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How satisfied are you with your health insurance provider?

How satisfied are you with your current health insurance provider?

  • Total voters
    54
Anima said:
I'm covered by the UK's National Health Service, and I'm very satisfied with the care I receive. I'd like the NHS to standardise access to various tests and treatments over different areas so one isn't waiting 3 before being put forward for a test in one district, and being put forward immediately in another, and I'd to see more access to community-based mental health care, but otherwise I've no complaints.
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When is the last time you were required to have major surgery or get a MRI or CAT scan? We all know general health care like checkups, meds, and other minor things are a breeze, they are here too, but its the major things that are the issue.

What first hand experience do you have with it if any? Wait times, bureaucracy, co pays, denials?
 
After living in the USA and paying and tens upon tens of thousands of dollars in my life, only to have them deny $40,000+ worth of coverage when my daughter almost died due to state pressured vaccinations and then to live in New Zealand with universal coverage that denies nobody and has really good doctors, well, I can tell you honestly that I am a convert and that the US system sucks donkey ball sweat. It is so pathetic and dishonest in the US system of health that I am disgusted that it is still allowed.:(
 
scourge99 said:
When is the last time you were required to have major surgery or get a MRI or CAT scan? We all know general health care like checkups, meds, and other minor things are a breeze, they are here too, but its the major things that are the issue.

What first hand experience do you have with it if any? Wait times, bureaucracy, co pays, denials?
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Can I ask your nationality, scourge, so I can ascertain what you mean by "things we know" about universal coverage?

Wait times vary from procedure to procedure. Urgent procedures are performed as soon as space for one can be found on the theater rosters (the two relatives of mine who were unfortunately stricken with cancerous tumuours had surgery within a week of their discovery when such was possible without the prior need for chemo/radio). Wait times for non-essential procedures (those not required to preserve life or a basic standard) like cosmetic surgery tend to be a great deal longer.

Referral to specialist departments tends to take around a week to two weeks at the most if one is considered at risk of having a serious condition, and two weeks to a month if one is suspected to have a more minor condition (for example, things like acid reflux or mild allergies.) The NHS is committed to reducing waiting times for all surgeries, and so far they're on target in this aim. Waiting times for all surgical procedures are declining, as are the waiting times for referral appointments with specialists, with the exception of psychaitry referrals.

Bureaucracy? The doctor diagnoses us, we're referred onto the appropraite specialist if necessary, or treated in his office with presriptions and minor procedures. NHS patients face very little bureaucracy while receiving care.

Co-pays? Healthy working adults pay for their own medications, unless usch medcations are given as part of in-patient hospital treatments. The charge for prescriptions is fixed at £5 in England, £4 in Scotland, regardless of the item prescribed. Healthy working adults also pay for their own spectacles and dentistry. Children, the unemployed, pregnant women, new mothers, the retired, the disabled and full time students pay nothing.

Denial? The only way you'll be denied any treatment is you're not considered strong enough to withstand it (i.e. some surgeons refuse to perform non-essential surgery on the extremely morbidly obese due to the risks posed to them by the anesthetic) or if a specialist over-rules your general doctor and decides that medically, you've been misdiagnosed or would benefit more from a different treatment.
 
I have no issues with my health insurance provider. The copays are a bit higher than I'd like, but they've paid claims on time and abided by the terms of the contract. I haven't had to do battle with this company at all.
 
Anima said:
Can I ask your nationality, scourge, so I can ascertain what you mean by "things we know" about universal coverage?

Wait times vary from procedure to procedure. Urgent procedures are performed as soon as space for one can be found on the theater rosters (the two relatives of mine who were unfortunately stricken with cancerous tumuours had surgery within a week of their discovery when such was possible without the prior need for chemo/radio). Wait times for non-essential procedures (those not required to preserve life or a basic standard) like cosmetic surgery tend to be a great deal longer.

Referral to specialist departments tends to take around a week to two weeks at the most if one is considered at risk of having a serious condition, and two weeks to a month if one is suspected to have a more minor condition (for example, things like acid reflux or mild allergies.) The NHS is committed to reducing waiting times for all surgeries, and so far they're on target in this aim. Waiting times for all surgical procedures are declining, as are the waiting times for referral appointments with specialists, with the exception of psychaitry referrals.

Bureaucracy? The doctor diagnoses us, we're referred onto the appropraite specialist if necessary, or treated in his office with presriptions and minor procedures. NHS patients face very little bureaucracy while receiving care.

Co-pays? Healthy working adults pay for their own medications, unless usch medcations are given as part of in-patient hospital treatments. The charge for prescriptions is fixed at £5 in England, £4 in Scotland, regardless of the item prescribed. Healthy working adults also pay for their own spectacles and dentistry. Children, the unemployed, pregnant women, new mothers, the retired, the disabled and full time students pay nothing.

