View Full Version : Obamacare insurance premium increase.
Ifyouseekamy
02-02-2018, 03:11 AM
I was silly and didn’t buy it. My only option is the Health share. I will let everyone know how it works :). We all deserve health insurance, it sucks not having it! I had to pay $40 for my birth control! I think I’ll be going to planned parenthood this year for my annual.
I have to talk to the insurance lady ASAP. Btw- you have 3 months to buy it before you get the penalty.
Eric Stoner
02-02-2018, 01:01 PM
That would be true about the claims with a fee-for-service system. With a managed-care system where providers were paid a set amount of money to provided all necessary medical care for the insured, there is a lot less overhead and there is a lot less incentive for providers to perform unnecessary procedures so they could bill more money. This would also be the case where insurance companies merged or bought providers, and there wouldn't be billing to the insurance company. There will most likely always be some overhead in healthcare, but the more overhead is reduced, the less money will be wasted. Doctors and hospitals spend a significant amount of time and money on billing.
That is true up to a point. The problems arise over who decides what is "necessary ". My experiences with "managed care " were NOT happy. PCP's with VERY limited office hours plus trouble just getting an appt. ; difficulty getting tests and treatment approved. Both times I bailed out as soon as I could.
Historically employer provided health care started with shipbuilder Henry Kaiser during W.W. II. Thanks to wage controls Kaiser could only incentivize new workers to sign on with perks like free child care and health care. Kaiser-Permanente grew out of that health plan.
eagle2
02-03-2018, 11:59 PM
That can be a problem with managed care if you're on a stingy plan.
RyanXO
02-07-2018, 10:24 AM
My boyfriend works at a small business (engineering company) and to have 9 employees insured the owner pays 13k a month.
KatyBoleyn
02-07-2018, 03:31 PM
My boyfriend works at a small business (engineering company) and to have 9 employees insured the owner pays 13k a month.
If they're also comping a bit for employee family members, that seems about right, especially for a silver or gold standard package. Good news is that its 100% deductible as a business expense, it doesn't count as a payment to yourself to buy your own insurance through your company.
Ifyouseekamy
02-08-2018, 01:37 AM
^^^ I like being an independent contractor. Screwing with paying Medicare, workers comp, health insurance. I mean it’s really stressful stuff. Both my plan A and a plan b jobs are ones I can do as an independent contractor. Unless you really know your business that stuff is a headache to deal with.
ZeroSugarMonster
02-09-2018, 01:03 AM
I managed to qualify for a subsidy via NY State based on my LA income from 2016. Not sure what my income is 2017 yet, but might be comparable if not lower.
Anyhow, insurance is a nightmare. Yes, it costs 450 for the lowest caliber of plan, for which my monthly premium is not so much with the subsidy. Or it costs close to 600 for a plan where I pay close to 200/month. Still, NO SERVICES are covered until I keep paying my premiums which adds up to a lot, subsidy or not AND meet a deductible of about 2700-4000 depending on type of plan, before actual coverage kicks in. A yearly physical is supposed to be free. At my physical the other day, the doctor ordered a whole bunch of blood work and I've yet to see if I'll get a bill for that. He also prescribed some meds, none of which will be covered as the deductible is not met yet.
Last time I had Kaiser in CA, even for my yearly physical which was supposed to be free, the doctor miscoded one of the lab tests such that I got a bill for the visit and had to fight with the insurance company for months to dismiss it. She was also incompetent in other ways.
I don't know what the solution to the health care crisis is, apart from a good job, re-enrolling in school or winning the lottery. Did you know that most of cases of bankruptcies caused by medical bills were in cases where most ppl had some form of coverage?
When I was with an ex with a decent job who was allowed to put me on his plan as a domestic partner, it was the same bs. Health insurance seemed really great at the outset but it's nothing but you find out it's nothing but a pyramid scheme when you go to use it.
I'm thinking it might actually be a wiser choice to just maybe dump the insurance, and go without. In the event, I experience a catastrophe, just declare bankruptcy. I shall see...
