Hi all,
I’m a one man company, business is good. I stay busy enough that I don’t have to think of folding due to lack of work.
My problem is, Healthcare costs. I have a family of 6. I have my two youngest kids and myself on Blue cross private health insurance. Even with that coverage, I have spent 15K to 20k every yr for the last four years on Docs and hospitals. I’m drained.
Blue Cross just raised my rates to a level where I will have to drop my coverage.
My wife has no Insurance, Now I have no Insurance, and my older two kids have terrible insurance from their real dad. I usually end up covering their costs as well.
With the cost of health care being such a burden, I would have been better off working anywhere else for $15/hr with a good health plan.
What do those of you who are also a small business do? Pay for Insurance, don’t have kids, Don’t get sick? Are there any real solutions for a small company?
I am looking for jobs now that have better benefits than pay. I just don’t want to give up on the self employment gig.
Replies
Have you tried Kaiser Permanente?I see they cover Colorado. I know they have single rates. Coverage for 1 person companies.
Our went down aout 1-2% this year. About $760/family
YMMV
I've looked into Kaiser, and they are well regarded here, But the closest one is 65 miles from my House. Also, it is the ER visits and hospital stays, and surgeries that are doing us in.
You might ask about Kaiser out of area plans. You pay Kaiser. Then go to Dr in your area. Kaiser pays them.We did that for a couple drivers about 150 miles away from our market. Worked pretty good. Then Kaiser started raising rates. You could tell it was to make you go away. I don't know if it was a hassle for Kaiser to admin, or if the Dr were charging Kaiser outrageous fees. It is a small inbred market for healthcare. I suspect the latter.Try looking for an independent agency to shop for you. They have connections and spend all day at this stuff. I am very happy w/our agent.
I work for a medium sized company with--until recently-- good benefits. My copays just went up and my coverage down. I suggest you and your wife look into private plans, but shop around.
We shopped around a couple of years ago, and that is what led us to blue cross. Nobody wants to cover our 3 y.o., as she was born extremely premature.
I am definitely shopping around now, But am wanting to know if there are good deals out there that some BTers may know of.
We shopped around a couple of years ago, and that is what led us to blue cross. Nobody wants to cover our 3 y.o., as she was born extremely premature.
My daughter was just ovewr two pounds and was almost 3 months early.
Been there.
When the premiums went over $3500 a month and they still cancelled me at the first claim?
My wife was a vet tec at the time. She cut a deal with a friend of hers to work two days a week for free in exchange for being on the group plan.
The whole group got cancelled!!! It was small, only a few people.
After paying for the RSV vaccines the first year ($8K back then), and knowing that she would surely end up in the hospital the coming winter? I volunteered to go on a deployment with my reserve unit so that I would have coverage that couldn't be cancelled. Two weeks later she went in the hospital and ran up a $50K bill. Tricare covered it.
I came home, started business up again and got deployed AGAIN 4 months later. I've stayed on Active Duty since.
I wish there was a GOOD answer for you. But there isn't one that I can see. SO long as she has complications from being premature? You will always have a pre-existing condition. With that over your head? You'll never get the coverage you need. NO amount of shopping will fix that.
The only answer is going to be a LARGE group plan, or a government or municipality plan.
You young enough to go to a police acadamy?
That premature birth is going to have us marked for life. With all the preemie babies bieng born and surviving (Thriving) these days, we should all go form our own group.
We were lucky to qualify for assistance with the RSV shots for the first two years, we got'em for free. (I got laid off two weeks after she was born, and my wife was actually fired from her job for BS Reasons, but we think it was the $1.5 million dollar baby that her health plan paid for.)
But yeah, the large group plan is the only answer that I've been able to come up with. I have been sending resumes to every likely job opening. I am finding that there is a lot more competition for good jobs now than there used to be.
Ain't no where near young enough to go to police academy, and not something I'm suited for.
I'm gonna keep pluggin away, and it'll all be good, someday.
