OT: How badly are doctors/hospitals getting squeezed by insurance co?

[jpinpb]

CA renter – no, don’t get ME started. A lot of people suffer with illnesses/pain and if doctors were actually competent in diagnosing the underlying cause many people would be healthier. I’ve had to practically try to over the years diagnose myself b/c the doctors were all guessing and shooting in the dark. But if I wanted pills or surgery, they were all ready to dispense and cut. So frustrating.

[abell]

Abell, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your reason for not having insurance? Cost? Do you have issues being able to get insurance? Just curious. [/quote]

Flu, My husband’s an accountant who lost his job last May (his company was bought out by a larger company and their accounting division was on the East coast and he didn’t want to move there, especially not being familiar with anyone in the new company). I am a stay-at-home mom, and when he lost his job we had a 2 1/2 year old and I was pregnant. We had Cal COBRA through August, which we dropped after we had a healthy baby boy, and because it was more than we could continue to afford (it was an HMO and cost $1300 a month, if it was a PPO with a high deductible, we might have been able to hold onto it for a while longer). We did not recieve unemployment during that time because my husband was a contract employee prior to the previous company being bought and we didn’t think he’d qualify. So we pretty much burned through all our savings, as jobs now are not easy to get in this economy. My husband is now self-employed, doing part-time accounting for small businesses, which means we have no benefits. We plan to either ask one of the businesses he works for if we can get on their insurance or apply for private insurance, but we were waiting to make sure we could afford the extra bill every month before we do that. Things are just starting to look at a point where we will have enough funds to pay for health insurance.

[abell]

Abell, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your reason for not having insurance? Cost? Do you have issues being able to get insurance? Just curious. [/quote]

Flu, My husband’s an accountant who lost his job last May (his company was bought out by a larger company and their accounting division was on the East coast and he didn’t want to move there, especially not being familiar with anyone in the new company). I am a stay-at-home mom, and when he lost his job we had a 2 1/2 year old and I was pregnant. We had Cal COBRA through August, which we dropped after we had a healthy baby boy, and because it was more than we could continue to afford (it was an HMO and cost $1300 a month, if it was a PPO with a high deductible, we might have been able to hold onto it for a while longer). We did not recieve unemployment during that time because my husband was a contract employee prior to the previous company being bought and we didn’t think he’d qualify. So we pretty much burned through all our savings, as jobs now are not easy to get in this economy. My husband is now self-employed, doing part-time accounting for small businesses, which means we have no benefits. We plan to either ask one of the businesses he works for if we can get on their insurance or apply for private insurance, but we were waiting to make sure we could afford the extra bill every month before we do that. Things are just starting to look at a point where we will have enough funds to pay for health insurance.

[abell]

Abell, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your reason for not having insurance? Cost? Do you have issues being able to get insurance? Just curious. [/quote]

Flu, My husband’s an accountant who lost his job last May (his company was bought out by a larger company and their accounting division was on the East coast and he didn’t want to move there, especially not being familiar with anyone in the new company). I am a stay-at-home mom, and when he lost his job we had a 2 1/2 year old and I was pregnant. We had Cal COBRA through August, which we dropped after we had a healthy baby boy, and because it was more than we could continue to afford (it was an HMO and cost $1300 a month, if it was a PPO with a high deductible, we might have been able to hold onto it for a while longer). We did not recieve unemployment during that time because my husband was a contract employee prior to the previous company being bought and we didn’t think he’d qualify. So we pretty much burned through all our savings, as jobs now are not easy to get in this economy. My husband is now self-employed, doing part-time accounting for small businesses, which means we have no benefits. We plan to either ask one of the businesses he works for if we can get on their insurance or apply for private insurance, but we were waiting to make sure we could afford the extra bill every month before we do that. Things are just starting to look at a point where we will have enough funds to pay for health insurance.

[abell]

Abell, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your reason for not having insurance? Cost? Do you have issues being able to get insurance? Just curious. [/quote]

Flu, My husband’s an accountant who lost his job last May (his company was bought out by a larger company and their accounting division was on the East coast and he didn’t want to move there, especially not being familiar with anyone in the new company). I am a stay-at-home mom, and when he lost his job we had a 2 1/2 year old and I was pregnant. We had Cal COBRA through August, which we dropped after we had a healthy baby boy, and because it was more than we could continue to afford (it was an HMO and cost $1300 a month, if it was a PPO with a high deductible, we might have been able to hold onto it for a while longer). We did not recieve unemployment during that time because my husband was a contract employee prior to the previous company being bought and we didn’t think he’d qualify. So we pretty much burned through all our savings, as jobs now are not easy to get in this economy. My husband is now self-employed, doing part-time accounting for small businesses, which means we have no benefits. We plan to either ask one of the businesses he works for if we can get on their insurance or apply for private insurance, but we were waiting to make sure we could afford the extra bill every month before we do that. Things are just starting to look at a point where we will have enough funds to pay for health insurance.

