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My recent real life healthcare experience..

imagep said:
My blood presure medication cost $4/mth, plus ever six months I have to get the script renewed and that cost me $60. Now explain to me again why I need insurance to cover that cost?
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Because the 3-5 doctors visits that it might take to discover your high blood pressure.. find a medication that works, , assess the effectiveness of the medication over a period of time will cost enough that many people without health insurance will simply not seek a physician.

which means when they blow a gasket down the road. I eat the bill.
 
sangha said:
It's an interesting article and I do not disagree with it but it does not say that there are fewer insurance companies or plans in the market since ACA
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I asked you to provide a link stating that after the ACA there were more insurance companies providing insurance.. which was your claim.
 
LowDown said:
Proper treatment of blood pressure prevents all sorts of diseases. Kidney disease, eye disease, stroke, heart attack, vascular insufficiency, dementia and on and on. Insurance companies are wise to see to it that blood pressure treatment is covered.
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My point is that I don't need to pay an insurance company to pay $4/mth for my prescription, or $120 a year for two visits to the doc to get the script renewed, any more than I need my auto insurance to pay for oil changes or my home owners policy to cover my electric bill.

If it saved insurance companies money to pay for blood pressure treatment, then they would all already cover that.
 
SocialD said:
income tax 5700? I paid 13k dollars in taxes and got back about 700$ when I did my taxes. you are thinking Federal income tax perhaps and estimating a bit low but I have state income tax and FICA and Medicare to pay into too.
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Yes, I was talking about federal income taxes. I can't calculate your state taxes because I don't even know which state you're in but payroll taxes are what...8% (ie about 4K) bringing you up to $9400 leaving $3600 for state taxes which sounds high. Only a few states have a state income tax rate that high but maybe you live in one of them.

Put 6% into 401k (250 a mo) , ~1150 a month rent and utilities, 380$ a month car payment+auto insurance. previous vehicle I used for 15 yrs so I don't buy a vehicle often, 60$ a month cell phone. add food, gas for car, and your toiletries and household stuff like laundry soap and cleaning and those types of things. .. I also help out my parents occasionally with some money as my delinquent younger brother has cost them a lot of money. Doesn't of course account for replacing worn out clothes or anything.
So yea adding 300 a month on top of that, and that doesn't include Dental insurance, for which I'm going to have to out of pocket virtually anything anyway, just doesn't work for me.
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But after deducting all your taxes, you still have over $3000/month - not a fortune but enough to make a $300/mon premium affordable.
 
sangha said:
Yes, I was talking about federal income taxes. I can't calculate your state taxes because I don't even know which state you're in but payroll taxes are what...8% (ie about 4K) bringing you up to $9400 leaving $3600 for state taxes which sounds high. Only a few states have a state income tax rate that high but maybe you live in one of them.



But after deducting all your taxes, you still have over $3000/month - not a fortune but enough to make a $300/mon premium affordable.
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I dunno, but if someone says that an expenditure doesn't work for them, that it's too much money for them on that, shouldn't one be inclined to take their word for it, rather then telling him how to spend their money?

I mean, they earned it after all.
 
eohrnberger said:
I dunno, but if someone says that an expenditure doesn't work for them, that it's too much money for them on that, shouldn't one be inclined to take their word for it.
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because if someone on the internet says something, it must be true!!
 
sangha said:
Yes, I was talking about federal income taxes. I can't calculate your state taxes because I don't even know which state you're in but payroll taxes are what...8% (ie about 4K) bringing you up to $9400 leaving $3600 for state taxes which sounds high. Only a few states have a state income tax rate that high but maybe you live in one of them.



But after deducting all your taxes, you still have over $3000/month - not a fortune but enough to make a $300/mon premium affordable.
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Yea bout 3k a month after taxes and before any other expenses. after other expenses though about about 5-6 hundred a month, not including irregular costs I might have if I need to buy clothes or , like a new mattress and computer desk that I'm looking at getting right now. Just threw out my 18 yr old mattress this morning and my 16 yr old computer desk that is falling apart.
 
SocialD said:
Yea bout 3k a month after taxes and before any other expenses. after other expenses though about about 5-6 hundred a month, not including irregular costs I might have if I need to buy clothes or , like a new mattress and computer desk that I'm looking at getting right now. Just threw out my 18 yr old mattress this morning and my 16 yr old computer desk that is falling apart.
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So you have about $2400-$2500/mon expenses.

That's high. Not saying you're rich, but health insurance comes before a lot of other things IMO. And I'm not saying $300/month is cheap, but on your income it is affordable.
 
sangha said:
So you have about $2400-$2500/mon expenses.

That's high. Not saying you're rich, but health insurance comes before a lot of other things IMO. And I'm not saying $300/month is cheap, but on your income it is affordable.
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I listed most of them previously. yes.
 
LowDown said:
Proper treatment of blood pressure prevents all sorts of diseases. Kidney disease, eye disease, stroke, heart attack, vascular insufficiency, dementia and on and on. Insurance companies are wise to see to it that blood pressure treatment is covered.
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If paying 100% for blood pressure treatment saved insurance companies money, then they would all already do that.
 
imagep said:
If paying 100% for blood pressure treatment saved insurance companies money, then they would all already do that.
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My digoxin costs more than my BP stuff.
 
imagep said:
If paying 100% for blood pressure treatment saved insurance companies money, then they would all already do that.
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Yeah not really.

I have had this discussion with patients before. Private insurance companies don;t always see a value in preventative medicine.. and that's because if you get something big.. often they don;t end up paying for it.

You have a stroke.. you lose your job.. and when you lose your job.. you lose your healthcare insurance. Private insurance is now off the hook.
 
jaeger19 said:
Yeah not really.

I have had this discussion with patients before. Private insurance companies don;t always see a value in preventative medicine.. and that's because if you get something big.. often they don;t end up paying for it.

You have a stroke.. you lose your job.. and when you lose your job.. you lose your healthcare insurance. Private insurance is now off the hook.
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Another good argument in favor of some sort of socialized health insurance.
 
imagep said:
Another good argument in favor of some sort of socialized health insurance.
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Not really because the worst insurances for preventative medicine are two of the government healthcare plans.. Medicaid and VA.
 
jaeger19 said:
Not really because the worst insurances for preventative medicine are two of the government healthcare plans.. Medicaid and VA.
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Maybe they also realize that paying for preventive medicine costs more money than it saves them.

I think that preventative medicine is a lot like individual savings is in the "paradox of thrift". It may be great for the individual, but too expensive for the aggregate (insurance).
 
imagep said:
Maybe they also realize that paying for preventive medicine costs more money than it saves them.

I think that preventative medicine is a lot like individual savings is in the "paradox of thrift". It may be great for the individual, but too expensive for the aggregate (insurance).
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the real issue is that bean counters can't see what they "WOULD" have paid.

It simply does not factor into their equation.

The second is that not all preventative medicine is equal. Making sure everyone has a flu shot for example is probably not financially sound. Making sure those that are immuno compromised.. probably is.

Lastly.. death can be cheaper than survival. Its in part why cancer survival rates in Europe are significantly less than the US.
 
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