savings by NOT HAVING health insurance

I'm not an O/O...but through the company I work for, my part of the insurance is $500.00 a month. This is expensive as well as cheap for me. I can't afford to be without health insurance at all.

My wife has arthritis...the prescriptions alone for her for a month cost well over $3500.00...that's $42,000.00 a year for all those without a calculator handy. My yearly earnings wouldn't cover that expense and allow me to live...at least without help from relatives or the state.

Throw in a back surgery, gall bladder surgery, several failed attempts to diagnose Lymes Disease and the treatment for the same only to find out she didn't have it at all and more tests galore to figure out just what was going on to get to this stage of the diagnosis...it's taken 10 years of this type of thing. Trust me when I say that deductibles aren't any fun to come up with either. However...They're cheap compared to surgery and outpatient care.

I haven't even included me in all this... because I'm healthy for the most part...but there will come a day that I'll be very glad to have it...I'm sure.

Health insurance IS important to me and mine.

The government doesn't have a roll in providing it or paying for it with MY TAX MONEY.

It's an expense I'll always have. I pay for it myself... gladly.

My suggestion.....buy good health insurance and enjoy good health for a while. Don't wait till you need it to wish you had it.

 

Monthly medication bills are evil in my household too.My whole family was healthy until a little over 2 years ago.All of a sudden we started having headaches,then stomach trouble,dizzy spells and almost borderline dementia.I had it worse at first as I was off for a bit and home most of the time,my daughter was in school all day and showed almost no symptoms...This all came on in 2 to 4 months....We went to doctor after doctor and went through test after test without finding out anything.They finally decided I had a severe maxillary sinus infection so they immediately ODed me on antibiotics (2000 mg a day for almost 5 weeks.I've had weakness in my hips and legs almost every since)My wife was surfing the net one night,punched our symptoms in(why didn't a doctor do this) and black mold was a possible cause.Next day I checked all around the place and found out the shower drain had came loose under the house and our foundation was holding it in like a swimming pool and mold was EVERYWHERE.

Thank God we found a place we could afford to buy and we were out of there within a month but the damage was done .My wife has ended up with Crohn's and the meds she takes for it have caused arthritis.She has had several hospital stays,blood transfusions and sees a doctor several times a month .

I suffer with constant stomach and back pains that moves everywhere,a hernia in my throat from getting sick to my stomach so much,allergies,intermitant leg and hip weakness and a total lack of energy and after a dozen doctors who've done nothing, I've gave up on them and refuse to even go back to one.

My 9yo daughter has intermitant stomach and back pain and has developed alergies too and she sees a doctor whenever she needs to.

General practioners seem completely ignorant of what to do about this and we don't have the option of going to Mayo or somewhere where they could probably do something for us.We just keep idling along and waiting it out like most other folks without insurance do.You can take it to the bank that when and if I get through this, I'll have insurance for my family the next time I need it and I'll thank God every day I wake up feeling good.

 

Everyone needs some kind of major medical insurance. Something can happen so quickly that would be impossible to pay for on your own. That's when those years of premiums become worthwhile. My mother was always extremely healthy. The only time she really ever used her insurance was to have her children. But 3 1/2 months in the ICU would have financially devastated my father. At least with insurance, he will be able to go on. You just never know when that need for insurance will strike.

 

Your IFS assume the stock market goes up and the value of your assests appreciate rather than depreciate. I hope your investments do not include companies "like" Global crossing or Enron or some of these other companies that have gone belly up over the years leaving their stockholders with nothing but indigestion.

This guy must be indestructable! He wants facts huh? You folks have tried to "educate" this fella but he still isnt seeing the "big picture."
Try this on for size for facts BobbyG29;

1.Had I NOT had car insurance I would be out of pocket 5500.00 for my daughter "borrowing" her moms car and running it off the road accidentally. Airbags deployed and the car was in the shop for several weeks. Cost to me to carry "full coverage" insurance on this car is about 1200.00 per year with a 250 deductible.
2. Had I NOT carried house insurance back in 1999. I would be out of pocket $85,000.00 and still be paying a mortgage on a house that was no longer there due to a fire. Cost to me for house insurance about 350.00 per year.
3. Had I NOT had medical insurance in 1998 when my eldest daughter contracted viral meningitis at the age of 10, I would be in debt over 100,000.00 for the emergency pediatric services for several days while they tried to save her life but ultimately failed. Cost to me $40.00 per week plus 20% of the cost up to 10 grand then 100% coverage.
4. Had I NOT continued to carry medical insurance for my family I would be facing almost 300,00.00 in debt for my wifes diverticulitis which ruptured putting her on an ostomy bag for 6 months. The reversal of that surgery to put her colon back together, the removal of her gall bladder, and several hernia operations since then.
5. Had I NOT had family medical insurance with Pyschiatric care I would be facing over 15 grand in those expenses for my 17 year old daughter having 3 stays at different Pyschiatric hospitals.
6. If I did not have a precsription insurance plan I would have to pay for a dozen prescriptions the full price which would be over 2 thousand dollars a month rather than the copays which drop the prices to about 15 to 45 per prescription. No additional cost to me because it is included through my medical plan.
7. Had I NOT bough AFLAC insurance several years ago I would have been without a paycheck for 3 months while I was being diagnosed with sleep apnea, going through sleep studies, and getting used to a cpap machine. Instead they paid me back 7200.00 to pay my mortgage and monthly expenses while I was on the sidelines. Cost to me for this insurance 50.00 per week.

