Anyone here over the age of 40 checked out prices of pvt health insurance?

[Digit]

If so, please say if it was for individual or family, what amount of deductible
did you choose, and any other pertinent details.

I am just checking to see if anyone else is as shocked as I was.

[seabeyond]

1. paying a 1000 a month, family of 4. increased both deductible

and co pay. has gone up twice in a little more than a year. 3000 ded per person, 35 co pay on med and visits. it is crap. we are screwed. blue cross blue shield

[Digit]

3. OMG, that is horrible!

I feel for you.
How can you afford that?
Sheesh.

[seabeyond]

12. our business is paying. and we pay employee. not gonna be

able to do it much longer. then employees can all complain how bad we are. we hear it is going up again, and bush is trying to take out tax deduction on it. just give employees a raise and they can figure it out.

[cally]

22. We just give a set amount to each employee for health

and they have to find their own insurance. It's easier for us and then we don't get caught up trying to find insurance.

Yes, we have private insurance. We have Kaiser for a family of four and pay about $900/month. It's a major expense and a few years we paid more in health insurance then we made. Our business is doing much better now.

[seabeyond]

27. might have talked to you before cally. i tell you the first two years,

oh so scary. we are about year four now, and actually have a little cushion. kaiser wouldnt be much less than mine, depending on co pay. i am going to start looking at different insurance. and then a whole other post for demtal. dentists laugh at you when you ask them a good insurance for dental

but i am glad things are a little easier. was telling hubby the other day, not asking too much. ok pay..... money sitting to where we can pay bills and wage without stressin, that is all we are asking. not the moon, wink

[tsuki]

58. When my assistant husband turned 65, I went to my employees

and explained that I could no longer afford to pay their health insurance. Average $900.00 per month per employee. I gave them a raise to buy private health insurance, but that's what the medical insurance assholes want.

Some are exempted for two years on pre-existing condition, some for life.

Lawton gave businesses a chance to buy health insurance by using a large group of small business to "negotiate" with the health insurance companies. It was the first thing Jeb Bush attacked when he became governor. My premiums went from a little over $200.00 per to 900.00 per.

Thank you, younger son of the Bush Family Evil Empire.

[seabeyond]

60. i know it is what repug wants. i tell my employees this is what you

voted for. not that anyone knew anything and proudly. they would roll their eyes when i started talking. one, a poor older black man southern baptist..... raising sisters son, he and new wife barely making it.... i mean, i would tell him... what does it take to see you are voting against your interest in every single way

one prays for bush every night. i ask if she did the same for clinton, see what a christian she is. and she must put her armor of god on when dealing with evil

god, i live in a retarded world.

anyway. yes. i am encouraging husband to do. and i will say,.... this is what you voted for. good luck. i wanted kerry who was going to address this issue, healthcare being provided by small business. why my husband was so jazzed about kerry. we were looking forward to it. for nothing more, than we would be able to give to you

the good christian that i am

[kurth]

5. About right

Very soon Americans will spend 1/4 of their income on health insurance, and 1/4 of their time fighting insurance companies. This is undoubtedly the biggest consumer ripoff in the Western world.

[seabeyond]

10. and to try to get them to pay the damn bills

figure out what the f* they are doing. i went to hospital last spring. took me 6 months to pay trying to figure out what they were doing. finally just paid everything that came my way because i couldnt figure it out.

btw.... i do think this will be the shove this nation needs to go to universal health care thru all the greed and all. and the ridiculous,..... people complain about canada and long waits to see doctors and all. gyno,..... june 2 appt.... got it a couple weeks ago. try to get into other doctors adn they are full. still havent found one taking patients.... and i am concerned i have something seriously wrong. so it isnt like our competitive market is doing a whole lot better

[Kurovski]

49. I hope all turns out well, seabeyond. (nt)

[seabeyond]

61. thank you. hitting 44, always been healthy,

the only reason in doctor was to have two babies. i have never been in the medical environment and now that i am. i gotta tell you,.... i am not impressed at all. i really do tell myself at times, just die off..... not worth it. both my children, i have gotten no answer after long periods investigation. my youngest, a year of needle prodding for blood and this and that and nope. dont know.

screw that shit.

