Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: SFRT - Frenchy on January 11, 2006, 05:31:49 PM
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My chick is bugging me to get healthcare. I'm 32, great health, living in Tx. Any advice on the one to pick?
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To do on your own?
It's going to be ridiculously expensive.
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Look into a PPO, Blue Cross is decent for basic checks and atleast catastrophic coverage.
Thats what I got for my wife - 60 bux a month and healthy.
Goto a broker, he'll know who writes in the state and can better direct u.
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Well do they offer it where you work? Does the state offer a program? (Some do...)
Details!
Insurnace is one of those things you are glad to have AFTER you've had something happen to you.
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If I ask it's because they don't offer it in my outfit. Job, I'm a pilot for Johnson Air, a small Lifeguard company.
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Originally posted by SFRT - Frenchy
If I ask it's because they don't offer it in my outfit. Job, I'm a pilot for Johnson Air, a small Lifeguard company.
Didnt know, dude. Some folks here at work just dont want to spend the dough citing good health and enjoy the extra money.
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Frenchy I have Blue Cross coverage through my employer. I can say that they are very good in terms of customer service and payment of claims.
As Sandman says, my experience as well is that as an individual you will find its very expensive. The rising cost of medical coverage was a big factor in my decision to stop being self-employed 5 years ago (after 19 years).
You still flying into MFE? I'm not as schedule-screwed now as I was when you e-mailed. If the cell phone number is the same I'll give you a call soon.
culero
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If you're healthy (and don't visit the doctor much) and don't have a lot of assets / savings, don't bother. You'll just be flushing vast amounts of cash down the toilet every month that you're not likely to recoup in covered medical services.
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Originally posted by SOB
If you're healthy (and don't visit the doctor much) and don't have a lot of assets / savings, don't bother. You'll just be flushing vast amounts of cash down the toilet every month that you're not likely to recoup in covered medical services.
Sorry, but bad advice.
I was young, healthy and pretty much poor when I was diagnosed with cancer, but I had health insurance.
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and...? What did having healthcare coverage get you that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise? That's a serious question, not a smartass remark...believe it or not.
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SOB, yes.
The tests alone would not have been done otherwise.
A lot of tests/scans were high $$ and I could not have had them done otherwise
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I used a company called Golden Rule for catastrophic coverage when I was in school. Went to the emergency room once with a busted lip, had no problems.
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No sweat LePaul, didn't mean to look defensive.
I still fly to Mc Allen everyday. Last time I saw a doctor was ... heuu ... 10 years ago maybe. According to my GF, I have to have it. You never know, what if I crashland and need to be patch up, or like when I burned my right hand cooking 4 years ago? Those are covered with the health care thing, aren't they?
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Originally posted by SFRT - Frenchy
No sweat LePaul, didn't mean to look defensive.
I still fly to Mc Allen everyday. Last time I saw a doctor was ... heuu ... 10 years ago maybe. According to my GF, I have to have it. You never know, what if I crashland and need to be patch up, or like when I burned my right hand cooking 4 years ago? Those are covered with the health care thing, aren't they?
Frenchy, nothing in your life is more important than your health, all considered.
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You may be able to get coverage for accidental injury that's much less expensive than standard health coverage, if that's your main focus.
culero
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No probs, Frenchy
As for your incidents, depends on the insurer. My Dr visits (physical, blood work, etc) cost me nothing and I think my last ER visit (since all the walk-in cares are gone and everyone refers to ER) cost $13.
My employer, a bank, has a pretty decent package. I costs me around $120 a month. I also do the medical savings account, which is another payroll deduction...but you can use the funds for prescriptions, etc
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I tried the no health insurance thing once when I was working for a temp agency that didn't offer insurance. Then I passed a kidney stone. Only I had no idea what it was, and I thought I was seriously going to die. So I went to the ER (insert ringing sound of hospital cash registers here), they gave me a cat scan (cha-CHING!), I was told what it was: a relatively small and puny but excrutiatingly painful stone. I got some narcotics (only good thing about this) and basically told to suffer through the rest. I didn't have the $15k to shell out for the recommended lithotripsy. I already had a lot of debt at the time and it was a few years until I dug myself out of that hole. After this I will never go without health insurance. If you need medical care and you don't have insurance, at some point you will get sick, and your wallet will get violated.
