even those of us with "good" health insurance are being hit.

[ginnyinWI]

My husband works for a large corporation and we've always had pretty good health insurance. The big boys get to dictate terms--or at least they did. Starting in January we will no longer have the option to belong to an HMO. Our only choice is a regular insurance plan with a deductible--even for our prescriptions. The plan is ironically named Choice. The "choice" we have is to pick one of three varying levels of payroll deductions and deductibles--the higher the former, the lower the latter. Big choice. In each of the three plans, the insurance doesn't begin to pay until we have paid out $4300 every year. It's better than nothing, but it is going to amount to having a catastrophic-only plan. Unless we get really sick or injured, we aren't going to be getting any help at all.

For a doctor visit, instead of a $15 co-pay, we will pay the full amount of $95-189 per visit. For my one brand name prescription, $700 a year instead of $200. Generics, about $100 a year. (I may have to go to a generic which my doc says has more side effects.) Preventive care is still covered--like a regular annual physical--so far.

My point is that they are coming for everybody now. They're coming for us all.

[ananda]

1. It's bad all right.

The insurers are bold and brazen. They think that they
can get away with anything.. and so far, they can.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

2. I hate to say this, but that is good in that it may jar the complacency

of all those people who seem to think because they still have a job and still have employer provided health care, that they are immune and above the current discussion.

(I am in no way thinking or meaning to imply that you are complacent,immune,and smug.)

[ginnyinWI]

4. no offense taken.

But you are right--it's going to start hitting very close to home. One co-worker of my husband's was ranting at work about how this amounts to a forced pay cut--and he's right.

[Ocracoker16]

13. excellent point

There are people who say that they like what they have already. They don't seem to understand that there is no gurantee that they will have that when they wake up tomorrow. The insurance companies want to make money so they will do any number of things like increasaing premiums or refusing to pay for medicines without any concern about the patient's wellbeing. These people are fools to think that the healthcare debate is just for the uninsured. People need to realize that they may end up uninsured after their health insurance company increases their premiums and further restricts coverage at the same time.

[Romulox]

3. The proposed mandates would FORCE you to keep that crappy insurance.

That will help. Somehow. :shrug:

[ginnyinWI]

7. I know--we have no choice, no options.

It's either take it, or take it.

The provider is United Health Care. No choice there, either. Need I say more?

[knitter4democracy]

8. *shudder* UHC sucks.

My ex had them through work for the last couple of years. They deny anything at the drop of a hat, and boy, can they be really nasty about it. Keep every single piece of paper you get from them and every single receipt and bill. Trust me.

[dysfunctional press]

5. i would never choose the option to belong to an hmo...

i even left a job once because the company switched to an hmo benefit plan.
i had been in an hmo prior to that- and it was the WORST. never again.

[ginnyinWI]

9. I think some are better than others.

We had a good one I think. We just had to pay a co-pay for a doctor visit or prescription, but there were no deductibles to meet first. And all labs covered 100%. We also had a wide range of doctors to choose from, and didn't need a referral to see a specialist.

With the new plan, if we keep the payroll deduction the same we will have to meet an additonal deductible of $2700 before they will pay out for anything other than routine physicals.

We may go for the lowest payroll deduction and the highest deductible. That way, the money we pay out for sure is less, and the money we may not have to spend is the highest. Why pay a big payroll deduction where the money is gone for sure, just to get a lower deductible? We can use a Health Savings Account to save pre-tax dollars for paying that deductible, so everything is pre-taxed money.

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. This is just a hint of what the runup to 2013 will be like as they squeeze every dime

out of the system that they can.

[L0oniX]

10. Welcome to my world of $300 a month premiums and a $5000 yearly deductible.

[Jokerman]

11. Our prescription co-pay is 5 times what it was just a few years ago.

The list of things not covered at all keeps growing.

Doctor wants me on a new arthritis med - $200/month - not covered.

My wife's doctor wants her on a Continuous Glucose Monitor - $350/month - not covered.

A few years ago I would have said that I had excellent health insurance. The premiums go up and the coverage goes down and now, I'd say our coverage is better than nothing.

[LuckyLib]

12. My employer announced 3 years ago that they were revamping our system

so that we would have more "choice" -- we knew exactly what that meant. Increased premiums for us, higher deductibles. The health insurance companies saw the writing on the wall and were acting even then to rake in more $$$$ before Congress could act. Now if Congress would just act . . .

[juno jones]

14. Excellent Oliphant cartoon.

I have been loving his work since I was a kid with delusions of political cartooning in the 70's. :)

[ginnyinWI]

15. He's my favorite cartoonist. n/t