The sad thing is there are many young guys that do "think like you." The truth is more people have to file bankruptcy based on medical expenses than ANY other reason each year.

Insurance is designed to even out the risks associated with living. Accidents, illnessess, diseases, floods, fires, even death will cost each of us in our lifetimes many times the amount of money that you "think you will save by not having it."

For your sake (and your families) I hope you "rethink" your position on this.


I, for 1, would actually applaud a federalized system of healthcare. Something along the lines of an insurance plan equal to that of our elected politicians.

How to pay for it? A similar tax based on social security with no limit (ss taxes stop at $102,000). The wealthiest Americans would pay more as would corporations in general but it would be an itemizable deduction. Of course the only way it would work is for it to be mandatory just as social security and medicare taxes are. Based on what we are paying for insurance to private companies such as Cigna, Blue cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare and the like we could fund this for each American citizen. The entire review process used by these behemoths actually cause much pain to patients and frustration to doctors alike when some pencil pusher over rules a doctor in a diagnosis or the necessity of a particular test.

I know that means National ID cards with top notch security features as well. The funds would have to be set aside in a tamper proof program and administered by a 3rd party nonprofit entity. It could be done. Many will scream and holler but I think it is worth it in the long run. The "true measure of a societies worth can be measured by how well they take care of their elders and the sickly."

 

You have some very good points there! From what I read, I think you lost one of your kids, I am so sorry to hear that, I couldn't imagine losing my son. My heart really does go out to you! Insurance is very important to happen, because basiclly you just never know when that "what if" will happen, and when it does it will nto be cheap and I bet that guy would have wished he had insurance.

However I don't aggree with you on the "universal health care plan", as I lived in Germany for 13 years and I don't want that (they have that) it is basically worst health care you can get.

I have another idea..

Lets just say the insurance compaines offered medical insurnace at a REASONABLE rate to ANYBODY off the street they would get more business. I don't think we should be forced to work for a major company just for the health care. There are many, many great jobs out there working for small business owners, however most of them cannot afford good health care for their employees.

If anybody off the street was able to walk down to a local insurance company and get good health care coverage for a decent rate, I bet majority of Americans would then have health care coverage.

 

Prior to driving OTR, I worked for extended periods of time in hospitals in Germany, England, Holland, Portugal, Scotland, Canada and the US. I say it again and please pay attention: A "For Profit" health care delivery system (such as we have in the US), requires companies to deny care and medication in order for them to be profitable. Think about that. There is nothing wrong with the health care provided in Canada and Europe. In any event, it's a hell of a lot better than the coverage that I have now which is nothing.

 

EXCELLENT POST 777.....I'm very sorry for your loss.I can't even let myself imagine that.

 

Health savings accounts are tax free and do not have to be tied to the company that has the high deductible. Mine is through a local bank with no administration fees. The money is mine. I fund it when it is needed.

 

Thankyou for the kind words iowabmw and muleskinner. It was not my intention to try to illicit sympathy but rather to illustrate through my own personal trials how short sited it is not to have health insurance. The sad truth is that the wealthy among us have all the insurance they want (and in many cases more than they need) while the neediest among us go without.

I have found that to be a success you must protect yourself in every way possible. Insurances play a big part in this philosophy. I personally have 10 times my annual salary in Term Life Insurance (for my family in the event of my demise), The best AFLAC coverage I could get, Medical and Dental Insurance for me and the family, Short Term Disability and Workers Comp are provided by my employer at no cost to me. I also have investements in my 401k to provide for my retirement in addition to monies that go to a personal credit union for "emergencies."

I would like to encourage each and every one of you to evaluate what is most important in your lives and take steps to insure those loved ones are taken care of. Yes I did lose my first born daughter due to an illness but the truth is it is better this way (for her and me). You see Meningitis attacks the brain functions and organs. Had she lived she may have been a vegetable with no hopes of ever leading a normal life. The medical costs would have been crippling and I for one am grateful that she is in a better place and I did not have to see her in such a state. Especially after she had been such a beautiful, energetic, and loving child that sang in the church choir every chance she got. She will be missed until the day I have completed my duties to my spouse and other children and am released to go to her.