My only good experience with health care in this country was when I was going to school. I was able to get prescriptions, regular therapy appts, even a copper iud on school insurance. I just had to go without dental or vision. I have a friend enrolled in school now and she's covered completely as well for medical.
rickdugan
02-09-2018, 08:12 AM
I'm thinking it might actually be a wiser choice to just maybe dump the insurance, and go without. In the event, I experience a catastrophe, just declare bankruptcy. I shall see...
Just keep in mind that the individual mandate penalty isn't going away until 2019, so if you go without health insurance in 2018, the penalty will be calculated as follows:
For 2017, you must pay 2.5 percent of your yearly household income or $695 per person ($347.50 per child under 18 years old), whichever is higher.
So at a bare minimum, it will cost you $695 in penalties. If the shittiest subsidized plan you can find for 2018 doesn't cost you much more than this then you may be better of just taking the crappy insurance, which would at least provide you with some catastrophic coverage.
But overall I agree with everything you said. This insurance sucks. It wasn't always like this. As I started the thread off with, I had great insurance literally the year before the Obamacare mandates kicked in. After that, the individual market went to Hell in a handbasket. The policies are so bad and so expensive now that having no insurance is the preferred option for many people, including a lot of people who had insurance in the individual market before pre-Obamacare. Getting rid of the individual mandate is a huge step forward so at least we won't be penalized anymore (starting in 2019) for deciding not to pay a fortune for sucky insurance that covers nothing, but the individual insurance marketplace really won't get any better until Congress does something to seriously alter or altogether scrap Obamacare.
ZeroSugarMonster
02-09-2018, 12:28 PM
I'm 100 and 20% for subsidizing other people's insurance. So if ObamaCare or whatever other Care comes after, I agree with the sentiment.
However, I don't agree with subsidizing private insurance companies, the bloated salaries of their executives and the paper-pushers who work for them.
ObamaCare is great in theory. Plus, it seems to work for some people. This includes strippers who can pay 3k/month for a studio on the Upper East Side, yet still get health care coverage subsidized IN FULL. Women who have 'real jobs,' which happen to be low paid, and they still defecate kids like it's going out of style. On the upside, I've also head that it works for some of my friends with disabled kids.
But the overall health insurance thing is a mess. What Obama did was make it so that government and the public's monies could be used to subsidize the private health insurance companies. It did not overhaul it.
I think that the caps to how much one can pay out of pocket in case of a catastrophe is the only saving grace of insurance. So if I'm paying (or the state and I am paying) up through the butt monthly premiums, and still have a high deductible to meet, the only thing that makes it worthwhile to have insurance is the fact that my health insurance imposes a cap of 7500/yr that I would need to pay in case I received a 20-100k bill. Also, the no pre-existing thing is great because prior to that, health insurance companies would conjure all sort of uncanny pre-existing conditions on ppl in order to deny them coverage. I think that imposing a fine for those who don't have insurance is a great idea, in theory. That is, if our health care system wasn't driven by profit and greed and unnecessarily, bloated administrative costs by the middle men that are the health insurance companies.
Imagine what would happen if health insurance FOR PROFIT becomes illegal, and the asshats who run the show are told to go and get real jobs, just as we in the sex industry constantly are.
I'm all for health care and those who have more subsidizing the health care of those who have less. What I'm against is useless administrative work that saved no one's life, ever. Administrative work is the bulk of health insurance.
There might simply be too many of us in the US to make universal health coverage by a single payer system workable. So immigrating out may be the only option.
rickdugan
02-09-2018, 02:34 PM
Well, I hear what you're saying zero, but my pre-Obamacare insurance came from a for profit insurance company too and I payed $1,000 per month to cover a family of five and almost everything was covered, including great pediatric dental coverage, with low deductibles and copays. Net-net, my total annual health care expenditures, including small copays, was about $12,500 with little additional exposure.
