what do you "normal" people do for health insurance?

[1991 318is]

No, for the cheap shit its fine but for the real shit its far better here. Or maybe there is another reason people fly here to go to places like Mayo or KU Medical from other nations like Canada.

I have Medical+, dental, vision, short and long term disability, and 50k of life for $6 a month. Im single though, it jumps up a lot if you have to cover others.

I never hear Canadians, English, French, and Dutch say the things concerning their healthcare that are attributed to them by Americans. Anyone that can fly from their own country to the Mayo clinic and pay the tab on their own dime is very wealthy and the exception. High end surgeries are $100-$400K.
I'm curious what types of companies do the people work for that have excellent benefits at low cost? $6 a month doesn't cover the cost of processing the paperwork.

[blunttech]

How is it that no one calls out your trolls anymore? Hahaha

ehhh theyre just used to it i guess. we pay 1700 a month for my family with 2 kids in school even though one is temporarily out of school. thats not including what we pay for 6 employees and their families with no employee contribution. our health care system is really fucked up and broken but id still rather pay what i do than have socialized medicine. at least we have a chance at fixing what we have. if it goes socialized we lose all competition and along with that the really good doctors. it would be the equivalent of having a military doctor or dentist working on you. none of them give a shit, they dont have to. thats not to say there arent good doctors and dentists in the military. they just arent there very long. any of them that are good go into private practice where they can make decent money. if you can call what doctors make nowadays decent money. insurance pays a lot better than healthcare

[Ryan Stewart]

I never hear Canadians, English, French, and Dutch say the things concerning their healthcare that are attributed to them by Americans. Anyone that can fly from their own country to the Mayo clinic and pay the tab on their own dime is very wealthy and the exception. High end surgeries are $100-$400K.
I'm curious what types of companies do the people work for that have excellent benefits at low cost? $6 a month doesn't cover the cost of processing the paperwork.

Ive met plenty of Brits, Germans, and Canadians who bitch endlessly about it. Shit, ask HUGO on Bimmerforums. I recall him concurring that it can be a PITA.

And that totally ignores the fact that despite higher taxes virtually every nation that has a socialized medecine system is running billions in defecit for that program alone (this excludes nations with oil based economies).

[1991 318is]

ehhh theyre just used to it i guess. we pay 1700 a month for my family with 2 kids in school even though one is temporarily out of school. thats not including what we pay for 6 employees and their families with no employee contribution.

You are the exception and I think it's admirable that you provide this level of benefits to your employees. 95% of small non-union businesses require employee contributions for employer provided insurance coverage. The average amount is $375 per month for a family with two or more dependents.
Average cost for a single person is about $5000 per year with $200 a month contribution. For me the answer to the question posed in the title of this thread is "bleed".

[Jean]

I currently have BC PPO through my employer. IS there a time when HMO > PPO for any reason at all ?

[mrsleeve]

I currently have BC PPO through my employer. IS there a time when HMO > PPO for any reason at all ?

No HMO= suck ass dont get me started I have very good BCBS PPO that is part of my package at work so I dont see the costs, I will not trade it for a any HMO of any type, we have been given the option.

[Turf1600]

HMOs are a good option for some people. Not everyone needs the best coverage in the world.

[SamE30e]

That's cool that you don't have to pay, but how does it feel to have inferior health care?

Inferior eh? Lets see, my leg is set pretty well after being broke in two, no rods or screws. My hernia scar isn't noticeable.

Inferior my ass. I can go on but that was just a retarded comment.

[Maluco]

funny, everytime I hear someone say something about inferior health care it makes me wonder what exactly they are referring too.. I can't see how it's possible to even get close to sub-par healthcare in countries like Canada, France, Germany and any of the like countries. Whenever you guys start bringing up true 3rd world countries, then maybe say something...

I imagine most insured here in Dallas consider Parkland Memorial, Dallas County's only publicly supported hospital, the most ghetto hospital around. And while most people that go there are poor and/or illegal, I thank God that if I were to ever be without insurance, there is Parkland.

