Health insurance... I quit

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bighammer

bighammer

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This has been the result of lots of scrutiny on the part of my wife and me. But dang, just can't afford it anymore. We have a "major medical" policy that only kicks in after the first $10,000 in hospital expenses. So it's sorta like not having insurance, unless one of us was to get cancer or (?) since we couldn't use it for a broken leg, etc.

We are paying $8,500 a year for the insurance we have. So if we need to use it, I will be, out of pocket, $18,500.00 in one year (the premiums plus the deductible)

I'm 53 years old, my wife is 43. Last year I decided to check into a little 'preventative maintence' and have a colonoscopy performed. I am not having any health problems, this was just going to be for the sake of possible early diagnosis.

Went to the local hospital for a consultation... $3,500 to $5000 was the quote!! to have my picture taken! I was shocked! I figured maybe $1,500

So I postponed it. My wife got on the Internet and found out a LOT of people go to foureign countries for medical procedures. And these hospitals are accredited, modern facilities. If you're interested in learning more, research "medical tourism" There are news stories and articles galore, and almost all reports and ratings / reviews were very high.

The colonoscopy I had done in Costa Rica (at a very nice hospital) only cost me $400.00. So while I was there, my wife and I both had complete, full health checkups, everything, CT scans, ultra sounds, blood, heart, lung, PSA you name it.

While we were there in Costa Rica we went to the beaches, went on zip lines through the jungle, it was a vacation! All for the cost of a colonoscopy back home.

So now the plan is, cancel the insurance, save up the money in case of future needs, maybe go to Costa Rica or somewhere else. Hope I don't have to.

Anyone here had any experience with medical tourism?
 
I don't know. I just don't. I used to argue stuff like "you don't have the protections down there the US does," but recent scandals in the U.S. medical system, such as the prescription drug "compounding" mess (who the HELL told the Dept of Health or the FDA that they DON'T have jurisdiction!!!!??) And there is no doubt that costs are beyond nuts. A friend of mine just got done arguing through his attorney over some very expensive crap that the system charged him during some treatments that he never received. He reduced a 125,000 dollar bill by more than 20K!!!!
 
bighammer said:
So now the plan is, cancel the insurance, save up the money in case of future needs, maybe go to Costa Rica or somewhere else. Hope I don't have to.
Click to expand...

With Obamacare kicking in, you will be fined for cancelling your insurance. Don't you just love that?

What do you do for a living? I pay about $1500 a year for a plan with a $1500 deductible and $900 HSA deposited every year. I think it might be so cheap because the company I work for lets us buy health insurance in South Carolina.
 
That's kinda cool, medical tourism. I can't believe medical insurance costs that much money. Thank god I'm in Canada for that one reason.
 
bighammer said:
This has been the result of lots of scrutiny on the part of my wife and me. But dang, just can't afford it anymore. We have a "major medical" policy that only kicks in after the first $10,000 in hospital expenses. So it's sorta like not having insurance, unless one of us was to get cancer or (?) since we couldn't use it for a broken leg, etc.

We are paying $8,500 a year for the insurance we have. So if we need to use it, I will be, out of pocket, $18,500.00 in one year (the premiums plus the deductible)

I'm 53 years old, my wife is 43. Last year I decided to check into a little 'preventative maintence' and have a colonoscopy performed. I am not having any health problems, this was just going to be for the sake of possible early diagnosis.

Went to the local hospital for a consultation... $3,500 to $5000 was the quote!! to have my picture taken! I was shocked! I figured maybe $1,500

So I postponed it. My wife got on the Internet and found out a LOT of people go to foureign countries for medical procedures. And these hospitals are accredited, modern facilities. If you're interested in learning more, research "medical tourism" There are news stories and articles galore, and almost all reports and ratings / reviews were very high.

The colonoscopy I had done in Costa Rica (at a very nice hospital) only cost me $400.00. So while I was there, my wife and I both had complete, full health checkups, everything, CT scans, ultra sounds, blood, heart, lung, PSA you name it.

While we were there in Costa Rica we went to the beaches, went on zip lines through the jungle, it was a vacation! All for the cost of a colonoscopy back home.

