Joining the ranks of the uninsured

[guitar man]

Just got our open enrollment info for 2011 at work. They just priced themselves out of the market with us. Paying what we've paid the last two years has bankrupted us. And the "cdhp" plan they are offering is a crying shame. The mafia just wishes they could operate like this :grr:

[jtrockville]

1. Maybe it's time to take a fresh look at medical tourism.

I'm sorry you're in this predicament.

[guitar man]

4. or euthanasia

I told my wife if I get bad off enough to just push me out into traffic or something :rofl:

gotta laugh to keep from crying

[KillCapitalism]

34. That is if you can afford the exorbitant airfare.

That plus baggage fees and potentially being groped by the TSA is a deterrent for a lot of people.

[handmade34]

2. happened to me 2 years ago

I refuse to play their game... and if I get sick? I still carry life insurance so my kids will be helped out a bit.

[guitar man]

3. It actually happened to me two years ago too

But I held on for another two years, made sacrifice after sacrifice to keep coverage. No more. Maybe if the "we'll help you pay for it" part of HCR kicks in, I'll take a fresh look at it then, but in the meantime, the insurance company gets no more money from me.

[guitar man]

5. And another damn thing

The sheer audacity to present any of this to workers as a "benefit". It's beyond me. :grr:

[one_voice]

6. I agree with your remark..

about it being a benefit. We pay a good deal for coverage, but really have no choice hubby had a heart attack last month so we need it.

I was talking to a friend the other day, and I said it's funny but it seems like we were better off 10-15 years ago. We were able to save money and always had great health insurance at little to no cost. Everything seems to have gone up in price, bennies got cut and no one is paying shit. Companies used to offer good benefits, but not anymore and in this job market they can pretty much pay you what they want and work you death cuz they know there are no jobs out there.

Hope things improve for you!

[guitar man]

9. I'm on my 3rd year without a raise

I signed up on family plan insurance in January of 2006 when my daughter was born. In that time the premium has increased by roughly 120% and the copays and deductibles just keep going up.

[Kat45]

15. I think it's unconscionable for companies to offer useless health insurance

And by useless, I mean insurance with costs too high for a worker to afford and/or insurance that doesn't cover anything. And if and when the health insurance exchanges actually exist, I believe people are only eligible to use them if their employer does not offer insurance to them. Doesn't matter if it's useless insurance; it's considered insurance.

[guitar man]

17. If that's the case

At that point I may just quit my damned job. I busted my ass and paid our house off free and clear back in '03. So, exactly what's my motivation? I'll go home and start a small engine and motorcycle repair shop out of my garage. Might not make a lot but geez, at that point what will I have to lose?

[Mimosa]

23. Kat, we got screwed without getting kissed.

There wasn't room for all those 'IFs' in this economy.

[defendandprotect]

7. Hard to tell who is Mafia and who isn't these days ...!!!

Really sorry to hear that you're the latest victim of this organized crime we

call health care!

Wow!

[guitar man]

11. Something has to give somewhere

I just hope that when the time comes they can make good on the "we'll help you pay for it" promise. It just didn't happen fast enough for a lot of us. :(

[defendandprotect]

41. Fingers crossed for us all ---

the right wing is doing serious harm to American citizens --

and to democracy --


:)

[LiberalAndProud]

8. Your money or your life.

If it feels like a stickup, it probably is. We've been without insurance for a couple of years now. So far so good (knock on wood).

When the ravages of old age kick in, maybe Medicare will still be around.

[guitar man]

10. I'm about to find out what it's like

I hope and pray no major illness comes along for any of us , but I bet I can pay cash for our routine dr visits and come out way ahead of what I'm getting ripped off for now. I've paid around $30k in premiums over the last 7 or so years and we haven't used even $10k of that including the birth of my child. Enough, no more!

[Safetykitten]

12. You are a statistical blip. HCR is the solution to all. Also there are places

for people like you,(and me). Just ask the fans of HCR here with health insurance. They are very helpfull.

[guitar man]

14. I hope it does work

I really do. If and when the part of hcr that is supposed to help people like me afford coverage kicks in, I hope to rejoin the ranks of the insured. In the meantime, I'm not going to keep coming home without a paycheck to support an insurance company. Just not gonna do it.

[Safetykitten]

19. Well you are very lucky then. You can possibly afford it, compared to others

that will never have it. Also not have that choice.

[cilla4progress]

13. I'm being tortured right now trying to choose between 2 plans -

my current one, whose rates are skyrocketing in January "thanks" to health care reform, or a plan offered by my state (Washington) which is actually really great, but has a $75K annual benefit limit. I'm trying to find out if that is a reasonable limit. My 17 yr. old daughter and I have always been healthy, but it seems like when you go out on a limb like this, something is bound to happen....

[guitar man]

16. It's a tough choice

My rates started to skyrocket long before hcr so I'm not going to place blame there. All I can say is, if you're presented with a CDHP, don't walk, RUN away from that scam.

[cilla4progress]

24. "CDHP"?

It's a government-run plan (don't ask me how they do it!). My check is made out to the state Treasurer! I know it's a "Community Health Plan." Is this what you are referring to?

I'm not having any luck finding out what a reasonable annual benefit limit would be...

[guitar man]

26. "consumer driven health plan"

There's another acronym for it but I can't remember it right now. Basically, they offered me a $478 a month premium plan that would leave me to pay $3000 in medical bills before it paid a damn dime other than for checkups. No thanks ! :grr:

[Lurks Often]

42. FYI

The $75K limit is ok if nothing major happens, if you spend a week or more in the hospital, you are likely to go over.

