Health Care Quiz

[filkertom]

Curious:

1. Do you have health insurance?
2. If you have health insurance, are you happy with your coverage?
3. If you have health insurance, do you think your insurance company -- not all insurance companies, just yours -- is doing a good job?
4. If health care reform legislation is instituted, what do you seriously think is the worst that can happen?

I am not fishing for any particular answers, especially on that last one. I want to know what you really think and feel. Everybody, don't be judgmental. We can't have a conversation without finding these things out. Fact-checking is for another day.

Comments

[mythochromos]

1. Yes. BC/BS of Michigan through my employer, who pays half of the premium. I forget which option but it's the more expensive one.
2. No. I will be happy with the letter of it once mental health parity goes into effect. As for being happy with it in practice...every time I cost them more than my monthly deductible within the span of a month, they deny something for no reason. Every. Time. And sometimes my medication adjustments, too, even though those are explicitly called out as being paid at the same rate as non-psychiatric services.
3. No. See previous.
4. Everyone must buy insurance unless they're under the poverty line (in which case the government pays) or get a moral waiver, but insurance companies continue screwing people over. People avoid using health services and thus have poorer health. End of life decisions are halfassed because insurance does not fund them and people do not, in many cases, even think about them.

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

1. Yes.
2. Not at all.
3. In no way, shape, or form.
4. GIANT TICKS, RUN SCURRY FLEE!

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

1: No, I lost when I was laid off and could not afford the $850 a month for COBRA coverage. We have been looking at private insurance, but I'm not sure if I want to bother if they won't cover our "pre-existing" conditions.
2: N/A
3: N/A
4: It would add to the national debt. I'm not sure how they're going to fund it. I do think though, that funding could be acquired by forcing the insurance industry to streamline their processes.
At my former doctors' office I talked to the clerk about how many people they had working there on paperwork. When she started there back in '88 it was her and another clerk/receptionist.
I spoke to her last October, she and the other 2 receptionists also helped with the insurance paperwork. They had 8 full time staff members though who did nothing but insurance paperwork. I think that is why we have such a huge expenditure on medical care. It's not for medical care, it's so that insurance companies can generate a profit by driving up costs.

[deliciouspear.livejournal.com]

Do you have health insurance?

Fir another couple weeks I do.

If you have health insurance, are you happy with your coverage?

Mostly. I wish it referred to naturopaths etc mroe than it does. But mostly I only use it for routein perscriptions and if there was an emergency.

If you have health insurance, do you think your insurance company -- not all insurance companies, just yours -- is doing a good job?

Depends on the person I talk to. Some are very nice and competant. Others are beligerant, horrid idiots.


If health care reform legislation is instituted, what do you seriously think is the worst that can happen?

I don't think anything bad would happen, unless you're counting something like conservative extremists trying to assassinate Obama a direct result of it.

[pyffe.livejournal.com]

1. yes. Through my employer.
2. Yes. I've not had a problem with it. And it covers near everything.
3. Mine is doing ok by me for what they've promised to do for me. I can't speak for others.
4. I have no idea what the worst thing could be. They repeal it and go back to this mess?

I want an option that is independent of my employment. Then I can choose what coverage we need, and when I leave the company, I retain that same coverage, and without having to pay a dime more than I did when I was employed. COBRA is a joke for anything other than a serious problem. Once I was told COBRA would be $1400/month. Who, once unemployed, has an extra $1400/month?

(you did ask! ;->)

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

1. Yes, through M because her coverage is better than mine.

2. So far, so good. We haven't, thank the gods, had to deal with catastrophic illness or major expenses, though.

3. Aetna's doing okay. They haven't really been tested, and I'm certain that they share the negative aspects of all the health insurers (making every effort not to pay large claims, dropping people ASAP, etc.)

4. Depends on what's passed. If a mandate is passed without a public option or serious controls on the insurers, there will be MASSIVE raises in costs and probably further cuts in service, because people will be forced to buy insurance from companies with no serious constraints.

If coops are included but not a serious public healthcare option, then the coops will either grow or die, and may well have to subcontract major services from the existing insurers -- who will certainly gouge them on price and stint them on service.

But those are worst-case scenarios (and they don't include political fallout for the Dems perceived as weak, waffling, and/or unwilling or unable to fulfill campaign promises).