As much as it sucks.......................
The only place where you're going to be able to get coverage where noone is going to question the cost of your child is most likely going to be a large Government or Municiple office.
I ended up selling all the land I had aquired as well as a bunch of business assets. My share turned out to be around $200K total.
I've been lucky, today you couldn't tell she was a premie. We used to see the couple whose baby was in the crib across from us. She was smaller than my daughter and has had many problems, including being legally blind at the age of ten.
I hope your child is doing well and that you have the same luck as I had.
Yep,
Lotsa luck here. Compared to some of the other children I've come to know, we had it easy. A few respiratory issues with our daughter every winter, but nothing we can't handle. A Dr. can look at her and pick up on some preemie clues, but for the most part, she is doing great.
I've been watching the state and county and federal job postings. I can afford to wait for the right opportunity, but am definitely ready to work based on benefits.
Have you looked at Health Savings Accounts? (HSA)
We had BS/BS family coverage and the cost was outrageous. We now have Golden Rule HSA, which has worked well and is a lot less expensive.
.
have you looked into joining your local nahb or nari chapter.... they usually have group rates that make ins. more affordable
this is my #1 worry in life. i'm on a family plan [3 of us] pay 1300 a month,5k deductible. you know i can't hardly swallow that but i will,but heres my real worry.
were on a plan all by ourself. i guarantee you if i go to the doctor monday and they say "you have cancer" my insurance company within 30 days will send me a cancelation notice "sorry your sick we can't make any money on you,see you".
if that don't happen they will increase my premium by double each month until i can't pay 10k a month.
i figure what i have is really accident ins. if i got in a car wreck today ,by the time they can react i've already soaked them with most of the bill.
the only advice i have is go to mexico,become a citizen,then sneak across the border and we'll pay all your bill's then.
if you find something let me know i would like to do something different,but don't know what. larry
YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T
MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE
DUCT TAPE.
Edited 12/28/2008 4:40 pm by alwaysoverbudget
larry.... i get the impression you don't know much about Mexican health care
<<<<<
Health Care Issues in Mexico
One of the greatest health care issues for people living in the United States is the high cost of medical insurance. An average health care insurance policy can cost as much as $5,000. For this reason more and more people in the US are looking south of the border to Mexico for answers to their health care issues. In comparison to the costs of receiving medical treatment in the US, going to the doctor or dentist in Mexico is comparatively cheaper and becoming a popular course of action for many US citizens fed up of having to pay the high prices of medical treatment in the US.
Mexico Health Care System
Another interesting health care related issue in Mexico is the existence of the Instituto Medicina de Segura Social, or IMSS. According to this scheme, anyone who has bought property in Mexico is entitled to receive health care in Mexico through membership of this scheme. The annual cost of membership to this scheme is less than $400, which is less than one tenth of what medical coverage in the states would cost. In fact, in order to qualify for the medical coverage scheme you need not own a property in Mexico but you simply have to be a legal resident there.
Health Care Policy in Mexico
The Mexican medical insurance policy covers a wide range of health care issues and is in fact much wider in scope than many American healthcare policies that don’t include many medications, deductibles and various procedures. A prime example of this is the difference that Mexican and US health care policies take in relation to pre existing conditions. In the US when you sign up to a health care policy you have to declare any pre existing medical conditions you already have. These conditions are often not included in the policy coverage or if they are they involve high surcharges. The Mexican health care plan by contrast allows your pre existing condition to be fully covered after only two years of membership under the IMSS plan.
Health Care Standards Mexico
Many people often arrive at the conclusion that because healthcare in Mexico is so cheap compared to the US, the quality of medical attention and knowledge about health care issues in Mexico must be lacking. This is completely false. Not only are Mexican hospitals equipped to a first world standard with modern equipment and hygienic practices, but many Mexican doctors and dentists in fact received their training in the US.
