Health Insurance: We don't need no stinkin' health insurance
Saturday, February 5th, 2011 07:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rolanniI preface this by saying that I have health insurance. I have it at the price of stories that will never be written and by working a day-job with which I share, at best, an uneasy truce. The health insurance recently saved Steve's life. Without it, we could not, we could never have afforded the roughly $110,000 billed to date for his heart-related condition. The more than $22,000 associated with his week-long hospitalization for pneumonia in October of last year would have already wiped us out.
Edited to add: The state of Maine puts out a nice, comprehensive consumer guide to individual health care available to Maine citizens.
Originally posted by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ladyqkat at Dear GOP - the collective you are an Idiot
Edited to add: The state of Maine puts out a nice, comprehensive consumer guide to individual health care available to Maine citizens.
Originally posted by
ladyqkat at Dear GOP - the collective you are an IdiotContent originally seen in this post by ramblin_phyl and in this post by suricattus
There is a move afoot in the nation -driven by the GOP - to repeal the new health care laws, to protect corporate interests, to defend against fear-mongering (and stupid) cries of "socialism!", and to ensure that people are forced to choose between keeping a roof over their heads or getting necessary health care.
This movement is killing people.
Think I'm overstating the fact?
Ask the friends and family of writer/reviewer Melissa Mia Hall, who died of a heart attack last week because she was so terrified of medical bills, she didn't go see a doctor who could have saved her life.
From another writer friend: One person. Not the only one. That could have been me. Yeah, I have access to insurance -- I live in New York City, which is freelancer-friendly, and have access to freelancer advocacy groups. Through them, I can pay over $400/month ($5,760/year) as a single, healthy woman, so that if I go to the hospital I'm not driven to bankruptcy. But a doctor's appointment - a routine physical - can still cost me several hundred dollars each visit. So unless something's terribly wrong? I won't go.
My husband worked for the government for 30 years. We have government employee (retired) insurance. It is the only thing of value he took away from that job. His pension is pitiful. He still works part time. My writing income has diminished drastically. Our combined income is now less than what it was before T retired fifteen years ago. Inflation has diminished it further. In the last 30 days I have racked up over $8000 in medical bills for tests and the beginning of treatment. Our co-pay is 20% after the deductible. And there is more to come. Our savings are already gone. I have the gold standard of insurance and I still can't pay all the medical bills.
Another friend lost her insurance when her husband lost his job. She couldn't afford medication and ended up bed ridden for three months at the end of over a year of no job and therefore no insurance until he found work again.
It's our responsibility. All of us, together. As a nation.
EtA: Nobody is trying to put insurance companies out of business. They will always be able to offer a better plan for a premium. We simply want to ensure that every citizen - from infant to senior citizen - doesn't have to choose between medical care, and keeping a roof over their heads, or having enough to eat.
We're trying to get this to go viral. Pass it along.
ramblin_phyl and in this post by suricattus There is a move afoot in the nation -driven by the GOP - to repeal the new health care laws, to protect corporate interests, to defend against fear-mongering (and stupid) cries of "socialism!", and to ensure that people are forced to choose between keeping a roof over their heads or getting necessary health care.
This movement is killing people.
Think I'm overstating the fact?
Ask the friends and family of writer/reviewer Melissa Mia Hall, who died of a heart attack last week because she was so terrified of medical bills, she didn't go see a doctor who could have saved her life.
From another writer friend: One person. Not the only one. That could have been me. Yeah, I have access to insurance -- I live in New York City, which is freelancer-friendly, and have access to freelancer advocacy groups. Through them, I can pay over $400/month ($5,760/year) as a single, healthy woman, so that if I go to the hospital I'm not driven to bankruptcy. But a doctor's appointment - a routine physical - can still cost me several hundred dollars each visit. So unless something's terribly wrong? I won't go.
My husband worked for the government for 30 years. We have government employee (retired) insurance. It is the only thing of value he took away from that job. His pension is pitiful. He still works part time. My writing income has diminished drastically. Our combined income is now less than what it was before T retired fifteen years ago. Inflation has diminished it further. In the last 30 days I have racked up over $8000 in medical bills for tests and the beginning of treatment. Our co-pay is 20% after the deductible. And there is more to come. Our savings are already gone. I have the gold standard of insurance and I still can't pay all the medical bills.
Another friend lost her insurance when her husband lost his job. She couldn't afford medication and ended up bed ridden for three months at the end of over a year of no job and therefore no insurance until he found work again.
It's our responsibility. All of us, together. As a nation.
EtA: Nobody is trying to put insurance companies out of business. They will always be able to offer a better plan for a premium. We simply want to ensure that every citizen - from infant to senior citizen - doesn't have to choose between medical care, and keeping a roof over their heads, or having enough to eat.
We're trying to get this to go viral. Pass it along.
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Healthcare in PA
Date: 2011-02-07 01:08 pm (UTC)I did manage to pick up individual health insurance Blue Cross / Blue Shield for about $180 / month with a $3,000 deductible. This was a much better deal than trying to maintain my previous coverage under COBRA.
On the positive side, this means that I have something to hopefully fall back on in case of dire emergency - assuming that I would still have the deductible stashed away if and when something happens.
The negative to this is that my deductible is high just so I can afford premiums and because I don't want to spend money out of pocket, I'm not likely to go to the doctors unless I'm absolutely desperate. Also my policy does not include dental or eye, so all of those costs would have to be completely covered by me if I were to have a problem.
Just as an aside, you may not be aware but hospitals and medical providers charge people who don't have health insurance higher rates than they charge the insurance companies.
If you have health insurance and you get an MRI and it is covered, the health insurance is charged maybe something like $1,000. If you are an individual without coverage, the hospital may charge you $2,000 for the same service.
We had to pay down a $2,000 bill when my s.o.'s insurance wouldn't cover an MRI. Most hospitals or medical providers will put you on a monthly payment plan if you call them and tell them that you are willing to meet your financial obligation, but that you just can't afford to make a lump sum payment. This is something to keep in mind if you have mounting medical bills because not paying them at all does damage your credit rating.