Fast forward 5 years and I now pay $2,150 per month (yup, yet another massive premium increase for 2018 ) for a shitty plan with high deductibles, higher copays, and no meaningful dental coverage. I will also no doubt have my bell rung for another $1,500 to 2,000 in copays and tests/urgent care visits (I have 3 active kids - shit happens) that fall below my deductible as well as another $1,400 in pediatric dental visits that I used to get covered by my old policy. So all in I will pay at least $29,000 in premiums and other basic charges, assuming nothing major happens, which will ring my bell yet more.
So my basic medical costs went from $12,500 to $29,000 per year in just five years and the only thing that changed in that time was the implementation of Obamacare. Worse though, with the higher deductibles, I am less protected from even higher expenses should something happen.
So while I can certainly understand your sentiments, you can probably understand my issues with it as well. I am making good money to be sure, but I am hardly wealthy. I didn't start and build my small business, working day and night for over a decade, just to have large chunks of my income torn away from me to pay for other people's healthcare. It is just not right and it's the biggest problem with Obamacare - there are too few of us un-subsidized healthy people in the individual marketplace to support too many sick ones. I'm all in favor of finding ways to ensure that people who truly need care get it, but not like this. The only real fixes to this legislation are to fundamentally restructure it in order to force a lot more people to subsidize the individual marketplace (those on union and employer plans) or to scrap it altogether and start fresh.
The good news is that, with the individual mandate going away in 2019, soon I will be able to say fuck it and just pay cash, which of course is bad news too since we will not be covered if an emergency hits. But since many like me are tired of getting fucked, they will be leaving the individual market too, so we can likely expect the individual market to gasp its last dying breath around then. When this happens, Congress is going to have to do something.
ZeroSugarMonster
02-09-2018, 03:03 PM
Prior to ObamaCare I had accidental health iinsurance of some sort which did not cost near the amount premiums run nowadays. I opened up an HSA to pay for my primary/routine care and any other non-life-or-death sort of medical situations.
I would really love the option of being able to sign up for some sort of a catastrophic plan again, rather than paying for "fuller" coverage. I'm over 30, so don't qualify under the current ObamaCare.
I think our tax rate is actually on par with some other countries where citizens get more bang for their buck. Even as a self-employed person who does ok financially, considering how very frugally I live, I still pay a lot of taxes. Even with deductions and self-employed retirement contributions, my tax rate is usually 20% of my gross income. Where does that money go? It pays for lasik eye surgery for men who play soldier and plastic surgeries for their wives.
That aside, the eradication of the mandate would be a nice step. Hopefully, they'll reintroduce some alternatives to ppl who don't want to pay 600/month for coverage that pays for nothing until one pays thousands out of their pocket first.
There are some free/low-cost clinics in big cities. I used one in LA and there is one or more in NYC that I could always utilize were I to need basic care. However, I don't want to disqualify myself from an HSA. Hopefully, I can see how my current plan goes and possibly, find a much much cheaper alternative in the future for catastrophic stuff, and just use low-cost clinics for preventative and primary care visits. I mean: What's the point of insurance if I'm still paying for all of my preventative care out of pocket? I went to the dentist yesterday and it cost xxx amount for cleaning and x-rays, even though dental is included after the deductible is met. The deductible is 4000. The health insurance is close to 500/month.
As far as getting that subsidy, it's not all it's revved up to be. Dealing with the state in any capacity: I would not wish it on my worst enemy.
As I mentioned the insurance is crap, subsidized or not. Then you have the added layer of dealing with the state and all the time it costs you. When I initially applied, I told them I was self-employed and they kept asking, "But ma'am, we need to list your employer..." until I got angry at them and hung up. I later went to a case worker to help me complete the application, and somehow my answers through her were more valid. Ideally, I wish they'd open up the private marketplace such that I can buy insurance through them without any attention to the bs 'open enrollment period. It would be nice to find an alternative for catastrophic coverage, where I pay a much smaller premium per month, have the same cap to the annual amount I could be forced to pay in the event of catastrophe, but without any primary or preventative stuff as the insurance as it is now doesn't cover most of it anyhow, beyond a regular doctor visit anyhow.