So now the plan is, cancel the insurance, save up the money in case of future needs, maybe go to Costa Rica or somewhere else. Hope I don't have to.

Anyone here had any experience with medical tourism?
Click to expand...

The government already has plans to take the money from you anyway since you will no longer have a choice.
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
The government already has plans to take the money from you anyway since you will no longer have a choice.
Click to expand...

That's true, but not 8,500 a year is how I look at that.
Del, it's the frikin drug companies that told them they don't have jurisdiction.
Also the amount of waste in the system is mind boggling.
If they (yea right) got that under control then things could be a lot less expensive.
My Mother just passed away on Saturday and they threw thousands of dollars worth of pain meds and such away that were not even opened yet.
I'm sure there are people without insurance that could have benifited from those meds, but they just toss them as if they were only for that one person with insurance.
I would have stashed them but I don't know anyone that needs Morphine, Oxycodone or Oxycontin, and wouldn't know what else to do with them due to the expiration dating.

I have a friend that lives in Gratz Austria that said they are pretty reasonable there.
What he needed would have cost him more than ten times here than what it did there.

There is definatly merit to going to another country for medical care.
A lot of people in AZ go to Mexico.

And to be honest, our Gov is looking for an asskicking.
And I'm not just talking about the current administration.
 
TrailBeast said:
That's true, but not 8,500 a year is how I look at that.
Del, it's the frikin drug companies that told them they don't have jurisdiction.
Also the amount of waste in the system is mind boggling.
If they (yea right) got that under control then things could be a lot less expensive.
My Mother just passed away on Saturday and they threw thousands of dollars worth of pain meds and such away that were not even opened yet.
I'm sure there are people without insurance that could have benifited from those meds, but they just toss them as if they were only for that one person with insurance.
I would have stashed them but I don't know anyone that needs Morphine, Oxycodone or Oxycontin, and wouldn't know what else to do with them due to the expiration dating.

I have a friend that lives in Gratz Austria that said they are pretty reasonable there.
What he needed would have cost him more than ten times here than what it did there.

There is definatly merit to going to another country for medical care.
A lot of people in AZ go to Mexico.

And to be honest, our Gov is looking for an asskicking.
And I'm not just talking about the current administration.
Click to expand...

thye throw away the meds because they dont cost them anything... kinda like the 500 dollar shoes that cost 5 bucks to make...
 
TrailBeast said:
That's true, but not 8,500 a year is how I look at that.
Del, it's the frikin drug companies that told them they don't have jurisdiction.
Also the amount of waste in the system is mind boggling.
If they (yea right) got that under control then things could be a lot less expensive.
My Mother just passed away on Saturday and they threw thousands of dollars worth of pain meds and such away that were not even opened yet.
I'm sure there are people without insurance that could have benifited from those meds, but they just toss them as if they were only for that one person with insurance.
I would have stashed them but I don't know anyone that needs Morphine, Oxycodone or Oxycontin, and wouldn't know what else to do with them due to the expiration dating.

I have a friend that lives in Gratz Austria that said they are pretty reasonable there.
What he needed would have cost him more than ten times here than what it did there.

There is definatly merit to going to another country for medical care.
A lot of people in AZ go to Mexico.

And to be honest, our Gov is looking for an asskicking.
And I'm not just talking about the current administration.
Click to expand...

If they are still sealed our county health department will take them.
 
Let's face it guys and gals. The U.S. has become a Corporatocracy. A government of corporations, by corporations and for corporations. :protest:
 
I don't really like to comment when political issues are involved. But, I am a conservative, a free market guy, and I still believe that's the best way to run our economy. We have way too much government involvement in our lives, imo.

My wife and I had insurance thru our jobs for 30/40 years, and only recently with just part time work available did we become uninsured. I don't blame companies for doing what they have to do with all the regulation they have to put up with.......and that includes the private insurers.

When she got sick just 3mos before being eligible for Medicare, we took it in the shorts big time. I'm looking at a stack of medical bills on my desk, as we speak, totaling 6 figures.

