authfriend wrote:
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, off_world_beings [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@
wrote:
snip
Just FYI, right before I went on Medicare
in February of this year, my group health
insurance premiums--single, no dependents--
had been raised to $14,612 a year..
Ouch !
That's
$281 a week, hardly a little bit of money.
So Medicare pays for you? How does that work?
Complicated. Everyone over 65 who has paid
into the system via their Social Security
taxes is covered by Medicare automatically and
(I think) completely for hospitalization; it
will also, for a smallish premium, cover
doctor's visits and outpatient stuff up to a
point (for physicians who take Medicare), but
most people need additional insurance (called
Medigap) because there are always some out-
of-pocket costs. Medigap policies are offered
by private companies, but to specifications
laid down by Medicare.
You can now also get a private HMO plan through
Medicare, which may or may not cost you less and
may or may not give you the same service. Some
are saying it's a scam, but I didn't take that
option, so I'm not up on the details.
Then there's prescription drug coverage, which
until a year or so ago hadn't been covered at
all. Now you can get a private policy if you're
eligible for Medicare that covers up to $2,400
per year with copayments; then you have to pay
additional costs up to--I forget, $5,000 or
something--at which point the policy takes over
again. This is called the doughnut hole and
is very bad for many people who have to take a
lot of drugs or expensive drugs.
The drug plan is also a boon to the drug companies
because Medicare is prohibited from negotiating
prices, and there are other big problems with it
too complicated to go into.
Even with all this, it's still considerably cheaper
to be on Medicare. But it's getting more expensive
to the government by the day, and something is going
to have to be done to curb costs. Major policy
mess.
Of course, since I work freelance, I had
to pay for all of it, no employer
contribution, so it was higher than for most
employees. But most freelancers have a
terrible time getting *any* health insurance,
and those who do pay a very substantial
percentage of their income for it.
I got it no problem as a freelancer and pay about 340 a
month (cost: about $2 an hour).
Depends on what state you're in and what kind of
policy you want.
And how much deductible. My policy is around $240 a month but then they
add a 50% surcharge because I am overweight plus I have a $2500
deductible. Policies for self-employed people aren't as good as group
policies either. This is a crime but then most big business is run by
organized crime anymore anyway. My doctor had a fit over the 50%
surcharge, he could see 10-15% but not 50%. Once you get down to what
weight they think you should be (within about 10 lbs) if you stay there
or under for 6 months they'll drop the surcharge.
I think for this country we need to erase the blackboard and start over
again. It's way too screwed up to fix.
