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Do you like your insurance?
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Anonymous
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This is something Obama said from CBS Face the Nation this morning
---Obama put his support behind the idea of taxing employers that offer high-cost insurance plans. "I do think that giving a disincentive to insurance companies to offer Cadillac plans that don't make people healthier is part of the way that we're going to bring down health care costs for everybody over the long term," Obama said on "Meet the Press." Obama's network interviews were taped Friday at the White House. He became the first president to appear on five Sunday network shows in the same morning, an extraordinary effort to build public support for his top domestic priority. The goal is expand and improve health insurance coverage and rein in long-term costs. --- Hmmm I have a "Cadillac" plan ..now I do at least and I like it and I pay for it and I am not sure when Obama became a doctor and could tell me what could make me healthy. I know that currently if I need surgery, it is covered and takes place without a long waiting period. With Obama's--everyone is same agenda-- it will hurt those of us who have always prioritized our insurance to help "even the field" for a small percentage of people;many of whom choose to not insure. Get ready everyone because companies are not going to keep up the good plans if they are taxed and many people are going to get bad insurance. Good luck comrades!! |
Anonymous
| No. Our plan is offered by one of the largest employers in this area and would be considered a cadillac plan. But the catch is that they reject claims just like any other plan when the medical expenses get serious. |
Anonymous
| You think your insurance would be better with the government running it? The Republican alternative deals with cutting of insurance claims. Obama's plan will hurt anyone who has good insurance and most people like their insurance. |
Anonymous
Wow, your health insurance premiums are $21,000 a year? Are you a union employee or something? Is it indemnity coverage? Who has these policies anymore? |
Anonymous
Most people have no idea how heavily subsidized their insurance plans really are. We pay just under $20,000 because my husband is in a partnership and we pay for the full cost of insurance ourselves. We have a basic HMO type plan with co-pays on doctor visits (in-network) and prescriptions. We also have to pay a certain amount out-of-pocket before full coverage kicks in. When I worked for a very large company, I only paid about $200 a month for similar or better coverage. That's because the company was huge and had a lot of bargaining power. I am not a fan of government run health care but something has to be done about costs. Our insurance plan is out of reach for most Americans and if costs continue to rise, it will be out of reach for us. |
Anonymous
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I do not understand the hysteria about the public option at all. Its the only way to drive down the costs and provide a base line level of coverage.
As a consumer you have very little power over your insurance and being happy with it for most is more being in a state of false security. The insurance companies have all the power in the current system and the consumer has woefully little transparency or even control over making an informed judgement on what is covered or not. It is you employer and the insurance comnay deciding what is covered not you and a doctor. As costs rise employers will need to negotiate down coverage and insurance companies will not simply lower their profits. You will find lower lifetime maximums and more things that are simply not covered. |
Anonymous
Well if those people like their insurance, then they can keep it the way it is. Yes, I'll repeat. They can keep it the way it is. But for many of us, our employer plan is not good for us, and we have no alternative except to buy it as an individual. Do you know how screwed you are if you buy your own insurance? It's not just that you pay the employer portion, too. You get robbed on the premiums if you are buying on your own. A government alternative would be much better for those who can't get adequate insurance through their employer. I am always amazed that people pretend this is reducing consumer choice. In reality, you get whatever plan your employer decides to give you, which is in most companies one insurer with a PPO and an indemnity option and maybe a managed care option. So unless you pick and choose jobs for the insurance, you have zero real choice. |
Anonymous
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"Well if those people like their insurance, then they can keep it the way it is. Yes, I'll repeat. They can keep it the way it is."
This is not necessarily going to be true in the medium to long term. As even Obama admits since he now says "nothing in the bill/plan will FORCE changes to your existing policies". That said, I'm strongly in support of major health reform and I DO love my health insurance. I have no idea what the full cost of it is but when I had a baby, I probably paid more for parking at the damn hospital for all the OBGYN visits combined than I did total for bills related to the pregnancy/baby. (normal pregnancy, normal hospital stay, vaginal birth w/ no complications for me or baby, epidural....but I think even if it had been the entire opposite it still would have all been covered) My DH also has FINALLY gotten relief from absolutely horrible eczema through super duper expensive IV treatments. yep, fully covered with just a $10 co pay. We pay several hundred a month in premiums towards the total my employer bears, but I have a feeling it's a small percentage of the total. BUT, yes, i believe strongly enough in the need for major major reform and that our current system is driving many businesses and our government bankrupt over health costs, that i'd put my great policy at risk of major changes. Honestly it really is selfish, especially if you have great insurance, to say "well I'm fine and I'm healthy" and so screw everyone else that isn't covered or who thought they were covered until the insurance company retro-actively dumped them for not reporting a hangnail they had 8 years before they got the policy. Honestly, I find it crazy that it's primarily the Christian right that is pushing this anti-reform view since it's inconceivable that Jesus would embrace that type of "fend for yourself and screw you because I've got mine" attitude. |
Anonymous
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Actually the idea of of "too much insurance" is a conservative economic viewpoint. The thought is that if people have really good coverage, they tend to use docotrs "too much". Any conservative economist will say this is a bad idea.
Personally, I have great insurance in that it is 100% paid for by my employer. I paid $0 to have each of my children - from first doctor's vist through birth and 6 week check up. My copays are low and I will go to the doctor when I think I or my children are sick and am a firm believer in preventative medicine. Do I love my insurance company? Not really. They make me fight them a lot just to delay paying. That shows me how f'ed up the system is and why there is so much paperwork and overhead involved with our system. So, as much as I have it good, I think the medical insurance structure in this country is ridiculous and there should be a single payer system. |
Anonymous
| Hmmm Canada and England have single payer and they are failed systems. |
Anonymous
Says who? THere are plenty of Canadians and British who like their systems. A lot of them would prefer their's over ours. |
Anonymous
No one in Britain wants to get rid of the National Health Service. It is so popular your party can't get elected unless you support it. if you don't believe me, look at the official positions of both the Labour and Conservative Parties. Gordon Brown supports it. His party supports it. Frickin' Steven Hawking supports it, and he should know about as much as anyone about health care in Britain. There is one dingbat in the whole Conservative party who went on Fox opposing it and his party came down on him like a ton of bricks. Seriously, you should change channels. You are being fed total lies. Total! Doesn't that not bother you???!!? Aren't you ashamed to be duped that way? |
Anonymous
| Can you explain the higher cancer death rates in those countries? Can you explain why it takes so long to get an operation there? The problem is that the single payer system is awful for care but you get the losers like most of the Labour party people who look at it as something for free since they are not very successful. Steven Hawkins is rich enough that it doesn't matter. The larger question to ask is how many people just have the single payer insurance without extra insurance?? Not many of the people who actually work and are successful. In our country 85% of people have health insurance and most of those people like their insurance-they will be in for a rude awakening when they find themselves told they will have to weight eight months for radiation for cancer when they need it next week. This health care reform is not fooling anyone which is why it's in trouble. A shame because there are some things that do need to be worked on. |
Anonymous
you are totally talking out your arse. First the Conservatives support it too. Second you can't compare cancer death rates like that. Can you explain why life expectancy is higher there? Third Steven Hawking said he would not be alive if not for NHS. |