oh wait, that's bad

[solarbird]

Our health insurance premium is doubling. (As is that of everyone else in the group plan.) It's going from $237.91/month to $486.77/month, and they're dropping prescription drug coverage except for outpatient and surgical. Yay!

The other, more expensive plan's rates are more than doubling. But they keep their prescription coverage. We could switch to that but, um, gee, going to $776.42/month doesn't sound tasty either.

Time to survey individual insurance rates again. Blah.

Comments

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

Ours (group plan through IEEE) has gone up to something like $1400/month for the three of us. With a hyuge deductable ($1k-$2k depending on in/out of network), and we pay 20% even after the deductable is met. Sigh.

When in the debates Kerry said "people should be able to buy the health plan Congress gets" and Bush said "oh, $7k/year, that's way too expensive" I pretty well choked. I'd LOVE to only pay that much for decent health care that includes dental and vision and meds (as that plan does). RRRRRRRrrrrRRRRR.

[agrimony.livejournal.com]

Bush can kiss my un-health-insured ass. Bastard.

Not only is the only possible coverage through school deplorable (it only covers debilitation pneumonia or being hit by a bus, basically things that land you in the hospital), because of my weight, I can't qualify for individual health insurance plans. That is, assuming I could even find one that I could afford. :P

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

Yeah. If it weren't for the kid, we might just go to out-of-pocket. But even crappy insurance with high co-pay seems to help save money just because the insurance companies have negotiated much lower costs for everything. It is SO INSANE AND EVIL. I had my appendix out last summer, and the amount the hospital charged for one aspect of things was over $1k, but the amount my insurance company had negotiated for the same thing was under $400. So the system REALLY punishes people without insurance. Fuckheads are just out to screw you all around.

For dental and vision we had to go to out-of-pocket because it's apparently impossible to get individual dental coverage in the state of Washington, except for one plan, which costs so much that it was actually cheaper to go out of pocket.

[firni.livejournal.com]

Medical coverage should be a RIGHT in this country, and if they don't like doing that for everyone, it should be a right for CHILDREN, at least. It shouldn't just be for the people who can afford it, and here I go on a rant, scuze me while I go chew linoleum.

[poodlgrl.livejournal.com]

You'd actually be much better off on the MS alum plan then. The most comprehensive plan is $1200 per month for a family, and it basically has almost no deductible (I thin $200?) and covers everything, including counseling, vision, etc.

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

For some reason wrog seems to think we aren't eligible for that plan.

[avram]

Is that per person?

My monthly rate actually went down last year, but it was higher to begin with, from $417 to $383.

[solarbird]

That's for the two of us. And you can do a lot better than the rate you're paying through individual plans, from what I can tell by surveying available plans this morning. But I don't know how the coverages compare.

[avram]

It varies from state to state. If I was still living in NYC, I could get coverage for $200/month through the Graphic Artists Guild and Working Today. A friend of mine in Iowa is paying around $100/month for her health insurance.

In New Jersey things are more expensive, though at least they can't deny me coverage for being fat or something, since the state requires insurers to offer the plans to everybody. I hunted around a bit, and didn't find anything dramatically better than what I've got.

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

Is this insurance through your employer? or is this your own insurance? I know I couldn't afford that kind of money for health insurance, so I'm glad I get it free through VZ...

[solarbird]

It's a group plan, but not via employer. Anyone who used to used to work for Borg and joins the Microsoft Alumni Association can get it.

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

It's a group plan, but not via employer. Anyone who used to used to work for Borg and joins the Microsoft Alumni Association can get it.

Borg [smirk] Guess they assimilated you into the collective, huh? (sorry, just had an image pop into my head of borg elves)

But that still is an awful lot to pay for insurance... damn!

[wrog]

Wait, MSA has a real plan now?

Or is this the one where you have to incorporate a fake business in order to join it?

[solarbird]

It's that one. I have a real, if tiny, business. And you don't need to incorporate, you can just file for a license with the state. Mine's for my art sales - I just filed the state tax papers today.

Good thing?,Noooo...

