tanukichu Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 LOL health insurance. What's that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themean Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Insured through my job. It would be free if I wasn't covering Mrs. Mean and Little Mean as well. There is a set charge each check for "family coverage" no matter how many family members. I'm union, so my benefits are pretty solid. Mrs. Mean works at a hospital and her health insurance options suck. Ironic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcm1610 Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 My mother used to be an ER nurse and they made sure to hire everyone part-time and give them the lowest possible quality of benefits. It is ironic. (Don't ever work for Kaleida Health in WNY.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smailtronic Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 I would love to be able to self-insure. I hate paying money for essentially security IF I get sick. I hate that people are playing the odds on whether I'll claim enough on my insurance so that they can try to make money off me. Exactly. For the period I was covered, seeing that $175 coming out of every paycheck was just a slap in the face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattstrike Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Insured by the lovely Keystone State. Because I am medically disabled (permanent nerve damage), I qualified for Medicaid… and it is amazing. Sure it's an HMO and sometimes they require pre-auth's for stupid shit, but it's 100% free, it covers everything and the copays are ridiculously cheap. This past Thursday I had my monthly pain clinic visit and my 8 prescriptions cost me $4.00. It still makes me laugh - I feel like I am robbing the pharmacy! I saved $1500. I can not imagine how a person in a similar situation would be able to manage that out-of-pocket every single month. This shit really needs to be fixed. I want to add that the whole experience of applying for and going through the process at the Public Welfare office was absolutely not what I had previously imagined. The way pundits make it seem, it is a broken system - however, what I saw was an efficient, well staffed office. The folks working there were super nice and helpful and those long lines I always imagined do not exist. In all, it took me 2.5 hours to complete the application process - which ended with me walking out of the office with my medical benefits ready to go. It would have been even shorter had I not made paperwork errors. The whole process made me realize how full of shit the opponents of health care reform really are. The PA system is an amalgam of public/private systems that seems to work efficiently and proves that there is a viable partnership to be had between the for-profit companies and the state welfare offices. While it may not be perfect, it is certainly better than what this country presently has to choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgoodcore Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 How comprehensive of an insurance plan can you get with that $450 they pay you? Obviously it works out for them, but are you getting the same quality plan? By being a member of a group plan a la an employee pool, it is often cheaper because the risk is spread out over many people. So assuming you're healthy forever, you'll probably win out, but in that case you're better off not even having insurance (except for the benefit of peace of mind).Edit: I know you get it elsewhere through your wife, but assuming you weren't married or something. That's why I see an issue with it... health care is way too often seen in financial terms than quality-of-life terms. Company would rather save that theoretical $150 than see its employees covered. Depends on the size of the company. Smaller companies get screwed; bigger companies get good deals. Working for a small(er) places often the self-insured coverage can be both better and cheaper, as you're put in one big group with other self-insured folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themean Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 In topical news, the Catholic Church, who is a government contractor in DC was told that to keep its contract it must insure ALL spouses of its employees or none at all. Of course DC just legalized gay marriage. The Catholic Church will no longer offer benefits to ANY spouses of employees (the one's who already have benefits are "grandfathered" in.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benc Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Canada! And for everything else my wife has a sick plan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattstrike Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 In topical news, the Catholic Church, who is a government contractor in DC was told that to keep its contract it must insure ALL spouses of its employees or none at all.Of course DC just legalized gay marriage. The Catholic Church will no longer offer benefits to ANY spouses of employees (the one's who already have benefits are "grandfathered" in.) Holy fucking shit! I almost feel like this is a bad joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murakami Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 i am currently uninsured, but that is because i was laid off in November and since i never used it, i didnt apply for COBRA benefits. I hope to be back to covered in two months, as i finally started my job search Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eriathomas Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 I was uninsured for about 2 years, and decided to get my own. I pay like $150 a month for crap insurance, but it helps with doctors visits because they are only $20. I pretty much have to pay like 80% of an ER visit or any tests done though, which is really shitty. I think it helps a bit on prescriptions, but not very much. If I was in school full time, I could be on my parents insurance again for another year (they just raised it to 25 from 22), but I can't go full time with work right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrc Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Right now i am rocking COBRA which is