My families health insurance premium just went up 22% - PUBLIC OPTION NOW!

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

ok, i am unemployed, as is my husband. lay offs. We are trying to become re-employed, and are just treading water right now. Sinking fast. We will, without a doubt, have to take jobs making much much less then before.

He carried medical insurance through his job, and as his layoff was back in July, 08, we are not eligible for Obama's cobra benefit.

We could not manage the cobra premium, so being a good American , I went out and got a catastrophic coverage policy, which has a more manageable premium, but still a chuck out of our family budget. We are protected in the event of a hospital stay, or a broken leg, or cancer, but as we are responsible for the first $4,000, therefore we have no preventive care, as doctors visits are not in the budget right now, and as I tell my family, you had better be collapsed on the floor with blood coming out of your eyes, ears and mouth before we take you to the hospital. (Kidding, humor helps!)

I just got my bill for July today, and the premium has increased 22%. Unbelievable. I don't know how much my family can take before we just throw in the towel, and sell the house, and just start living on the street. I am not kidding. Another thing, since my husband was targeted by his company due to his age, over 50, I am not so sure that when he does become re-employed, it will be as an employee, with med benefits, and not in some sort of contract position, which means this is a problem not going away any time soon for my family.

God help us, what the hell is gong on in the country? How can you work for 30+ years and not abuse consumer credit, save (as we did), work hard, be involved in our community, and end up laying in bed at night knowing that one sickness, one accident, one trip to the hospital and you risk losing everything.

Just venting, I guess.

[Oregone]

1. SINGLE PAYER NOW

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

3. yes,

I don't think some politicians and insurance industry types understand how real this problem is, and how damaging it is to average families, and how much we all have to lose. Like everything. And not next year, or the year after that, but today.

[slipslidingaway]

5. +1 n/t

[RufusTFirefly]

12. +1 n/t

[FiveGoodMen]

22. +1!

[TomCADem]

2. Health Insurance Debate Ignores Reality Of Private Insurance Rescission

Paul Begala makes a good point that lost in the discussion of costs is the question of whether people actually get what they pay for. Even if you can afford health insurance, there is always the danger that when you actually do get sick, the health insuance company will dump you.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/19/begala.health.care/

[mdavies013]

4. I understand...going through a similar situation for myself...I guess we are lucky

because my family is covered. I had the catastrophic suck plan up until I could not afford it any longer. The premiums went from a reasonable $100 per month to well over $200 - in which I would be responsible for the first $2,550 of anything that happened. Right now we just can't swing it. I can come close to the premium...but I can't afford to go the the doctor anyway...so what does that do.

In addition...we came close to broke when my son required stitches. He had an accident playing and cut his head right near an artery. With insurance...we still had to pay over $600. Absolutely shameful.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

9. yes, it is shameful

our premiums went from $300 to $366, which when you are living off of unemployment benefits and savings, that is quite a chunk of change.

I do have a call in to the company to find out the reason for the increase. I don't understand why medical insurance companies can just increase premiums at will, and not have to justify it, like utility companies do.

And l totally agree about going to the doctor. Can't afford it right now, so in reality I may as well burn the $300 a month, or as it will be in July, the $366.

thanks for the good words, it helps...

[chill_wind]

6. K & R n/t

[Uben]

7. Just be thankful you haven't had cancer

Ever since my wife's bout with cancer back in 2003, our premiums have gone from $560/mo to over $1300/mo. And it goes up every opportunity they get to raise it! We have to pay it because we can't get insurance anywhere else due to pre-existing conditions.

THAT'S OVER $15,000 A YEAR FOR A $5000 DEDUCTIBLE POLICY AND 50% OF THE NEXT $10,000! So, in the event of a serious injury or illness, we're still $10,000/yr out of pocket, despite paying $15,000/yr in premiums! That's $25,000, and we have friggin insurance!

I could qualify that, I guess, by saying I can afford the premiums, but how many Americans could?

Not to underscore your situation, by any means. I just wanted to point out it could be worse! I feel for you immensely. It's not right. Maybe we should all just go without insurance and go to the emergency room as indigents.

