Rumpleforeskin: Do You Have Health Insurance?

[Jim]

Curious about health insurance.
I do have a reason for asking.

[Useless]

I'm covered through my wife's plan. It pays to have a gainfully employed spouse.

[Thumbler]

I am also covered by my wife's plan, and thank goodness I am because my four days in intensive care cost $32,000 last year and that's just for the room.....

[Bruce Miller]

We use Blue Cross and Blue Shield for us and our employees. The rates are pretty reasonable.

[Cleo]

I keep a position at another company mostly for its health insurance benefits.

[GeorgeTH]

In Australia we're actually lucky enough to have basic healthcare covered by a Government program called MEDICARE (which the current conservative government is demounting bit by bit) - on top of that we have a private insurance at lower rates than normal through my wife's job...

Knock on wood: I'm not getting seriously sick very often... Whenever I have things like colds or so (which doesn't happen that often, maybe once every 2 years) I tend to recover more quickly than other people.

[Ramster]

Yes, I'm in Canada

[Tommy]

I have Empire blue cross/blue sheild through my company

I think the rates are outrageous

[cd34]

I have Aetna with 3 employees -- you think BCBS is expensive :)

Once I hire a 4th, I can move over to BCBS.

[MrYum]

Yep, blue cross blue shield of Florida here. Catastrophic coverage only...$30/month.

Just getting over a nasty bug...had me down for almost 2 weeks :( Ended up costing a whooping $69 to see the doc...another $60 for meds.

I only see the doc once a year or so...if that...catastrophic works fine and the price is certainly right :)

[swedguy]

I only need to pay <$20 if I need to go to the doc, no matter what it's for.

[Toni KatVixen]

We have insurance through my work.

We haven't used it yet since we got it, but that'll be changing here in the near future.

[Yell]

I have some very good insurance through my first job thank |buddy| cuz i would be in the hole right about now with the kids and the wife and all.
It is very pricey shit it cost my company about $700 a month to cover my family plan. And trust me we hear about it all the time cuz they fight us tooth and nile about it.

[dareutwo]

We have a family plan through BCBS.
Expensive as hell - but what do you do?

[Mishi]

Does taking a daily multivitamin count?

'Cause otherwise, the answer is no. :(

[Greenguy]

I have insurance thru my company, so it that part of Option 1? I ask because it's not in my name, thus it's not an "individual" plan.

[Cleo]

we hear about it all the time cuz they fight us tooth and nile about it.
The company that provides me with insurance has switched plans four times in the last five years. Each time they switch I end up having to switch doctors again. Then the new doctors always seems to want to run some new tests. IMO health care in the US is a fucking mess. :(

[stuveltje]

i have those thru the goverment, and my hubby and kids have an individu plan thing and those are so fucking expensieve

[ladydesigner]

I have a family plan though my husband's job.

[tjchuck]

Get it through the wifes work.

[tortus32]

My wife works for an enormous company called Cendant and we have the whole family covered through their Signa plan. We're covered for everything except eye glasses.

Bill

[PR_Tom]

No I dont, and I am looking. I need health coverage.

[spazlabz]

PAH! I wish! heh heh

[Roby]

no i do not have

[Fonz]

Got one, paying a fucking $25 a month for it or something like that and I'm never sick :D

[stuveltje]

Got one, paying a fucking $25 a month for it or something like that and I'm never sick :D
damn fonz thats cheap, me need to move to belgium:D i pay for myself the goverment one, 70 euro a month and my hubby pays 300 euro a month for him and the kids....

[ForestL]

havent had it in years but am looking now that im getting older

[Greenguy]

My wife works for an enormous company called Cendant...Can she get me a better rate on the 2 mortgages that I have there? :D

[Sir Horny]

Yes, I'm I Canada as well

[abba]

I have my own insurance, does not cost me anything at the moment, but that will change over the next year, probably.

[SexycityBrian]

I have insurance through HumanaOne if you are completly healthy and they can not find any pre existing conditions then it is not bad but if you have a large medical bill come up they will check throughtly trying to get out of paying it

Brian

[abba]

I have my own insurance, does not cost me anything at the moment, but that will change over the next year, probably.

[Kenny B!]

I live in Canada we have half ass Medicare coverage for free so I have no need for insurance really.

[tjchuck]

I live in Canada we have half ass Medicare coverage for free so I have no need for insurance really.

Not all of Canada has free health care :(

[CleanPornMovies]

Christ, this thread's title scared me much...

[Agent]

Not all of Canada has free health care :(
Does Alberta use private health care exclusively? Or a mixture of both 'free' and private like the Conservatives harped about during the last election?

