The more government gets involved, the higher individual (non-group) premiums will be. Here in NY, my recently college-graduated daughter has one option for individual health insurance that includes doctors and the premium is over $1000 a month. This is an individual premium, not for the family plan cost noted in this article. If she lived ten minutes away in CT, the same type of plan costs about $300 a month. The big difference is the amount of regulation and intrusion of NYS in the health market. The same companies that participate in the various state subsidized plans don’t offer individual insurance so the choice is down to 1 plan. Unfortunately, my daughter’s doesn’t qualify for the state plans either because she is not working yet or has assets that exceed the threshold. Nothing will change this from what I read about the plans from Washington.
What essentially happens is that you are suddenly exposed to the full cost of the insurance, not the part left after your employer pays. So the premium has not gone up but because you pay the full rate (and after tax at that) you pay a lot. Note that for the employee share when employed there are benefit cost reduction plans that allow one to pay pre-tax the employee share of health insurance.
What we need to do is something similar to what other counries do and have the government negotiate a price with with the health insurers and hospitals. That way there is one set price for all the different services that cant’ be deviated from. And the hospitals and insurance companies can’t make a profit off of health care. Next, mandate everyone to purchase insurance to pool the costs. Employers usually pay 50% like here in the states. This is what makes the insurance affordable for everyone and no one gets denied care even if they loose their job or have pre-existing conditions. Everyone has health care and no one is shafted.
I saw a few different documentaries on PBS and the citizens love it. There’s little or no waiting times and costs are cheap. The only government intrusion is the price negotiation and that everyone must purchase health insurance.
Now, I know this may be still too much government for most but, it’s still way better than what we have now. Besides, I really don’t hear anyone squaking about being mandated to purchase auto liability insurance.
Alan, your idea ia definitely way too much government for my taste! I, for one, do not believe everyone should be mandated to purchase health insurance. I do believe that all children should have coverage but for adults…..it should be up to them. Mandatory auto liability is alot different than mandatory health insurance. Not comparing apples to apples here. And insurance companies should be able to make a profit off of health care. What insurance company do you represent Allan?
Can someone please explain to me why when you lose your job you have to get a policy with a different rate than you were paying before you left. Why is there such a thing as COBRA. The employee should be able to take the policy with them and pay the premiums themselves. The employer should not be charged a higher rate because the employee is sick and has to leave employment. This happens more than most people know. You get sick and cannot work, you then get a premium bill in the mail for 3 times what you were paying before. You cannot pay the premium and your coverage cancels. At least the carrier hopes so. I know you should have disability coverage but most of us do not. This is one area of health Insurance I know has to be reformed!
I do not work for an insurance company. I work for an indepedent brokerage and I do not sell health insurance. I can but choose not too.
Believe me, I understand how you and many others do not like to be told what to do by their government. I get it. But at the same time, you’re going to purchase health insurance in one way or another. Why not make it affordable and cover EVERYONE?
By eliminating the profit motivation, you eliminate pre-existing conditions, policy recisions and bring down the costs. I’m sorry, but there are certian things that should not be proffited from. Now, that being said, everyone still makes money. Just not a ton of it like the system is now.
Go rent “Sick Around The World”. It’s a PBS documentary. Or just google health care in other countries. You’ll be surprised.
Allan’s idea. I would sign up in a second! However, the idea would be more desireable if it were to be an “option” rather than a requirement. The only problem I forsee would be those who are not insured may take advantage of the “system” and not cover their own expenses, leaving it up to the taxpayers to cover their bills. We all know that a hospital cannot refuse medical treatment, so if it’s not mandatory, who is going to pay these expenses? Kind of like a “Catch-22” situation.
My husband lost his job (of 31 years) in January. We recenlty lost the subsidy and now we are paying the full monthly premium of $1300. My husband gets max. unemployment, but that’s not going to last. I have two daughters in private Universities so we are seeking loans and grants. Thank goodness I am working! I don’t know how other people are doing it. All I know is that we need health insurance reform in this country and fast…single payer insurance is not an option for us due to “pre-exisiting” conditions. Been there and tried it. It will never happen, at least for us.
I told my husband this morning….”why don’t we just let our coverage lapse and let the taxpayers take care of our medical bills”….I shudder to think that due to desperation, many people are thinking this way…Is this what we want?
No. Do we want government to tell us what to do? No…but then again, we do have Social Security, and if mandatory health care is set up the same way, what’s the harm?