>>>Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
wow... i feel for you... for me/wife & 2 kids... BC/BS about 700mo thats with a 10k deductable... 10 would hurt but 500k would hurt worse...
we had golden rule a few years ago but they went out of sight... i just feel blessed that we can pay the 700
thats why so many around here work for fed-ex... just so that they can be insurerd
p
Just wait a few years........I had Golden rule for a while in my forties cause I had just gotten married and wanted to try and be a bit more settled and normal.........wellEvery year those %$#$$ raised my rates till I finally threw in the towel. I could see by the time I was old and starting to have health problems I would have been forced out by then........I went back to the VA (who treats me very well) and my wife slid along till Medicare took in.In all reality I believe there is NO way a guy can afford insurance the way it is set up right now . . . cause in time his rate raises will force him out.My Blog
Ttoally agree with you JJ...it's a loosing battle presently.
I did what Mike suggested...first with NARI...then I quit NARI and joined my Chamber of Commerce which offers the same group rate....which still seriously stinks!!!
The few pennies you save just ain't worth it.
I think that's what we've all been crying about for so log around the entire country so I can't see who has it much better in the US.
I do have to say though....what my sisters pay in Florida is wayyyyyyyyyy cheaper then what we pay here in NY!!
Then dig this...I take my daughter to the dentist the other day. She had 3 cavities...the dentist asks me if I wanna make an appt to have em' filled. I told him I'll let my wife make the appt b/c she'll be taking her next time and I didn't know her schedule. I tell DW to ask first how much it'd be. The dentist said for three cavities it'd be $680 YIKESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
We're looking for another dentist.....whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
http://www.cliffordrenovations.com
http://www.ramdass.org
my advice would be to marry your daughter off to a dentist.....i get free care :-)My Blog
You still got any teeth?LOL
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got em all cept one front tooth. (that got knocked out):-)My Blog
The mouth moderator banned it eh?;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
But Andeeee!They include a free toothbrush for that, don't? Just what do you expect for less than the price of an ounce of gold anyways? isn't she worth it? How can you sleep....seriously - I think the dentists are making out better than the drug companies or the dictors
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we ditched golden rule when we were still in our 30's...
we are blessed to have very little health care costs... i just want to be protected in the event i run myself over with a forklift or something... no family history of anything big on either side so i'm pretty comfortable in that... but i still want to protect assets in the event of something big... thus the need for health insurance... we pay over 8k a year... and with our large deductable... we use it zero... we might spend another $1500 on actual health care costs... services we recieve... so $9500 a year...
i have often thought of being self insured with maybe a 100k deductable... odds are we'd never tap into it... and have a hell of a savings account... 100 k would hurt... but we'd still recieve care and if it took several years or selling something we could pay it...
no answers... just questions.... as it is... I'm now paying for someone elses health care and my peace of mind...
oh if i or someone here had a medical condition that cost more than i was pay'n i guess i'd think i was getting a deal...
p
You sound like you would be perfect for a Medical Saving Account.That requires a matching high deductable health insurannce, but then you can put additional funds into a saving account. The funds are tax deductable.And you can spend them on any medical expense (that is deductable on sch A)tax free. That includes co-payments, eye glass, dental, etc..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
thanks... I'll look into it... talk to my cpa if i can get him out of the duck blind this time of year
thanks
P:)
eventually when you retire, the funds still in an HSA can be withdrawn like an IRA too, so the money is still yours, even if you don't use it for medical.
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All I see in any of this is the "rats on a wheel" syndrome. The rats are being forced to run faster and faster for the fear of falling off and drowning while the wheelmaster grins in the background........butif all the rats were to organize and jump off his machine all together the wheelmaster would have to slow the thing down a bit......or lose his position also.As long as the system can charge you cost plus after the fact, you guys are screwed. Especially when their wheels are as well greased with overages and triple billing as theirs are.It's just a matter of time till only the wealthy will have any coverage at all. If you see any hope for this current way of doing business what is it?Raise your rates? When you have a zillion out of work carpenters begging to do the job off the back of their pickup truck by the hour?Good luck..........two choices.....either unite and fight the lawyer/insurance/hospital cartel or install socialized health care....cause you one day are gonna weaken, lose your place at the wheel and drown on your own the way it is run right now.My Blog
"health insurance for everyone" and "access to health care " are not one and the same...
