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I fit two catagories and could only check one. I can't afford it after I lost my job and I have pre-existing that I couldn't get coverage for and if I could it would be way out of my price range. At 60 I'm not elegible for Medicare so I do without my much needed Rx's and anything but emergent HC.
Have you applied for individual catostrophic insurance coverage with a high deductible?
I have a personal policy with catastrophic coverage, and my plan sucks.
What I learned the hard way about these catastrophic plans, is some will only pay for covered inpatient hospital visits until your annual deductible is reached. And only after the entire annual deductible is met, will they then cover all other medical bills such as doctor visits, outpatient hospital visits, etc. for the remainder of that calendar year.
However, meeting this deductible within a single calendar year can be a huge obstacle.
Only inpatient hospital costs are counted toward your deductible. And that is the main issue.
Nothing else is counted. Not doctors visits. Not outpatient hospital visits.
Lets say you have a $5,000 emergency room visit (which is a covered inpatient visit), and your health insurance company negotiates with the hospital to have it lowered to $2,500.
The insurance company will pay a portion of the $2,500 (maybe $2000) and the hospital will bill you for the remainder ($500).
The insurance company then counts $2,500 towards your deductible.
So if your catastrophic plan deductible was $3,000, and you don't meet your deductible on that one emergency room visit, your insurance company doesn't have to pay for any other medical costs that year until you experience another major medical problem requiring another inpatient hospital visit within that same calendar year.
And that is the biggest issue... reaching your deductible within one calendar year.
And the odds of a relatively healthy person having two major medical problems requiring inpatient hospitalized care in a single year is pretty low.
Every January 1st, the amount contributed to your deductible goes back to zero, so you have to start all over again.
Assume you have a car accident on December 15, and you spend an entire week in the hospital. You may meet your deductible for that year, but the insurance company wont pick up any followup care visits that occur after Jan 1st, until you have another serious issue requiring another inpatient stay within the next calendar year. So if you have to go for followup xrays, see specialists, etc. none of these visits will be covered in the new calendar year until you experience another covered inpatient hospital visit (such as another car accident).
That is exactly how catastrophic high deductible plans are designed. Insurance was never supposed to pay for all of anyone's medical expenses. Why do people think that it was? Even though the high deductible plan does not cover these tests they do pay partially for the allowed charges and they lower the bill by rejecting the "unalloweable" charges.
Do people actually not budget health care savings into their monthly/yearly expense plans? Do they not save money specifically to be spent on health care needs be it tomorrow or 20 years from now, just as they might save for a house or a vehicle? This is something I've always done. Odds are as I age that I am going to have health issues that need to be addressed and need to be paid for so I'd better have that figured into my savings plan and budget.
Just a fact.....if you don't buy the insurance you can not write it off.
Of course it's a fact. But that's not what you posted. Now you're trying to weasel out of your statement that you have intimate details of my personal life. It stands that you don't know what you're talking about and that you base your opinions on ill-informed assumptions. Those are facts, too.
Have you applied for individual catastrophic insurance coverage with a high deductible?
They don't have that in every state . I have no insurance , I pay cash . When I move to Arizona , I hope to buy catastrophic coverage , to protect my home . The Obama care bill will take that opportunity away .
Of course it's a fact. But that's not what you posted. Now you're trying to weasel out of your statement that you have intimate details of my personal life. It stands that you don't know what you're talking about and that you base your opinions on ill-informed assumptions. Those are facts, too.
Yes....we the people, fellow citizens, humanity.....ya know like the GOV of Alabama said "we are all brothers". Except in his case he meant only other 'Christians'.
I apologize then. I also happen to agree with your last sentence.
I think I get hyper-sensitive to those who do not want their tax dollars going to help for medical programs that would actually save others lives.
They don't have that in every state . I have no insurance , I pay cash . When I move to Arizona , I hope to buy catastrophic coverage , to protect my home . The Obama care bill will take that opportunity away .
Really? Some states do not allow insurance companies to offer catostrophic high deductible coverage at all?
Do you have a link to the statute in your state that eliminates this and high-risk pools?
Yes, I understand Obamacare will in a few years eliminate individual self-coverage. I will lose my catostrophic insurance when that happens as will millions of others. Hopefully by then I will have enough saved up in my Health Savings plan to re-invest and cover anything catastrophic.
Have you invested in long term health insurance as a means to help protect your home and savings from a long term disabling health event?
I'm very lucky to have good quality insurance through my employer. In my case, I absolutely need health insurance to survive, as I would not be able to afford my own medical care and medication on my own.
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so I do without my much needed Rx's and anything but emergent HC
Even though the high deductible plan does not cover these tests they do pay partially for the allowed charges and they lower the bill by rejecting the "unalloweable" charges.
