Author Topic: Full Timers - What Do You Do For Health Insurance? (Read 26520 times)

VB inc · « **Reply #100 on:** September 17, 2011, 13:10 »

its really shameful what is going on in the us health care system.

I had to goto the ER one time and remember seeing $44 as part of the bill for two aspirins.

gaja · « **Reply #101 on:** September 17, 2011, 14:24 »

I pay 8 % of my salary in medical related taxes. In return my children and I have gotten millions of dollars worth of free care:

-regular check-ups during pregnancy
-one week in hospital during the first birth
-one year paid maternity leave (100% of the normal salary) for each child, and heavily sudsidized kindergarten after those years.
-helicopter ride to another hospital, and intensive care and loads of invesitagions for more than a week after the second birth (including EEG and MR).
-free hearing aids and other top shelf medical equipment, regular checkups and 40 weeks of free sign language training with full salary
-free physiotherapy over several years due to pregnancy and birth related injuries

Yes, we have got oil. But we also have 70 % of the population working and paying taxes: http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/06/arbeid_en/
The high employment level is why we can afford good medical care, and the good medical care is why so many are able to work.

gostwyck · « **Reply #102 on:** September 17, 2011, 16:01 »

Quote from: gaja on September 17, 2011, 14:24

Yes, we have got oil. But we also have 70 % of the population working and paying taxes: http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/06/arbeid_en/
The high employment level is why we can afford good medical care, and the good medical care is why so many are able to work.

No, it's because you have oil. Norway's GDP per capita almost exactly tracks the price of oil and that's why it has gone stratospheric over the last ten years. In 2008 Norway's oil output was worth nearly $23B. With a population of under 5M it was almost $5K for every man, woman and child in the country. That's nearly $20K for a family of 4 before they've even got out of bed. Of course you have fantastic healthcare.

It's not how many people you have employed anyway, it's what they do and how much they earn. For example Thailand has a population of 60M and unemployment is now so low it is virtually unmeasurable. Unfortunately they remain a very poor country because most of them are either scratching around in fields or stuck in low-paying factories making cheap goods for the West. They have a little natural gas but alas they are not floating around on a sea of oil.

gaja · « **Reply #103 on:** September 17, 2011, 16:57 »

I guess you haven't seen how we are spending the oil money. It all goes into a "pension fund" for when the oil runs out. We now have 2920 billions NOK in the bank, own parts of London, and are buying parts of Paris. But very little of this goes to my wallet, I still have to work and pay (a lot of) taxes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Government_Pension_Fund_of_Norway

Of course the export of crude oil is extremely important, but it is only part of the puzzle. If you look at the export/import calculations, you will see that we almost break even without oil. We are very large exporters of fish and fish products, electricity and goods that require a lot of energy to produce, and have a population filled with well educated people that travel the world but still send home tax money (e.g. oil engineers

).
Unlike other oil producing countries we are making sure that the income reaches shore, it doesn't go directly to the big companies like in Nigeria etc. This gives us room to build a supporting industry. One example: Shell was forced to land the gas in Norway, before sending it in pipes to England. This generated almost 1000 jobs at the landing site, and many times that number in the surrounding region (food industry, cleaning, IT, secondary engineering contracts etc.).

The US is also a gigantic oil producing country, why aren't they in a better financial situation if this only boils down to liters of oil/capita? They also have a lot of other natural resources, and unlike Norway it is possible to grow food there, they shouldn't have to import it.

We spend a lot on the welfare system, and make it difficult for people to become rich. Like you Swedes say; we are the last of the communist states. The US of A consider the individual to be more important than the masses. That is a fair choice, but it doesn't provide equal health care for everyone.

gostwyck · « **Reply #104 on:** September 17, 2011, 17:45 »

Quote from: gaja on September 17, 2011, 16:57

The US is also a gigantic oil producing country, why aren't they in a better financial situation if this only boils down to liters of oil/capita? They also have a lot of other natural resources, and unlike Norway it is possible to grow food there, they shouldn't have to import it.

Off the top of my head the US produces about 2.5x more oil than Norway ... but it's population is about 70x greater. In comparison that's a drop in the ocean (and even then you're making a comparison with the richest country on Earth). As you say Norway has invested it's oil wealth very wisely over several decades and is indeed reaping the benefit of that too. I wouldn't disagree that Norway's oil industry generates lots of jobs either. It just confirms my point that Norway's sudden rise to riches is derived almost entirely from oil ... not because they've managed to get their unemployment down as you suggest. Of course having a vast income from oil also makes 'job creation' in the public sector easy and affordable too ... so hardly surprising that Norway has low unemployment.

You don't get rich from fish (at the national level) either otherwise both Norway and Iceland would have been very rich countries when I was a boy. They weren't. They both had highly rural economies, frankly not much better than Thailand has today.

qwerty · « **Reply #105 on:** September 17, 2011, 19:18 »

I know this will stir up a hornets nest but I can't help myself sorry.

I'm sure Norway's miltary bill per person is a little bit smaller than the US.