SFOInsurance Lady………Yes it may be true that hospitals can’t refuse emergency treatment, such as ER visits, but what about major surgeries, transplants, etc. Sorry to burst your bubble but hospitals can definitely refuse this type of treatment as they know if you don’t have insurance, they won’t be getting paid! Might not be a bad thing to require everyone to carry health insurance though.
The Senate MUST extend the COBRA 65% discount to all individuals for as long as the individual is unemployed by passing a new bill. It is true – the cost of healthcare premiums would eat up unemployment insurance benefits. My husband and I both lost our jobs at the same time. I am a diabetic and he is a cancer survivor. We depend on that discount and could not survive without our healthcare insurance coverage.
I am not overweight and that’s not how I got diabetes – I got it from job stress. My husband has cancer but didn’t smoke nor was he ever exposed to chemicals at his job and he watched his diet and health constantly, but job stress ran him down. But **** happens and maybe it will happen to you – you never know – be careful what you wish for. Praise God we have discounted COBRA. If we can subsudize Afghanistan, then we can subsidize our own hardworking people.
I write Health Ins in God’s country (Louisiana).
Some examples:
1. 23 yr old male BCBS POS plan w/drug & Physician co-pays $160 monthly
2. 30 yr old husband 28 yr old wife, BlueMax Plan w/45000 deductible $271.30 monthly.
Just where does “Pat” get a $1000 premium?
Funny to hear insurance people say it shouldn’t be mandatory. Don’t you understand “Insurance” (the law of large numbers)?
So I watch my health and pay the same premium as someone, because he eats too much, smokes and doesn’t exercise, has diabetes?
That won’t work, either.
Keep the government out and have states pass limits on med-mal would lower cost 20% just by itself.
Did you just say that the 30 yr old has a $45,000 deductible? Damn!
I understand what you’re saying about Tort Reform. That would be great! We need that.
I would also say that stripping away the profit motivation to provide health care would also be good. But that will never happen in this country. So, that’s why the government is going for a watered down version of a “public option”.
We, as Americans, need this reform now more than ever. The system is unsustainable at it’s present course. America spends the most and gets less results compared to other countries. Our admin costs are hovering around 30% while other countries are between 2 and 8% and they cover EVERYONE. Even if you are between jobs you don’t loose health coverage.
The unemployment rate here is reported at 10.2%. I’ve heard it is higher than that. How many people is that just lost there health insurance with their employer? How many of those can afford COBRA? How long will it be for most of them to secure another job with health benefits?
Were the only rich, industrialized nation that lest this happen to it’s people.
That’s a $5000 deductible, not $45,000. Sorry.
One reason COBRA is so high is because of all medical conditions a “Group” is mandated to cover by the “government” as any other illness where individual polices are not required to cover as many conditions.
Insurance companies HAVE to make a profit in order to survive. If they didn’t make any profit at all, it would take just one year with a higher then average claims and that company would go under. An insurance company can make a profit for 5 years, and all it takes is one bad year full of claims, and it takes all that profit away.
I was laid off in the spring and the ex employer lied to unemployment about the circumstances of my leaving the company. If the ex claims you were fired for wrongful misconduct, you are ineligible for unemployment benefits as well as COBRA. Let me tell you what sheer hell it is to wait for months to get before a judge to plead your case, all the while getting threatening letters from the unemployment bureau demanding you return the one week benefit you managed to squeeze out of them before the ex started lying about why you are gone. I could go to jail for lying to unemployment; ex-employers can apparently say whatever they want to try to deny you benefits. It’s inhumane.
Realist – The quote for $1,052.76 a month for a healthy 22 year old woman, non-smoker, in Putnam County, NY 10541(Hudson Valley area) via http://www.ehealthinsurance.com.
The other two plans that come up only cover hospitals (no doctors unless they are employed by and billed by the hospital – that doesn’t happen around here as each doctor bills individually). So please tell me how a not-yet employed person is supposed to afford that?
In NC WITH Maternity coverage the same woman can get coverage for between $350 and $750 (depedning on the plan). All include Dr. visits and low co-pays.
Without maternity, much cheaper.
The states mandate what is covered and so there goes your costs. In that county in NY rates are off the chart, it must be infested with Democrats. (A good illustration of why selling across state lines won’t work. Whose state mandates will you use?)
That service:www.ehealthinsurance.com quotes my guy right in La at $160 monthly.