Disclaimer: I voted Conservative. We all make mistakes.

[JanTM]

Yes... in Denmark everybody has it. Paid for via taxes. Whatever is wrong... they fix it for free :)

[Kenny B!]

We have a good deal here in Quebec if you have no money and don't mind waiting in a 3 hour line when you have a gunshot wound or some other minor problem.

Hey ADK the Liberals aren't a whole lot better these days!

[Steve]

I have health insurance through a company that I am a partner in. While I'm not an expert on health insurance with all the people running businesses off the web I am surprised there isn't sort of trade group offering group insurance for web businesses.

Steve

[tjchuck]

Disclaimer: I voted Conservative. We all make mistakes.[/QUOTE]
Does Alberta use private health care exclusively? Or a mixture of both 'free' and private like the Conservatives harped about during the last election?

Disclaimer: I voted Conservative. We all make mistakes.

And all of Canada pays for health care it is just hidden when we pay for taxes and such :(


In Alberta it is not private. It is government and is called Alberta health care and we pay roughly $275 per year, per person(not sure if it is different for families).


If your sick, or old, or just need good medical, then stay the fuck away from Alberta! :D

[tjchuck]

Oops, kind of fucked up with my quote there

[Lunatic]

I'm in the multivitamin department too. I'd seriously consider moving to Canada except it's too doggone far north. :D

[Mishi]

I'm in the multivitamin department too. I'd seriously consider moving to Canada except it's too doggone far north. :D

Ooh, a fellow Zonie!

I miss green stuff but not white stuff. I think BC might be quite hospitable... ;)

[caringneo]

I got a group insurance through my other job.
Neo

[Tommy]

that would be a good spinoff buisness, selling health insurance to webmasters

[Jim]

that would be a good spinoff buisness, selling health insurance to webmasters

I am looking at that Tommy. Not selling but more sharing. The larger the group, the cheaper the insurance is. I talked to my insurance guy and he told me that if I could get just 10 people, we would be considered a group.

[SirMoby]

We have an HSA. If you want to save $5k a year tax free without spedning more then you should ask your accountants about one.

[MrMaryLou]

Jim, I for one would be interested for sure :)

[spazlabz]

I am looking at that Tommy. Not selling but more sharing. The larger the group, the cheaper the insurance is. I talked to my insurance guy and he told me that if I could get just 10 people, we would be considered a group.
wow!
If you can swing this I would definitely want the details Jim. I mean depending on how you would select who could participate in this. :D

[SirMoby]

I am looking at that Tommy. Not selling but more sharing. The larger the group, the cheaper the insurance is. I talked to my insurance guy and he told me that if I could get just 10 people, we would be considered a group.
Jim, I would be interested but don't you need 10 in 1 state?

Group insuarance can be a little cheaper but the big advantage is that there is no limit on how much an insurance company can raise premiums on individuals. Like if you get cancer they can raise your rates to $1,000,000 a month effectively cancelling you. Most states don't allow them to do that with group plans.

[pornrex]

I am looking at that Tommy. Not selling but more sharing. The larger the group, the cheaper the insurance is. I talked to my insurance guy and he told me that if I could get just 10 people, we would be considered a group.
I'd like to see where this goes too, Jim

[cd34]

Actually, I think you could have a GreenguyandJim affinity group that would be covered by a plan. Similar to many of the organization plans out there, you wouldn't require all people to be in one state. I think the National Chamber of Commerce and a few of the Industry groups do this. The issue here is each state is still maintained as a group, and would require individual pricing -- at least when I checked it about two years ago and I think each state requires 2 people in a group.

Then you have to figure out which plan is right for everyone. With Aetna & BCBS, you can't mix and match PPO & HMO and Catastrophic in the same group. So, since I have 3 employees, and the wife unit wants PPO, everyone gets PPO until I have enough people that I can have two groups. Florida also mandates that an employer pays 50% of the plan coverage for any employee. I don't think affinity groups have that same restriction.

It is a cool concept.

[Jim]

Jim, I would be interested but don't you need 10 in 1 state?

Group insuarance can be a little cheaper but the big advantage is that there is no limit on how much an insurance company can raise premiums on individuals. Like if you get cancer they can raise your rates to $1,000,000 a month effectively cancelling you. Most states don't allow them to do that with group plans.
Yep, with NY involved especially. They have some funny laws regarding health insurance.

[spacemanspiff]

I've got an individual policy through BCBS. Pretty freaking expensive.

ARS used to offer some kind of health insurance. I never looked into it but I assume it was some kind of group thingy they arranged.