LOL, some of the nation's top doctors surely passed through...

"Parkland is the only publicly supported hospital in Dallas County; funds are primarily provided by a specially designated property tax on Dallas County residents. Parkland serves as one of the area's three Level 1 Trauma centers, operates one of a handful of burn units in the entire state (where the leading burns-resuscitation formula in use worldwide was developed), and is the major teaching hospital of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Also, Parkland has the distinction of delivering more infants under one roof than any other hospital in the nation: averaging 15-16,000 deliveries per year. Parkland created one of the first high-risk antenatal units in the nation, and had the first neonatal intensive care unit in North Texas.
At 968 licensed beds, Parkland ranks among the largest teaching hospitals in the nation.
Parkland serves as both a primary care center for Dallas County residents, and (along with UT Southwestern) as a medical and surgical referral center for North Texas and parts of Southern Oklahoma. Thus, virtually all medical and surgical subspecialties are represented—which makes Parkland a destination for post-graduate medical training."

[Jean]

I think that doctors here are pushed or rushed to do certain procedures or prescribe the first available (insert latest and greatest) medications just to move to the next client. There is less concern or care, very often symptoms are mis-diagnosed or the medical care comes in the form of a prescription. Damn the side effects, we can get those fixed with another prescription LOL. And yet, the available technology is so much greater here.

I guess I am just trying to say, it's way too "commercial" and in my opinion is the reason why people get into the medical field where otherwise they wouldn't even consider it if it wasn't for the money. This is just wrong. Just like teachers, or mechanics, some people are not going to be good at something that they don't have a "knack" for, they will only be sub-par and many patients will suffer from it.

I don't remember this with public health-care, maybe because individuals who became doctors had it in them, and didn't "choose" to become a doctor because of $

[mrsleeve]

I think that doctors here are pushed or rushed to do certain procedures or prescribe the first available (insert latest and greatest) medications just to move to the next client. There is less concern or care, very often symptoms are mis-diagnosed or the medical care comes in the form of a prescription. Damn the side effects, we can get those fixed with another prescription LOL. And yet, the available technology is so much greater here.

I guess I am just trying to say, it's way too "commercial" and in my opinion is the reason why people get into the medical field where otherwise they wouldn't even consider it if it wasn't for the money. This is just wrong. Just like teachers, or mechanics, some people are not going to be good at something that they don't have a "knack" for, they will only be sub-par and many patients will suffer from it.

I don't remember this with public health-care, maybe because individuals who became doctors had it in them, and didn't "choose" to become a doctor because of $

ding ding ding ding

A winner all of the biggest issues that need to be dealt with to fix our heath care system. Its all about the cash, so few go into the field to help people.

[blunttech]

ding ding ding ding

A winner all of the biggest issues that need to be dealt with to fix our heath care system. Its all about the cash, so few go into the field to help people.

all about the cash??? hahaha if that were true everyone would go into insurance. there is no cash for doctors anymore. they are backed into a corner by big insurance and told who they will treat and how much they will be paid for each procedure. if a doctor charges 500 for a procedure the insurance company pays 300.00. im pulling numbers out of my ass here for comparison. then add in malpractice insurance, employee benefits,workers comp, medical equipment,all your overhead not to mention 8-10 years of school debt. yeah, they are living large. its not like it was 20 years ago.

[Turf1600]

OK. I work in healthcare. I see the issues - and everyone's problem is healthcare financing. It's not the quality of care that's an issue - at least not here in houston.

[mrsleeve]

Well Blunt I dont doubt all that one bit. Between my dad (who passed 7 years ago of ALS) and my G/F dealing with the DOC's in Ann Arbor (UofM) they could not seem to get it right no matter who we saw for either of them, not just a in AA but all over the state of MI. Had to Go all the way to Mayo for dad, an the G/F is still fighting away because I guess the Insc. company's dont think endorcrine problems exist.

Oh well 1 persons Jaded opinions

[Jean]

Damn the insurance companies.