I don't know the percentage of americans who will face medical bills in the 100s of thousands of dollar in their life is... but the chances go up as we continue to live longer and medical advances are made... just like in construction do you want quality,service or price
If i had no wife or children... i wouldn't care.... all they could do is take all my assets to pay for the services i recieved... which is fair... if i got the treatment i should pay for it... Insurance... you buy to protect your other assets be it cash in the bank, your home or future earnings... if they think you will live or you have assets you will get treated... they just want to get paid for work they do... just like everyone here... If i'm in need i want access to the best... i don't care about the cost...
I think there are many ways to have affordable heathcare ... you'd have to do away with malpractice... but how many here want no recourse when an overworked doctor reads the wrong xray and removes the wrong organ? You'd have to accept at some point you might not be worth fixing... @91 should we as a country spend 800k for your transplant? should 2.5million be spent to keep a premature baby alive who will never have brain functions... should the drunk get 3 liver transplants... yeah it sounds all nice that everyone should be "entitled to everything" but real world says it just ain't so... and can't be... just the process of say'n who gets what and when would cost a fortune... and it would stay tied up in law suits... you could ban lawyers and have a review board but who would represent those who can't represent themself?
all sounds like alot of money would be spent and few healthcare services would be delivered...
aren't we supposed to die with nothing anyway?
p
my personal belief is health care for everyone who is a citizen of this country across the board......... that means one plan, one policy...........free.There is no reason to place health care in the capitalistic system save for anything else except a profit margin.Leave free market capitalism open to those who can choose whether to buy or sell or be satisfied with what they have........ a govt. of the people and by the people should do no less for itself.......This country was not founded on a class system........basic rights doesn't mean we should have a new flat screen TV or a fancy house to live in, it means we are all protected by an armed military......we can all travel the same highway . . . and SHOULD all receive health care.........We could work out healing people if we wanted to spend just half of what we spend killing people.My Blog
I've long thought that having one plan price for the guy who works for a huge company and a much greater price for the self-employed makes little sense. Yeah, I know, the excuse the insurance company gives is that when they can spread costs over a bigger group the cost per person is lower. I think that's an excuse to soak the little guy with little clout, lacking the muscle of the big employer.But insurance is all about statistics and the chance that you will make a claim. Why would the likelihood of a guy needing medical service suddenly change if he goes from working for Megabusiness Inc. to working for himself, if he does the same work? Why not just pass a law that says to the insurance companies, if you want to do business in this state, you publish your rates and what affects the rates (age, smoker, etc., but not employer size). Then your "group" over which you spread your costs is everyone who buys your plans. No more cherry-picking.One might also argue, for fairness, that the rates be per individual, rather than the typical single, couple, "family" (with one to 10+ kids). Providing care for 10 kids clearly is far more expensive than for only one, so why should the childless or one-kid couple subsidize the 10-kid family?I know I'm gonna get flamed for some of what I've said. But let's talk about solutions that might work, whatever that might be.
What you propose is pretty much just what it is in the State of Maine. Result - most of the ins companies pulled freight out, leaving BC_BS standing alone.they have to accept with pre-existing conditions and they have to charge same for male and female. The only differing groups are by age, so a younger person pays slightly less than sick old me.My rate this past year has been a hair under $1275/month for the two of us - more than fifteen grand a year for a $2500 annual deductible.So when we each have something going on, that is another five grand plus travel costs and some meds not covered. We budget for twenty grand a year and almost always exceed that. I am pretty sure that the price is going up again this year. I have never seen rates not go up in all the years I have had health insurance. Costs go up so rates go up.One reason I have the figures right in front of me is that I just spent a couple hours on the phone with accountant and the payroll service. This past week I got a notice from the money doctor ( CPA) that to be able to deduct the health ins paid thru the S-Corp, it had to show reported on the W-2 this year. This is a new ruling by the IRS - another screw deal related to health costs/taxes. So I had to get the adjustment recorded before the end of the year.
