Posted on 11/30/2014 10:47:47 AM PST by Yaelle
I was a part of my family member's business, and as an employee of this small family business was able to get myself and 4 kids covered by a private insurance company with a great ppo plan though pricy. Every year, this coverage grew more expensive by a couple hundred a month, until this year when it has gone up by $500 a month. I can't afford it and the business will be closing in 2015.
I don't want to join CA Covered because it's ObamaCare. What do any CA FReepers do for insurance when they aren't getting it paid for through a company?
I am supposed to pay $2500 a month for 5 people. I just can't do this.
Can anyone offer some advice: how to not go to places like Kaiser but not break the bank either? I need to make the change now.
Good points, all. I do hear one person rave about it - Bill Handel, a very wealthy guy on the radio (a top USA morning guy, plus he has other lucrative businesses), swears by Kaiser. He could afford anything.
I will check out Kaiser but I really do like my doctors, and — Gd help me, Mister President -— I do want to keep them.
You probably live in the Puget Sound area and are affected by the mergers we read about in the Seattle Times. Here in the Tr-Cities, with three basically independent hospitals (although one of them has an affilition with the large Catholic group), the issue of mergers has nothing whatsoever to do with independent practices closing and the providers joining hospitals.
How does your Oklahoma clinic/cash fee plan deal with the year of physical therapy that is sometimes required after orthopedic surgery?
My main point was your $20k was not a lot of money for a major medical issue. If you get cancer, if the procedure to remove the cancer doesn't take up the $20K one chemo treatment would take the rest. I wish I was in a position that I could go without insurance and pay as I go, unfortunately, I am not willing to take that risk. I wish you and your family the best of health
Become an immigrant..... They get free stuff while you the American have to pay.
California pushes to expand immigrant health care
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3232280/posts
If you stay with obamacare you will find it increasingly difficult to get that replacement in the first place and worse when we get single payer. A robust offshore practice is actually the only way that pharmacological research is going to continue because Single payer isn’t going to pay for it.All the drug and device research in the world is now aimed at the American Market because the rest of the civilized world has some sort of socialized medicine and does not allow drug prices high enough to pay for research. The American market is going away.That mans new medicines will still cost a fortune but they will only be available offshore if developed at all. Some say well we are advanced far enough now that we don’t have to develop new meds but then there is the case of antibiotics. Antibiotics fade with use and new ones must be constantly developed. It takes research as expensive for those as for the others and socialized medicine will not pay for them either.
Im sure it doesn’t, but physical therapy is not expensive, and most of it does not require a Physical Therapist. When I had Knee Surgery 30 years ago my doctor gave me a list of exercises to do with my knee. No Therapist.
Now when I separated my shoulder I went to therapy for 6 weeks, $2000. But that was a result of a Lawsuit, if not for the Lawyers, I would have healed just fine on my own without therapy.
I dont mean to discount Physical Therapy, but in most cases it is not needed.
those prices are OUT THE DOOR, everything Included.
Few are after an accident if they're even conscious. Fewer still can fly in a coach seat to Oklahoma.
Hah! Thank you. I was going to reference *your* post to Yaelle. :)
It really depends. Some Kaiser facilities are nicer than others. Less foot traffic too.
I am not willing to take that risk
I fully understand, but I am not willing to get screwed just because it’s the law. My new premiums were more than the Mortgage on 2 of my homes combined. So I paid them both off instead.
You need to tell that to the insurance companies who drop it due to out-of-control costs.
"I would have healed just fine on my own without therapy."
Possibly, but you consistently seem to make best-possible-outcome assumptions about your future medical needs and at some point that is not going to be realistic or wise.
I guess next time I break a bone I need to be close to this surgery center.
I had my procedure done in a Hospital so maybe a surgery center can charge less because of their lower overhead. A lot of medical issues can not be treated in an out patient surgery center.
We had Kaiser up until a few years ago. The cost was getting so high we had to quit, well over $1,000/month for 3 and it had high deductable.
Best thing we ever did was join http://www.chministries.org/
Much better coverage, lower cost, has covered our medical needs much better than any insurance we had and you choose your own doctor and you can completely avoid the obamacare mess.
If you are an active Christian you really need to check it out or a similar Christian co-op.
If you have any questions, message me.
A big reason why practices are closing is because Obamacare is requiring them to have computer charts and billing. This cost is huge, up to a million dollars for some practices. Decreasing reimbursements is another issue. That is why providers are joining up with hospitals. This trend is happening much faster in Washington state.
You dont need a year of physical therapy. That is a scam. If you are motivated, you can do it on your own after a few sessions with a PT.
The claims of Obiecare patients who fail to pay their premiums are covered for 30 days by the insurance company, then the physician is required to treat them for an additional 60 days before dropping them. So, the “stiffing” losses are doubled.
Which part?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.