SureThing said:

not necessarily. to find out for sure if his employer is paying for some of it you'll have to talk to them. it actually sounds like it could be right. but i don't know what the insurance rates are in your area. employers aren't REQUIRED to pay for health insurance, but if he's valuable to the company maybe he could talk to them and try to get them to pay for more. (that's what i'm doing with my boss. he's a great boss, but is being an ass about providing me insurance)

and if you get hospitalized and don't have insurance, YOU pay for it. i don't have any right now and had to go to the ER a couple weeks ago b/c of migraine. i am DREADING that bill.

jerseykrs said:

Well, if your a car salesman making minimum wage if you don't sell a car it is.

SureThing said:

2the9s said:

When and if I make that thread...she better keep her ass out of it.

Well, just know that to insure a family of four through private insurance is probably going to cost more than that Daniela.

SureThing said:

call and get quote for a HDHP (high deductible health plan). they're less per month and once you meet the deductible everything is paid for 100%. of course, for a family of four the yearly deductible might be $3000 or $4000..... but everything you pay on health care goes toward that, prescriptions, doctor visits, etc. and with a family of four you might meet the deductible pretty early in the year.

fantasyislander said:

THANK YOU. Good idea.

The ones I saw with no high deductables, everything was covered, but I guess thats worth it, ain't?

What is 80/20 and co insurance, a lot of them said that too.

SureThing said:

that's not a HDHP plan. co insurance means that after you meet your deductible things are covered 80% for a certain amount. like, if your deductible is $1000, and you have $10,000 80/20 coinsurance, you'll pay the $1000 deductible, then the next $10,000 you spend on health care the company will cover 80%, you pay 20%. after that they cover 100%.

on an HDHP you pay the deductible, and then the company covers 100% after that. but HDHPs don't have copays, so you're paying the whole doctors visits, etc, til you meet the deductible.

If you want the kind of insurance where you'll get routine care and medications covered at a reasonable level, you can expect it to cost between $300-400 per month per person. $800 per month for the whole family would indeed be a good deal.

That's the awful reality of it, and the reason that I don't have health insurance either. The insurance I can afford is so shitty that I haven't wanted to pay anything for it.

And employers, as I understand it, have to offer insurance (if the company is over a certain size), but they don't have to pay any of the premium. More and more, they make employees do it, because the company can't afford it either.

ehealthinsurance.com is a good site.

Oh, and if you go without insurance and end up having to be hospitalized, if your income is low enough you may be able to get charity care. Otherwise, you've got a big ugly bill. A lot of people end up having to go bankrupt due to medical bills incurred while they were uninsured.

(please do not vote for Republicans in '08)

HereToRockYourWorld said:

SureThing said:

I love our system, it's not perfect, but at least all people have some kind of health insurance.

Here to Rock, thats the info I was lookin for basically.

I'll check the site out.



And what happens if I don't vote for Repubs? The insurance will be cheaper?

Oh, and I forgot to add, that, that doesn't count dental and vision either. It's alot more if ya want that.

I'm just really bummed out about this.

If we get ins for all of us, we are gonna be poor.

Seriously.

SureThing said:

join the club sweetie

SureThing said:

Dental and vision are not coverage under medicare. Stupid Canada.

fantasyislander said:

Nothing against poor people, seriously, I mean I have a lot of poor friends. But I don't wanna be poor, myself.

JustErin said:

See? And I think it should be the other way around. I care more about my teeth than my stupid organs.

SureThing said:

No kidding. Who cares about our diseased innards as long as we look good.

JustErin said:

No you don't. I had to spend three hours in customs answering questions before they let me go last time. And the time before that I almost got stuck in Alaska because the ultra-important border to Yukon was guarded my Mr Bureaucracy.

JustErin said:

Exactly!

retina said:

You still got in.

I stand by my statement!

I've never really had much interest in Canada. I mean, who cares about some stupid waterfall?

Is there lots to do there? Isn't it cold all year? Or no?

SureThing said:

Let's not get this hauled off to P&R, but the simple answer is, yes, probably.

SureThing said:

i know. i remember talking about this with my cousin once. it would seem LOGICAL that if you don't make enough to afford health insurance you'd qualify for help from the state, but there is a HUGE gap there. the point where you qualify for help and where you can afford insurance on your own is so far apart it's ridiculous. here in nebraska, if a single mom makes more than $500 a month, that's right $500 A MONTH, she makes too much to qualify for state paid health insurance. how in the world do they think that a SINGLE MOTHER who makes $600/month can afford insurance on her own?!?! it's friggin ridiculous, and i understand b/c i'm right goddamn in the fucking middle of it. it's made so that the only ones who qualify for gov't health insurance are those who are relying on the state for EVERYTHING, housing, food, daycare, health, EVERYTHING. but for those of us who are working goddamn fucking hard every day and this is the ONE THING we can't do on our own.... nope, forget it. we're SOL.




ok, rant over.

SureThing said:

Yup. It's just a cold stupid waterfall. Poor Erin.

SureThing said:

Waterfall? It's far too cold to have a waterfall in this country.

There is nothing to do here except play bingo and have sled races. It is cold ALL year round. I wear these on my feet every day.

JustErin said:

Wait, don't yous have that one month of the year, where its like dark all day and nite?

SureThing said:

Nah, that would be Sweden. And it's three months. At least.