[Lunatic]

Group health insurance for webmasters. That would be really cool. :)

[dareutwo]

Group insurance would be nice.
And I like the thought of the GG&Jim policy :D

[Kacy]

I have insurance thru my company, so it that part of Option 1? I ask because it's not in my name, thus it's not an "individual" plan.


Same here :)

[Rocco]

it's a must to have a health insurance here - and also expencive: about 300$/month

[Greenguy]

I knew I should have added another option to the poll as soon as I saw it - probably too late now :(

[smitty]

I get free health care from the VA. The closest hospital is an hour and 45 minutes |angry| away. VA care sucks, but it's free.

Sign me up for GreenguyandJims Healthcare Plan |bananna|

[Kath]

I am also insured through hub's insurance from his "day job" - and we recently switched from a Blue Shield HMO to a government-based Blue Cross PPO and I love it. It costs a little bit more (about $500/month for 4 of us) and there is that $500/year co-pay per individual for non-regular type costs (for example: hub's asthma treatments, etc.) but compared to an HMO it's WAYYYYYYY worth it.

For example, my sister gets IEHP (Inland Empire Health Program) from the county out here in California - a free/low-cost kind of medical care program from the state... her coverage is better than the HMO we had before that we were paying $425/month for... I had a knee injury that took 5 weeks for MRI approval... she had a turned ankle and got an MRI the same day....

I think a webmaster insurance program is a great idea - I hope you guys pull it off. I know there are many who could have benefited from this over the years...

|thumb

[Jim]

I have been on the phone for about 2 hours now guys. It looks like a good family plan would cost between $250-$300/month. The problem is the logistics of everything.

Oh yeah, Smitty, I also have free medical through the VA. The last time I went there for my bad knee, they wanted to fuse it so it would not bend. Every Doctor I talked to after that laughed. Including the one that did surgery and fixed it. I would not go to the VA hospital for anything.

[MrMaryLou]

Jim, 250 to 300 is about 1/2 to 1/3 of some of the prices I have been quoted thats great :)

[EvilBitch]

I already have a health insurance, my ex husband is paying it for me..lol
What's with the sig jim and greenguy? oh okay, i'm quite busy that i haven't read the latest adult webmaster newsletter..=) do i get punishment for that??? uh oh...

[digifan]

I used to have insurance when I had a job but I quit it back in 2002 so atm nothing. :(

[Greenguy]

...What's with the sig jim and greenguy?...Just be on the safe side & do whatever our sigs tell you to do :D

[noooze]

say what ????

ohhh.... its becouse u guys live in a country that favors the rich and lets the poor suffer and die ;)

no where i come from its free to go to the hospital, go to university, driving on the road ect
here we even gets paid to go to school. 800 $ a month from the state :)


my gf just had platic surgery to fix her breats ( not a common boob job ) and guess what ? 0 $

[Jim]

say what ????

ohhh.... its becouse u guys live in a country that favors the rich and lets the poor suffer and die ;)

no where i come from its free to go to the hospital, go to university, driving on the road ect
here we even gets paid to go to school. 800 $ a month from the state :)


my gf just had platic surgery to fix her breats ( not a common boob job ) and guess what ? 0 $

The rich and poor have good insurance. It's the middle of the road that have to suffer.

[JanTM]

my gf just had platic surgery to fix her breats ( not a common boob job ) and guess what ? 0 $

Lalalalalalaaaaa... not listening :D

(I take it that since it was free she had them... whats that word... uhm.. reduced... in size?)

|mml|

[NotThatKevin]

Yeah I have HI for my entire family and it costs a bundle.

[BruceM]

Yes I do.

[EvilBitch]

Just be on the safe side & do whatever our sigs tell you to do :D

oh okay.. ;)

[JoeBlack]

Yup I own a really big box of bandaids :)

[xkrainer]

I have some very good insurance

[spazlabz]

The rich and poor have good insurance. It's the middle of the road that have to suffer.
Thats a fact right there Jim. I make to much for the state to pay for everything and make way to little to afford a good insurance policy. But with 2 growing boys and various issues with my own health it is high time that I get me a good policy.

[Kath]

The rich and poor have good insurance. It's the middle of the road that have to suffer.

WELL SAID! |headbang|

[Cliff]

In the UK healthcare is free.
Why do you think Ronnie Biggs (Great Train Robber) left Brasil for England and traded his freedom for good healthcare when he got ill?

