I was talking to a friend of mine who is a nurse at the former hospital I worked at

[Horse with no Name]

Their new "insurance" requires a spend-down. She says that on top of her premiums, their medication is $600 month out of pocket. Her kids are on medications and her husband takes routine medications.

It is ridiculous.

I wondered why hospitals (corporations) would strip health insurance for healthcare workers to bare bones and I have to wonder if it will be to piss them off? After all, piss off your healthcare workers and tell them they are suffering because of healthcare reform is the best way to turn people against it.

Anyway...was just shocked at this.

[LiberalLoner]

1. Maybe it will lead to a real overhaul (like single payer) n/t K&R

[Broderick]

2. I remember the insurance palaces in several cities I worked in.

It is what it is in this country. The lawyers and insurance companies are beholden to money.

[w8liftinglady]

22. My insurance is a lot like that

I picked the "high-dollar" policy,since I've been in and out so much. 3K deductable, 40 per visit.
Once my bills reach 3K,it goes to 80% until they reach 6K, then it's 100%.
that's a lot of cash out of pocket for a single mom.
Some of us have the benefit of working with doctors who give us a "quickie" without charging.It's the only thing that saves us sometimes.

[Broderick]

24. never met one of those

I wish I could get a quickie so to speak. Doctors, even as friends, are well adverse to outside diagnosis.

[etherealtruth]

3. WTF

Where is this ... I can't fathom this.

Nurses (and health-care workers) still have decent health insurance benefits here ... one of the few industries that do (in MI).

Years ago (80's and early 90's) I carried the health insurance (as an RN) for our family because health-care workers benefits were still great ... I don't think they are any thing near what they were, but in juxtaposition to the other industries, they are good.

this makes me ill.

[Horse with no Name]

5. It is in Texas

and believe me, it wasn't a cadillac plan when I worked there, but it was usable and wouldn't break the bank.

They have been doing this to hospital employees in many states for a long time but this is one of the most egregious ones I have seen.

In all seriousness, Walmart employees have better benefits than nurses in this state.

[etherealtruth]

9. That really enrages me ... one would think nurses would be able to ...

... obtain the very care they provide.

In all seriousness, my ex is a regional VP for a fortune-500 company ... they use his current wife's benefits (she's an RN at a major Metro Detroit medical center) because they are so much better than his.

I truly hope this isn't foreshadowing for this area.(I hope Texas gets better, too)

Gosh, this p*sses me off ... how can health care workers benefits be so bad?

[Horse with no Name]

11. The other question is

Why would hospitals require their nurses to come to work sick or face being fired?

Why would you have strict sick-leave policies when the potential of a nurse getting sick is tenfold that of the regular population just because of the patients we serve?

[etherealtruth]

14. Yeah that is disturbing ....

... if I think back (its hard as I approach 50;-) ... I guess there was hell to pay for daring to get ill because a patient coughed in your face (or worse ... much worse). Gotta keep those staffing ratios up ... never mind that an administrative nurse is counted in those numbers.

Sometimes I miss nursing terribly ...other times not so much

[w8liftinglady]

23. That is a good question.

and,yes, staff is penalized for using sick days. I was one of the ones who finally had to FMLA,because I was being hospitalized so frequently.There is pressure placed on staff to not miss days.It's often hard to find someone to trade shifts.

[Warpy]

4. The last hospital I worked at had high deductibles, high copays

and gave people the maximum amount of static over claims that had to be paid outside that hospital. The hospital owned its own health plan and yes, it was for profit.

Meanwhile they wrote great plans for businesses around the state--low deductible and zero copay plans.

Nurses are the profession most likely to be underinsured and uninsured of all professional groups.

Hospitals cut costs first on the backs of their staffs. Their CEOs get more money and office redecorating every single year.

[Horse with no Name]

6. Yep. The last "good" policy that I had

was in the mid 90's.

[Maine_Nurse]

12. My policy at the hospital is cheap at $10 per week, but....

I also have a 20-30% copay depending on the service and the deductible is $3500.00. That is at a non-profit facility.

[raccoon]

27. Here I thought hospital employees had real good benefits! nt

[Warpy]

28. Guess again

The last place I worked that gave me decent health insurance was the VA, and that's because it was the government plan that was able to bargain for decent treatment because of the sheer number of people in the pool.

[AlecBGreen]

7. $600 per month!?

:( My wife and I get by, but even adding half that to our monthly bills would cripple us financially.

[Horse with no Name]

8. She has had to pick up an extra shift a week to cover their meds

Luckily she can do that.

[hfojvt]

10. Why are they taking so much medication?

It seems like it would be pretty rare for people to need that much medication. I don't see how her case can be typical.

[Horse with no Name]

13. She has a large family

I would question why her kids are on so much routine medication--but it isn't really my business.
It is between her and her pediatrician.