Health Care Quiz

[lizziecrowe.livejournal.com]

1: Yes, I do through my job. Blue Cross of IL. Medical only, no dental, no vision through them.
2: To a point. the jargon they use is badly worded when it comes to what they cover, and trying to get answers from them can take a while.
3: Not particularly. they are an insurance company. They take in a LOT of money, and generally you have to jump through hoops to get any of it back when you need it. and emergencies are the worst of all. If you travel and get hurt, you have to do a LOT to get them to agree to cover it.
4: SLOWNESS. Like any government program, implementing it will be a logistical nightmare. the infrastructure needed for a program like this is massive at best and 'universal' (heh) at worst. the planning phase alone for seriously getting something this huge off the ground could take years, and they can't use Medicare/Medicaid as an example because those systems are so seriously flawed. i used to work for a Medicaid waiver service that did in-home care for the disabled, and it was a JOKE. the waiting lists were YEARS long, and the ability to manipulate the system for frivolous and useless stuff was astronomical while getting real care to people and families that needed it was a Herculean labor.

I do think the current system is built for the betterment of the insurance companies. there is FAR too much money to be lost for them to go down without a fight. But at the same time, if the government is going to step in with an option, it is going to be a slow, slow road, and that's honestly the worst of it, in my eyes. getting a system that will actually work is going to take time and lots of it.

[controuble.livejournal.com]

1)I have health insurance for another month - maybe two - then I must switch to COBRA at 5 times my current cost if I want any sort of coverage at all. Being unemployed sucks.

2,3) The insurance I have/had was mostly good, but when they did screw up, it was spectacular and there was a fairly high percentage of "help" that did not speak English very well.

Edit: (Sorry, forgot to answer #4) The worst that can happen is nothing and my son's meds bankrupt me.

[ohari.livejournal.com]

1. Yup
2. So far.
3. So far.
2&3 I've not had anything significant as yet, but the little stuff I've had has been handled smoothly.
4. The worst? fucking politicians fight for a year, then the (R)s use the lack of progress to make gains in the 2010 midterms, then small, not really helpful changes happen, then a change of party in power happens, then the small changes get rolled back, probably making things worse than the are now, then it all starts over and by 2020 american civil society collapses.
More likely? We get national mandatory (private) health insurance, like most states have mandatory Auto insurance for car owners. Those who can't afford that will end up with something worse than nothing at all (some form of minimal plan that manages to cost not much and pay for not anything and actually make the person worse off) the number of uninsured will go down by maybe a third to a half, insurance provider profits will be at all time records...and another eight to twelve years of far-right (R) nutjobs in power.

I don't believe that our current, employer-based system can coexist with a large scale public option. Employers will do everything possible to get out of providing anything and get their employees into the public option, without increasing employee pay. This'll take at least 20 years to make something positive and lasting out of, after all the major players decide to work together. In the meanwhile, it looks bad for us little people.

[mimiheart.livejournal.com]

1. Kind of.
2. Kind of.
3. No.
4. The worst that could happen would be for nothing to be done about the situation we have. We live in a country where people are put in debt over health care. We live in a country where insurance companies, and not doctors and patients, get to make the decisions regarding health.

[hanabishirecca.livejournal.com]

1. Yes.
2. No. Coinsurance in any form is wrong. (I pay 10% they pay 90%)
3. No. I worked for an insurance company for about a year, I know they aren't.
4. Worst thing that could happen? The coverage plan I will have will be as bad as the current plan I have. However, everyone will be covered so I'd be okay with this.

[archanglrobriel.livejournal.com]

1. Mostly. It covers most things, but if I have to be admitted to the hospital for any reason, I have to pay for 30% of the bill myself. The ER is -mostly- covered, but they can decide how and when that coverage lapses over into the "you pay 30% " range. Also the co-pays stack up really fast, so things like physical therapy have to fall by the wayside, since I can't come up with an extra $250 a month to pay for what I need. Don't even get me started on how they act about prescriptions. It's better than being without insurance at all...but it's only sort of being insured.

2. Absolutely not. I can't even see "happy" from where I am.

3. This is by far the worst health insurance I've ever had and ironically, it's the most expensive health insurance I've ever had. We just found out this month that they're going to be jacking us for another $200 a month too, because my husband's company split and thus everything had to be renegotiated. To the insurance company's benefit, of course.

4. I would worry that they'd kludge up the system, but I don't know that I'd worry about it a lot. I had Medicaid when I was just starting out and po'. Every so often I'd get a doctor who'd roll his eyes at the "charity case" but for the most part I got excellent health care in a respectful and timely fashion. It was actually better than what I have now.

[catlin.livejournal.com]

Yes
No
No
Worst case? Doctors will lose a bit more money fighting the red tape. Flip side being, I am a strong proponent of change, because of my family's situation. Cory and I have Blue cross, so things get covered at least partially, and if we walk into a surgery center we will be treated, but even With blue cross my daughter's medication is expensive enough to be a serious budget item. I can choose not to give her her meds when nescessary, though. I can't imagine making that choice with life or death meds like my father had to.