expensive as fuck. i found out i can qualify for a program that will cover 65% of my coverage for the next few months. HOWEVER, once my COBRA expires i will be fucked. i have called around to just about every insurance company in florida and because i am a diabetic not one company is willing to cover me. its so fucked up i can stand it. they only people the insurnace company wants to cover is the normal/healthy fucks that will never use their coverage. however because i need insurance and will use it, they wont even offer me a policy. I am trying to start a advertising freelance business, however i am very concerned about the insurance options that are available to me. I might have to get a part time job to get coverage. I wish i was normal, so i could not worry about insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miso Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Insured through work. Though, I have the cheapest plan available, so that leaves me with a $700 deductible to fulfill this year. At least it went down from $1,000! The only really bad thing is that I've now recently hit some health trouble, so I'm sure I'll be seeing that money disappear from my bank account with a quickness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goraiders Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I was uninsured for about 2 years, and decided to get my own. I pay like $150 a month for crap insurance, but it helps with doctors visits because they are only $20. I pretty much have to pay like 80% of an ER visit or any tests done though, which is really shitty. I think it helps a bit on prescriptions, but not very much.If I was in school full time, I could be on my parents insurance again for another year (they just raised it to 25 from 22), but I can't go full time with work right now. you could try taking a couple online CC classes for photoshop, illustrator, web stuff etc to get extra units and learn a few skills. Thats what my friends are doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgoodcore Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I wish health insurance companies were better regulated and had to offer coverage to people who needed it instead of playing games like the scum-sucking ass-hats they are. I think that's what you meant, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Another Tom Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 NHS FTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrc Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I wish health insurance companies were better regulated and had to offer coverage to people who needed it instead of playing games like the scum-sucking ass-hats they are. I think that's what you meant, no? Pretty much, but it would be nice to be releaved from insulin injections and having to worry about that shit. It gets old after having it for the last 16 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travis Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Insured thru work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 i'm insured through work. my plan recently changed to where i can only get generic drugs, and will have to pay extra for brand name. i no longer have a choice of brand name or generic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
konk Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I've been a type 1 diabetic since I was 5 and went without insurance during college, but I'm amazed that I only came out with a detached retina. I took horrible care of myself back then. After I graduated I got a shitty job and got insurance after 3 months. Then I quit that job, and became an independent contractor, but was eligible for Cobra, which was $300 per month and the stimulus ended up paying 6 months of that. Now I'm self insured with some cheap insurance until I'm eligible at my new job. I definitely think I got my money's worth with Cobra. I had a lot of work done on my eye and got on the pump. The pump is so much easier and I hate my parents for being such cheap bastards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattstrike Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Right now i am rocking COBRA which is expensive as fuck. i found out i can qualify for a program that will cover 65% of my coverage for the next few months.HOWEVER, once my COBRA expires i will be fucked. i have called around to just about every insurance company in florida and because i am a diabetic not one company is willing to cover me. its so fucked up i can stand it. they only people the insurnace company wants to cover is the normal/healthy fucks that will never use their coverage. however because i need insurance and will use it, they wont even offer me a policy. I am trying to start a advertising freelance business, however i am very concerned about the insurance options that are available to me. I might have to get a part time job to get coverage. I wish i was normal, so i could not worry about insurance. Have you checked out Florida's Medicaid system? Since you're unemployed (are you collecting?), there might be a way to get some emergency coverage. There are provisions like this in PA, not sure about your state tho… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chappy5 Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Insured through my school That and somewhat through my dad's, although it's pretty shitty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andywax Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 NHS FTW. Yup. US is the only first world country without universal healthcare. I mean, even Iraqis have universal healthcare, paid for by Americans. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-dorlester/guaranteed-health-care-in_b_280528.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcm1610 Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 NHS is the British public health system, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andywax Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Gotta love the GOP's do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do logic. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lincoln-mitchell/sarah-palins-canadian-hea_b_490970.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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