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Our Constitution does not provide for health insurance. The US govt. should not be in the health care business, just like it should not be in the financial bailout business or alot of other things they have stuck their noses into. Just my personal beliefs.----WW 57
my personal belief is health care for everyone who is a citizen of this country across the board.........
that means one plan, one policy...........free.
I have a problem with all of your position... and FREE... free to whom? there is no FREE... anytime you provide something at no cost to some... you have to take that money from someone else.... period...
From what i see here... Memphis TN we have the MED a high level trama center... it's FREE anyone can walk in the door and get treated for anything from a migrain to a gunshot... and you don't get a bill.... granted if you are shot then you get looked at before the guy with the broken pinky... but 1000s of bastard children are born there every year and it costs each mom zip... nada... nothing... zero...
insurance is a for profit business... no one forces me to buy it... I balance my options and choose to buy it... I go without new cars/trucks thats my choice... but many people choose to have a $400 car note vs a $400 car... and then get "free to them healthcare" it greed and selfness in the worst way... yet these are the first people to show up on the news cry'n that they are priced/left out of healthcare...
no one is telling anyone here what they can charge to build a house... most on here demand above the average because they are more skilled... yet in your mind the Government should be able to tell a doctor regardless of their skill level what they can charge someone in their care...
one plan one policy? and who desides what that plan will cover? we had the model for nationalized heathcare in the state of TN... the Clintons pushed it... TennCare... what a disaster... all but broke the state... filled with crime and fraud... when everything was free many made it a lifestyle to be an everyday patient... why buy a $1 bottle of asprin when you could get it free... and many did... they went to a flat $10 "see you charge" the people show'n up for care dropped like 40% overnite... since it was no longer "free" then the lawsuits... they could no right... no matter what they did to control costs it violated someones "right" to FREE care... they spent a full 25% of their budget on litigation...
the US gov can't deliver our mail yet you somehow think they can deliver healthcare...
tell me how? and try not to use the catch word "program"
have a great new year...
p
You got that right.Ozlander
hah, hah, hah....
<<<<insurance is a for profit business... no one forces me to buy it... >>>
you're right, of course
but it was only sometime in the '70's that health care was united with insurance and we got managed health care, which then also became a "for profit business"
de-link them and let us develop a national health program.... like the rest of the civilized worldMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
i agree there has to be a way...
student loans for med school...sign a contract that you must repay them with a 70k a year position at a local health center for 5years...
join the military... become a doctor... again some plan to provide low cost service in exchange...
same deal for every job in the health care industry...
if you figure out a way to have error proof medical... then you could do away with malpractice and lawyers...
but if a doctor screws up i want recourse... as do most... and with recourse you get... expensive medical care....
we have a local healthcare system called "church healthcare" it's low cost insurance at one low cost clinic... serving usually those employed but in the lower levels of the pay scale... busboys, waiters, lawncare ect.... cost most employers last i checked about $75mo maybe less.... basic keep you well healthcare... but very limited... think it has a $10 co-pay... but if you don't have the $10 they don't want you to stay away from needed treatment.. so they will "loan" you $10
I rely on the truck stop medic for me and the guys that work for me if needed... walk in medical care at the truck stop... tests, shots... splinters... cuts that need sew'n up ect... they also do the medcals & drug tests for truckers... no doctors ... just trained nurses... wait is usually less than 30 min and the bill is usually less than $65 which includes any drugs... they can GIVE them to you but can't prescribe them... or they can give you a coupon for a prescripion... even with insurance i use em because it's very fast... their is no motive for them to order tests ect... they try to "sell" you nothing... same trip to a minor med place would be 3-4 hrs and $3-400.00 go figure..
p
Edited 1/1/2009 2:19 pm ET by ponytl
a govt. of the people and by the people should do no less for itself.......