I think the reason Americans hate state-sponsored coverage or anything 'socialist' is because state coverage in America is incapable of being on par in quality with state coverage in Europe or other places where there is universal coverage. The level of red tape is reminiscent of USSR bureaucracy.
rickdugan
02-09-2018, 04:31 PM
^ I guess part of my frustration comes from how poorly I am already treated, from a tax perspecitve, as a small business owner. For starters, I already pay a significantly higher effective tax rate than the 20% that you do, which includes the hated self employment tax. So I am already paying a king's ransom to the Feds. But ok, I have learned to live with that as a cost of working for myself. I also learned to live with things like not having employer subsidized health insurance or retirement products. Again, a cost of being an entrepreneur that I was more than fine with.
But then this shit started with the individual health insurance marketplace. Small business owners make up the overwhelming majority of un-subsidized individual marketplace participants and this punitive legislation placed yet another burden upon us. So now in additional to paying self employment taxes that others don't have to pay, I am now also penalized because I participate in the individual marketplace rather than in an employer sponsored plan - to the tune of 10s of thousands of dollars over 5 years that was taken from me to pay for other people's medical expenses?
Enough is enough - I am supposed to be able to keep at least some of the fruits of my own blood, sweat and tears. Once the individual mandate is gone, others can pay their own fucking health care and I will pay mine in cash.
Ifyouseekamy
02-15-2018, 03:58 AM
Before obamacare I got denied coverage for being a dancer...lol. I So the preexisting conditions being covered was amazing because I remember when it wasn’t and getting insurance was a pain in the ass if you weren’t young and healthy.
I don’t like debating, but I think we all agree people deserve affordable healthcare access.
Even though I like dancing. Being self-employed is exhausting, I will always have a side hustle, but I can’t wait to not worry about that shit ^^^ Rick. I can’t imagine having employees too. I considered being a small business owner-the stress alone can kill you, but it does have its rewards.
RyanXO
02-16-2018, 10:26 AM
I think one issue is that in Europe, medical education is highly subsidized or free in most countries. If you are capable of being a doctor, you will be a doctor if you want. The social contract is understood that you will owe some service to the state for this, possibly throughout your life. In the US, becoming a doctor is a long, expensive, and elitist process. This is understood by the public to mean doctors are justified in drawing 7 figure salaries in some markets and specialties.
This is an excellent point, as well as an often overlooked one. I wanted to become a doctor myself, not to be a glory seeker but because I feel I have the intelligence and want to help people. But for my situation, there were just too many hurdles, money, time, rent being out of control, etc. I am not trying to make excuses, but that's just how it is in my personal situation. That aside, Don't have the source on this one, but I read in an article about high US health costs (before obamacare and post obamacare) is that there is starting to become a shortage of doctors because not only is it cost prohibitive and time consuming (you might be rejected several times before being accepted to medical school) the government allows so few grants for medical students to work and learn at the hospital.
KatyBoleyn
02-16-2018, 02:17 PM
This is an excellent point, as well as an often overlooked one. I wanted to become a doctor myself, not to be a glory seeker but because I feel I have the intelligence and want to help people. But for my situation, there were just too many hurdles, money, time, rent being out of control, etc. I am not trying to make excuses, but that's just how it is in my personal situation. That aside, Don't have the source on this one, but I read in an article about high US health costs (before obamacare and post obamacare) is that there is starting to become a shortage of doctors because not only is it cost prohibitive and time consuming (you might be rejected several times before being accepted to medical school) the government allows so few grants for medical students to work and learn at the hospital.
We've also severely curtailed the desirability of the US insofar as foreign doctors. The visa process is such an asinine thing for doctors from "shithole countries" that many of them would rather go to China, Australia, or the UK where they are in high demand and can live a decent life. This is especially true if they're trying to bring their family along. We no longer get the best and brightest, but instead get the most opportunistic or incompetent.