6k for me last spring and dont have this go away..... yet, didn't help me out to figure why i came in there. i diagnose myself, and they say nope. and that is it. i mean wtf....

not impressed

[MrMonk]

2. $1020/month

w/prescription coverage

sole insured, w/history of HBP and a few other chronic problems, and family history of strokes.

$1,000 deductible; $35 doctor co-pay; $20/$35/$50 for prescription co-pay.

result: I decided to stay in my present job.

On edit: looking at other people's posts, I feel like the ins. cos. were really trying to screw me.

[Orangepeel]

7. how many small businesses aren't started because people work for coverage?

There have to be thousands and thousands of would-be entrepreneurs who work for a corporation or the government instead of starting their own business, just because they can't afford insurance on their own.

[MrMonk]

19. We're already seeing the economic effects of high health care costs.

Single-payer systems work in other countries, why not institute the same system here?

(Rhetorical question)

[serryjw]

20. 55 and Breast Cancer survivor

I did check it out in the last few months.

$2500 deductible
$450 monthly premium
80/20 co-pay

and I make $15,000/annually! Tell me how I can afford this?

What good would an HSA be to me? I can put $100 in annually if I am lucky!

[Digit]

25. Congratulations on overcoming the breast cancer

I feel for you, honestly I do.

Things have to change, and they will.
Just keep fighting the good fight.

[serryjw]

36. Thanks

There is nothing I can do except try and stay healthy!

[Mist]

4. Sometimes I think the cost of health care, even more than the

Bushitler takeover of the country, may be what pushes me into moving to another country.

[Erika]

6. My brother

pays $325.00 a month with a $2,500 annual deductible. He's made one claim in six years for a cut finger.

[slaveplanet]

8. $785 a quarter

$1000 ded. 80/20 $35 doc visits Anthem ppo individual over40

went up $80 per month last nov, and $75 per month the year before, It was relatively stable before that.

When the policy was first purchased it was less than $100 per month in the late Clinton era.

When the big increases came, so did benefit cuts. No access to pet scans , cat scans and all other life extension technologies without doctors/insurance co pre-approval.

[Coyote_Bandit]

9. Group Plan

as a member of the NASE.

Major medical coverage. Approximately $250 per month premium. $2500 deductible, co-pay above that. Ambulatory servces covered but not doctor visits. Includes prescription drug coverage which is subject to limitations. No optical or dental coverage. Maternity coverage excluded. Single non-smoking female with almost no documented medical history. When I got the policy I was more active and well within the acceptable weight range for my height.

I haven't seen a doctor for even routine preventative care since about 1998. And I hope not to see one anytime soon. Can't afford it - and I am afraid I will lose what coverage I have if any potential health problems are documented. I know someone who was denied coverage because they briefly took anti-depressants after the death of a family member. And I know someone else who was denied because she had previously developed gestational diabetes during pregnancy - a condition which went away after childbirth with proper nutrition and exercise and has not recurred after several years.

The monthly COBRA premium offered by my last employer was about $900 per month.

The health care system in this country is criminal.

[Lorien]

13. NASE screwed me royally

one emergency room visit cost me $8500.00-and they refused to pay a dime of it. $385.00 for cancer screening-they wouldn't pay a dime. $7,900.00 for vascular surgery-which they PROMISED they would cover before I had it done-went unpaid because they refused to honor that promise. Thousands in prescriptions and other doctor's visits...none of it covered.

NASE is a scam, imo.

[Coyote_Bandit]

26. Thanks for the warning

I am a well-educated but nonetheless long-term unemployed schmuck. I can barely afford what "coverage" I have. I'd love to have something better. But I'm not holding my breath. The system s*cks.

[Lorien]

32. I can't afford anything better either

the only reason I keep shelling out $$ to NASE is because I won't get admitted to a hospital without insurance.

It strikes me as absurd that most Americans are worried about dying at the hands of terrorists, when they'll be just as dead when they die because the can't afford health care...which is a far more probable scenario.

[Coyote_Bandit]

38. The fear of dying from natural causes

just isn't as motivational as the more improbable fear of dying violently at the hands of a terrorist. Or so it would seem. Too many Americans are far too ignorant.

As minimal as it is, I find it interesting that there is a system of national health care in place for citizens who are native Americans. I have often wondered why some enterprising legal mind hasn't brought suit against the US government to compel similar treatment of other citizens under the equal protection clause.

