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This is for family coverage, not individual. I prefer to fund my HSA the maximum amount allowable by law, which is $6150/year. I could opt not to put a penny into that and run the risk of being on the hook for the full amount of the family deductible of $6000/year. Then I'd only pay $150/month for the insurance premium alone. My annual risk would be $6000, which is still considerably better than what I'd pay for traditional PPO plan.
And, I realize the cost of living in Arkansas is probably a lot less than in Chicago, but working people should be expected to pay something towards their own insurance. How much do you think it should costs. I don't find $150/month pre-tax is too much to ask.
But it is only $150 per month if you don't get sick or you don't put any money into the HSA. I pay $135 per month and it covers 100% and my salary far exceeds the average salary of most people in the U.S. not just Arkansas, but I have been in a position before where my job did not pay my insurance and I got paid a lot less, so I understand the challenge of paying for insurance and not making that much.
Actually there are three patterns emerging.Pattern One that insurance is raising rates and offering less coverage, like I said if this had happened to me last year I would have has full coverage after deductible but insurance changed this year and I am one of those with a history of skin cancer so my group coverage is all I can really get.
Pattern Two, is medical rates are rising always it seems.
Pattern three, a lot of people's living costs are rising and wages going down. To simply tell all the bank clerks, ambulance drivers, salespeople and so on out there to "get a better job so you can pay for medical" is not a realistic situation.
But the questions I asked up top, would like to hear opinions. Here you have a forum member with real time bills that just came in to see for yourself what charges are. This was for a appendix, just imagine a more serious condition.......
As you may know Lionking my wife is ill with a chronic condition. After a 4 year hard fought battle she was awarded her SSDI last Nov.2. We are thinking of selling our home near DC and move to lower, slower, smaller area, less stress etc. However, I've become very leary of what else that can happen to us health wise. I'm now thinking maybe leaving the US as an option otherwise it is possible that we could lose everything, everything we've worked for for nearly 40 years if another health issue falls on us.
They pay it out of their bank account/personal expenses or get reinbursed from government? Because if they get reinbursed from government seems to me this the scenerio.
Hospital~ ok we'll tell government the bill is $10,000 when actually it is $5,000. The government will agree to $7000, lol we just made a extra $2000 , but hey its government, they (you and I from taxes) can pay it.
So maybe it isn't just lazy people bleeding government? Maybe business does also sometimes? Of course if hospitals are paying themselves for non payers I'll concede. So what is the real deal?
I think you're confused on how hospital billing works. They don't bill the government for their incurred losses unless they are i.e., county hospital. The vast majority of hospitals are not government entities. In fact, out of the dozens of hospitals in the Chicagoland area, the only "government" hospital I can think of is Stroger Hospital (formerly known as Cook County Hospital). There are just too many misconceptions about the entire health care industry, but as I said, the losses incurred by hospitals for providing care for the indigent are passed onto those with insurance/ability to pay not the government.
But it is only $150 per month if you don't get sick or you don't put any money into the HSA.
True, and I've already stated such. That's for a family policy, not individual plan by the way... which I've also already stated would be $52/month.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hotair2
I pay $135 per month and it covers 100% and my salary far exceeds the average salary of most people in the U.S. not just Arkansas, but I have been in a position before where my job did not pay my insurance and I got paid a lot less, so I understand the challenge of paying for insurance and not making that much.
I'm calling BS on that. There are no family plans that only cost $135/month yet offer 100% coverage. No deductible? No co-pays? That is flat out BS.
True, and I've already stated such. That's for a family policy, not individual plan by the way... which I've also already stated would be $52/month.
I'm calling BS on that. There are no family plans that only cost $135/month yet offer 100% coverage. No deductible? No co-pays? That is flat out BS.
Call BS all you want. The plan is paid primarily by the company my wife works for, the 135 is what we pay. I have no idea as to how much the company pays for the remaining amount.
I am sure it is true that an individual could not get the same coverage through a private carrier. I used to work for a county that paid 100% of the costs with no premiums. These are the cadillac plans. This is what I have now. Has not always been the case.
I think you're confused on how hospital billing works. They don't bill the government for their incurred losses unless they are i.e., county hospital. The vast majority of hospitals are not government entities. In fact, out of the dozens of hospitals in the Chicagoland area, the only "government" hospital I can think of is Stroger Hospital (formerly known as Cook County Hospital). There are just too many misconceptions about the entire health care industry, but as I said, the losses incurred by hospitals for providing care for the indigent are passed onto those with insurance/ability to pay not the government.
oK, it is one reason for the thread, to find out truth vs the unknown. Here is a question, can a persons house have a lien placed on it preventing it being sold and can wages be garnished by medical bills?
oK, it is one reason for the thread, to find out truth vs the unknown. Here is a question, can a persons house have a lien placed on it preventing it being sold and can wages be garnished by medical bills?
I'm not sure if there are special provisions that specifically disallow medical expenses from being used to place liens on personal property. If they are treated as any other unpaid bill, then I would have to say yes unless your house is in trust or some other protective class. I'm not up on the legal aspects of medical expense collections though.
As long as you make a minimal attempt at monthly payment though, even if it's just $10 a month, I don't think they can send you to collections, thus preventing any liens. Hospitals, and most other businesses that extend credit, do not like to go through the collections process though since they typically get pennies on the dollar for every dollar collected by the agency. They are much more willing to work with the individual prior to the point where your account would get sent to collections.
ETA: I don't think anyone can garnish wages without court order (i.e., unpaid child support), so I don't think medical expenses would qualify.
Most of the medical bankruptcy filers were middle class; 56 percent owned a home and the same number had attended college. In many cases, illness forced breadwinners to take time off from work -- losing income and job-based health insurance precisely when families needed it most.
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