[Useless]

In the UK healthcare is free.
Why do you think Ronnie Biggs (Great Train Robber) left Brasil for England and traded his freedom for good healthcare when he got ill?
I just thought that he liked tea. ;)

[punker barbie]

yuppers i have health insurance. i have an awesome health and dental plan with United Healthcare. |headbang|

[sue-fl]

Yes I have health insurance. I'm covered threw my husbands work. We have Cigna health, dental and eye care. It sucks though because it's so expensive, and the RX coverage keeps going up. He gets paid twice a month and they zap his check for it. Not much we can do though we have to have it and they know it.

[cd34]

At least you're in Florida and the employer has to pick up half. In many other states, employees are left on their own to pay the full cost.

As a Florida employer, it sure gets expensive to have employees. :)

[Mystery Man]

I live in Denmark so I have full cover.
We pay it through our taxes. But whenever I travel I always sign an extra insurrance. So that I'm covered nomatter what happens nomatter where it happens.

[HpicAnn]

In my country as far as you have a job goverment deduct from your salary a% that is for Social Security that give you access to have medical atention including surgerys and also to medicines but is also good to pay a health insurance if you dont like to go to public hospitals...

[Phoenix]

i dont have anything..lol

[CD Smith]

Free health care in Canada of course, but I also have something called "Critical Illness" insurance. It will cover me if I'm ever in a pickle where I can't work the computer thingy anymore.

Basically it is something everyone should have, it's not that expensive really, and my advice to anyone would be to ask your insurance broker about it. You may have it built into your existing plan, but that might not be enough. Hey, it can't hurt to look into it, right?

[Greenguy]

I still haven't voted because Jim refuses to add another category for those of us that own our own company & get insurance thru it :D

[Jim]

Just a quick update...
Our final price for health insurance is going to be $284/month. It will be a PPO through Aetna. It appears that my insurance guy has found a loophole so all states will be eligible. The only problem is setting it up as a group now. I also have it down to only 2 members needed. So, we are looking good. I think the price is good and I know the company is good. I will keep you all updated. We are now working on setting up an organization that will make us a group.

[Jim]

Oh yeah, You may end up having to pay me a small amount of money for dues. I have to find out but it won't be more than $10 to join.

[Jim]

I still haven't voted because Jim refuses to add another category for those of us that own our own company & get insurance thru it :D

I fixed it so you can vote now.

[Greenguy]

You're still wording it wrong but I don't really fucking care anymore.

[ArtWilliams]

In Canada the government provides health insurance but it is getting crappier by the minute. Private medicine is supposed to be outlawed here but our Prime Minister goes to a private clinic in Montreal. You can buy (expensive) "front of the line" insurance and every day the national newspapers have ads from American companies willing to do your diag tests in the states for $$$ to avoid the long wait times in Canada. Such is the state of health in Canada.

-- art

[stuveltje]

i will tell you something about insurrance in holland, we pay for the fam(2 adult and 2 kids) about 600 dllars a month(and believe me thats the cheapers you can get herein holland), now 2 days ago i realy got a huge pain in my jaw, when the pain started it went thru my ear, neck and head and i was laying on the ground for 15 minutes, now i have a real good inssurance, me did cal the doc, doc said call the dentist, i say, i dont have tooth pain i have pain in my jaw, meanwhile i take a ton of painkillers so i can just talk instead of yelling and screaming from pain, so i call dentist, dentist is closed, have to cal an other number for an other dentist, that fucker tells me, he wont lett me come to his ofice to help me, oh after a while he offer to help me but then in evening about 7 hours later and i call him in morning 9.30, but when i would accept his help i had to pay him cash.........well i freaked, i pay a fucking 600 bucks a month for insurrance and that fucker has to help me but will only do it if i pay cash??? well i told him to shuffle his help in his ass and i would stand an other day in pain, this morning i went to my own dentist, complained about the other dentist and i was not the only one, i had an fucking inflamed jaw(did i say that right), which already made my lymph node ( hey i found that word in my dictionary) swollen, i got antibiotics right away, i was in time, because it could have bin bad if i didnt visite the dentist, but hell i wanted to but our dentists where to greedy and didnt care, from today on i decide not to take an insurrance anymore, i pay about 7200 dollars a year and what do i get i have to beg for help, so from now on i just pay when i have to go to doc or dentist it will be cheaper for me, because hubby , me and kids go together about 6 times a year totally to doc and dentist, which cost about 1200 dollars a year, i will save alot of money by doing this and believe me i pay that huge amound already for years, but i also expect when i have sucha insurrance i get help right away.greedy fucking cheating dutch dentist and insurrance

[Trev]

Stu, you should keep your insurance. It may be cheaper right now to go without (not to mention feeling good to give them a big, fuck you) But, if (god forbid) someone comes down with a serious illness or gets in a bad accident, that $7200 will seem like nothing.