Denial? The only way you'll be denied any treatment is you're not considered strong enough to withstand it (i.e. some surgeons refuse to perform non-essential surgery on the extremely morbidly obese due to the risks posed to them by the anesthetic) or if a specialist over-rules your general doctor and decides that medically, you've been misdiagnosed or would benefit more from a different treatment.
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What a living hell you are enduring there in the U.K.! How on earth are you guys managing to both out live us in the United States, have lower infant mortality rates, and spend far less on healthcare with such a hellish nightmare of a system as that?

I can't imagine the nightmare of one going their entire lives and not having to worry about health insurance if they lose their job or have any kind of a preexisting condition. How do you guys stand it? How do you stand living a society where no one files for bankruptcy as a result of medical bills? It must be an absolute living hell for there for cancer patients to just get their treatment and not have to worry about going tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Oh the horror of it....
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
What a living hell you are enduring there in the U.K.! How on earth are you guys managing to both out live us in the United States, have lower infant mortality rates, and spend far less on healthcare with such a hellish nightmare of a system as that?

I can't imagine the nightmare of one going their entire lives and not having to worry about health insurance if they lose their job or have any kind of a preexisting condition. How do you guys stand it? How do you stand living a society where no one files for bankruptcy as a result of medical bills? It must be an absolute living hell for there for cancer patients to just get their treatment and not have to worry about going tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Oh the horror of it....
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I'm just glad we have the NHS, really. I'm not saying it doesn't have it's problems, but the fact that one can always receive a good standard of healthcare in the UK, regardless of income, social status or prior health status, makes me incredibly proud of our system.
 
Harshaw said:
No, you "simply" wanted me to answer a question filled with your loaded terms. I rejected the premise of the question. It's the fallacy of Complex Question.
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lol, no.
The problem was you went to bat for a guy with conflicting positions,
you were smart enough to abandon him though, i'll give you that much credit.
 
Joe1991 said:
lol, no.
The problem was you went to bat for a guy with conflicting positions,
you were smart enough to abandon him though, i'll give you that much credit.
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:roll: Any honest reader will see what you tried to do. I'm perfectly confident in that. I would invite anyone to do so and decide for themselves (though I can't imagine why they'd care).

But if you ever decide you want to ask an honest question, by all means, fire away.
 
scourge99 said:
Is anyone here paying $400+ for health insurance a month for just themselves? What's state , age, and do you have any pre-existing conditions which would explain such a high rate?
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Yes.

In this state an individual will pay premiums in excess of $400. a month for decent insurance. We have the guarantee issue law.

For a family of 3, low deductible ($1500), low co-pay insurance, you will pay between $20,000 -$35,000 a year in premiums, depending on your age/ P.E. conditions. There is no such thing as low cost insurance, there are no options. There is virtually no competition. How does that sound to you? Where Maine goes, so goes the nation.
 
Anima said:
I'm just glad we have the NHS, really. I'm not saying it doesn't have it's problems, but the fact that one can always receive a good standard of healthcare in the UK, regardless of income, social status or prior health status, makes me incredibly proud of our system.
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You should be.
 
Cassandra said:
Yes.

In this state an individual will pay premiums in excess of $400. a month for decent insurance. We have the guarantee issue law.
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I didn't ask if someone does. I ask if anyone HERE does. Do you?

Cassandra said:
For a family of 3, low deductible ($1500), low co-pay insurance, you will pay between $20,000 -$35,000 a year in premiums, depending on your age/ P.E. conditions. There is no such thing as low cost insurance, there are no options. There is virtually no competition. How does that sound to you? Where Maine goes, so goes the nation.
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I don't care what you THINK it costs. I want to know what people here pay for Health insurance (not dental, not vision, not co-pays, not deductibles) if you are willing to share. Not what your Aunt or Uncle or granddad says they pay.

I also wouldn't mind if you also inlcuded your state and age (nearest decade or half decade works)

There were two very conflicting surveys. One said the average US insurance for a single person costs $4000+ a year. The other reported $2500. That is significantly different. Considering everyone i personally know doesn't pay anywhere close to $400 a month I'm inclined to believe one of the surveys was full of ****. So that is why I'm asking people here.
 
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I’m proud to say I am tightly attached to the government tit with my VA coverage and quite happy with it. :2wave:
 
I dont have health insurance, I am very happy with the NHS.
 
I' m quite happy as my wife's employer offers a great plan and we pay about $80.00 a month with decent deductables.

What I'm not happy with is my experience with Medi-Cal as they messed up some paperwork and now our case that should of been resolved in less than a few hours... is in it's second month. Medi-Cal mentioned that the case was archived and couldn't explain why, but will now re-open the case and will be e-mailed to the correct Medi-Cal office that should be handling our case and they have five business days to respond. They further advised that if the other Medi-Cal office does not contact us in five days, we are to contact them for support. Maybe they can send another e-mail??? The Medi-Cal worker that is handling the case that I wasn't able to talk with earlier in my inquiry about our case called me back and said that they have a back log of cases and will try to get to our case asap???