Edit to add: Another thing those legal eagles should consider is addressing the multiple rates charged for an identical prescription or medical service depending on what kind of insurance the patient mightor might not have. Most states have laws that prohibit such practices. The Wall Street Journal did some investigative reporting a few years back and documented the practice in a front page feature article. If I remember correctly, it seems the cost of a routine appendectomy without complications can range from $1500 to $7500 or more.

[FatDave]

54. Agreed, NASE insurance sucks

I was paying $645 a month, originally for a family of 3, to NASE. Rates were going up substantially about every 4 months. When my wife became pregnant with my second son, we learned that preganancy and birth wasn't covered. Payed about $10,000 out of pocket. Then again when my daughter was born. They covered nothing but emergency room visits and about 30% of prescriptions after a $1000 deductible.

I now pay about $300 a month for all 5 of us to American Medical Security, which includes a decent dental savings program. It's still pretty shitty insurance, but at least it covers office visits and is cheap. Figure that's the best I can do these days.

[lavenderdiva]

70. could you please tell me what NASE is?

n/t

[Lorien]

71. National Association for the Self Employed

it's group rate insurance through PFL life for small business owners.

[kurth]

17. Yes. Criminal is the perfect word to describe

the obscenity that is called our health care system.

[haele]

11. I'm 46, last year I checked for me and family (2 others)

The best least expensive plans other than HMO's was a Blue Cross/Blue Shield PPO with a $2000 deductible per person- and those prices would only apply since they wouldn't consider pre-existing conditions because we hadn't lost coverage at the time. Our "pre-existing conditions" would have bumped us up another 200% in price.
Three tiers of pharmaceuticals, reasonably priced with a decent sized accepted formulary. $15 Doctor's visits ($20 referrals) would have been rationed - about 30 total primary visits (unlimited specialist referrals) for everyone per year and some services (especially mental) were dependant on BC/BS approval. Max coverage for "non-catastrophic" was around $30K for the year. Catastrophic would cover 80%. BC/BS would negotiate some of the costs with the clinic/doctors, hospitals, and pharmacy to make sure the price is low enough for everyone.
All this for around $300 a month for the three of us. Better than COBRA (around $860 a month).

And again, we weren't "starting out" after having no health insurance at all. If we had, it would have cost us the same as COBRA with more of a deductable per person.
Lucky for us, the new transfer job with a decent health plan came through just days before the benefits from my original job came to an end, so we were able to roll over the plan without any evaluation of anyone in the family.

It is shocking - and I'd hate to have to try and start out new in the current health care environment. If we didn't have coverage to begin with, I'd be thinking of making the caskets now and using them as, say, coffee tables or something like that now while it's still affordable and just wait out the natural process.

Haele

[MrMonk]

29. Looks like the same plan my mother has.

but BC/BS charges her about $500/month for herself w/no Rx. She's pushing 80, no health problems except getting old.

[Digit]

33. Damn, I am much younger, but can't get BCBS for that low

Could it have something to do with her being a long-term customer as well?

[MrMonk]

37. Possibly

She's been a BC/BS customer for at least 40 years. I also should have noted that she has had two brain surgeries for "benign" tumors, another for gall bladder, and for a broken hip, but no chronic health problems. She won't dare to downgrade her insurance plan. Oh, also note that she has no Rx coverage. She pays those out of savings, which she has been setting aside in little bits for at least 60 years. Between savings, SS and having the house paid off, my parents manage to live modestly but without too many worries. I'm not sure that many people can do that nowadays.

[haele]

40. Existing customer has that effect on policies, as does state.

When I checked, it was explained that since I was: 1)in California, and 2) was to be going from being over three years on an employer provided BC/BS plan (like vesting?) to the one quoted to me - and my husband had BC/BS for a little longer, it was considered a fairly invisible transfer. If we had been transferring between insurance companies, it would have been different.

The laws concerning policy coverage and rate setting and modifications are different from state to state.

That's not to say the pricing on the policy wouldn't have started slipping upwards six months to a year after we had bought it. A few doctor's visits due to chronic conditions would probably be enough to do that.

This country desperately needs single payer health care.

Haele

[Digit]

14. This is eye-opening to say the least

I certainly don't understand the discrepancy between those paying $250/month and those paying the higher amounts.
I feel like a dingleberry on the a** of Uncle Sam.