(btw.... glad to see you posting again... i missed your 'accent' :D

[rollergirl]

We buy our own plan from BCBS. It's quite staggering cost-wise.

Edit. Read Stu's post.

My Husband has unholy allergies. He's had every test possible and each year we have to beg to get a NEW script for
All egraD or something strong so he can even breathe. This year the insurance companies are trying something different. Docs perscribe meds and the pharmacy calls you and says..."BCBS won't cover Allegra so they 'RE-PRESCRIBED' you Claritin-it's over the counter. We've been on Claritin and it doesn't help, but don't you find it twisted that the insurance company can CHANGE your perscription to a completely other medication, because they don't like how expensive it is."

We're still fighting with them to get it and darn it, if we didn't find it online from canada for 30 bucks.
If BCBS oks it, we'd have to pay 160 dollars for it from Welgreens, and they just raised our deductable for RX to 2000 a year. We used to pay 30 bucks a RX.

We pay over 6 hundred a month for family insurance.

[stuveltje]

Stu, you should keep your insurance. It may be cheaper right now to go without (not to mention feeling good to give them a big, fuck you) But, if (god forbid) someone comes down with a serious illness or gets in a bad accident, that $7200 will seem like nothing.




(btw.... glad to see you posting again... i missed your 'accent' :D
i agree trev, but hell even with that insurrance i have i still have to pay some meds myself, more and more i will not get my money back for, plus the insurannce is getting raised about 600 dollars a year i started with 5300 dollars a year now its already 7200 dollas a year.now with that insurrance we have also an funiral ( did i say that right) insurrance and tond of insurances more, hell i only wok to pay my insurancs and i get nothing back, i do agree you need one when you have kids, with kids you go alot to doc when they are small...but for real........they are all greedy bastards here.
oh and thanks for the comeback thing, hehehehe, am glad i am back, so i can talk chinese dutch english again and nag muhhahaah :D

[stuveltje]

We buy our own plan from BCBS. It's quite staggering cost-wise.

Edit. Read Stu's post.

My Husband has unholy allergies. He's had every test possible and each year we have to beg to get a NEW script for
All egraD or something strong so he can even breathe. This year the insurance companies are trying something different. Docs perscribe meds and the pharmacy calls you and says..."BCBS won't cover Allegra so they 'RE-PRESCRIBED' you Claritin-it's over the counter. We've been on Claritin and it doesn't help, but don't you find it twisted that the insurance company can CHANGE your perscription to a completely other medication, because they don't like how expensive it is."

We're still fighting with them to get it and darn it, if we didn't find it online from canada for 30 bucks.
If BCBS oks it, we'd have to pay 160 dollars for it from Welgreens, and they just raised our deductable for RX to 2000 a year. We used to pay 30 bucks a RX.

We pay over 6 hundred a month for family insurance.hey hey, i hear you, now the bad is next year januar the rules are changed here, we all get on basic insurrance same price for all( private or not) now i was thinking where is the catch, the goverment in holland earns alot of those insurrances, well its realy basic, so only doc or so but no hospital, there is the catch, because i have to take several extra insurances to get an good cover up and yep ofcourse all prices are different, realy i need to move to an other country....Stu<---- slap her hubby knock out and it moving to Mallorca :D

[stuveltje]

btw strangest is here when an man takes an insurrance he is covered for the cost when he gets pregnant, and i am not fuking joking, he has to be pregnant not his wife, i went thr the papers and called the insurrance comapny they had to laugh but they said i was right..............an other one, my property insurrance......i get not money if my house is getting destoyed by terrorist but i do get money, when a boat goes thru my house, nou i live in a small country miles and miles away from the sea......for real a boat thru my house????? its so sad

[Jim]

You're still wording it wrong but I don't really fucking care anymore.
Add another choice and put your 1 vote in if that will make you happy :)

[JohnnyR]

I've got one. I picked the best non-romanian Insurance company I could find, and I got myself one, and one for my little brother (parents got their own). I also have a small "retirement fond-plan-thingie" (not sure how to call this in english) setup, one which you fund with whatever money you want/have, if any, and they grow interest and you can take back any time (after a while - 5 years i think). I'm not sure what I wanna do with the rest of my life, but sure as hell I ain't counting on the romanian government to take care of me when I'm won't be able to take care of myself. The cash you get after retirement over here it's a joke guys, and it pretty much doensn't matter what you did with your life or for how how many years have you work, you're 95% certain not to be able to live off that money once you don't have any salary/other stable income going on for you. Sad.