I'm just thankful for cheap beer....:drinkers::drinkers::drinkers:.

I'll keep praying for us, and all of you in a similar situation. Things have to change eventually........right?


P.S......C.O.B.R.A.......at close to a grand a month ea.......fugetaboutit.:smile:
 
Sure things will change . In the next election 3 years away . After many of us have already been drained dry and thrown to the curb because of what we have for a leader now .
 
jamesdaytona said:
Sure things will change . In the next election 3 years away . After many of us have already been drained dry and thrown to the curb because of what we have for a leader now .
Click to expand...

Sadly James, Yep.

Since I've probably made half the members here mad already.......If you want to lower the cost of everything in this country, can you say Tort reform. I know some of you older guys remember phone booth's. Well, the've been replaced by ambulance chasers......one on every corner. :banghead:
 
jamesdaytona said:
Sure things will change . In the next election 3 years away . After many of us have already been drained dry and thrown to the curb because of what we have for a leader now .
Click to expand...

And that new president will be dealing with the messes from this one, just as this one is still dealing with the crap from the last one.
It's interesting how people think everything can be changed overnight by one president in office.
Congress has to bring up and vote on most of the things that need to be changed.
The incentive is for them to do for where thier money and power comes from, and for them that incentive is usually to not change anything and lie to the people about why they didn't.

The people will have to deal with this stuff eventually, since our government has no real incentive to change anything for us, for the better.

I'm still waiting for the day a candidate for an office hears another candidate lie to the people about something and jumps up and calls BS.
Right then and there with the proof to back it up.
(Kinda like Obama did with Romney in the Presidential campaign.)
except it should be way more commonplace.

They generally don't do this because it's a giant game to be played.
They call it "politics" but anymore it's just a giant game of who can get what and get away with it.

People are starting to get tired of thier lives being treated like a game of checkers and I think the sooner the people say BS the better.

Like my son say's
"We need to use WAY more F-bombs and less real ones"
 
OP- i feel your pain, medical insurance sucks. Everyone with an IQ knows that our system needs work. We're a 1st world country with 3rd world healthcare and everytime someone tries to make roads to correct the problem, the tards come out in full force and cry communism/socialism(depending upon which talking head they listened to that day)

However, i do think the health care act(obamacare/romneycare) is going to inadvertently make things worse. I already saw this recent year, all my health insurance costs took a drastic spike in price and i'd guarantee its all based in a mix of fear/greed from the insurance companies.
 
We need to "objectively" look at why medical costs are so high. The high costs we pay are not due to medical and insurance companies gouging us on prices. Sure they make a lot of money but in a free market system once a company or industry starts making huge profits (higher than can be made in other industries) others (investors) will come into that industry to get in on that profit, creating competition and lowering prices. What screws this up is when the government tries to control the industry with regulation - that costs money, and eventually gets passed on to the consumer. Believe me after being out of work for three years and not being able to get Medicare yet I know how expensive insurance and medical costs are. My wife and I were paying $1400/month and the policy was not that good. But I also know why it is so high..

A) We have the best health care system, technology and R&D in the world - and this
costs money to develop and produce. To have the best of anything costs money.

B) MALPRACTICE Insurance - something that does not make the headlines anymore.
Practitioners, medical / pharmaceutical companies pay 25-40% of their costs/fees
for malpractice insurance (25-40% of the cost YOU pay). Why??? Only to feed an
army of lawyers and to provide windfall settlements to people for rediculus things.
The US is the ONLY country in the world that allows people / lawyers to sue for
every little thing that comes along and offers rediculus settlements for nothing.

C) Government regulation. Compliance with every regulation costs money - period!
The more the government sticks it's nose into anything it costs money. We will see
this unfold big time with Obamacare in the coming years. And of course costs will
go up, the quality of care will go down and the government will be "forced" to step
in and completely take over all health care - which is exactly what they wanted
from the beginning...
 
Why do we have the most expensive health care on the planet by far (at least twice as much as the next highest)...