He makes to much for state health insurance, on disability, but not enough to afford private insurance, so he is dying of cancer.

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

1. Yes, but I'm Canadian.

2. For the most part.

3. For the most part, and we're in a party transition in my province now, so my answer to this will change sometime in the next year or so.

4. In the American case, a charade of a reform package that results in more people being officially insured by private companies one way or another, but which also results in less health care happening as a result of increased resistance to assist with or permit more medical procedures.

Alternately, a good reform package is passed, but is repealed by the Republicans within a month or two of their regaining a legislative majority.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Yes

Yes, we get to choose the coverage we want versus what we pay for it.
Define good job - they're doing what they're in business for, which is making money. We have had relatively little trouble lately with claims being denied, though that could be that our doctors and hospitals people are good at making the claims paperwork right. However it's undeniable that all companies try to pay as little as possible.

Worst that could happen would be that the publicly provided health care would not be up to what we currently have, in which case we could buy supplemental, and I expect that the increase in taxes plus the premiums on the supplemental would be less than we're paying now.

I think they'd have to work long and hard at it to make anything worse than we have right now, when the entire industry is taken as a whole.

[capplor.livejournal.com]

1. Yes
2. No complaints, thus far.
3. Within tolerances, though deductibles have doubled recently.
4. Our insurance company's CEO takes the money & runs for Brazil on a Red eye.

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

They had 8 full time staff members though who did nothing but insurance paperwork.

Multiply one of their salaries by eight, pass the cost on to the patients... profit!

Ouch.

[bryanp.livejournal.com]

1. Yes.

2. Hard to judge. I've had the good fortune to not have any serious medical problems. However, the same coverage took care of my wife to my satisfaction, and anyone who knew her can tell you her medical problems were legion.

3. See #2. I'd have to say yes.

4. Worst case? We end up with a system that is run as well as our current VA system. Most every veteran I know will do anything they can to get some other health insurance so they can stay out of the VA hospitals.

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

1. I don't have health insurance.

4. The worst thing? A system where everyone must by law have health insurance which the government will only partially cover for the poor, meaning that the poor will then be obligated to pay for health insurance they couldn't afford in the first place.

The best scenario? A single-payer system like Canada's.

[catlin.livejournal.com]

Here here. My Only problem on medicaid way back when was getting a doctor we understood. (our first barely spoke english). After that, it was really well run on our end. Medication our doc said was needed was paid for, emergencies were covered, etc. All we had to do was double check that the doctor charged medicaid for services we really got, and everything was good.

[davidkingsley.livejournal.com]

1. Yes
2. So far
3. Don't know
4. Insurance company executives won't make insane salaries and will actually have to work for a living. Rich people will have to pay a little more in taxes.

[catlin.livejournal.com]

Hm. I wonder if that is an area thing. Our local va is taking good care of my mother, with the exception of pushing nonsmoking meds on her she can't take without becoming a raving bitch. They are helping her get through the disablity system, treating her promptly, and have an arrangement for emergency care through one of the area hospitals for after hours stuff.

[jimhines.livejournal.com]

1. Yes

2. Yes. There are headaches and hoops to jump through, but overall I'm happy. But I can't complain too much, given that my diabetes, my son's asthma, my wife's knee surgeries (5 and counting), not to mention preventative and mainetnance care haven't all bankrupted us.

3. They're doing an adequate job. I wouldn't use the word good.

4. I think it's conceivable I might have to pay a little more. Right now, a portion of my income gets diverted to cover health care. If we expand health care to cover 100%, it's logical that the overall cost could go up, and I'd have to contribute more. (This is assuming that other cost-cutting measures don't work to bring the system back into a less crazy cost spiral.)

If so, I'd be okay with that. My brother is currently uninsured, despite looking for employment for more than a year. (College educated, certified EMT, but he lives in Michigan.) If paying a little extra means he and his wife don't have to worry about the a random medical crisis bankrupting them both, I'm more than willing to chip in.

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

Your poor dad's situation just makes me want to hurt something--preferably the majority of wealthy privileged idiots deciding this issue for all of us.

I'm so sorry he can't get the help he needs. That's just heartbreaking.

[aiela.livejournal.com]

I have health insurance. I was -really- happy with my coverage, right up until last year when my boss decided to do us a "favor" and pay 100% of our premiums.

Except he moved us down a bracket to insurance that only pays 80% of a lot of things, has much higher copays, and is all-in-all a worse plan, and I'm pretty sure I am now paying MORE per year than I was when I was paying 50% of the really good plan.

I have much better insurance than my self-employed husband, however, and for that I am grateful.