Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Maine
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-15-2008, 01:06 PM
 
Location: God's Country, Maine
2,054 posts, read 4,580,693 times
Reputation: 1305

Advertisements

A little news flash from the Portland Press Haddock Wrap.

MaineToday.com | News Update: Report: Health care premiums rising faster than earnings

Even that is a little on the low side. What happens when the State meddles with the free market.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-15-2008, 01:18 PM
 
Location: Maine
5,054 posts, read 12,426,048 times
Reputation: 1869
Wow, unbelievable! I guess I'll shut up my complaining, then. Our healthcare through EMS just went up $35 a payday, and then the payraise they just got increased earnings by about $20 a payday. I thought that sucked! Maybe not so much!!

I've been wondering what kind of premiums you pay for employer sponsored health ins there. I've been reading for a long time that it's going to be considerably higher than we pay now. Does anyone know about EMS? He will most likely be working for Downeast EMS.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2008, 02:59 PM
 
2,133 posts, read 5,878,911 times
Reputation: 1420
Yikes, our premiums just went to $4250 a year for the 2 of us and I thought that was atrocious.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2008, 03:03 PM
 
Location: Maine
5,054 posts, read 12,426,048 times
Reputation: 1869
Quote:
Originally Posted by dmyankee View Post
A little news flash from the Portland Press Haddock Wrap.

MaineToday.com | News Update: Report: Health care premiums rising faster than earnings

Even that is a little on the low side. What happens when the State meddles with the free market.
Is this referring to employer sponsored plans?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2008, 05:41 PM
 
Location: West Michigan
12,083 posts, read 38,866,146 times
Reputation: 17006
When we lived there (Up until June 23rd) our portion of the employer sponsored plan was $247 every two weeks through my wife's employer, which was a medical center where she worked as an RN. So 247*26 pay periods put the yearly cost of health insurance at $6422. That was adding me and the kids. Didn't matter if it was 1 child or 20, the cost was the same. The health care for that premium was horrible. Only good at the facility she worked at and everything else in-state was only 50% covered. Out of state was covered at 25%. Healthcare in Maine is high.

While that article said that our new home state helathcare costs rose the fastest during that time frame it failed to give how those costs actually compare. Here in Michigan we pay $72 every 2 weeks for top of the line Blue Cross/blue shield with eye and dental for all of us. Way, way better coverage for $1872 a year.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2008, 05:50 PM
 
Location: Maine
5,054 posts, read 12,426,048 times
Reputation: 1869
Holy haberdashery, Batman! Yep, that's what I was afraid of!

We're now paying $115.05 every other week for United Healthcare family coverage. He could be covered as a single for free through his job, but adding the family up to 20 per household is $2991.30 for the year. 100% coverage after deductible - standard office visit copays, prescription, dental, vision, etc.

What will we do? Major sticker shock moment here!! That's worse news than heating costs!!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2008, 06:11 PM
 
2,133 posts, read 5,878,911 times
Reputation: 1420
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elcarim View Post
Holy haberdashery, Batman! Yep, that's what I was afraid of!

We're now paying $115.05 every other week for United Healthcare family coverage. He could be covered as a single for free through his job, but adding the family up to 20 per household is $2991.30 for the year. 100% coverage after deductible - standard office visit copays, prescription, dental, vision, etc.

What will we do? Major sticker shock moment here!! That's worse news than heating costs!!
WOW, you are getting a really good price right now. That $4250 that I quoted is also United Healthcare and we have a $3500 deductible. Hubby's company is based in Toronto so they offer health insurance for their American sales force and they pay half. It's scary expensive
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2008, 06:25 PM
 
Location: Maine
5,054 posts, read 12,426,048 times
Reputation: 1869
Quote:
Originally Posted by BacktoNE View Post
WOW, you are getting a really good price right now. That $4250 that I quoted is also United Healthcare and we have a $3500 deductible. Hubby's company is based in Toronto so they offer health insurance for their American sales force and they pay half. It's scary expensive

Wow, our deductible is $2000/person/$6000 max per family.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2008, 06:32 PM
 
Location: Northern Maine
10,428 posts, read 18,691,590 times
Reputation: 11563
ByDand tells us: "Here in Michigan we pay $72 every 2 weeks for top of the line Blue Cross/blue shield with eye and dental for all of us. Way, way better coverage for $1872 a year."

That's because you have competition out there. In Maine we have a "must issue" requirement. Anybody with a chronic disease can move to Maine, request medical insurance and get it for the same premium as I would pay. In my life I have had one prescription. That was back when I was 57 and jumped on a big spike. They gave me a prescription for 20 Cipro and it cost me $70. I get my auto insurance from a company in Texas and my life insurance from a company in CT. Why can't I get my medical insurance from the company I choose?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2008, 06:51 PM
 
Location: West Michigan
12,083 posts, read 38,866,146 times
Reputation: 17006
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man View Post
ByDand tells us: "Here in Michigan we pay $72 every 2 weeks for top of the line Blue Cross/blue shield with eye and dental for all of us. Way, way better coverage for $1872 a year."

That's because you have competition out there. In Maine we have a "must issue" requirement. Anybody with a chronic disease can move to Maine, request medical insurance and get it for the same premium as I would pay. In my life I have had one prescription. That was back when I was 57 and jumped on a big spike. They gave me a prescription for 20 Cipro and it cost me $70. I get my auto insurance from a company in Texas and my life insurance from a company in CT. Why can't I get my medical insurance from the company I choose?
Absolutely correct. The state has made it nearly impossible for healthcare companies to operate fairly in Maine. Most don't even bother trying. When we were changing jobs and our first son was due to arrive any moment we made the decision to go without health insurance because the cost to pay for a normal delivery out of pocket, was less than the cost of a COBRA plan to cover the birth. That's bad, and that was almost 11 years ago. We were living in Washburn at that time.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Maine

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top