The brain drain started with Bush, continued under Obama, and will keep going under Trump. There's no advocacy for this because existing US doctors, of course, don't want to start taking a salary hit so they'll make up any bullshit they can about higher standards and such.
baer45
02-17-2018, 12:08 AM
This is an excellent point, as well as an often overlooked one. I wanted to become a doctor myself, not to be a glory seeker but because I feel I have the intelligence and want to help people. But for my situation, there were just too many hurdles, money, time, rent being out of control, etc. I am not trying to make excuses, but that's just how it is in my personal situation. That aside, Don't have the source on this one, but I read in an article about high US health costs (before obamacare and post obamacare) is that there is starting to become a shortage of doctors because not only is it cost prohibitive and time consuming (you might be rejected several times before being accepted to medical school) the government allows so few grants for medical students to work and learn at the hospital.
That's the usual situation for high-paying professions. They will intentionally raise the bar for the newcomers. The only way to guarantee a high paying job is to control the number of people who can do it. Make it harder, more expensive to get qualified.
RyanXO
07-12-2018, 11:45 AM
I'm curious, hope this isn't too getting political but something bugs me.
Despite the crazy costs, people back Obamacare because they are afraid that repeal would mean being denied due to preexisting conditions. Ok, how much of this is true? According to the law passed in the 90's,
*Title I requires the coverage of and also limits restrictions that a group health plan can place on benefits for preexisting conditions. Group health plans may refuse to provide benefits relating to preexisting conditions for a period of 12 months after enrollment in the plan or 18 months in the case of late enrollment. Title I allows individuals to reduce the exclusion period by the amount of time that they had “creditable coverage” prior to enrolling in the plan and after any “significant breaks” in coverage. “Creditable coverage” is defined quite broadly and includes nearly all group and individual health plans, Medicare, and Medicaid. A “significant break” in coverage is defined as any 63-day period without any creditable coverage.
I had no problem buying insurance before ACA passed even though I had a period of depression. I wasn't denied healthcare and payed a fair rate.
So I don't understand the whole "pre-existing condition" thing? I mean, EVERYONE has had one small thing or another at one time. Or is it regarding things like cancer or 1 in a million rare blood diesease? And in that case Medicaid should cover those rare situations, because we have to help them with tax dollars anyways (as it should be it is morally correct to help the less fortunate)
But anyways I have read several anecdotal stories of people claiming they were denied any insurance (before the ACA) because of very minor things such as having peanut allergies or one customer had taken medication for bad facial acne and that was considered a preexisting condition and he could not longer buy any insurance.
Any thoughts?
baer45
07-12-2018, 02:43 PM
I'm curious, hope this isn't too getting political but something bugs me.
Despite the crazy costs, people back Obamacare because they are afraid that repeal would mean being denied due to preexisting conditions. Ok, how much of this is true? According to the law passed in the 90's,
*Title I requires the coverage of and also limits restrictions that a group health plan can place on benefits for preexisting conditions. Group health plans may refuse to provide benefits relating to preexisting conditions for a period of 12 months after enrollment in the plan or 18 months in the case of late enrollment. Title I allows individuals to reduce the exclusion period by the amount of time that they had “creditable coverage” prior to enrolling in the plan and after any “significant breaks” in coverage. “Creditable coverage” is defined quite broadly and includes nearly all group and individual health plans, Medicare, and Medicaid. A “significant break” in coverage is defined as any 63-day period without any creditable coverage.
I had no problem buying insurance before ACA passed even though I had a period of depression. I wasn't denied healthcare and payed a fair rate.
So I don't understand the whole "pre-existing condition" thing? I mean, EVERYONE has had one small thing or another at one time. Or is it regarding things like cancer or 1 in a million rare blood diesease? And in that case Medicaid should cover those rare situations, because we have to help them with tax dollars anyways (as it should be it is morally correct to help the less fortunate)
But anyways I have read several anecdotal stories of people claiming they were denied any insurance (before the ACA) because of very minor things such as having peanut allergies or one customer had taken medication for bad facial acne and that was considered a preexisting condition and he could not longer buy any insurance.
Any thoughts?
It only gets political when some people can't objectively discuss issues and intolerant to a different point of view.