[seabeyond]

24. look at post #13

that is why there is such a discrepancy. you want a company where you think there is the most chance that if something big actually happened they would really pay. plus depends on ded ect....just over a year ago we were paying 790. and the deductible was 1500. was raised to almost 1300 so we raised deductible and are hitting a 1000. also we have four. i smoke. but we have good coverage just in case.

[Erika]

15. Insurance has been turned into a luxury which only a few

can afford. Aother sign of our country turning into a third world country under George W. Bush. His legacy WILL note his total insensitivity to the needs of the working class and the low income.

I guess, "We will overcome" might yet again be our national song.

[kiteinthewind]

16. $395 a month just for myself! I'm 47 yo F

And that is with a $1500 out of pocket, and $20-50 a month for scripts. I almost dropped my coverage because I am paying over $4000 a year, and I don't spend that much a year at the docs, but my husband said he would have to divorce me because if I got really sick, it would put us in bankruptcy. He was sorta joking, but I think that is really his true thoughts. :shrug:

[leftofthedial]

18. individual

went up from $270 to $340 a month on Jan 1.

[LizW]

21. We couldn't get it

and we're exceptionally healthy. Many years ago, one of our sons experienced a brief bout of congestion and wheeziness and the Dr. gave him an inhaler like the kind you use for asthma. He used it for maybe a week. YEARS later, neither company we applied to would cover us because they said he had "pre-existing asthma".

Finally our pediatrician intervened and said, "No! This child NEVER had asthma!" One company agreed to cover us -- for $850 a month. (This was in 2001.)

[Vinnie From Indy]

23. It's cheaper to quit insurance and go to Mexico for treatement

For the cost of the deductible you can go to Mexiso with the whole family and get all your prescriptions to boot. American healthcare is for the birds!

[EFerrari]

28. No. I haven't had health insurance for more than a decade.

And I will avoid getting health care because I can't afford it. That's just life in these United States.

[Nutmegger]

39. I have a few relatives who are in your position

My parents are even struggling.

The good 'ol United States!!! Don't got the money? Then SCREW YOU!

[Erika]

30. Yes, we are totally being ripped off

But to listen to W talk, all's fine. Yeah, insurance, medical care, high gas and energy costs all sky-rocketing. Add to this increased property taxes, etc.

No, we are NOT doing fine. No, there is NO economic recovery. Wages are stagnant.

We've fallen behind each year W has been in office. We need to scream this at our legislators, especially the GOP.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

31. I'm not over 40 (in my early 30's)

But coverage for myself, my wife, and my 9 year old son was anywhere from $800.00 per month to $1500.00 per month, depending on the provider and the other details (deductibles, copays, etc.) My wife is in perfect health, but has had several issues in the past that really jack up our rates. The $800.00/month policy we looked at wasn't worth it because it had something like $3000 deductibles for each of us. If something catastrophic happens we're bankrupt anyway, so health "insurance" is practically useless.

My wife and I made over $85,000 last year, and we can't afford health insurance. Not even close. After taxes, we brought home about $50K, so there's no way we can afford a $10K - $18K chunk.

[sandnsea]

34. $3-400 major medical only

That would be for me and my husband, the cheapest thing I've found if I were to take it. But if has $5000 deductible and covers no co-pays, etc., so you basically get full tax deductions of all medical related costs and catastrophic coverage and that's it. Sucks and I can't even afford this.

[Sgent]

35. In the last business I was with

with 12 employees, we paid an average of about $400 for employee only -- family was 2.5X employee.

We paid 100% of employee premiums -- which on older employees could be over $600 easily for employee only insurance.

I'm sure the private market is even worse.

[Dorian Gray]

41. Well,

I was paying it until two months ago. I paid $833 for a non HMO (a PPO). I had a 10$ deductible. My insurance was provided by Cigna, and they were one of the CHEAPER for the PPO I had.

(That was for only me. And individual. Now I am on my husband's plan.) $50 per month is taken out of his pay check for the two of us, and we have a $25 deductible.

[fed-up]

42. No insurance here for the last decade-had a "pre-existing" migraine

headache that I had called into the local clinic. I was never seen by a doctor and had self-diagnosed.

