Health insurance question

[dianemarie]

How much do you pay for health insurance for your family? I'm curious because my brother called last night and he told me his health insurance thru work is going up. Way up. To $600 a month! This would also have a co-pay of $35 per visit. I can't remember if he said there was a deductable or not. His employer is offering a lower cost option, but the insurance coverage with that plan is awful. It's $400+ per month, you pay half the doctor bill per office visit, and if you have to go to the hospital it's $3700. There is no cap for the year, so if you end up in the hospital more than once you pay again. How are people supposd to keep health insurance? My brother is going to just drop his insurance and put the money in the bank, because they cannot afford $600 out of his check every month. Is this a trend for businesses to just dump the whole cost on the employee?

[LISA1013]

thats about right dianemarie ~

Unfortunately .. we got wind of it at work a couple of weeks ago..we got our new "rates" come in from BCBS & BCN ~ and they are both going up drastically

Now for a family at my work the rate is 660.00 a month...and its going up to 745.00 a month


to compensate for the increase, my boss is going to lessen our plan by increasing copay, deductibles, etc... and see where the rates go by doing that !!!!

Just cant afford to get sick anymore

[dianemarie]

That's awful!
Health insurance is supposed to give you peace of mind. It shouldn't take such a huge chunk out of your paycheck.

[tlspiegel]

I have none.

[aprilgail]

my job covers it all, we contribute nothing to it. My friend who had to buy a private plan for his family pays 12,000 a year for a family of 4.

[aprilgail]

Originally posted by Uvgtml
I have none.

NONE????What happens if you get sick or in an accident, need surgery or anything like that?????

[dianemarie]

Originally posted by Uvgtml
I have none.

Does Arizona have a state health plan? Washington used to, not sure if they still do. Worth checking in to. When I had it I only paid $26 a month for a family plan.

Originally posted by aprilgail
my job covers it all, we contribute nothing to it. My friend who had to buy a private plan for his family pays 12,000 a year for a family of 4.

$12,000 a year?? OMG. I would pass out if we had to pay that much. We have insurance thru my husbands job. It's like your plan, covered by work. We even have a very low yearly family deductable. $300 and any out of pocket expenses for medical or dental count towards it.

[Mouse7088]

We're extremely lucky also. DH's job pays for our health insurance. Our copay is $10 for each Dr.s (including eye) visit..Dental depends, goes by a percentage coverage. DH would like to get a job closer to home, but not only would he lose his seniority, but chances are good he won't have insurance like we have now.

[sweetiris]

My father is self-employed and his insurance company in April is raising his from $400 a month to $1200 or they'll drop coverage on my mother. They're doing this because my mother had thousand and thousands and thousands of medical bills this year. No other company he talked to will insure my mother after April, he has no idea what he's going to do. Insurance companys SUCK!

[scooter22]

I pay $40 a month for myself only / $10 copay per PROBLEM not visit / $4 a month dental cause I waived vision... Also pays 75% prescription cost...

[freesurfer]

We have none right now. With 4 kids I really need it , but can't afford it. It really sucks how expensive it is too!!

[shayshay]

I only have insurance for myself but I pay a little less than $11 a week and about $1.50 a week for dental. I have a $15 co-pay and prescriptions vary but the most expensive one I had the insurance company paid $210 and I paid $30 Not a bad deal.

I didnt have insurance for many years so I know how it feels to have none. I hope everyone will be able to find cheap insurance.

It really is a sin that there are so many families are unable to get health insurance because the insurance companies raise the prices so high that it makes getting insurance impossible.

That really makes me

[lauseng]

DH has a state job, so his basic health insurance would be free if he didn't smoke. Tobacco users have to pay $30 extra. But, to cover myself and his two sons it's about $200 a month and he doesn't make that much. Plus, they call it the "$1000 deductible plan," but with 3 dependents, the deductible for us under that plan is really $2500. Ugh. After child support and health insurance and their mandatory retirement plan, he barely brings home enough to cover that deductible in a year's time.

Sad how much insurance can bring down your salary. But there's no way we could go without. It's required by law on the kids, DH has a lot of medical issues that may or may not be covered at the VA hospital from his military service, and I can't let mine lapse due to pre-existing conditions and the fact that I hope to get pregnant in the next couple years when we can better afford it.

Question: between car insurance, life insurance, health insurance, homeowner's/renter's insurance, etc....how does anyone expect us to have anything left over?

Jackie

[kells3]

We just did our benifits for next year. I know for the last few years health insurance has really been going up. If we had to pay for health insurance ourselves it would be over $7,000 a year for a family of 5. The company even went from a $2.00 co-pay to a $10 co-pay to try and keep the costs down. We are lucky and only pay around $75 a month for all of our benifits, health, dental, life, and dissability insurance. Don't know what we would do without it.

Freesufer, isn't there some kind of national health care insurance for children? I think its for people who work, but just can't afford insurance. (I'm not talking about medicaid)

The high prices are not just the fault of the insurance companies. The high cost of Drs and hospital visits reflect on the cost of the insurance.

[eaparham]

raising his from $400 a month to $1200 or they'll drop coverage on my mother. They're doing this because my mother had thousand and thousands and thousands of medical bills

the same thing happened when my dad had cancer. My mom's insurance was going to drop coverage too, but somehow they didn't. I think they just increased the cost. We ended up using hospice care for him , and they were outstanding.

DH has insurance through his work, and it is about $15 a month. Coverage is decent, although I cant remember the deuctibles exactly. That covers him, my 2 sons, and his daughter who doesnt live with us.

I'm not covered on his insurance because I am entitled to medical care through Tricare, and also eligible for VA hospital care. None of my MANY medications cost me a dime because they are for a service connected disability. If they are for something else, the copay next year will be $7 per prescription. Right now it's at $2 per.