I guess what I'm driving at here is that the State government is not that efficient and I can only imagine what government run health care would be like at the Fed Level. I'm surprised that people tolerate the long waits at the Medi-Cal office and incompetence that I described above, but I guess when it's the only thing available and free of charge if you qualify, then that is all you know and you come to love it and make excuses for incompetence because you aren't paying for it. I guess government run healthcare would be fantastic like our U.K. friends have advised on this thread.

I guess I could complain and go to the office Medi-Cal office directly like I have been doing the last two years, because that is the only protocol that the State seems to follow, when you are in their face demanding answers, but I don't want to take a chance on this particular government worker who called me back which is a rarity and so I will put my hope in their ability to manage the case. Maybe I'll call in a month or so...I don't think a private system could do any better, or could it?
 
kaya'08 said:
Yeah but there so goddamn slow. Another example of a government running something ineffectively.
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Depends where you are, I think. Some NHS Trusts tend to be clunky and inefficient, some are a lot better.
 
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scourge99 said:
I didn't ask if someone does. I ask if anyone HERE does. Do you?
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yes
I don't care what you THINK it costs. I want to know what people here pay for Health insurance (not dental, not vision, not co-pays, not deductibles) if you are willing to share. Not what your Aunt or Uncle or granddad says they pay.
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Knowing the amount people pay is not terribly enlightening w/o some info concerning the deductibles and co-pays.

I already posted some of my sorry situation on page 9 and 10 of this thread:
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Bottom line is that states which have guarantee issue laws are more expensive than other states. The individual market is the most expensive and the most unreliable. The insurance company does not care if an individual or small business is priced out of the market- in fact they intend to purge themselves of costly enrollees. On the other hand ,they don't want to lose large corporate customers.
 
I wonder if it would be a good idea to allow people to access their future social security retirement funds from the government if they run into a very serious medical bill. Or money they have had put aside for medicare. It's more than 15% of every paycheck.

We've seen lots of people go bankrupt even if they have health insurance.

Maybe at that point the rates withheld from their paychecks would increase. Or the money could be withheld from their future benefits once they retire.

Everybody who works has money in the bank. Even if they don't pay federal taxes.
 
sazerac said:
I wonder if it would be a good idea to allow people to access their future social security retirement funds from the government if they run into a very serious medical bill. Or money they have had put aside for medicare. It's more than 15% of every paycheck.
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The problem is that there is no set-aside for Social Security, and hasn't been for years. People working now are paying the SS for people retired now.
 
sazerac said:
I wonder if it would be a good idea to allow people to access their future social security retirement funds from the government if they run into a very serious medical bill. Or money they have had put aside for medicare. It's more than 15% of every paycheck.

We've seen lots of people go bankrupt even if they have health insurance.

Maybe at that point the rates withheld from their paychecks would increase. Or the money could be withheld from their future benefits once they retire.

Everybody who works has money in the bank. Even if they don't pay federal taxes.
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Great idea. Punish the sick. Make certain they are completely destitute in old age.
 
Health savings accounts would be a better solution. Pre-tax money from your income that is put directly into an account that accrues interest. Money used for health costs are tax-free. Otherwise its taxed on the normal rate.
 
I do not have health insurance. I have no need for it based on personal views.
 
Cassandra said:
Yes.

In this state an individual will pay premiums in excess of $400. a month for decent insurance. We have the guarantee issue law.

For a family of 3, low deductible ($1500), low co-pay insurance, you will pay between $20,000 -$35,000 a year in premiums, depending on your age/ P.E. conditions. There is no such thing as low cost insurance, there are no options. There is virtually no competition. How does that sound to you? Where Maine goes, so goes the nation.
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In Tennessee Aetna charges huge differences between cities. Compare Aetna HMO's in Nashville and Memphis. Nashville is 100's higher because of supposed claims.

My insurance is from the Federal government and the deductable is $1500 for a family and just under $400 in premiums a month, like $4 under. The HMO is $600 a month in premiums.

MHO is we are already paying for UHC through our taxes or premiums. We pay for all those who use their insurance a lot or who can't pay and use the ER.

Ever been told a drug is experimental so they won't pay? I have on numerous occasions. They can also do this with routines.

Insurance is never the best way to go, but we got suckered into it, so now we're stuck.

As long as you pay attention, Aetna's OK.;)
 
Most of the people who say they are satisfied with their health insurance have never actually needed it. Just wait until you get a major illness, THEN see how much you like your insurance. Granted, it's much better if you have it through your employer. Individual insurers (like the plan I have) are downright despicable in their unethical business practices.

That's why arguments that a public option will put private insurers out of business are totally lost on me. Why should I care? Why shouldn't I celebrate their demise?
 
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