I was also told by BCBS that I had Hepatitis B, when I looked at my chart I found a typo that should have read EBV (Epstein Barr Virus). There was never any bloodwork done to test for HBV, nor did I ever have any symptoms.

I was told to take a simple liver function test for around $80 and passed that test, so then they decided I needed to take another test that would have cost $450 or so. Needless to say I decided it wasn't worth the cost or the hassle to get insurance.

Then I promptly got ill with food allergies and learned how to self-treat after a chiropractor helped me pinpoint the problem.

I also suffer from degenerating vertebrae in my neck and last month pulled a muscle and have been in dire pain and have had to limit my work hours.

Can't afford a doctor, can't afford not to have a doctor...

Either way, I am sure whatever treatment they would have in mind would be wayyyyyy out of my price range.

My rice sock is a life saver...along with grapefruit seed extract when the need arises for minor infections or flare-ups from eating the wrong thing.

edited to add that I will be selling my house and downsizing when my son starts college so I can afford dentures. I can't take any more equity out of my house as with my health situation I wouldn't be able to afford the payments.

[hunter]

43. For real fun, throw in some prexisting conditions...

Then you can't get private health insurance. They just say "no."

So life starts to suck, and then the state piles on...

The Major Risk Medical Insurance Program (MRMIP) provides health insurance for Californians
who are unable to obtain coverage in the individual health insurance market. The majority of
subscribers are between the ages of 40-64, and 58% are women. People enroll in the program
because they have been rejected for coverage by an insurance carrier or health plan due to a
pre-existing condition. After 36 consecutive months in the program, subscribers are required to
leave MRMIP, but they leave with a guarantee of coverage from plans selling coverage in the
individual insurance market.

http://www.mrmib.ca.gov/MRMIB/MRMIP.html

Individual MRMIP "graduate" insurance for ages 40-45 is about $900 a month in much of California.

So eventually you lose everything to the point where you qualify for Medi-Cal or other government aid, or by some miracle you or your spouse get a job with health benifits. Or else you die, which I suppose keeps the rates down for all the "graduates" who don't die.

The health care system in the United States sucks. We need something like they have in Canada. I think it would be good for business too.

[WorldTraveler777]

44. Want health care? Go back to college

Here at the University of Illinois at Chicago, for about $1000 in fees a year, the student health care plan provides:


$500,000 lifetime Maximum Benefit
$0 Deductible

Inpatient hospital expense 100% covered
Mental health 100% with $100 deductible

Outpatient emergency and non-emergency expenses 100% covered
Physician expenses $100 w/$10 co-pay

Prescription drugs: 100% with $20 brand name, $10 generic co pay $2500 max

Vision and Dental: NO charge at Select network providers


===========

What I don't understand is why they don't let College Grads COBRA their student health insurance? That would at least cover 19-30 year olds for a while.

[bunkerbuster1]

45. For the world's crappiest coverage, over 500/month for fam. of 3.

And next year it'll be a lot more, as will the year after that.

Deductables are five grand. Basically, that means almost everything we're likely to have to have done this year will be out of pocket.

It's shit, but that's life in America. And the people in power do not give a fuck.

[cyclezealot]

46. My employer paid $750

We have retired and moved to France. It now costs us $86 apiece. and not an HMO. On our own that $750 would be higher.Also,my mom is paying over $400 a month for gas to heat with( In Michigan.)
Our new home outside Perpignan. The area has an abundance of wind power. and Nuclear? but, no gas. our electric bill- used to heat. Under $100 a month. What is wrong with the US.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

47. $235 per month for my wife & I. Retired fed. BCBS. Excellent insurance.

$250 deductible. We had about $20,000 in medical bills last year due to a surgery. Our out of pocket was about %1500.

However, that's relatively speaking compared to what most folks pay. I can't imagine being employed with a flock of kids and private-pay insurance for the average middle-class worker. For poor people it's near hopeless.

We also have Long-term care insurance that we pay $500 per month. Hopefully, never to be used.

[Kurovski]

48. K&R. We're in the midst of a catastrophic health care crisis.

It's utterly contemptible, and every greedy-fuck/stupid-assed Repuke who blocks/blocked national health care is a sub-human shitbag who will carry the stress and human suffering they've caused into the next life. And that goes double for any Dem.

Or maybe we should just kick the crap out of them now...just to be on the safe side of the metaphysical.

