OT: Self Employed Health Insurance Costs and Coverage

[keith smith]

Your employer might be paying upwards of $800 a month for your insurance.  If premiums continue to rise, your employer is either going to make you pay more, get junk insurance, or drop it all together.

The problem is your employer pays for the insurance so you are out of the loop.  You do not have any say in the decision and you do not feel the pain of paying the premium.  

The consumer is not the payer.  It is not a real free market solution, however I was responding to the suggestion of a single payer system.  Single payer sounds like M$ - monopoly. If each person was to buy health insurance like car insurance then people would be more educated and the system would have to change.

For the most part you are not covered for any pre-existing conditions on your employer sponsored group health.  I worked for an HMO in the mid to late 90's.  They did all kinds of things to determine if you have a pre-existing condition.

As an example they checked every birth to make sure the mother was covered at the time of conception.  If there were any questions they would deny the claim.

Another example is someone in a car accident.  You make a claim against the other driver and the HMO wants to be reimbursed because you were paid in a settlement.

The system is a mess, and most people are unaware.  Let someone pay $800 a month and at the end of the year when they have paid out $9,600 and went to the doctor 3 times at a cost of $300.00, they will start to look at the system and either drop their coverage or find a better way.

The HMO's would be out and grassroots clinics would spout up all over the place. 

------------------------

Keith Smith

--- On Sat, 8/28/10, Robert Holtzman <holtzm at cox.net> wrote:

From: Robert Holtzman <holtzm at cox.net>
Subject: Re: OT: Self Employed Health Insurance Costs and Coverage
To: plug-discuss at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
Date: Saturday, August 28, 2010, 12:16 PM

On Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 07:01:41AM -0700, keith smith wrote:
> 
> Anytime you get the government involved you have a recipe for disaster. And it
> is unconstitutional.
> 
> We have a problem and it needs to be fixed.  I believe in a free market
> solution.

The health insurance industry has been operating under a free market
system forever. How's that been working out? Not so good?

> I believe everyone should pay for their own health insurance. 
> Remove this from the employer.  Then the payer and consumer will be the same. 
> It will not take long for the market to adjust once that happens.

You're advocating the elimination of group coverage with it's lower
premiums. Good luck buying an individual policy with it's exclusions for
pre-existing conditions.  

           ...........snip..........

-- 
Bob Holtzman
Key ID: 8D549279
"If you think you're getting free lunch,
 check the price of the beer"

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