[(Anonymous)]

Whoa..kinda pricy. That's the one unresolved item that stands in the way of me going into business for myself-helath insurance isn't a possibility. Not at all.Wayyy too pricy,even for the stuff that doesn't do anything..which is why I'm going to try and get all the little defects fixed first,while I have insurance...Scott

[firni.livejournal.com]

I've been looking up individual health plan prices and can help you out with that if you like. So far Regence and Group Death seem to have the best prices, if not the most awesome coverage on the planet (prescription drugs are cheaper under Group Death, Regence generally pays 50% of the "allowed amount", whatever that means).

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

Regence generally pays 50% of the "allowed amount", whatever that means.

I think that means the amount allowed per/month... Usually pharmacies and HMOs keep track of what you get each month, and if you try to fill a prescription more than once, it sets off something in their system that says you can't get that again that month... I had something like that happen last year when I was taking Lorazepan for anxiety. I lost my pills and had to wait a couple weeks to get it refilled because the insurance wouldn't cover a second 'script that month...

[gerimaple.livejournal.com]

an "allowed amount" also likely refers to having a fee schedule for practitioners. for example, as far as they are concerned, having dental X-rays is only "supposed" to cost $50. your dentist charges $65? oh, too bad, we pay 50% of the "supposed" price. :P

or in the case of a pharmacy, they may have set a maximum ceiling for what dispensing fee they'll pay? again, if you go somewhere more expensive than their max, they'll tell you to find someplace cheaper.

[banner.livejournal.com]

As long as the AMA maintains its monopoly on the medical system, rates will be kept artifically high. Also, until some kind of hard core tort's limitations are put on, rates will remain high.

As fixing both means reining in Doctors and Lawyers I figure hell will freeze over first.

[avram]

It’s not the AMA, and it’s nothing to do with tort reform. It’s mostly the insurance industry being nasty, and medical costs rising because doctors keep inventing new ways of keeping us alive. I don’t mind the second, but I do mind the first.

[brightbeak.livejournal.com]

the insurance industry was initially there to protect against unforeseen circs, and wans't to bilk folks dry, now it's there to bilk folks dry and NOT cover the unforeseen circs...
case in point - vehicle insurance in some plces in canada (notable maritimes/east) and home owners insurance - the insurance industry is now dictating to automobile repair facilities/manufacturers, and the fire dep't (respectively) what is safe to do. and that is the wrong way around!
where i live, if you have an older yet PERFECTLY SAFELY INSTALLED oil furnace & oil barrel, the insurance co can force you to replace them (possibly w/ incident) of they won't insure against fire. roof has to be a certain age or younger, otherwise no water damage insurance, and my fave, wood stoves require HEINOUS qty of things to be considered safe... my insurance co (name aval by private request at brightbeak at fastmail dot fm) is a BIG co, and they have instituted many of these reforms, but in most cases, they are the industry standard/average, and in our case, we got thru w/ a cursory exam on the wood stove, a couple of piccies, and a "i like this setup" from our agent. we lucked out... our premiums have increased a bit over the last 2 yrs b/c of the scope of regional area weather hits driving payouts to clients up, but everyone i know in the area that has this co is QUITE happy w/ them, and lotsa folks have switched b/c they treat folks better... and w/ cars - they're less ballistically insane on the rates!
ok, rant over...
i agree w/ you & sorry for preaching to the choir :)

[brightbeak.livejournal.com]

HOLY BULLCRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
that's beyond obscene!
that's VILE, VISCIOUS, and umm... RUDE!
holy bullcrap!
i'm SOOOOOOOOOO thankful that hubby's plan (which is partially subsidized by the provincial gov't - 50% i think, tho that's dropping to 30% soon) is a damn sight cheaper! esp since some of my meds are SO expensive (a bitch more in the US than here in canada, but that's standard issue methinks) and i'm SOOO incredibly thankful i'm living in canada...
mehtinks this is yet another couple dashes in the canada pro column one has written on paper beofre one plans their emigration!

bb - finally friended you (can't figure out why i didn't do this before), friend of gerimaple and other of the darksiders! :)