Compare insurance available in your area (http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/)
Tips for buying individual health coverage (http://info.insure.com/health/individual.html)
Of course, Google has plenty of information (http://www.google.com/search?hs=GJG&hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=individual+health+insurance&btnG=Search).
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I tried to get health insurance for Eva when she first moved here b/c I was afraid something would happen before we got coverage. Surely enough, 10/27/05 - she got sick. Had to goto the OBGYN, and $800.00 later out of pocket, here we are. Mind u, I was applying for insurance at the time. FInally got her approved through Blue Shield California which kicked in December 1st, but they will not cover that previous ****ing from October.
Bottom line - get it.
Wolf
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Originally posted by LePaul
Didnt know, dude. Some folks here at work just dont want to spend the dough citing good health and enjoy the extra money.
Till something happens or they get sick. Then they wish they had.
Example.
13 years ago I was the healthiest I've ever been in my life before or since and in absolutely fantastic shape.
Then I found a small mosqueto bite sized lump on my arm which turned out to be Hodgkins Disease.
Now 13 years ago the chemicals alone for my every two week for 6 months Chemotheropy for hodgkins disease would have cost me over $22,000 and thats not even including the oncologists bills as well as the bills for the monthly CAT scans, X-Rays and host of other tests performed.
At the time our health plan where I worked had a $5 co pay. So what the doc did is instead of ordering the chemicals himself he just wrote me a prescription for the stuff and I only had to pay the $5.
Trust me. its money well spent lol
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My dear fellow frog :
http://www.cfe.fr/
http://www.ameli.fr/39/DOC/694/fiche.html?page=7
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Originally posted by SOB
and...? What did having health care coverage get you that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise? That's a serious question, not a smartass remark...believe it or not.
my cousin was in a bike accident in the late 80's. she had health insurance but no proof of it when she hit the emergency room(out of state and didn't have the card with her).
the ER was going to take off her legs as the reconstructive surgery was too expensive for someone without med insurance. they are only required to stabilize your condition so you don't die.
it required a large and loud altercation at the hospital to stall them while someone in her hometown was located who could break into her house, find the insurance card, and fax it to the hospital.
she walks fine now. had she not had insurance she'd be a double amputee.
if there is any way you can get it, you need insurance. most of the time you seem to be just throwing good money after bad, but get an unexpected illness or injury and it could save your life (or at least how you get around in this life).
think how much a big-ticket illness or injury can cost. how many people have to pay in more than they take out in order to that to balance out? a lot.
the math is fairly simple. if the insurance companies didn't have enough people paying in above their benefit level to cover those who need major coverage (plus a nice chunk of change for profit and administrative costs), they wouldn't be in business.
thats why we need a gov't health plan. health care should be driven by service and need, not profit.
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Originally posted by capt. apathy
thats why we need a gov't health plan. health care should be driven by service and need, not profit.
You think insurance is bad now?
Just let he government run it and see how currupt, not to mention expencive it would become.
If the government has proven one thing it is incapable of.
It is running an honest buisness and breaking even.
Anything he government gets its hand on ends up costing about 5 times more then it needs to.
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government run health care would be as bad as anything else that is government run and a lot more expensive for everyone except...
If the doc screwed up you wouldn't be able to sue him... the governmment woulbd BE the malpractice insurerer... you gonna sue the government? Most of the cost of todays medical insurance is the insurance the doctors pay for malpractice...
lazs
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Originally posted by SOB
and...? What did having healthcare coverage get you that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise? That's a serious question, not a smartass remark...believe it or not.
SOB, serious answer.
My wife and a friend of hers were both diagnosed with cancer within 6 months of each other. My wife got treatment, surgery, and has passed 5 years now since. Her friend had no insurance. She was diagnosed and put on a waiting list. She was approved for surgery about 3 weeks before she died of a very badly spread cancer. She made it less than a year from dioagnosis.
Both were very healthy and had no symptoms until diagnosed. Both never really spent much time at all going to the doctor. Only one decided to keep a health care paolicy in force. Only one is alive now.