Mantis · « **Reply #106 on:** September 17, 2011, 19:24 »

Quote from: Whiz on September 16, 2011, 20:55

Quote from: Mantis on September 16, 2011, 19:13
Quote from: cuppacoffee on September 15, 2011, 07:30
Why is healthcare in the US so expensive? Here is a good synopsis -
http://moneyland.time.com/2010/02/25/why-is-health-care-so-expensive-let-us-count-the-conspirators/
The bullet points are -
Insurance Companies are businesses
No electronic records
Perverse incentives
Malpractice madness
Statistics
Premium pricing in the ER
We're fat
We take more pills
No shopping across state lines
What do I owe

And lobbyists pouring big bucks into their political coffers
And party line ideologies (Libs vs. indep vs conservs)
And ignoring constituent voice
And too many regulations
And too many singular political beliefs pushing theirs on the masses
And block and tackle to resolve the real barriers to a robust, cost effective system (tort reform)

Just sayin.

Tort reform? Thirty-eight states already have some form of it in place, and my state is one of them. The price of my health care does not seem to be that much cheaper because of it, though. But we do seem to have attracted a lot of doctors. Of course, an individual can't sue their doctor for more than $750,000 if they do something wrong. Like chop off a leg wrong, if I understood it correctly.

all that your are pointing out is that there is no real tort reform. THERE IS NO TORT REFORM going on. This 38 state thing you mention is a fantasy. There MUST be congressional tort reform.

cathyslife · « **Reply #107 on:** September 19, 2011, 18:35 »

Quote from: cclapper on September 17, 2011, 10:07

Quote from: lisafx on September 16, 2011, 10:07
Quote from: VB inc on September 16, 2011, 09:38
an excerpt from the documentary "Sicko"

Great movie. A real eye-opener.

I'd like to see that.

Watched Sicko last night...eye-opener, for sure. I had heard that drug companies give doctors bonuses for writing more and more prescriptions, but I did not know the HMOs give the doctors bonuses for rejecting requests for treatment, thus saving the HMO money. Never mind that patients are dying. That's pretty disturbing. By the end of the movie, I was thinking of moving to Canada.

lisafx · « **Reply #108 on:** September 20, 2011, 10:17 »

Quote from: cclapper on September 19, 2011, 18:35

By the end of the movie, I was thinking of moving to Canada.

Seriously. We've thought the same thing. Doesn't look like the US will ever get our act together as far as healthcare goes. Nobody trusts the gov't to run it, and the insurance companies are robbing us blind.

travelstock · « **Reply #109 on:** September 20, 2011, 17:27 »

At the risk of straying back on topic....

Seeing as I'm still traveling, I use travel insurance as my health insurance. Happily it also covers loss and accidental damage to camera gear, travel delays etc. Judging by some of the comments here, at just under $1K per year its not such a bad deal!

jjneff · « **Reply #110 on:** September 20, 2011, 18:57 »

We use Samaritan Ministries http://www.samaritanministries.org/ While it is not for everyone it works well for us! I have free healthcare with my family doctor which helps a lot. Samaritan covers the rest for our needs. Cost is $320.00 per month for all four of us. Like I said it won't be for everyone but works well for us. You have to fit the mold here which a lot of people won't or choose not too. If interested let me know as I think I can get a referral bonus.

I worked in healthcare for 15 years in Radiology and Radiation Therapy. The main problem with insurance is co-insurance, you can find a cheap plan but you will pay at least 30 percent out of your own pocket which easily goes into the thousands couple that with a high deductible and bam you are broke. If you have no insurance you will easy get 50% off all your bills, at least I have. I just tell them I am self-pay and let my health sharing take care of the rest which covers everything over $300.00. Obama care is not all bad but the whole system is so corrupt I don't know how this will all play out. I could tell you a lot of true stories!

Take care of your health, exercise, eat right and drink lots of water. Find a plan that covers your needs but no more. Have enough savings. Use a HSA if you are able. Be smart about what you need by researching. All hospitals do not charge the same. Ask for a discount before your procedure not after! Be polite and firm.

qwerty · « **Reply #111 on:** September 21, 2011, 05:18 »

Quote from: holgs on September 20, 2011, 17:27

At the risk of straying back on topic....

Seeing as I'm still traveling, I use travel insurance as my health insurance. Happily it also covers loss and accidental damage to camera gear, travel delays etc. Judging by some of the comments here, at just under $1K per year its not such a bad deal!

Travel insurance is essential but it a bit different to health insurance in your resident country, with the travel insurance policies i've had before they'll cover getting ill going to the hospital abroad etc. but they're not going to treat you long term for cancer or something like that. They'll fly you back to your home country and that's it. Its great for accidents, short term illness etc and like you say you get other cover.

I've heard a story of an Australian being seriously ill in Asia and the insurance company chartered a plane to get the person to Perth (closest city in Australia) for them to be treated. I'm sure it was the best thing for the person but the insurance company didn't do it for that reason. When they got back to Australia the insurance company was no longer responsible for their care. It was cheaper to charter the medical evacuation than have them in hospital in Singapore for months on end.

bizair · « **Reply #112 on:** September 21, 2011, 05:55 »

^^. and immediately covered by our universal Medicare, as Holgs would be if medivaced home to AU. Not sure what would happen if a USAin was medivaced back to the US if the person was a photographer working independently and did not have private and, seemingly, very expensive medical insurance.

Interesting discussion. The US is a great country, and they have done wonderful things that have benefitted the wider world. But on some things it is way behind the eight ball,a safety net type health coverage system in particular. And let's not even touch on gun control, and export of McDonalds et al.

An opinion only, from someone who has a lot of affection for the US and it's people.

Ken