...but quality of care is ranked just outside the top 10 or 12???
 
stumper said:
We need to "objectively" look at why medical costs are so high. The high costs we pay are not due to medical and insurance companies gouging us on prices. Sure they make a lot of money but in a free market system once a company or industry starts making huge profits (higher than can be made in other industries) others (investors) will come into that industry to get in on that profit, creating competition and lowering prices. What screws this up is when the government tries to control the industry with regulation - that costs money, and eventually gets passed on to the consumer. Believe me after being out of work for three years and not being able to get Medicare yet I know how expensive insurance and medical costs are. My wife and I were paying $1400/month and the policy was not that good. But I also know why it is so high..

A) We have the best health care system, technology and R&D in the world - and this
costs money to develop and produce. To have the best of anything costs money.

B) MALPRACTICE Insurance - something that does not make the headlines anymore.
Practitioners, medical / pharmaceutical companies pay 25-40% of their costs/fees
for malpractice insurance (25-40% of the cost YOU pay). Why??? Only to feed an
army of lawyers and to provide windfall settlements to people for rediculus things.
The US is the ONLY country in the world that allows people / lawyers to sue for
every little thing that comes along and offers rediculus settlements for nothing.

C) Government regulation. Compliance with every regulation costs money - period!
The more the government sticks it's nose into anything it costs money. We will see
this unfold big time with Obamacare in the coming years. And of course costs will
go up, the quality of care will go down and the government will be "forced" to step
in and completely take over all health care - which is exactly what they wanted
from the beginning...
Click to expand...


High costs can also be contributed towards other outside factors. Ever seen a large hospital at work?

Two o'clock in the morning and the place is still lit up like a small city. All the energy has to be paid for somehow. Larger hospitals may have their own power plant, but the fuel to run it isn't cheap.

Insurance associated with having such a large piece of property. We all have homeowners or renter's insurance to protect our collective asses against someone falling over a twig in the yard and suing us. Now, open it up to the public, with folks who are under the stress of having ill loved ones by the thousands.

If it's a trauma hospital you'll have helicopters flying in and out at anytime of the day. Imagine the liability insurance to cover the possibility of that helicopter crashing into the parking lot, or crashing onto the landing pad on top of the hospital with patients on floors beneath it.

If it's a hospital like Sarah was in, they took cleanliness to the extreme. Two o'clock in the morning and the janitorial staff was wiping down the walls of the corridors with a peroxide/water solution. All the hand rails, the stairwells, the floors were buffed with the same solution. Paying the janitorial staff, around the clock, isn't cheap either, with all the associated costs of having employees.

CEU's for the staff. I can guarantee you that the doctors aren't paying for continued education. They're either being reimbursed or the hospital is paying for it outright. That includes the nurses, too, and all the therapists.

Speaking of therapists, you may not know this, but when it comes to therapists, OT's have to have a minimum of a master's degree, now, to practice, and PT's have to have a doctorate, unless they were grandfathered in. What price do you think that commands as far as wages, even without experience in the field? (The government is the one who placed that demand for education... yet, CNA and LPN's - direct caregivers - can be in the workplace with nothing more than a diploma from the local vocational school... don't even get me started on that one.)

Take a look at some of your insurance benefits explanations every time you get a bill.

I have a stack of them here, that, chances are, I'll never get rid of in case the hospitals come back on me for out of pocket bills that the insurance company has already covered. (I'm getting explanations of benefits for Sarah's original hospital stay a year ago... talk about a slow billing process.)

If the hospital is "in network" the bills are getting steeply discounted. Yes, that speaks volumes as to the price you're getting in premiums, but it also speaks volumes as to the hospital running on just enough money to cover expenses, even as they lose money from other customers' inability to pay.

Why do you think a lot of private practice doctors don't accept government insurance? The price paid out by the government is even less than being "in network." Now, with all the associated bills of being a doctor in private practice: office costs, staffing costs (and costs associated with being an employer), insurance costs (malpractice and liability on the building), CEU costs, etc, there's no reason to accept patients covered by any insurance that doesn't at least cover your bare-bones costs.

Even if you don't have a large hospital near you, through insurance, you're still going to be paying for it, as the insurance companies may be taking premiums from you, but that money is distributed throughout the system to pay for patients in the pool who are going to large hospitals.