I see a day when NO ONE will be voted into office WITHOUT supporting national health care. Stolen elections? No way...people will finally figure that one out and drag the little convicts out by the scruff of the neck.

The justified anger growing in all quarters of this nation is the very thing that can save it.

[Zookeeper]

50. When Mr. Z. took a new job, we had to switch to COBRA...

for two months, which was $1,200 (per month) for our family of five. We have a child with Juvenile Diabetes (insulin-dependent, Type 1) and that left me terrified thinking about what we would do without employee health insurance. And what happens when she is a young adult? What if she can't afford insurance?

We already put aside the maximum amount for pre-tax medical expenses and spend it all. I couldn't believe that the Smirking Chimp actually thinks MOST people will or could put aside enough to pay for ALL of their health insurance, co-pays and deductables, much less people who are dealing with the expense involved with treating a chronic, life-threatening illness.

Bush is a cold, mean, petty, little man.

[Kurovski]

51. And a criminal, to boot.

*allegedly* :-)

[SoCalDemGrrl]

52. Ck out Blue Cross Rightplan PPO40

It seems to be the most reasonable plan we could find even though it's still highway robbery. 2 people over 50 yrs old with no serious preexisting conditions pay $446.00 mo. It covers only generic drugs though so if you have an RX that does not have a generic you can't use this plan. If you can use the generic RX they are usually only $10 per. There is no deductible on the plan and a $40 co-pay on office visits. If you need hospitalization though you have a co-pay of $400 per day for the first 4 days. Anyway you look at it you just roll the dice on these plans. For us, we hope we don't need a drug that there is no generic for.

We have a twenty something son in good health whose employer does not offer health insurance and we pay $64.00 per month additional for his coverage on the Blue Cross plan (BTW, we just received notice that it's scheduled to increase to $78.00 per mo as of March 1st).

We've been self employed for over 20 years. We went without insurance for about 4 years, but my sis was ill with a strange liver inflammation and she almost lost her house because of the medical bills (NO INSURANCE). She spent almost a year dealing with collection agencies, etc. When that happened we both decided to bite the bullet and signed on to this plan.

Hope the info helps!!

[grasswire]

53. I am the most bleeding heart of liberals and not a xenophobe...

...but today I waited in a pharmacy for a prescription and watched the following:

an African American woman who paid $144 on credit card for her meds.

a dad in a cheap suit who paid $68 cash for an antibiotic for his child.

a senior not yet of Medicare age who didn't have enough $$ to pick up his rx

And a family of four, obviously recent arrivals in this country, who paid a $3 co-pay for their prescriptions and Medicaid paid the rest.

It does seem that people who've been paying U.S. taxes for decades should have some access to health care.

[kurth]

59. Yep, just about only the rich and the poor have access to health care

Leaving the middle class at the mercy of insurance companies.

[Bridget Burke]

63. Yes, blame the immigrants.

It's easier than blaming the Insurance companies & HMO's. Not to mention the bought & paid for politicians.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

65. If they were refugees, their "cushy" benefits last only 3 months

In any case, the threshold for Medicaid is so low that you have to be really, really poor, like almost living in a cardboard box, to qualify.

[hunter]

66. They probably paid $3.00 for $3.00 worth of drugs...

Other, more expensive drugs are simply unavailible to your "Medicaid" family.

For someone who has good insurance, the insurance company probably pays $17.00 for those same $3.00 drugs.

The pricing structures for prescription drugs in the United states are set to maximize profit, not public health. Depending on what insurance I've had or not had, my insurance company or I have been charged from $14.00 to $85.00 for the very same drug.

When I lived in Southern California I used to have most of my prescriptions filled in Mexico, even when I had insurance. Sometimes the actual cost of a medicine in Mexico was less than my co-pay in the United States.

[lapislzi]

55. It's horrid

I live in NY and have to buy my own insurance. The cheapest plan was Empire/Blue Cross at $500/month just for me. The co-pay is $15 for doctor visits and prescriptions, $50 for ER.

That eats a substantial percentage of my salary. If I had to insure my daughter also (my ex pays her insurance through a group plan), I don't know how I could afford it.

I loathe the insurance industry with a white-hot passion.

