Do you have Health Insurance?

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southpawboston

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #1

reading some other threads lately, i learned that some people here don't have health insurance. i was wondering how many do and don't. it's been a big subject of debate here in MA, which has become the first state to require that all residents have coverage. and if they can't get it through their employer, the state provides BCBS plans at reasonable rates.

the poll questions should be self-explanatory... by full coverage i don't mean dental or vision, but rather regular doctor's visits and prescriptions in addition to ER/hospitalization.

 

mominabigtruck

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #2

Nope, dh and I are both self-employed and insurance rates are outrageous for us to be self insured. I've been looking to get a job just for the insurance since we've moved and there are more opportunities here.

 

hsjwmom

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #3

Um. The poll?

Sorry I'm tooooo impatient!

Anyway, we have full coverage through dh's employer. When we were married just over a year, dh was diagnosed with cancer. We didn't have insurance. He got his care and treatments through the county. It was awful, hours and hours of waiting for EVERTHING in dirty, crowded, (scary) facilities, but the treatment he received was the same as he would have had from MD Anderson (actually had a consultation there). After going through that, I will never let our family be without health insurance. It was a very stressful time and made that much worse by the places we had to go for his care.

 

Last edited: Jun 1, 2007

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southpawboston

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #4

msbeltran said:

Um. The poll?

Click to expand...

patience, lol! the forum software posts the thread before the thread starter completes writing the poll questions!

 

scatterbunny

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #5

I couldn't answer, because I am the only one in the family without medical coverage because Mark and I aren't legally married. We don't plan on getting legally married anytime soon for a variety of reasons.

Mark and Hayley have full coverage ($20 or $25 office visit copays, $10-$30 for prescriptions, something like 80% coverage for procedures done in our service area, lower for out of service). They also have minimal dental. No vision.

 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

• Jun 1, 2007

• #6

We have full medical because it was basically our only option. We pay way more for insurance than our need for health care justifies. If there had been a good catastrophic coverage packages for a reasonable price*, we'd have gone with that. I don't mind paying out of pocket for basic care. I think it makes us better consumers. I do, however, want a "safety net" if something major should happen. I find it very frustrating that our family ends up paying more per month for insurance than we would pay out of pocket per year for actual care!

*They did have one or two "emergency" type plans, but they cost almost as much as, or more than, the BCBS plan we went with!

 

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southpawboston

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #7

i agree. our plan goes in that direction somewhat, in that our PPO has a very low monthly employee contribution compared with most HMOs or POSs, but carries with it a much higher co-pay. therefore, the less we use it, the less it costs us in the end. but it's still fairly reasonable to go see a doctor for whatever reason, and should we need hospitalization, the total deductibles for us would still amount to less than what many people would pay just to have their HMOs for a few months. seems to work pretty well.

of course, the best plan i ever had was when i worked for a university... the plan didn't cost me anything and there were no co-pays or deductibles!

 

mominabigtruck

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #8

When I was first married to my first dh we were both union and had fabulous insurance. $10 copay and no premiums, it was included in our union dues. I went from that to absolutely no insurance and it sucked.:thumbsdown:

 

mommy2jana

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #9

I just recently got health insurance on myself in January of this year through my employer. Before that, I had been uninsured since I graduated high school, except for the state-paid insurance that I was able to receive when pregnant with dd. Any other job I ever worked for never offered health insurance.

It is a BCBS plan, I pay a fairly low monthly fee - around $70-ish for myself, my co-pays are $25, generic prescriptions $10. If I were to add dd on, it would be an astronomical amount - over $400 per month. So, right now she still qualifies for Florida KidCare through the state. I pay a $15/month premium, and we have no co-pays. I don't know if she'll still qualify for it, since now I'm eligible for insurance. I think she'll still be eligible until her SD (Sperm Donor) decides to pay child support. At least I hope! I can't afford to pay over $400/month for insurance that doesn't get used that often. I do have her on my dental and vision insurance, though. Better providers.