It's time to REGULATE THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY. It's like they want all the money we have left after the banks have done their fleecing and after the oil companies have gotten their share!

When did the business mantra in America become "Get as much as you can from the public, as quick as you can, before some other industry gets it"?

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

10. oh my god

it is sick and shameful we allow this to happen in this great country.

[Merlot]

8. Premiums? Extortion. Ransom. Blackmail.

They're holding you hostage, I'm sorry to say.

If it's a choice between your house and the insurance, I'd have to say pay the house. At least you get something for it. And chances are good that if something happens to you, it will either be less than the deductible, or if it were more the insurance company would not pay any way.

Good luck to you and your family

[RufusTFirefly]

11. Public option may make things worse. Medicare for All is the answer

A public option may sound good the way it's being sold, but it could prove to be bad for our health and good for the insurance companies.

As Dr. Steffie Woolhandler told the Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce today

"Unfortunately, competition in health insurance involves a race to the bottom, not the top. Insurers compete by NOT paying for care: by denying payment and shifting costs onto patients or other payers. These bad behaviors confer a decisive competitive advantage. A public plan option would either emulate them – becoming a clone of private insurance – or go under. A kinder, gentler public plan option would quickly fail in the marketplace, saddled with the sickest, most expensive patients, whose high costs would drive premiums to uncompetitive levels."

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

14. Yes, i have been thinking about this allot

I may not qualify for a public option, and if the public option doesn't give some relief to the average family and small business's, it won't help THAT much. But, I do believe it is a start, may help clear the way to single payer.

[RufusTFirefly]

15. You would probably qualify for the public option.

But the problem is that private insurance companies will have increased incentive to turn down older and sicker Americans, who will either bankrupt the public system or force it to cut back on care.

All the administrative headaches of the current private system will be kept intact. Thus a major part of the cost-savings that comes from a government run system will be lost. In fact, the primary benefit of a government administered system will be lost

We will be left with a two-tiered system, where rich people will buy private insurance and poor people will go with a cash-starved public option.

There will almost certainly be a lot of sick and unhappy people as a result. And the Democrats will justifiably bear the blame. That's going to be very bad news come election time.

The only way a public system will be cost-effective and provide adequate care is for everyone to pay into it. That's why it's Medicare for All.

It's amazingly simple, really. You can keep your doctors. The government becomes your insurance company. The goal of the whole system is to promote wellness, not profit. The only people who lose are the big insurance companies. Ordinary Americans will win big.


BTW, I totally understand your angst regarding your insurance premiums. Mine just went up a whopping 29 percent this month. And I have an extremely high deductible. My insurance is almost totally useless. I feel as though I'm paying off a protection racket each month. I almost wish I had been turned down for insurance.

[Dappleganger]

13. I'm right there with ya...

we are paying for COBRA now, but even with the subsidy from the stimulus package it is expensive!!!

[prolesunited]

17. I missed qualifying for the subsidy by 10 days.

Sucks because it really would have helped us. We are paying 1,100 a month for two of us. I had to have procedures in January because of slight internal bleeding (ended up being a totally inflamed stomach lining, likely due to stress) that I'm still paying off, not to mention all the meds we both take just to stay out of the hospital.

We do generics when we can, but there aren't generics for stuff like Singulair and Advair. I guess I could chose not to breathe.

We are spending more than half our monthly budget on medical costs. My mortgage and utilities combined are less than our health care. It's seriously fucked up.

[prolesunited]

16. I'm in the same boat

Did everything they said to achieve the American dream, including being the first in the family to go to college, and we are now faced with choosing our health (I have bad allergies and asthma, which is NOT a lifestyle choice) or keeping our very modest home, which we will end up losing anyway without health coverage.

There is something seriously wrong with this country. I have been applying for job after job, but just like the hundreds others vying for the same position, I'm getting nowhere.

[femrap]

18. Mine went up 36%!!!! nt

[wildeyed]

19. Ours went up 15%.

We are self-employed. Our health insurance is more than the mortgage.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. Yeah, tell me about it

My premium went up 13% this month (my birthday month), and it's not even a birthday that ends in a -5 or a -0.

[susanr516]

21. K&R n/t