Sunny sunday

Grrrr Julie - I'd be really upset about not getting a call about the cancelled plans. Very rude!

Wow Jan - I almost choked when I read about your insurance and how expensive it is and how little it covers. You don't realize how precious good coverage is until you don't have it.

Things really cooled down here. It's breezy and chilly this morning. I think our high for the day will be 82. I'm going to get some yardwork done and then meeting DH's family for dinner later.

today is absolutely stunning, weatherwise.  Yesterday was sooooo blasted humid that it was simply miserable.  Memo to weather:  We do NOT lived in FL anymore!

Just doing piddle stuff today since everything major has already been completed.  I have a mountain of catching up to do on work stuff, but that can wait until later.  Will not sacrafice such a beautiful day to paperwork!

Agreed with Cathy Julie.  That was really a rude thing to do....or rather not do.

cakana

Wow Jan - I almost choked when I read about your insurance and how expensive it is and how little it covers. You don't realize how precious good coverage is until you don't have it.

That is so true, Cathy.  The plan I have with Kaiser (which I inherited from the late DH) charges $5 for a prescription and $10 to see a specialist.  The most expensive thing on the menu is a $50 co-pay for an ER visit, but if they decide you need to stay overnight that's waived. When I checked the statement that I get in the mail every month before his pension from the state is deposited, I can't see where there is anything being taken out for it.

Julie, I agree also.  Very, very rude.  I just hate when people assume that you have absolutely nothing else to do except be available to them on their terms.

At the end of May I taped "The Hatfields and McCoys" because out of the three nights it was going to run, I would miss two of them. I finally got around to watching it this weekend and it's so good!  I can't believe I've had it for 3 months and am only just now getting around to watching it. It's hard to realize that a feud between a couple of guys would wind up involving generations of families and neighbors and almost bring two states to the brink of civil war.

Joyce

fuzzy_dogs_mom

The plan I have with Kaiser (which I inherited from the late DH) charges $5 for a prescription and $10 to see a specialist.  The most expensive thing on the menu is a $50 co-pay for an ER visit, but if they decide you need to stay overnight that's waived. When I checked the statement that I get in the mail every month before his pension from the state is deposited, I can't see where there is anything being taken out for it.

No, we don't have a Kaiser near us. We get insurance through DH's employer. I'm sooooooo thankful we had good insurance yet when we had the kids!

Julie, bummer about your sister. But I think Rupert and Neiko would get along so well!

I woke up feeling blah today. I have a headache, and my wonderful Aunt Flo is visiting. After I lounged around for a while and got the kids fed, I showered, cleaned up a bit, then turned on some TV. I have so much stuff DV-R'd that I need to catch up on. DH took the kids to hang out with his mom for a while, and I totally vegged in front of the tube for like 2 hours! Wow, haven't done that in a long time! I almost felt guilty for not throwing in some laundry. Almost.

Jewlieee

The avg american is against it because of the big bad propaganda machine paid for by the private health care industry

It isn't 'free' in that its paid for via your tax levy but its important to realize that there are no premiums or copays and the maximum prescription charge is the equivalent of $20-25.

I know that DH & I will not be here in the US come real retirement age due to the cost of healthcare. Sad but true, no way no how will I spend every cent we have on medical care when we could live in the UK or France or wherever and get care for 'free'

OK off that topic. 

 I need to go back and read everything else that happened today, but, my friend rocks. She gave me some birthday presents today when we went out to dinner. She came with me and my parents. A few weeks ago, we were sitting around watching the Olympic closing ceremony, and she was crocheting a blanket using up some yarn left over from some other blankets. I happened to mention that I thought the colors were really pretty together. The colors weren't bought to go together, they were for blankets for 3 different babies, and it just so happened that they go nicely with each other. She had me totally fooled, because the blanket was for me.  It's so pretty, it's navy blue, baby blue, and light purple. My niece has the purple blanket that the purple was left over from. It's a really cute hooded blanket that she likes to run around with like it's a cape.

I am a private contractor. I'm paying for my own insurance. I worry too much that if I go without, something will happen, and I will be crushed with debt. I think my premium is $150 a month. I know my specialist copay is $50. I honestly don't know what I pay for everything else off the top of my head. I think my copay for the two epi pens I need to get my allergy shots was $80, but, I haven't had to pay anything for the allergy shots. I don't know if that's perhaps because of some way my doctor's office bills it. They make me come in for a regular appointments every 3 months, and just charge me for that.  After having federal employee coverage through my dad in the past, this is outrageously expensive. I love working the way I do as a private contractor, but I always keep it in my mind that as I get older, I should probably consider a job with health insurance.  Though, I guess now they can't boot me if something major happens.

Jen, ins bene's have changed since your dad had coverage I think. I pay $50 for an urgent care visit, $150 for the ER, $35 for a specialist so you are not that far off. It sounds like my premiums are quite a bit higher than yours are too. We also don't have dental or vision coverage at all. I had better insurance when I worked in the private industry.

When I made the move to one of the Big Three Autos I thought we would be set for life.  The next day the stopped all benefits for retirees.

We don't have a much of a premium each month; however, we have a $5000 deductible.  We are still about $1500 away after Riley's surgery in June - until that is met we pay 100% of all the bills - once we hit it I can go and do some elective stuff and its like its free .  We don't have vision but we do have a good dental plan.

I almost liked it better when I worked at a smaller place and had an HMO.  I paid more each month in premiums but just had copays at the docs office ($10 - $20 I think).  We do have an HSA that I pay into each month to pay the medical bills so at least that's tax deductible.  One thing I have learned over the past few years with all the arthritis stuff, is that doctors are more than willing to work out a monthly payment plan with you - plus its interest free.  Most are just happy you are paying SOMETHING. 

 I buy my own insurance - to be added to DH's state plan cost more I have a high deductible to attempt to keep the monthly premium down - it has doubled since we bought the insurance and they have announced they'll be larger than average increases next year. Completely insane!

The coverage is so so - no dental, a vision check & standard checkups are copay or free. No coverage of MRI's, CAT or PET scans.  Meds are meh (up to $50 copay) visit to specialist is $30 ordinary doctor is $15.

I personally believe that insurance benefits should be stripped from jobs as it is the #1 cost for most of the major companies and all governments (once you add in the benefits to retirees) I guarantee that if everyone had to pay for an insurance plan out of their own pocket they would A) be less likely to have unnecessary tests and B) have a better understanding of why the health costs must be reigned in. It breaks my heart to see elderly people picking up prescriptions and hear them told its $400+ for this month's supply. Or God forbid you need surgery - some people seem to think if you 'can't pay its free' um no they will take everything you have. There was a story here about a family with a sick baby that lost their house, their car etc trying to pay their health bills. Do not try to tell me this is a civilized country when you hear things like this.

Also you always hear people say "its the best healthcare in the world" um no - check our lifespans, our survival rates, etc. we are not near the top

OK hopping off the Empire State Building of soapboxes....................

I will admit before this coverage that we have now, we would run to the doc for every little thing because it was only $10.  Now we stop and think, it is more than a cold or general aches and pains, etc.?  It does make you stop and think because it's coming out of your own pocket.  With Riley there is never a question to go, get a test, get something done, never - especially with her arthritis.  However, if it's me or DH we do a wait and see and then go. 

So many of my friends run to the doc with every sniffle, sneeze, ache and pain.  It's obvious they aren't paying the full cost of the appt. 

They do cover all annual screenings and all baby well visits and vaccs which is good.  The one frustrating thing is one year they couldn't give Riley her flu shot because we had insurance - the only ones they had left were for medicaid.  That was annoying.