[abell]

Abell, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your reason for not having insurance? Cost? Do you have issues being able to get insurance? Just curious. [/quote]

Flu, My husband’s an accountant who lost his job last May (his company was bought out by a larger company and their accounting division was on the East coast and he didn’t want to move there, especially not being familiar with anyone in the new company). I am a stay-at-home mom, and when he lost his job we had a 2 1/2 year old and I was pregnant. We had Cal COBRA through August, which we dropped after we had a healthy baby boy, and because it was more than we could continue to afford (it was an HMO and cost $1300 a month, if it was a PPO with a high deductible, we might have been able to hold onto it for a while longer). We did not recieve unemployment during that time because my husband was a contract employee prior to the previous company being bought and we didn’t think he’d qualify. So we pretty much burned through all our savings, as jobs now are not easy to get in this economy. My husband is now self-employed, doing part-time accounting for small businesses, which means we have no benefits. We plan to either ask one of the businesses he works for if we can get on their insurance or apply for private insurance, but we were waiting to make sure we could afford the extra bill every month before we do that. Things are just starting to look at a point where we will have enough funds to pay for health insurance.

[Coronita]

[quote=abell]Abell, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your reason for not having insurance? Cost? Do you have issues being able to get insurance? Just curious. [/quote]

[quote]
Flu, My husband’s an accountant who lost his job last May (his company was bought out by a larger company and their accounting division was on the East coast and he didn’t want to move there, especially not being familiar with anyone in the new company). I am a stay-at-home mom, and when he lost his job we had a 2 1/2 year old and I was pregnant. We had Cal COBRA through August, which we dropped after we had a healthy baby boy, and because it was more than we could continue to afford (it was an HMO and cost $1300 a month, if it was a PPO with a high deductible, we might have been able to hold onto it for a while longer). We did not recieve unemployment during that time because my husband was a contract employee prior to the previous company being bought and we didn’t think he’d qualify. So we pretty much burned through all our savings, as jobs now are not easy to get in this economy. My husband is now self-employed, doing part-time accounting for small businesses, which means we have no benefits. We plan to either ask one of the businesses he works for if we can get on their insurance or apply for private insurance, but we were waiting to make sure we could afford the extra bill every month before we do that. Things are just starting to look at a point where we will have enough funds to pay for health insurance. [/quote]

Ok. FYI: when i went on a brief contracting stint back when I was single, I recall there were pretty decent individual plans from blue cross, and it was like $200/month for me PPO. I think there were plans that allowed you to insure just your kid too. Don’t know what your health situation is, but at the time, I didn’t have an existing conditions,etc so qualifying wasn’t a big deal Just though I’d share if you choose to get insured. The deductible was 1500/year, and regular checkups were included (not part of the deductible).

Rates probably have gone up, but it was defintely cheaper than cobra.

http://www.anthem.com/ca/

[Coronita]

[quote=abell]Abell, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your reason for not having insurance? Cost? Do you have issues being able to get insurance? Just curious. [/quote]

[quote]
Flu, My husband’s an accountant who lost his job last May (his company was bought out by a larger company and their accounting division was on the East coast and he didn’t want to move there, especially not being familiar with anyone in the new company). I am a stay-at-home mom, and when he lost his job we had a 2 1/2 year old and I was pregnant. We had Cal COBRA through August, which we dropped after we had a healthy baby boy, and because it was more than we could continue to afford (it was an HMO and cost $1300 a month, if it was a PPO with a high deductible, we might have been able to hold onto it for a while longer). We did not recieve unemployment during that time because my husband was a contract employee prior to the previous company being bought and we didn’t think he’d qualify. So we pretty much burned through all our savings, as jobs now are not easy to get in this economy. My husband is now self-employed, doing part-time accounting for small businesses, which means we have no benefits. We plan to either ask one of the businesses he works for if we can get on their insurance or apply for private insurance, but we were waiting to make sure we could afford the extra bill every month before we do that. Things are just starting to look at a point where we will have enough funds to pay for health insurance. [/quote]

Ok. FYI: when i went on a brief contracting stint back when I was single, I recall there were pretty decent individual plans from blue cross, and it was like $200/month for me PPO. I think there were plans that allowed you to insure just your kid too. Don’t know what your health situation is, but at the time, I didn’t have an existing conditions,etc so qualifying wasn’t a big deal Just though I’d share if you choose to get insured. The deductible was 1500/year, and regular checkups were included (not part of the deductible).