 

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bectoo2

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #10

We have a BCBS policy that we purchased privately. DH's employer does offer health insurance but it cost almost twice as much as the insurance we purchased ourselves. It's a small company and I think the administrative assistant handled setting up health care for the company. Too bad because there are much more affordable group plans that the company would qualify for and would benefit their employees but they have so far ignored the info I have given them (I do admin work for an insurance agent).

 

oxeye

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #11

Yup, DH is self-employed and we pay about $400/month for independent coverage. It covers doctor's visits but it still has an insanely high deductible and doesn't cover certain things (no maternity coverage).

When I start school in August, I'm required to use the school's insurance plan. It covers more and is cheaper for me, but too expensive to put the girls and DH on it. So they'll be on the same plan we have now and just I'll switch.

 

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Gypsy

Senior Community Member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #12

None of those were accurate for us.

I chose #1 because it was closest.

My dh is military, we have full medical with no employee contribution.

 

CandCfam

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #13

Other?

Full medical + vision and dental through DH's employer, no employee contribution (though, this almost changed recently) .

 

Last edited: Jun 1, 2007

Suzibeck

Active member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #14

We have full coverage + dental through dh's employer. We pay about $90 a month for our part and we have something like a $2,000 deductible then we only pay 20% after that. Given that myself and all 3 girls have asthma, we like to have full coverage. Everyone is more stable than in years past, so the time may come where having only emergency coverage would be good.

Middle dd used to have additional coverage through the state for sick/handicapped children. That was a life saver for us as we had $30 copays on everything back then. The state coverage saved us nearly $3,000 out of pocket the first year and we only paid $20 a month for it. She is well enough to no longer be eligible now which is a good thing, but I sure miss free prescriptions.

I know a family with 11 children who has never had health insurance! Can you imagine? They live on a farm, raise a good portion of their own food, drink their own raw milk from their own cows... They are incredibly healthy. Their medical expenses, aside from childbirth and an occasional broken bone are minimal.

 

Namegirl

Senior Community Member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #15

My husband is self-employed and we have full private coverage. It costs an arm and a leg and our deductible is astronomical, but we just have to budget for it and it works out. We would never NOT have coverage, so we just have to settle for pricey private coverage.

 

solmama

Active member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #16

Ugh! We have coverage thru my dh's work...we pay 300+/mo for the whole family. Fortunately it's money we never see. Our deductible is $400, after which we pay 80%, until $3000 is reached, then BC/BC covers at 100%. We had the misfortune of discovering this last year when our son was born and I had 2 surgeries. Thankfully we have insurance or it really would have cost a bundle.

 

solmama

Active member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #17

No, no we don't pay 80%, the insurance company does. Sorry.

 

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TxMomma

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #18

Gypsy said:

None of those were accurate for us.

I chose #1 because it was closest.

My dh is military, we have full medical with no employee contribution.

Click to expand...

Ditto this except DH is not military but his company pays for our insurance. Our co-pays are $20 for dr. visits and prescriptions from $10-20 depending on generic or not. This is by far the best job ever, the company he is with now cares about their employees and is just awesome all around! We got extremely lucky.

 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician

• Jun 1, 2007

• #19

Employer sponsored expired yesterday, we didn't pay for COBRA, no new job yet. . But... we do have military sponsored Tricare (dh is retired military)...it sort of covers some things, but is so freaky difficult to work with that DH tries to get people to bill them, they can't, he won't pay the bills, gets all huffy and indignant, and then bam, there's a ding on our credit report... I try not to get sick when Tricare is supposed to be paying, lol. It's better than nothing, though (reminds me...almost time to take DS in for his first ID card.... yippee...I think...)

 

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ktmo

New member

• Jun 1, 2007

• #20

We used to have great insurance when I worked, we very little each month and our co-pays were great. It was so hard giving that up to stay home with the girls. My DH owns his own business, so we have to pay out of pocket for insurance, which is a lot, but we feel it is a must for us. It pretty much paid for itself this year, since DD#2 was in the hospital with RSV for three days, and we didn't have to pay any of that.

Katie