with the escalating cost of your premiums? I think not.

The whole damn thing is a scam. That's the problem!

[SeekerofTruth]

22. But they do, they are automatons...

One way to change Repukes is to state facts like you did. Annual increases of 10%+ for the last 20 years is not the result of free market competition! However, if you state the Universal Health Care coverage would be free, you lose the argument. Universal Health Care coverage will never be 'free'.

Also, ask them how they would fix the current problem? They usually give you a blank stare.

[newyawker99]

56. Hi SeekerofTruth!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[commander bunnypants]

31. Hey Mountain Man- Sorry Man

I do this all day long. Go to a hospital near you and request a financial screening. Hospitals (most) have a charity programs for people with low incomes. I hope all works out for you. Another idea, look in the phone book for your local Mental Health-lots of communitys are able to help subsidize the cost of medicines.

Yor friend

DDQM

[Mountainman]

44. Thanks

[Yupster]

32. Your case does make a case for

detaching health insurance from your job.

I see no reason why your employer should have anything to do with health insurance or your health care other than that's the way it's been.

I like Carol M-B's plan to detach it from your job and pay for it from general revenues.

I don't like Kucinich's plan because he wants employers to pay for it.

I had to use COBRA a while back for a month between jobs, and it was quite high. It shows how big a cost most of our employers are eating for us each month. They could be a lot more competitive with foreign companies if that cost wasn't put onto them.

[Mountainman]

40. I think that one reason for employer plans was the "group" you had to have

If you worked in a place with 50 or more employers you could be in a "group" and get cheaper coverage than if you were not in a group.

[LunaC]

33. Some pharmaceutical companies supply free meds

or meds at reduced prices to folks who can't afford them. Here's a few links to check out:

http://www.themedicineprogram.com/

http://www.needymeds.com/

http://www.freemedicineprogram.com/

http://www.medakate.org/medicine.html

[Mountainman]

36. thanks

[Nobody]

59. They provide them to doctors as samples

Talk to yours and make sure they know that you aren't taking your meds because you can't afford to.

[spinbaby]

35. Front page WSJ today

A story about how hospitals are going after the poor and uninsured by having them arrested and even jailed if they don't pay medical bills.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

37. A couple of comments

1. I feel your pain, Mountainman. I just moved, and the way you have to apply for health insurance here, I won't be able to afford it till the end of November. I'm just crossing my fingers that I can stay healthy till then.

2. You mentioned Costra Rica. Ironically, Costa Rica HAS national health care. A friend of mine was in a car accident down there, was treated just fine, and didn't have to pay.

3. Someone suggested getting private insurance. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find a private insurer who will insure somebody with a history of depression for any reasonable price.

4. There are two different models for national health care: the UK model, in which doctors are direct employees of the government, and the Canada model, in which doctors are independent contractors but are paid by the govt., as with Medicare now.

[grasswire]

53. the idea about...

.....finding the local mental health clinic is good. Going off anxiety meds cold turkey would certainly get anyone's attention.

I know someone who is getting student loans to go back to school simply because he can get good health insurance for a reasonable cost through the university.

If things get bad enough, there's Medicaid. Of course that means being nearly destitute -- a mixed blessing.

[Malva Zebrina]

57. I am sorry

Mountain man :cry: sorry, because I think you are young and it is not warranted at all.

I have resolved that I am in control of my own life--if I die because of lack of health care and money to take care of my diabetes,then I will die afew years earlier. So? I am old. Put me out on the ice! I have resolved to take my meager amounts of money and spend it joyfully on whatever and whenever I can. I raised my family and they did good. I am satisfied with what I have done in my life. If I cannot afford the damn stupid diabetes strips for my meter--the hell with it. We come and we go. I am at heart an Epicurean. But I am so sorry for your predicament.

[Nobody]

58. I second your rant

The price of health care is expensive enough, but health care coverage is out of reach for millions of WORKING people. Yes, I said working. People like me who have been pushed out of their jobs,as you were, and who have had to take part time or temp work. These jobs don't come with benefits.

If I and millions of others get sick, we can't take a day off or we lose a day's pay. When you're barely making a living wage, a day's pay is essential.

If I and millions of others go to work sick, who loses? We do, because we're miserable longer. Our co-workers do, because we spread the virus. Our customers, because again we spread the virus. Our bosses and the company, because with all the people now having caught the virus they might not have, productivity suffers, those who can afford to stay home do, and again that's productivity lost.

If people with easily controlled conditions like diabetes and depression (I say easily, because if you take your meds, these conditions are controlled) don't get their meds, we all pay. Society does. No work from otherwise employable people.

National pride: do we want to be known as the only industrial nation that routinely tosses cancer victims out into the street to die?

Our government won't even talk about insuring workers who can't afford health care. Yet it's a crime to euthanize terminal patients and supposedly it's a crime to put yourself out of your own misery. So what do we poor unworthy people do? We can't stay healthy, yet we can't save them the trouble by committing suicide.

[fishnfla]

65. Flame me , but gently

First of all MM, I'm sorry for your situation and what I have to say does not apply to you directly but as to the state of health care in our country today.

Can anyone tell me if Americans per capita average spend more personal discretionary income on hair care and car care than they do on health care? Do we expect the goverment and employers to cover these costs?

What are the leading health care problems in this country? What are their causes?

I would hazard to guess that there are epidemics in obesity, alcoholism, smoking related diseases, heart disease associated with high-fat, high cholesterol diets and sedentary lifestyles.

Health care costs are rising because of our lifestyles. It is not an economic issue. Its an education issue.

We all need to get off our fat, lazy asses and start taking better care of ourselves! Myself included.

[grasswire]

66. well.......

....I spend about two bucks a month on shampoo, and use the city bus for transportation.

So I think your question is too broad. YMMV.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

67. Reality check needed

I know people who have done everything right from a health maintenance standpoint: diet, exercise, etc., and they've still gotten massive heart attacks, cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, or a septic shock.

As for your question about hair care, I get the occasional haircut and spend about $10 a month on hair care stuff. My car was given to me by mother, who no longer uses it since her husband became unable to drive, and I rarely drive, so I spend about $15 a month on gas and $50 on insurance.

If I were to qualify for the most economical health insurance available to me at my age, it would be $180 a month with a $1000 deductible and only 80% of expenses covered after the deductible.(And I've done the math with various levels of premiums and deductibles, so I know that that's the most affordable coverage for my age group. If you're under 30, you can get great, affordable coverage, but that changes rapidly after 50.)

[eridani]

72. This is essentially nonsense

There was a brief fad for 'healthy lifestyle' discounts in HMOs and some private self-insured setups about 15 years ago. They were soon dropped, because the 'healthy lifestyle' cohort had no reductions in their health care expenses.

Eating right and exercise certainly improves the quality of life for most people, but it has nothing to do with whether you will run into serious expenses from acute trauma or chronic illness. In every age group, 15% of the population accounts for 80% of the costs. Most people aren't ever going to get seriously sick.

[jiacinto]

69. Well

I pay $146 a month for my coverage and it's hard too.