Rates probably have gone up, but it was defintely cheaper than cobra.

http://www.anthem.com/ca/

[Coronita]

[quote=abell]Abell, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your reason for not having insurance? Cost? Do you have issues being able to get insurance? Just curious. [/quote]

[quote]
Flu, My husband’s an accountant who lost his job last May (his company was bought out by a larger company and their accounting division was on the East coast and he didn’t want to move there, especially not being familiar with anyone in the new company). I am a stay-at-home mom, and when he lost his job we had a 2 1/2 year old and I was pregnant. We had Cal COBRA through August, which we dropped after we had a healthy baby boy, and because it was more than we could continue to afford (it was an HMO and cost $1300 a month, if it was a PPO with a high deductible, we might have been able to hold onto it for a while longer). We did not recieve unemployment during that time because my husband was a contract employee prior to the previous company being bought and we didn’t think he’d qualify. So we pretty much burned through all our savings, as jobs now are not easy to get in this economy. My husband is now self-employed, doing part-time accounting for small businesses, which means we have no benefits. We plan to either ask one of the businesses he works for if we can get on their insurance or apply for private insurance, but we were waiting to make sure we could afford the extra bill every month before we do that. Things are just starting to look at a point where we will have enough funds to pay for health insurance. [/quote]

Ok. FYI: when i went on a brief contracting stint back when I was single, I recall there were pretty decent individual plans from blue cross, and it was like $200/month for me PPO. I think there were plans that allowed you to insure just your kid too. Don’t know what your health situation is, but at the time, I didn’t have an existing conditions,etc so qualifying wasn’t a big deal Just though I’d share if you choose to get insured. The deductible was 1500/year, and regular checkups were included (not part of the deductible).

Rates probably have gone up, but it was defintely cheaper than cobra.

http://www.anthem.com/ca/

[Coronita]

[quote=abell]Abell, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your reason for not having insurance? Cost? Do you have issues being able to get insurance? Just curious. [/quote]

[quote]
Flu, My husband’s an accountant who lost his job last May (his company was bought out by a larger company and their accounting division was on the East coast and he didn’t want to move there, especially not being familiar with anyone in the new company). I am a stay-at-home mom, and when he lost his job we had a 2 1/2 year old and I was pregnant. We had Cal COBRA through August, which we dropped after we had a healthy baby boy, and because it was more than we could continue to afford (it was an HMO and cost $1300 a month, if it was a PPO with a high deductible, we might have been able to hold onto it for a while longer). We did not recieve unemployment during that time because my husband was a contract employee prior to the previous company being bought and we didn’t think he’d qualify. So we pretty much burned through all our savings, as jobs now are not easy to get in this economy. My husband is now self-employed, doing part-time accounting for small businesses, which means we have no benefits. We plan to either ask one of the businesses he works for if we can get on their insurance or apply for private insurance, but we were waiting to make sure we could afford the extra bill every month before we do that. Things are just starting to look at a point where we will have enough funds to pay for health insurance. [/quote]

Ok. FYI: when i went on a brief contracting stint back when I was single, I recall there were pretty decent individual plans from blue cross, and it was like $200/month for me PPO. I think there were plans that allowed you to insure just your kid too. Don’t know what your health situation is, but at the time, I didn’t have an existing conditions,etc so qualifying wasn’t a big deal Just though I’d share if you choose to get insured. The deductible was 1500/year, and regular checkups were included (not part of the deductible).

Rates probably have gone up, but it was defintely cheaper than cobra.

http://www.anthem.com/ca/

[Coronita]

[quote=abell]Abell, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your reason for not having insurance? Cost? Do you have issues being able to get insurance? Just curious. [/quote]

[quote]
Flu, My husband’s an accountant who lost his job last May (his company was bought out by a larger company and their accounting division was on the East coast and he didn’t want to move there, especially not being familiar with anyone in the new company). I am a stay-at-home mom, and when he lost his job we had a 2 1/2 year old and I was pregnant. We had Cal COBRA through August, which we dropped after we had a healthy baby boy, and because it was more than we could continue to afford (it was an HMO and cost $1300 a month, if it was a PPO with a high deductible, we might have been able to hold onto it for a while longer). We did not recieve unemployment during that time because my husband was a contract employee prior to the previous company being bought and we didn’t think he’d qualify. So we pretty much burned through all our savings, as jobs now are not easy to get in this economy. My husband is now self-employed, doing part-time accounting for small businesses, which means we have no benefits. We plan to either ask one of the businesses he works for if we can get on their insurance or apply for private insurance, but we were waiting to make sure we could afford the extra bill every month before we do that. Things are just starting to look at a point where we will have enough funds to pay for health insurance. [/quote]

Ok. FYI: when i went on a brief contracting stint back when I was single, I recall there were pretty decent individual plans from blue cross, and it was like $200/month for me PPO. I think there were plans that allowed you to insure just your kid too. Don’t know what your health situation is, but at the time, I didn’t have an existing conditions,etc so qualifying wasn’t a big deal Just though I’d share if you choose to get insured. The deductible was 1500/year, and regular checkups were included (not part of the deductible).

Rates probably have gone up, but it was defintely cheaper than cobra.

http://www.anthem.com/ca/

[Author]

Posts