[salin]

56. three years ago - individual plan

was more than $400 - don't recall the deductable (maybe $250?) Family cost nearly $1,000 a month. Would guess that this has only escalated in the past couple of years.

[Stephanie]

57. A male friend age 50 is paying $1100 a month just for himself

It's unbelievable.

[grasswire]

62. and if we started on stories of people...

....who are getting sick and sicker because they don't have the money for insurance, we'd be bawling our eyes out.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

64. Paying $272 a month, $1000 deductible, 20% copay AFTER THAT

It was the best deal that I could get, but frankly, I'm thinking of raising the deductible to $1500 to give myself a $20 per month break on the premiums.

Oh, and those highly-touted health savings accounts? $253 a month for a $2200 deductible, and then you're supposed to put $200 a month in the bank on top of that?

And I live in Minnesota, which is considered a GOOD state for health insurance.

You know, the Democrats would have a winning issue if they'd only be bold enough to come out for national health care.

This isn't 1992. In 1994, I was getting health coverage through Kaiser-Permanente at $111 a month with no deductible and a $10 copay for exams and tests, probably not an unusual situation.

At the time of the Clinton plan (which was NOT true national health care, just a complicated mess promoted by the insurance companies), everyone was probably thinking, "I'm doing okay."

These days, everyone is unhappy--both patients and doctors.

I'd like to see the Dems come out with a national health care campaign that had the slogan, "Never deal with an insurance company again."
That would be a most attractive prospect.

[Zookeeper]

77. Lydia, I have to admit that I was actually thinking we might be ...

moving toward national health care, just because of all of the businesses complaining about health care costs cutting into their profits. The SOTU address was a huge disappointment (why was I surprised?) because the Rethugs obviously decided to make things easier for business by making things harder for everyone else with this health savings account idea.

Heaven forbid they should actually put forth a proposal that would help middle and lower income Americans!

[latebloomer]

67. $1280 for family of four-PPO

Includes dental. No deductible in network, $30 copay, $1000 deductible per person out of network.

They raise it at least $150 (monthly) every year-- there seems to be no regulation and they can charge whatever they please.

I'll have to do what I did last year-- raise the co-pays for visits and meds.

Sickening!-- pun intended! :mad:

[gauguin57]

68. Yes, it's shocking. You might want to choose a premium with higher copay

Cuz then the premium will be less.

Central Reserve Life Insurance Co. in Cleveland helped both a friend and me (both of us in our 40s and overweight) get insurance (I was rejected by one company prior to that). www.centralreserve.com, [phone].

There are options, with varying co-pay/deductibles, at $335, $402, $411 and $465 a month. (I have no eye or dental insurance).
I went to an insurance agent and she helped me find Central Reserve. It's expensive, but the peace of mind at being insured, I'm sure, cuts down on my stress and, therefore, my medical bills!

[DemonGoddess]

69. I'm currently uninsured, it's too expensive

but, I checked prices, best I can do is 215.00 a month with a 10000 deductible. Of course this doesn't cover routine dr visits, prescription, emergency room or anything really, until you APPLY the deductible. So what's the point of even buying it?

[earth mom]

72. Wondering why those who are paying $1000+ a month for insurance

just don't bank the money and use it when-and IF-it is needed?

About 10 years ago, I had a friend who had no insurance and needed a cyst removed. She negotiated with the hospital to pay in cash up front-using her savings. Her surgery cost less doing it this way.

While our family has decent insurance, there have been times in recent years where we have gone without it due to job loss. We just kept our fingers crossed because we had not a dime to put aside for anything let alone medical insurance.

These days even with good insurance, I try not to use it at all. Mainly because I think many illnesses can be cured away from mainstream medicine and secondly, because I am disgusted with the medical, insurance and pharmaceutical industries who are robbing everyone blind! :grr:

[Zookeeper]

75. Not to mention that fact that everytime you have something...

diagnosed or treated you become a bigger risk to the insurance companies and your premiums cost more.

Haven't we all chosen not to report some fender-bender (not our fault) to our auto insurance companies for the same reason?

[jrd200x]

73. Family of 4 - $575 / quarter. Blue Cross Blue Shield

No presecriptions, no regular doctor visits.

[Perky]

74. $650 a month premium

[upi402]

76. my buddy has catastrophic and saves his $

but a lone patient has zero bargaining power and pays more.

socialized medicine NOW!