Sorry if your state is out of control and mandates all kinds of coverages but that doesn’t mean I have to fry in those rancid juices too, or does it? After all, education was dumbed down to the lowest level (thank God for private schools) as with most things with the government. The gov wants us (the Masses) to be all equal, at the lowest rung of whatever you want to pick and to depend on them. Discard human nature where if someone works harder they get their just reward.
That is what made America great, you worked as hard as you want to get ahead, if you want. Now people are rewarded for doing nothing, for just being a fat tick on a slim hound.
It is sad insurance costs so much but the gov can’t fix it. The gov doesn’t create jobs either.
Realist,
That was my point. If the government mandates in NY went away, would my daughter be able to get a policy as cheap as in LA? If the Feds get their way, there will be more mandates and higher costs. Take government out altogether and let the free market do its thing. They can keep regulations in place such as prior approval for rates to protect the consumer but no more mandates!
COBRA premiums for under $1400 – I wish. Ours, for my husband, college-aged daughter and myself, just went up from $1,927 per month to $2,167 per month. Plus the $6,000 deductible & $40 copays.
I’m pretty tired of being robbed blind by the fat cats who run the insurance companies. And due to pre-existing minor stuff, no one else will insure us. Where’s the democracy in that???
If discounted Cobra benefits are not extended, there will be millions more uninsured families in America! In the state of NJ, the Cobra payment for a family of 3 will be $1,503.94 per month! THAT’S MORE THAN OUR MORTGAGE!!! My husband lost his job in May, 2009 by no fault of his own, and despite his extreme efforts, has been unable to find an employer who chooses this experienced, dedicated, 57 year old man over the countless much younger applicants they can pick from. His unemployment benefits are $584. per week. So, out of the average of $2,500 he receives monthly, we would have only $1,000 left PER MONTH for a family of three to live on! How can we possibly sustain our mortgage payments ($1,450), utilities, food, homeowners, car upkeep & insurance, etc.? We can’t! Therefore, refusal to extend the discounted Cobra rates will cause even more homes to wind up in foreclosure! The only thing that makes any sense is to keep the Cobra rates lowered for as long as a person remains eligible for unemployment. Seems logical doesn’t it? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!
The more government gets involved, the higher individual (non-group) premiums will be. Here in NY, my recently college-graduated daughter has one option for individual health insurance that includes doctors and the premium is over $1000 a month. This is an individual premium, not for the family plan cost noted in this article. If she lived ten minutes away in CT, the same type of plan costs about $300 a month. The big difference is the amount of regulation and intrusion of NYS in the health market. The same companies that participate in the various state subsidized plans don’t offer individual insurance so the choice is down to 1 plan. Unfortunately, my daughter’s doesn’t qualify for the state plans either because she is not working yet or has assets that exceed the threshold. Nothing will change this from what I read about the plans from Washington.
What essentially happens is that you are suddenly exposed to the full cost of the insurance, not the part left after your employer pays. So the premium has not gone up but because you pay the full rate (and after tax at that) you pay a lot. Note that for the employee share when employed there are benefit cost reduction plans that allow one to pay pre-tax the employee share of health insurance.
What we need to do is something similar to what other counries do and have the government negotiate a price with with the health insurers and hospitals. That way there is one set price for all the different services that cant’ be deviated from. And the hospitals and insurance companies can’t make a profit off of health care. Next, mandate everyone to purchase insurance to pool the costs. Employers usually pay 50% like here in the states. This is what makes the insurance affordable for everyone and no one gets denied care even if they loose their job or have pre-existing conditions. Everyone has health care and no one is shafted.
I saw a few different documentaries on PBS and the citizens love it. There’s little or no waiting times and costs are cheap. The only government intrusion is the price negotiation and that everyone must purchase health insurance.
Now, I know this may be still too much government for most but, it’s still way better than what we have now. Besides, I really don’t hear anyone squaking about being mandated to purchase auto liability insurance.
Alan, your idea ia definitely way too much government for my taste! I, for one, do not believe everyone should be mandated to purchase health insurance. I do believe that all children should have coverage but for adults…..it should be up to them. Mandatory auto liability is alot different than mandatory health insurance. Not comparing apples to apples here. And insurance companies should be able to make a profit off of health care. What insurance company do you represent Allan?