My fear is that we will get what you want. Which government agency would you trust to run this thing? The geniuses at the SEC, congress who can't even write a bailout bill that requires accountability from the recipients, social security, those who run our current welfare systems full of fraud, waste and beaurocracy, a quasi governmental agency like the post office... I vote for none of the above and have no reason to expect that our bloated, corrupt, incapable government would do better at deciding my treatment plan than they do at anything else. I envy your trust in them that I do not have.
There is no way costs would go down either. When visiting DC a couple of years ago I was blown away at the amount of offices that house federal employees just in the small section of town that I saw. Later I learned that something like only 10% of fed employees are based in DC. They are not interested in running healthcare to improve it, they want to control it.
The thing is you guys have all (well most of you anyways) been duped into believing health care and insurance is one word.Of course as long as the two are joined at the hip there will be mega problems.........BUTUsing the VA system as a model and tweaking it a bit. . . we could very well have a system for health care that would be open to all "citizens" (key word) just like the VA is open to all veterans.When there is no huge profit involved and the requirements to enter the system are aimed towards the patients personal responsibility it all works quite well.(in the VA they have compliance rules) When I came back into the VA system I was astonished as to how well I was treated. In the old days it may have been a scary place, but today it is probably the best system we have in the US for treating sick people.........pefect?....noCould we expand civilian health care in the same way?.....why not?If we spent half the money healing people as we do killing them it would be easy.It makes me crazy when I see people sticking up for this unbelievably bad system and how fear driven we are NOT to rock the boat.Well, like the guy said "you get what you pay for"...so keep digging till you run out of pocket space........the insurance/lawyer/hospital/drug cartel are laughing all the way to the bank.Medical professionals...(doctors, etc.) are being bent over their gurneys by these guys also. ALL the doctors I talked to at the VA love their job......the pay is OK the hours are great and they have no HUGE insurance policy requirements to deal with..........some have even left civilian practice to join up.My Blog
I would caution that not all VA's are the same.
I'm not a patient, but I do deal with the one in Philadelphia regularly.
It is a trainwreck.
I understand that, but Wade Park in Cleveland is where I go...and it is impressive as all hell. Had heart surgery twice there and am still kicking.All these hospitals are being reworked and coming on line (there is a huge addition going in Wade Park as we speak) ....and you know about the top of the line clinics they are placing in every town etc. I'm sure.They are still seemingly behind the curve in mental stuff though it seems . . . .all the brain trauma coming out of the war zones have them on the ropes it seems. . . but they are forward thinkingthis is what I believe we should be doing in the civilian sector instead of scrambling for ways to make this current cluster ! work.My Blog
I am glad that you have faith that our politicians will design a system that is as good or even better than your experience with the VA in Cleveland. I just don't believe that they are 1) capable and 2) can take a system that has been in place for decades with all its faults and good things and magically create a new system that actually works. I don't know what the costs vs. success of the VA is but every time our politicians say what a program will cost they have been historically off by factors of 1000. And like others I have heard from those who use the VA services that it isn't as positive of an experience as you have received. I am thankful that at least your VA and probably many others are doing a great job for our veterans and hopefully will spread to all of them.
Help me understand the difference between my system and yours: My system is I pay for health insurance and the medical community fixes my broken body. Your system is that the portion of the budget that pays for VA benefits is your "health insurance"and the VA fixes your broken body.
Keep in mind that it isn't intelligent, patient focused people like yourself that will be designing our new health care system. I wish it was.
This could be a matter of perspective too. You have real world experience with the VA system that was cost effective and succesful. I have had real world experience with paying for health insurance and receiving excellent care. As long as my customers are willing to keep paying my premiums I am happy (after all my company doesn't pay them, I don't pay them, my customers are paying them). When they are not, I may come around.
