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She LOVES her HMO. Nice clean waiting rooms and being able to see your doctor at your appointment time. I have a PPO plan and would rather go back to Kaiser.
If you both are in your upper 30s, seriously think about ditching your HMO. If not now, in the next couple of years. Don't say someone didn't warn you if one of you get sick, really sick and the insurance bounces you around from one (Kieser doctor) to the next until you go away, die or lose the job----lose the coverage...
The insurance is just that, pooled insurance. If everyone had to pay for their own health "care", those that used it just once or twice would be bankrupt. Once you price out a knee surgery, or many other normal procedures, you'll quickly see how much it costs.
I doubt that all but a small percentage of younger people could afford the costs of delivering a baby, much less all the prenatal visits that go along with it.
I agree. With the way medical visits cost, it's just super expensive. I remember, even in the 1970s, that I could go to my GP and the cost for the office visit was $25. This was not a co-pay as they didn't have those then. This was the charge. For something simple as a sore throat. My parents had insurance then; however, even if that hadn't, with their salaries as a bank employee and a police officer, they didn't have a problem paying that.
My last bill to see my GP was $176. I had no tests run. That's his charge for a "moderate" visit (not brief, not extended). I dunno--that seems excessive for the 15 minutes I was there. I now he's smart, I know his costs are high, I know he's educated but the simple fact is that most "average" people don't readily have this sort of money laying around. It's not a big deal if you only go once every few years (like me), but some people need to go several times a year.
Medical costs are not affordable. I can't even imagine someone, these days, being able to pay for a hospital birth.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,700 posts, read 41,763,058 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EddieB.Good
Haha... your ceiling for what you qualify as average shows you're not average. I wouldn't be surprised if you & your wife's disposable income is more than many Americans' salary/wages.
It's easy to talk about priorities when you when you have enough disposable income that sacrificing going out a couple of times a month is enough to cover a private plan.
But what if you don't? What if you've got a kid and make $40k? I'd love to see all the luxuries someone like that has to give up to find an extra $700-1000/MONTH to pay for insurance.
I make $25k and basically an extra 700-100 is giving up rent, electricity, gas, food, all that stuff I don't need.
I love how those who say good health is priceless usually have the deepest pockets.
Damn right it was. People died from serious injuries (such as a broken back, for instance), instead of living in pain for 30 or 40 years, doped up on 15 kinds of "pain medication" and spending their lives as spaced-out semi-invalids on "disability". People who contracted diseases either survived because they were strong, and had a strong immune system, or they died. Now days, we keep every pathetic invalid alive so that the American medical system can prosper financially regardless of the quality of life that the person has.
I am all for getting back to "survival of the species mentality". Newsflash, sometimes people die, it's all part of the plan.
An awful lot of people lack the perspective of modern times, still protected from reality by an employer's health plan. Many young people never thought about it until politicians and activists made it such a big deal.
When I see the conflict amongst conservatives I am always reminded of the Terry Shiavo case.
That is because people with uncurable illnesses want medical delivery industry to spend millions of dollars to prolong the life of people who are going to die anyway. Give them something to manage the pain and send them home to their family.
On the other hand big ticket diseases are favored by providers. Institutions and physicians advertise their "state of the art" treatments. Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes with all it's ramifications, as well as dialysis are all top of the line on the sales floor. Just notice the TV and magazine ads and it is clear what is being "pushed" and by whom.
People are encouraged to undergo these sometimes barbaric treatments (thinking cancer here) and a slew of exorbitantly expensive tests, treatments, and drugs. I am in the midst of cataract surgery and the eye drops alone(2 types x 2 eyes) retail at $590.00!! My Doc insists on brand name drops for cataract surgery. Fortunately I can afford them and my $320.00 annual drug deductible kicks in before I reach $590.00...but many people would not be able to afford them. And this is NOTHING compared to the cost of many drugs used for cancer and heart disease.
There is competition INSIDE the medical biz for the big dollars and this, paradoxically, drives costs up- not down~ because everybody wants a huge piece of the pie.
Positively STELLAR success, that's for certain... LOL
20yrsinBranson
Yes. Yes, it is.
Seen a lot of the people with polio recently? Palsy. The funny people with bells, the lepers, where did they go? The brain damaged kids from measles? Remember trying not to invest too much love in your toddler, because most died before they were five?
Those people with facial deformities, enormous scars from war wounds...plague? Remember plague? The massivly scarred faces from smallpox survivors. Blind people with cataracts easily curable today. Tetanus. The fear of rabies.
Because UHC is free. They pay huge taxes on everything they buy in Europe, to fund government health care.
Utter misinformation. Health insurance premiums are health insurance premiums, period. It has NOTHING to do with taxes.
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), but some people need to go several times a year. 