My experience of insurance mainly is from life and casualty insurance. Most of insurance policies need to be underwrote, by the underwriters. That means insurance company will exclude the customers who have high risk. On top of that, policies also have the elimination period, which states that within a certain period (30-60 days), your new purchased insurance policy won't cover your loss. For the healthcare, pre-existing condition mainly refers to any condition for which the patient has already received medical advice or treatment prior to enrollment in a new medical insurance plan. The underwriter could reject your application, and very likely will. For example, if you already receive dialysis treatment and desperately need a new kidney...
To answer your question, "EVERYONE has had one small thing or another at one time"... as long as you are recovered and the condition is not currently causing medical expense (eg. he broke his legs/arms 10 years ago)...those are not pre-existing condition. As your quote, "Group health plans may refuse to provide benefits relating to preexisting conditions for a period of 12 months after enrollment in the plan or 18 months in the case of late enrollment." that's another way of insurance company deny your immediate coverage.
"Guaranteed enrollment" for the pre-existing condition customers is always a key point for Obamacare. It's the best selling point of Obamacare.
RyanXO
07-12-2018, 03:12 PM
Ok I gotcha. I just meant that some people were claiming as if they could never get insurance ever again.
I just wanted to verify that for the average Joe whose condition or injury has gone away, the old system seemed to work. However, I understand that people with severe conditions like your kidney example would not be so fortunate for this system. And like I have always said from the beginning, those people should be able to be covered by the government. (NOT socialized medicine but government insurance for those with no choice.)
baer45
07-12-2018, 03:38 PM
Ok I gotcha. I just meant that some people were claiming as if they could never get insurance ever again.
I just wanted to verify that for the average Joe whose condition or injury has gone away, the old system seemed to work. However, I understand that people with severe conditions like your kidney example would not be so fortunate for this system. And like I have always said from the beginning, those people should be able to be covered by the government. (NOT socialized medicine but government insurance for those with no choice.)
If I remember correctly, learned from a youtube video.
Medicare Kidney Disease Entitlement: The Social Security Amendments of 1972, was put in place by President Nixon. This legislation authorized Medicare entitlement for individuals with a diagnosis of chronic renal failure who were fully or currently insured under social security.
Healthcare issue is difficult because the 3 parties, insurance companies, medical system, and customers, all need to be regulated. So far, no US administrations had ever successfully tried to deal with all three parties.
Nyla19
07-17-2018, 12:01 PM
Obamacare will be gone sooner than later anyway!
slowpoke
07-17-2018, 12:38 PM
It was intended to fail.
423texas
07-17-2018, 04:39 PM
It was intended to fail.
Correct, but they had hoped it would fail under another "progressive" administration, so they could segue into the Holy Grail of single payer for all.
They certainly didn't anticipate anything like a Trump administration.
Zofia
07-24-2018, 04:28 AM
I'm curious, hope this isn't too getting political but something bugs me.
Despite the crazy costs, people back Obamacare because they are afraid that repeal would mean being denied due to preexisting conditions. Ok, how much of this is true? According to the law passed in the 90's, ...
Any thoughts?
You are correct, pre-existing conditions are few and far between. Basically, it has to be something that came up during a period when you were not insured. Obamacare did cover that last "gap" if you will. It also lifted life time limits. The latter has driven premiums up more than any other issue. (Not the only driver of premium increases, but the biggest.)
HTH
Z
baer45
01-09-2019, 10:08 AM
San Francisco hospital REFUSES private health plans leaving patients with $20,000 bill for bike crash and $10,000 for a migraine
$24,000 for a CT Scan, X Ray, and Emergency Room attendance is extortionate. In Australia in a private hospital (public is completely free) you'd be charged around $400 for CT scan, $300 for X ray, and $350 for Emergency Room attendance, total $1050.
This is disgusting. the medical system and insurance company screw us up!