"I am glad that you have faith that our politicians will design a system..."To all, I am in the health care system and can tell you from first hand experience that there are huge inefficiencies due to insurance companies paperwork/overhead and their profit margin. Almost any system, even one administered by our government ( like our current nationalized free healthcare plan with the VA, or Medicare) would be MUCH better than what we have now.It will never change though, insurance industry is very powerful.Our best bet... each year reduce the age that one can get medicare, so in 2009, the minimum age would be 64, 2010 the age would be 63. Then assess the costs and benefits, offer medicare at least to every citizen age 55.
"Our best bet... each year reduce the age that one can get medicare, so in 2009, the minimum age would be 64, 2010 the age would be 63. Then assess the costs and benefits, offer medicare at least to every citizen age 55."Good Lord! Why not assess the cost/benfit thing BEFORE committing to it?!?! The current Medicare system is rapidly taking the fast road to bankruptcy. And the country with it.as it is, a lot of practitioners do not accept medicare patients, and those who do, have to pass costs onto other patients because the govt limits on payments don't always cover the costs. That or they order un-needed tests and procedures on that patient to make up for the other losses, playing the game to the limits of what is allowed.So by covering that many more on Medicare in their expensive years, you transfer that much more cost to the younger generation, breaking their backs.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I just reached THAT AGE, youngun, was checking the Medicare website for doctors that accept Medicare and the number is limited. I ended up with a Medicare Advantage PPO. With those plans Medicare pays for plan with a "private" group (some of them are non-profit BCBS others are profit type insurance companies). And in some plans you also pay into them.The PPO plan that I picked had tons of doctors and hospitals.There are also HMO plans, private fee plans and one MSA plan in my area.The MSA plan the plan sets up an account for you and puts in cash from the amount that Medicare pays them. I waited to the last minute and did not have time to figure what what kind of terms that they had with paying the doctors, deductables and the like. So I past on it this year. Might look into it next year..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
"The current Medicare system is rapidly taking the fast road to bankruptcy"Bankruptcy may be overstating the problem.
Medicare is 13% of our budget. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fy2008spendingbycategory.pngMilitary spending is 54%.http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm
even before the current economic crisis over credit markets and recession, every economist and insider I read was pretty clear that the problems of social security are miniscule compared to the yawning abyss ahead that is in the medicare road. So while I don't know the details, and probably few people do, I don't think it is any exaggeration or overstatement at all. It is not hard to understand. It was just expanded a few years ago. at the time, Sen Kennedy clearly stated it was only a first step in the expansion of medicare coverage, so the intent is there for it to grow. Then consider the fact that we have an aging population already that will expand the ranks due to baby boom demographics.
Multiply those two factors by the given that medical costs are rising faster than inflation in general, and remember that the shrinking value of the dollar will amplify that trend.and compare EVERY govt program that exists and how it has grown exponentially faster than any projection given and it is certain that medicare will be consuming more like 50% of the budget soon.But in comparing the one to the other, the constitution makes it an imperative duty of govt to secure this country, but one has to stretch interpretations of what is allowed the feds to even begin to put them into the business of heath care. So I think it is good for the military budget to exceed the govt share of health
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Bingo, I started to reply to him, but read your post first!!!!
Edited 1/1/2009 6:29 pm ET by frammer52
" but one has to stretch interpretations of what is allowed the feds to even begin to put them into the business of heath care.So I think it is good for the military budget to exceed the govt share of health"I agree with what you write. Gov't programs, even aspects of the military, can grow excessively, and that is not good. Basically, I think like a libertarian. Realistically, I know that privatizing everything, (including health care) would be bad. De-regulating, for example, the natural gas industry in Georgia did nothing but triple our costs. I would like to think that privatization leads to competition and lower prices but usually what happens is a monopoly or oligopoly and increased prices.I understand that the constitution does not mandate health care. I don't think it mandates our interstate highway system, federal prisons, national parks, social security, etc but these are things citizens want and appreciate. The main point, which I see every day, is that our health care system is not too good. Having an insurance company between the patient and the provider limits the service and increases the cost.
