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02-28-2020, 09:59 AM | #23 |
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I'm in the situation where so far I have close to the best medical plan I have had in my life. I pay $145 (soon to be $75 when I get the ex off the plan) a month for full family coverage. Doesn't matter how many dependents I have on the plan. This monthly cost includes dental and vision. Yearly individual deductibles are $250. The plan is a PPO. The only other plan I have had which was better was a long time ago where it was also a PPO but the yearly cost was $1. Yes, you read that right. The explanation was that the company couldn't give away free health insurance due to IRS rules so they had to charge the employees something....$1. I don't remember if that included vision and dental. I seem to recall it didn't, but still very good.
The issue I'm going to face in a couple of years is what my current employer is going to do if the "Cadillac plan penalty" of the ACA is going to kick in. My employer has structured things to provide a very good benefit for those that are employees. Yet we have the Feds telling us we're not allowed to have this type of benefit anymore. Yet, these same politicians will still enjoy their "Cadillac" plans. So I don't know if my employer will suck up the tax penalties associated with having the current benefits in place or if it'll be passed on to the employees in higher premiums or a change in the plan benefits. This is an example of a benefit which has nothing to do with public funding being affected by public policy. |
02-28-2020, 10:41 AM | #25 | |
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02-28-2020, 10:59 AM | #26 |
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This would be a step in the right direction. But from my US view point, the promise of collaboration and single access to all of your medical records has been and still is a pipe dream. Even though I have portal logins to see various things, it's still not complete. An example is my oncologist's portal. I can see some basic information and it's where I have to go for my blood work results. But I can't see the radiology reports nor scan images that are part of my file. If I didn't get copies of these from the radiology office, I would be totally in the dark. And notice that I said portal logins. I have one for my GP. I have one for my GI doc. I have one for my oncologist. I have one for one of the labs I had my blood work done in the past. They're all independent systems. My GP has access to the local hospital's medical records system. But I don't think my oncologist does. It's a total mess.
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02-28-2020, 11:52 AM | #27 | |
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But the insurance company doesn't care. They pay the horribly inflated prices, and then jack up your premiums to cover them. They leave themselves a "cut" and always seek to maximize that cut, at the expense of you and the health care providers. Whomever they can get the money out, or deny paying, the easiest and cheapest, that's who they'll put the screws to. That, and the big health care companies are horribly bloated and loaded down with administrative overhead. They hire another "EVP of Synergistic Optics" every few months, and raise premiums to cover it.
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02-28-2020, 11:59 AM | #28 |
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You won't find many people siding with the health insurance industry lol.
Just a little tidbit. I have found, on many occasions, that not going through your insurance, and negotiating a cash price for the visit can often be less than using insurance and AFTER your insurance pays it's part. So my experience has been that yes, it can often be more expensive to actually use your damn insurance due to how they bill (and yes i have PPO). |
02-28-2020, 12:28 PM | #29 |
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What is your deductible and max out of pocket? If you hit or are close, you wont have many more healthcare related expenses for the rest of the year and while the 1st couple bills may seem bad, the rest wont.
My wife had pretty intense emergency surgery a few years back. We had a high deductible plan at the time ($0 premiums through her employer - a hospital), and end up paying ~6k out of pocket for it. The overall bill for the surgery + week in hospital was ~$115k. However, there was a cash option for ~10-15% of that, or a payment plant for about a quarter of it, for if we didnt have insurance. However, when she had to have a follow up surgery later, we paid a massive $0 bill since wed already hit our out of pocket max. The following year, same deal. Another follow up surgery that we hit our max out of pocket ($3k since we figured shed need another surgery and went with a lower deductible/out of pocket max plan - $100/month premiums through her employe) and then she had another surgery and i had a surgery for just small copays (< $200 total tops). Yes, healthcare costs are high, but a lot of that has to do with how litigious we are in America. Over half of physicians will get sued once in their career and someone has to pay for that. And in America, we dont have caps on damages. For example, Canada has a 350k cap and UK has a 400k cap. Lawsuits in America routinely surpass 1mill. You also have the added costs of the uninsured and underinsured that someone has to foot the bill for. In our case, its the facilities and the insurance companies, which in turn goes to those who actual pay (us). In other countries, its the government, which in turn is those who pay taxes (again us). To add, i would gladly pay what i do to have access to DRs and procedures when i want/need. My parents recently sold their business in the healthcare industry, and decided to try out medicare. After my Dad getting his knee surgeries denied because they were not "necessary" and not life threatening, they went back to private insurance and he had both covered by insurance.
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02-28-2020, 12:32 PM | #30 | |
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02-28-2020, 01:05 PM | #31 | |
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02-28-2020, 01:07 PM | #32 | |
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my parents always did this when my dad had cancer and made it much easier getting them and being able to take to friends/family for 2nd opinions.
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02-28-2020, 01:53 PM | #33 | |
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02-28-2020, 01:54 PM | #34 | ||
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I have all the reports and CDs precisely for situations where I want a second opinion. It came in handy when I had NIH/NCI review some of my scans. |
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02-28-2020, 02:02 PM | #35 | |
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02-28-2020, 02:36 PM | #36 | |
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The issue with the US isn't the cost, it's people who are not smart enough to put away an emergency fund even though they know full well that emergencies can be expensive. If you don't know this by now you have had your head in the ground for way too long.
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02-28-2020, 02:39 PM | #37 | |
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02-28-2020, 02:54 PM | #38 | |
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That can't be right. I get chemo injections almost monthly and I am in a pretty high tax bracket. My ETR last year was around 18% and my total annual OOP medical costs typically run around $6k per year. I don't know anyone who has an ETR in America that is 30%. You either calculated that wrong or you have the worst accountant ever in world history. I understand you are upset, but your numbers don't add up. Something isn't right here.
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02-28-2020, 03:09 PM | #39 | |
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I felt the same way you did and thankfully I woke up and opted for the higher tier insurance coverage just before I got hit with cancer. I didn't have any of the risk factors which would indicate I would have any serious illness. No family history either. Had I not opted for the higher tier insurance when I had to get treatment...twice....I would be in a world of hurt financially. Would I have been able to survive it had I not paid for the extra coverage? Most probably. But that's because I had a job which I had flexibility in working and not be placed on disability. Plus my job paid well. I would venture to say the vast majority of people in this country don't have it as good as I have it. |
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02-28-2020, 03:11 PM | #40 | |
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I lived in the Netherlands for work for a bit and although taxes were higher we as a family never had to worry about medical and childcare. That’s a huge load off the head. But I guess to each their own. Personally I preferred that over the craziness here.
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02-28-2020, 03:21 PM | #41 | |
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I work for a private individual, and he's always provided this type of coverage since I started with him in 2006. I hope he continues to be generous as I know he is probably paying a lot of his own money to afford his employees that type of plan.
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02-28-2020, 03:30 PM | #42 | |
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I think you just have to be persistent on getting a copy while you're there. I haven't had to ask for copies after some time has passed other than the radiology office I use now. Last year I thought I misplaced one of the CDs for a scan I had done. When I was at the office for a check up scan months later, I asked for another copy and was provided one on the spot. |
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02-28-2020, 04:23 PM | #43 |
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thats why every time i go to US, im keeping on eye on every step i make additionally for not hurting myself somehow.. any connection with "health" can make me unhealthy easily there..
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02-28-2020, 04:58 PM | #44 | |
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