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We definitely need to have better insurance legislation here in NC. I just changed employers to one that doesn't have a group plan and pay BCBS $1145 for a family plan with maternity coverage. We have no health issues in our history, save for cholesterol medication. My insurance rep mentioned that BCBS is the only individual provider to allow for maternity coverage. They want you to pay them, but they don't want to pay out!
My father-in-law in his 60's also has to get individual coverage with BCBS, but has had some medical history...his premium is over $1900/month!
My wife carries the insurance for us and since the company she works for is really small, we pay close to $750 a month for a BCBS PPO family plan. I'd kill for $245 a month!
Additionally, we don't carry dental because of the cost. It's cheaper for us to just pay for cleanings and procedures (if they arise) out of pocket.
Well, perhaps the higher taxes Canadians pay buy them something.
This is way out of control.
Yes, let's bring on socialized medicine. Let's pay doctors half what we currently pay them (encouraging smart young people to go into other occupations) and have extensive waiting periods to see specialists or to have surgeries. Sounds wonderful.
Yes, let's bring on socialized medicine. Let's pay doctors half what we currently pay them (encouraging smart young people to go into other occupations) and have extensive waiting periods to see specialists or to have surgeries. Sounds wonderful.
It doesn't have to be like that . The US system is broken in the same way that socialized medicine is. Socialized medicine does not work because there are so many people taking out of the pot and not enough putting in .
THe US system is broken partly because of the hospitals rip off prices , price gouging by drug companies.
Many countries have great healthcare with low waiting times. In the Uk I paid for a private policy for critical illnesses and that cost $100.
It doesn't have to be like that . The US system is broken in the same way that socialized medicine is. Socialized medicine does not work because there are so many people taking out of the pot and not enough putting in .
THe US system is broken partly because of the hospitals rip off prices , price gouging by drug companies.
Many countries have great healthcare with low waiting times. In the Uk I paid for a private policy for critical illnesses and that cost $100.
This is now completely off topic, but I can't resist adding:
Let's not blame it all on the "hospitals" (who are, by and large, actually really struggling), the health insurers, and the drug companies. The commentor above really says it all--Americans have an incredible sense of entitlement when it comes to healthcare. We want the best and we want it now. Who cares how much it costs (because most of us have highly subsidized insurance and don't really have any sense of how much individual services actually cost anyway) and whether or not it's even clinically appropriate or cost effective.
We spend more per capita on healthcare than any other country, yet we rank about 20 countries down on the list for infant mortality and our average life expectancy lags behind most other industrialized nations. In a nutshell, we're spending out the wazoo, but not seeing these expenditures translate into better outcomes.
What gives? Sure, insurers, providers, and pharma companies have more market power than they should (see a problem with market-based healthcare, do you?), but also: we have a payment system that rewards the use of MORE services often without regard to their clinical or cost-effectiveness; we don't value prevention and primary care, two things that could reduce rates of ER use and downstream complications of disease; our insurance system (public and private) is incredibly complex and incurs substantial administrative costs; we have more specialists than generalists; patient care is uncoordinated and often redundant or unsafe; and we just plain ole over-use services--especially new (and very expensive) technologies!
It's not just one thing; it's all of these issues working in concert, and I think it's critical that we, as American consumers, fess up to our own role in the problem.
I'm self employed and pay $860 a month for a family medical plan with a $3500 deductible and then pays 100% in network as long as it's not an excluded preexisting condition, which we have several. Last year paid over$10,000 on top of the premiums. Generally speaking most people have no idea of the wonderful value an employer sponsored group medical plan is. Like another poster said we would die for a $245 premium. But I would caution you, if you think insurance is expensive to pay, you are just one major accident or sickness away from bankruptcy and financial ruin. My child's broken wrist was an $11,000 bill and I know a cancer patient where bills can run six figures.
A one-payer system might reduce administrative costs and more equitably control the delivery of services.
Hospitals raise paying patient fees to cover free and unpaid care. Soon, more people become uninsured increasing charity care. This spiral keeps going until the system totally collapses.
We're paying our own health insurance, too; what a gamble. That's depressing to hear that one broken wrist costs $11K - ouch! Did it require surgery?
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