If you think like a Libertarian ( which is not all bad) you should want LESS govt. not MORE which is exactly what Natl Health care would be no matter what you call it----WW 57
When you talk about killing people, you must be talking about the unborn----WW 57
"I am looking for jobs now that have better benefits than pay. I just don't want to give up on the self employment gig. "
agreed ... but ... personally, I'd do what ever it takes to get my kids good health insurance. Ain't about what I like or what I'd like to do.
I second checking into joing an association or local chamber of commerce.
That way U can buy into their group rates.
knowing that insurances differ from place to place, I'll counter Andy's comments and say when I joined a local chamber of commerce for the sole reason of getting health care for my family, while it wasn't cheap it was possible. Got much betetr family rates thru their group than what I could have bought on my own.
currently have a friend that insures herself and her daughter, and Dad stays on his company plan ... she's doesn't go thru a group, as in her situation buying individual is cheaper.
You really gotta check each and every option.
I also went the route of employee years back when my wife was pregnant with our first. Again ... loved being self employeed ... but suddenly it wasn't about me being self employeed ... it was about me being a father.
That's the very same job I was laid off from coupla years later, after my wife lost her airline job after 9-11 ... and I discovered joining the chamber of commerce had the best rates combined with the cheapest membership / buy in costs.
at that time ... very good family coverage cost us $600/ month. That was 6 years or so ago.
I have a pinter bud that worked PT at home depot. Worked just enough hrs so his paycheck would cover his health care cost. Coupla hrs a night, coupla days a week and one full day on a weekend.
for a dental plan, look at Careington Dantel ... http://www.1dental.com
dental plan includes basic eye.
not an insurance, but a payment plan.
cut the cost of my "crown and core" by half of what the dentist said he'd take on a cash basis. Saved me about $1000 for a $7/month payment.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
lettusbee — "I'm a one man company, business is good. I stay busy enough that I don't have to think of folding due to lack of work.
My problem is, Healthcare costs. I have a family of 6. I have my two youngest kids and myself on Blue cross private health insurance. Even with that coverage, I have spent 15K to 20k every yr for the last four years on Docs and hospitals. I'm drained."
While I agree with the sentiment of the other here that you need to do some home work and research and shop around for a better deal I can't really help you on that since I am in New York and you are in Colorado and health insurance programs vary state to state. If you were in NY I would tell you to investigate the HealthyNY program NY has put in place.
But if business is "good" meaning you have enough leads to keep yourself going why not bump your base hourly labor rate that you use in figuring your estimates by just $5 per hour. If you are typical of one person operations that generates from 1500 to 1700 billable hours a year that cuts that '15K to 20k' that you spend on health care just about in half.
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Move to Canada -
Sorry :) - I was going to echo the HSA - but took a quick peak & I believe they are completely different animals than the Health spending accounts we have here. Sorry, no help to you.
Edited 12/29/2008 6:04 pm ET by confused2
The cost is the same in Canada.....
the premiums are renamed "taxes".A La Carte Government funding... the real democracy.
You are absolutely correct! But it's a great deal if you don't work & /or pay taxes or have a big brood with lots of health problems. Trouble is - there is getting to be more of them, and less of the healthy working stiffs who are carrying the load. But for now, I will forgo using my tax dollars on healthcare and be thankful I am healthy.
Edited 12/30/2008 12:20 am ET by confused2
At the end i could not charge enough to cover my expenses and insurance and compete.
My wife became a teecher and gets the best coverage you can get now.
Now its her job thats the important one.
While you can get a regular job with benefits you also sentence yourself to just getting by..
Its getting harder and harder to make a break out.