Can someone please explain to me why when you lose your job you have to get a policy with a different rate than you were paying before you left. Why is there such a thing as COBRA. The employee should be able to take the policy with them and pay the premiums themselves. The employer should not be charged a higher rate because the employee is sick and has to leave employment. This happens more than most people know. You get sick and cannot work, you then get a premium bill in the mail for 3 times what you were paying before. You cannot pay the premium and your coverage cancels. At least the carrier hopes so. I know you should have disability coverage but most of us do not. This is one area of health Insurance I know has to be reformed!
I do not work for an insurance company. I work for an indepedent brokerage and I do not sell health insurance. I can but choose not too.
Believe me, I understand how you and many others do not like to be told what to do by their government. I get it. But at the same time, you’re going to purchase health insurance in one way or another. Why not make it affordable and cover EVERYONE?
By eliminating the profit motivation, you eliminate pre-existing conditions, policy recisions and bring down the costs. I’m sorry, but there are certian things that should not be proffited from. Now, that being said, everyone still makes money. Just not a ton of it like the system is now.
Go rent “Sick Around The World”. It’s a PBS documentary. Or just google health care in other countries. You’ll be surprised.
Allan’s idea. I would sign up in a second! However, the idea would be more desireable if it were to be an “option” rather than a requirement. The only problem I forsee would be those who are not insured may take advantage of the “system” and not cover their own expenses, leaving it up to the taxpayers to cover their bills. We all know that a hospital cannot refuse medical treatment, so if it’s not mandatory, who is going to pay these expenses? Kind of like a “Catch-22” situation.
My husband lost his job (of 31 years) in January. We recenlty lost the subsidy and now we are paying the full monthly premium of $1300. My husband gets max. unemployment, but that’s not going to last. I have two daughters in private Universities so we are seeking loans and grants. Thank goodness I am working! I don’t know how other people are doing it. All I know is that we need health insurance reform in this country and fast…single payer insurance is not an option for us due to “pre-exisiting” conditions. Been there and tried it. It will never happen, at least for us.
I told my husband this morning….”why don’t we just let our coverage lapse and let the taxpayers take care of our medical bills”….I shudder to think that due to desperation, many people are thinking this way…Is this what we want?
No. Do we want government to tell us what to do? No…but then again, we do have Social Security, and if mandatory health care is set up the same way, what’s the harm?
Something has to give…
SFOInsurance Lady………Yes it may be true that hospitals can’t refuse emergency treatment, such as ER visits, but what about major surgeries, transplants, etc. Sorry to burst your bubble but hospitals can definitely refuse this type of treatment as they know if you don’t have insurance, they won’t be getting paid! Might not be a bad thing to require everyone to carry health insurance though.
The Senate MUST extend the COBRA 65% discount to all individuals for as long as the individual is unemployed by passing a new bill. It is true – the cost of healthcare premiums would eat up unemployment insurance benefits. My husband and I both lost our jobs at the same time. I am a diabetic and he is a cancer survivor. We depend on that discount and could not survive without our healthcare insurance coverage.
I am not overweight and that’s not how I got diabetes – I got it from job stress. My husband has cancer but didn’t smoke nor was he ever exposed to chemicals at his job and he watched his diet and health constantly, but job stress ran him down. But **** happens and maybe it will happen to you – you never know – be careful what you wish for. Praise God we have discounted COBRA. If we can subsudize Afghanistan, then we can subsidize our own hardworking people.
I write Health Ins in God’s country (Louisiana).
Some examples:
1. 23 yr old male BCBS POS plan w/drug & Physician co-pays $160 monthly
2. 30 yr old husband 28 yr old wife, BlueMax Plan w/45000 deductible $271.30 monthly.
Just where does “Pat” get a $1000 premium?
Funny to hear insurance people say it shouldn’t be mandatory. Don’t you understand “Insurance” (the law of large numbers)?
So I watch my health and pay the same premium as someone, because he eats too much, smokes and doesn’t exercise, has diabetes?
That won’t work, either.
Keep the government out and have states pass limits on med-mal would lower cost 20% just by itself.
Did you just say that the 30 yr old has a $45,000 deductible? Damn!
I understand what you’re saying about Tort Reform. That would be great! We need that.
I would also say that stripping away the profit motivation to provide health care would also be good. But that will never happen in this country. So, that’s why the government is going for a watered down version of a “public option”.
We, as Americans, need this reform now more than ever. The system is unsustainable at it’s present course. America spends the most and gets less results compared to other countries. Our admin costs are hovering around 30% while other countries are between 2 and 8% and they cover EVERYONE. Even if you are between jobs you don’t loose health coverage.