A relative in southern Virginia had a gallbladder removed, ER & admission one night, 3 full inpatient days, including the surgery and one more partial day. The bill came to $55K, with the Medicare adjustment it was reduced to $48K. And that was for a relatively routine procedure.

[cilla4progress]

43. Thanks for the info

This is a symptom of the problem of not having a hella idea how much things cost in the medical universe. I upped my limit to $100K and went for it. It's a state-sponsored program, so, essentially non-profit, I presume. The overall benefits and coverages are good, as well as the premium (@ $340 starting in Jan. for my daughter and me...turning 56 yo next year) -- just the annual limit was scary.

Really difficult comparing apples to oranges with the different plans. Sux.

[David Zephyr]

18. I'm sorry to hear this.

At the rate we are going, most of of us will be without healthcare options at all.

The failure of the Public Option (Nancy Pelosi's House passed it) was the beginning of the great slide. Now the GOP will finish us off like an after dinner drink.

[guitar man]

20. We will see

It's going to be an interesting couple of years ahead. If enough people fall off the insured wagon, there may be an outcry for single payer that will drown out the din of the right wing noise machine. It's coming, don't know exactly when, but it's coming. Can't go on like this forever. ;)

[Mimosa]

21. People will get sick and die before 2014

I doubt I'll ever forgive the administration for screwing us over. It didn't have to be like this.

[area51]

29. +1

Each day, 273 people die due to lack of health care in the U.S.; that's 100,000 deaths per year.

We need single-payer health care, not a welfare bailout for the serial-killer insurance agencies.

We don't need the GingrichCare of mandated, unregulated, for-profit insurance that is still too expensive, only pays parts of medical bills, denies claims, bankrupts and kills people.

Republinazi '93 plan:

"Subtitle F: Universal Coverage - Requires each citizen or lawful permanent resident to be covered under a qualified health plan or equivalent health care program by January 1, 2005."

"We will never have real reform until people's health stops being treated as a financial opportunity for corporations."

"Any proposal that sticks with our current dependence on for-profit private insurers ... will not be sustainable. And the new law will not get us to universal coverage ...." -- T.R. Reid, The Healing of America

[guitar man]

31. Sadly true

Many people that could have been saved in a less greed-driven society :(

It could be you or I or countless other people like us. I don't know, maybe they thought we could just all "hang in there" until this thing kicks in. The sad reality is that their powdered and pampered asses are just too far removed from the realities we face daily. Very few if any of them know what trying to "hang in there" entails, and the ones who have experienced it in the past are far removed from it now.

[BlueCheese]

22. Just to make sure I understand...

CDHP is consumer-driven health plan? If it's not too personal, can I ask how your plan works? Is the phrase basically a euphemism for a sizable amount of "cost sharing", which I think is a euphemism for the consumer paying the bill?

[guitar man]

27. Pretty much

This is the first time I've seen it. They were offering our ppo, once again with a sizeable increase in premium, or for roughly 75% of what the ppo cost in premiums we could have the cdhp, which would pay for checkups but wouldn't pay for another damn thing until an individual had paid $1500 or a family had paid $3000 at the insurance company's "contracted rates".

Screw them, I've already talked to our doctors and they all agreed to charge office visits for cash at the same rate the insurance company was paying.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

25. I dropped my insurance last spring after paying the premiums

for my high deductible plan made it impossible for me to pay for the actual treatment of an injury. It took me seven months to pay it off. With insurance.

[guitar man]

28. Exactly

The high deductible plan they offered us today was about 75% of the premuim of the ppo and would have left me on the hook for $3000 before they paid for a damn thing, other than "preventative care" , which boils down to an annual checkup. To hell with them, if i'm going to pay the bills anyway I'll just keep all my money.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

33. I think we need massive civil disobedience in the form of refusing to

buy into private insurance.

It's fear that keeps us there.

But people need to do the math. I've heard of people paying high premiums/high deductibles because they need a certain medication but in fact, both are so high that they'd be better off paying cash for the meds.

[guitar man]

35. I know people caught in the same trap

I was just doing some math and since I went full time on this job in 2003, I've paid roughly $29k in insurance premuims. I make about $33k a year. That's damn near a year of my life they have lifted from my paycheck over an 8 year period. I'm done. I'm not pouring my meager wealth into their coffers anymore and then have to spend hours on the phone in a pissing contest trying to get them to pay the bills they're supposed to pay.

From now on it's cash and carry. And if we don't have the cash, we'll just go to the ER. Piss poor way of doing things, I know, but I've come to understand that the other way is a "luxury"

[bluedigger]

30. Haven't been insured since 2003.

So far God hasn't wanted me, and the Devil isn't ready for me yet.
Good luck and good health to you!:hi:

[guitar man]

32. Thanks

I hope we have the same fortune, and continued good health to you. :toast:

[fascisthunter]

36. sorry for your situation

I almost feel as if we should open our own social programs to fund each other without the government.

[guitar man]

37. that's a thought

The government seems to be powerless to get it right. One thing that has been laid bare over the last couple years is who is really running this country. Big money interests. The mask has been completely ripped off to show how much of a corporate puppet our government has become.

[fascisthunter]

39. Indeed... I think the idea should work

those who want to contribute will do so... those that do not will have to make a choice. We prove socialism works as a great social saftey net, and it should be localized. DU could be a good starting point for this. Not sure I would be the right person to lead the charge though.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

38. meanwhile, back on the hill

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4616186

[Catherina]

40. The Mafia IS operating like this. It's the Mafia on MBAs. n/t