Her case is exxagerated strictly because of the size of her family, however, under the old policy she paid less than $75 month.

[hfojvt]

17. my concern is that some people over-medicate

particularly when they can get other people to pay for it. Parmaceutical companies, of course, encourage this. For example, I treat my allergies with honey and a $3.96 bottle of 100 pills of chlorpheniramine which I take sparingly. I still have some congestion and sneezing which I tolerate. Doubtless the people who make allegra would like me to be dissatisfied with any symptoms at all, and instead, get a prescription to use their product. Which, thanks to our health insurance system, I could probably do for very little cost, maybe for 1/3 the actual cost. The more people who do that, the higher cost is sorta imposed on all of us.

Seems to me that under the old system she was probably getting a subsidy for all her children. Maybe the new system is a better deal for a childless person like me.

[nobodyspecial]

25. Not every ailment can be cured with honey and herbs

and maybe some people don't want to suffer a bit to stick it to the insurance companies.

[Maru Kitteh]

26. Nice little crystal ball you got there.

You don't know anything about why her scripts are so high. For all you know only one of the children has any prescriptions at all. Some conditions, like MD or JIA are very expensive. It sounds a bit more like you have an issue with this woman because she decided to have children and you didn't and for whatever reasons, you want to be applauded for suffering stoically with your allergies. I'm glad you think the system is working out for you. You go ahead and suffer. I'll be over here, taking OTC generic loratidine and not judging other peoples children, reproductive choices, or healthcare decisions. Every single other "1st world" country manages to do it better. There's no Godly reason why we can't too.

[etherealtruth]

15. My little brother and his family spend at least that much ...

He has an asthmatic daughter and a wife that suffers from major depression ... the meds are not cheap.

He's an educated professional with crappy health insurance ... out of pocket costs have crippled tham.

[ThomCat]

19. Are you kidding?

When a single medication can cost you $200 per month, $600 per month isn't a lot to spend if you have 3 people who have to take medications.

One of my migraine medications costs me $175 co-pay per month, and that is for only 4 doses per month.

The co-pays for entire classes of medications are increasingly going up to $50 or more per med per month. If you need to take multiple medications in any of those classes of drugs, those costs are going to add up quickly to a hell of a lot of money every single month.

increasing co-pays, along with co-insurance charges, are some of the ways insurance companies are finding to transfer more costs to customers so that people can't afford to use their insurance. This keeps their corporate income high, and costs low, and we all know that's their goal.

[vi5]

16. Aren't hospitals going to benefit from HCR?

I mean correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't half the reason that prices are currently so ridiculously high for medical procedures and hospital stays because of the amount of people who can't pay? Or who have shitty insurance that doesn't pay alot?

So if more people are covered and insured won't that mean more business for them? Even if the insurance is not great, it's more likely that someone will get something done with insurance than if they aren't covered and it means they will go bankrupt.

[Lint Head]

18. David M. Cordani CIGNA's CEO

David M. Cordani (45) has been a Director of CIGNA since October 2009. Mr. Cordani has served as Chief Executive Officer since December 2009 and as President since June 2008. He served as Chief Operating Officer from June 2008 until December 2009; President, CIGNA HealthCare from 2005 until 2008; and Senior Vice President, Customer Segments & Marketing, CIGNA HealthCare from 2004 until 2005. He has been employed by CIGNA since 1991

Salary $1,000,000.00
Bonus $0.00
Restricted stock awards $4,474,993.00
All other compensation $91,983.00
Option awards $ $2,198,019.00
Non-equity incentive plan compensation $7,356,375.00
Change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings $104,214.00
Total Compensation $15,225,584.00


Guess David doesn't give a rats ass.

[CrispyQ]

21. That American's are not in the street over this information is stunning. -nt

[StarburstClock]

29. Americans don't do sheet about torture camps, what's so stunning?

America is corrupt and corrupt at the highest levels so if someone like me or you is outraged it's just too bad. Our so-called "leaders" let blatant war crimes and treason go untried and unpunished, it should be no surprise that CEOs play the corruption game as well. We're told to let it go, move on, think ahead, it's off the table, etc...

We Americans are peons, 2nd class citizens in a corrupt and failed system of unregulated capitalism. We have become a predatory culture that feeds on others misery. We start wars based on lies, promote completely false economic and environmental lies, have the above mentioned for profit health care system of corruption and elect and fully support "leaders" that don't do a thing about any of it after campaigning to do something about it. And yet we still believe the same lies day after day, still support the insane system of left and right politics, remained brainwashed by 100+ years of government and corporate propaganda.

Stunning yes, and yet totally believable considering the absolute stupidity and willful ignorance of millions of dumbed-down people.

[CrispyQ]

20. The "leaders" of this country have no fucking clue how much $600 per month is to most Americans.

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[arbusto_baboso]

30. Healthcare workers have historically had bad medical insurance.

This is nothing all that new.