The unemployment rate here is reported at 10.2%. I’ve heard it is higher than that. How many people is that just lost there health insurance with their employer? How many of those can afford COBRA? How long will it be for most of them to secure another job with health benefits?
Were the only rich, industrialized nation that lest this happen to it’s people.
That’s a $5000 deductible, not $45,000. Sorry.
One reason COBRA is so high is because of all medical conditions a “Group” is mandated to cover by the “government” as any other illness where individual polices are not required to cover as many conditions.
Well, there ya go.
Insurance companies HAVE to make a profit in order to survive. If they didn’t make any profit at all, it would take just one year with a higher then average claims and that company would go under. An insurance company can make a profit for 5 years, and all it takes is one bad year full of claims, and it takes all that profit away.
I was laid off in the spring and the ex employer lied to unemployment about the circumstances of my leaving the company. If the ex claims you were fired for wrongful misconduct, you are ineligible for unemployment benefits as well as COBRA. Let me tell you what sheer hell it is to wait for months to get before a judge to plead your case, all the while getting threatening letters from the unemployment bureau demanding you return the one week benefit you managed to squeeze out of them before the ex started lying about why you are gone. I could go to jail for lying to unemployment; ex-employers can apparently say whatever they want to try to deny you benefits. It’s inhumane.
Realist – The quote for $1,052.76 a month for a healthy 22 year old woman, non-smoker, in Putnam County, NY 10541(Hudson Valley area) via http://www.ehealthinsurance.com.
The other two plans that come up only cover hospitals (no doctors unless they are employed by and billed by the hospital – that doesn’t happen around here as each doctor bills individually). So please tell me how a not-yet employed person is supposed to afford that?
Pat,
In NC WITH Maternity coverage the same woman can get coverage for between $350 and $750 (depedning on the plan). All include Dr. visits and low co-pays.
Without maternity, much cheaper.
Allow competition across state lines.
The states mandate what is covered and so there goes your costs. In that county in NY rates are off the chart, it must be infested with Democrats. (A good illustration of why selling across state lines won’t work. Whose state mandates will you use?)
That service:www.ehealthinsurance.com quotes my guy right in La at $160 monthly.
Sorry if your state is out of control and mandates all kinds of coverages but that doesn’t mean I have to fry in those rancid juices too, or does it? After all, education was dumbed down to the lowest level (thank God for private schools) as with most things with the government. The gov wants us (the Masses) to be all equal, at the lowest rung of whatever you want to pick and to depend on them. Discard human nature where if someone works harder they get their just reward.
That is what made America great, you worked as hard as you want to get ahead, if you want. Now people are rewarded for doing nothing, for just being a fat tick on a slim hound.
It is sad insurance costs so much but the gov can’t fix it. The gov doesn’t create jobs either.
Realist,
That was my point. If the government mandates in NY went away, would my daughter be able to get a policy as cheap as in LA? If the Feds get their way, there will be more mandates and higher costs. Take government out altogether and let the free market do its thing. They can keep regulations in place such as prior approval for rates to protect the consumer but no more mandates!
COBRA premiums for under $1400 – I wish. Ours, for my husband, college-aged daughter and myself, just went up from $1,927 per month to $2,167 per month. Plus the $6,000 deductible & $40 copays.
I’m pretty tired of being robbed blind by the fat cats who run the insurance companies. And due to pre-existing minor stuff, no one else will insure us. Where’s the democracy in that???
If discounted Cobra benefits are not extended, there will be millions more uninsured families in America! In the state of NJ, the Cobra payment for a family of 3 will be $1,503.94 per month! THAT’S MORE THAN OUR MORTGAGE!!! My husband lost his job in May, 2009 by no fault of his own, and despite his extreme efforts, has been unable to find an employer who chooses this experienced, dedicated, 57 year old man over the countless much younger applicants they can pick from. His unemployment benefits are $584. per week. So, out of the average of $2,500 he receives monthly, we would have only $1,000 left PER MONTH for a family of three to live on! How can we possibly sustain our mortgage payments ($1,450), utilities, food, homeowners, car upkeep & insurance, etc.? We can’t! Therefore, refusal to extend the discounted Cobra rates will cause even more homes to wind up in foreclosure! The only thing that makes any sense is to keep the Cobra rates lowered for as long as a person remains eligible for unemployment. Seems logical doesn’t it? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!