Is the system broken? I'll leave that up to the individual to figure out for him or herself. But while everyone is talking about what they can see on the surface of a medical costs, no one - and I mean no one - has done a thing to address the associated costs that aren't so obvious at a cursory glance or come up with a way to address those costs.
 
YY1 said:
Why do we have the most expensive health care on the planet by far (at least twice as much as the next highest)...


...but quality of care is ranked just outside the top 10 or 12???
Click to expand...


This you wil have to prove to me. Everything I have ever seen, experienced or read indicates that the quality of health care in this country is second to none. Do not associate longevity or some of the chronic heath problem statistics with our health care system. Most of this is simply our life style choices in the US. We choose to be an over indulgent society and pay accordingly.

Trust me, I am not implying that the system is perfect and that there isn't waste to be trimmed and room for improvement in many areas. My comments were to point out that a huge component of the costs we all pay comes from the out of control legal system we have, the government that supports it and the fact that we are also paying for quality that the rest of the world only dreams of.
 
stumper said:
This you wil have to prove to me. Everything I have ever seen, experienced or read indicates that the quality of health care in this country is second to none. Do not associate longevity or some of the chronic heath problem statistics with our health care system. Most of this is simply our life style choices in the US. We choose to be an over indulgent society and pay accordingly.

Trust me, I am not implying that the system is perfect and that there isn't waste to be trimmed and room for improvement in many areas. My comments were to point out that a huge component of the costs we all pay comes from the out of control legal system we have, the government that supports it and the fact that we are also paying for quality that the rest of the world only dreams of.
Click to expand...

have you experienced healthcare in different countries?

My experiences leads me to think that if this is "second to none" the other countries must be screwed.
 
stumper said:
This you wil have to prove to me. Everything I have ever seen, experienced or read indicates that the quality of health care in this country is second to none. Do not associate longevity or some of the chronic heath problem statistics with our health care system. Most of this is simply our life style choices in the US. We choose to be an over indulgent society and pay accordingly.

Trust me, I am not implying that the system is perfect and that there isn't waste to be trimmed and room for improvement in many areas. My comments were to point out that a huge component of the costs we all pay comes from the out of control legal system we have, the government that supports it and the fact that we are also paying for quality that the rest of the world only dreams of.
Click to expand...

yes,,,sir....agree

problem with health care is the politicians are always involved...
 
The "California Health Exchange", ie, the California arm of Obamacare, announced their rate structures the other day. Turns out the rates are affordable. Pretty damn good actually. With actual competition between major insurance companies providing new plans. And the sky didn't fall. And California didn't fall into the ocean. Weird.

http://news.yahoo.com/california-reveals-prices-health-insurance-under-obamacare-221300803.html

I personally don't think Obamacare is the answer to our health care problem. But there is no doubt our health care system is broken, and doing NOTHING about it will result in EVERYONE in the system being priced out in a few short years. Premiums have been increasing at double digit rates, and although that increase slowed last year premium increases are still outpacing wages and inflation by 2-3x easily. That simply can't be sustained.

So maybe, before we simply cancel the whole thing just because Obama did it, we should actually take a look at how its being put into practice. Because so far, its not the doom and gloom that most folks predicted that it would be.
 
magnumdust said:
have you experienced healthcare in different countries?

My experiences leads me to think that if this is "second to none" the other countries must be screwed.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have. In your country (Canada) and Germany and both pale in comparison. The Canadian system is somewhere between the European systems and the US system but still plagued by the longs waits for tests and treatments, lack of attention by practitioners and staff. People who have the money in Canada come to the US for speciality and life threatening treatments.

I could go on for hours about the problems I've seen with the German system - probably one of the best in Europe. Believe me you really do need to experience the socialized systems in these other countries to see the comparison. And again, I am not saying our system is great, just the best lepor in the colony...
 
maybe the cost would go down, if some of you guys (you know who you are) would quit running to the doctor or hospital, every time you get a hangnail, backache ,sniffles,or scratch.
myself, I go to the doctor as the last resort. the quacks have killed more of my family than they've helped.
 
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