No one can fix this, Obama and Trump, they couldn't/can't/won't do anything about it.
eagle2
01-09-2019, 02:17 PM
It's not the medical system. It's one hospital doing this. This shouldn't be allowed at all.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6572569/Mark-Zuckerbergs-hospital-penalises-patients-private-health-coverage.html
indiegirl
01-09-2019, 07:14 PM
I finally got medi-cal insurance. Free medications, 2 free ER visits, 2 free urgent care visits, free rehab/detox, free therapist, and I'm in the process of getting free dental care all in the first month. Wouldn't have been able to afford any of that otherwise. Feels good to finally have insurance instead of being terrified of what would happen in the case of a health problem..
baer45
01-10-2019, 09:12 AM
It's not the medical system. It's one hospital doing this. This shouldn't be allowed at all.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6572569/Mark-Zuckerbergs-hospital-penalises-patients-private-health-coverage.html
It is overpriced everywhere. This one is just on the news, and an extreme case.
If you call 911, local hospital charges you $900 on your insurance for the ambulance. Anyone who says medical cost is normal in the USA is blind or working for a hospital.
ZeroSugarMonster
01-11-2019, 02:46 AM
I finally got medi-cal insurance. Free medications, 2 free ER visits, 2 free urgent care visits, free rehab/detox, free therapist, and I'm in the process of getting free dental care all in the first month. Wouldn't have been able to afford any of that otherwise. Feels good to finally have insurance instead of being terrified of what would happen in the case of a health problem..
How in the heck did you qualify? The one good fiscal year I had working in CA, my premiums were over $300/month from Kaiser. When I wanted to treat myself to a vacation in Peru jungle for that good year and being as prudent as I am, I got my series of shots, including rabies, I got a nice big fat bill for all my shots to be paid out of pocket bc my deductible was 5k. When I was living with 18 roommates in LA in a living situation that ultimately made the news prior to my needing therapy for all the bs I dealt with there, I got a nice big fat bill from Kaiser again bc apparently, with a 250/month premium, the deductible was still 5k.
Even when I had pain in my uterus this past trip to SF and went to Planned Parenthood, I still got a bill for $400 for the hour of services I received, just to have them say that nothing was wrong. I disclosed my income as 24k, which is a rough estimate of my net for the year prior after you take out maximum self-employment retirement contributions and expenses, such as work-related travel, house fees, costume expenses, etc.
This past year, I just opted for accident and travel insurance.
There was a low-cost clinic in LA in Hollywood that I really liked, which would have met all my needs. I think it's called the Hollywood Clinic.
Yeah, the cost of health care in the US is unfortunately out of control. It's an issue that's very close to my heart for a long time but not sure if anything can be done. When I had a discussion (among many) with someone about this, they said that a universal plan is not feasible in the US bc our country has way too many ppl, which I think may be exactly right.
indiegirl
01-11-2019, 06:08 AM
How in the heck did you qualify? The one good fiscal year I had working in CA, my premiums were over $300/month from Kaiser. When I wanted to treat myself to a vacation in Peru jungle for that good year and being as prudent as I am, I got my series of shots, including rabies, I got a nice big fat bill for all my shots to be paid out of pocket bc my deductible was 5k. When I was living with 18 roommates in LA in a living situation that ultimately made the news prior to my needing therapy for all the bs I dealt with there, I got a nice big fat bill from Kaiser again bc apparently, with a 250/month premium, the deductible was still 5k.
Even when I had pain in my uterus this past trip to SF and went to Planned Parenthood, I still got a bill for $400 for the hour of services I received, just to have them say that nothing was wrong. I disclosed my income as 24k, which is a rough estimate of my net for the year prior after you take out maximum self-employment retirement contributions and expenses, such as work-related travel, house fees, costume expenses, etc.
This past year, I just opted for accident and travel insurance.
There was a low-cost clinic in LA in Hollywood that I really liked, which would have met all my needs. I think it's called the Hollywood Clinic.
Yeah, the cost of health care in the US is unfortunately out of control. It's an issue that's very close to my heart for a long time but not sure if anything can be done. When I had a discussion (among many) with someone about this, they said that a universal plan is not feasible in the US bc our country has way too many ppl, which I think may be exactly right.
I'll PM you :)