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Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,017
Registered: ‎06-09-2014

Re: Does anyone not carry medical insurance?

@geezerette   That's where I am.  My almost $4000 policy is catastrophic only with a $6000 deductible and only one wellness visit 100% covered a year.  I figure if I go without and even paying the $700 one time, I'm up big time.   Only risk is if the catastrophe, god forbid, happens.  And even then, with the insurance they only cover 60-70%.  

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,504
Registered: ‎05-22-2014

Re: Does anyone not carry medical insurance?

Keep in mind that the biggest cause of bankruptcies in our country is due to medical bills.  That’s a sobering thought.

No matter who you are, things happen.  If hope and high confidence could keep you well, the hospitals would be empty.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,487
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Does anyone not carry medical insurance?

I do know some who have no insurance and just go to an urgent facility and pay upfront. Another is a family of 4 and they said if they had insurance it would be $$$ every month which they don't have. So, they go to urgent care when they are sick and pay. For the amount of times they are sick, he told me he was actually saving.

 

Its a shame the health care industry in this country is so poorly run. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,892
Registered: ‎03-20-2010

Re: Does anyone not carry medical insurance?


@PamfromCT wrote:

Keep in mind that the biggest cause of bankruptcies in our country is due to medical bills.  That’s a sobering thought.

No matter who you are, things happen.  If hope and high confidence could keep you well, the hospitals would be empty.


And most of those people have insurance.  Medical insurance does not cover everything 100%.

Someday, when scientists discover the center of the Universe....some people will be disappointed it is not them.
QVC Customer Care
Posts: 2,923
Registered: ‎06-14-2015

Re: Does anyone not carry medical insurance?

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,537
Registered: ‎03-15-2010

Re: Does anyone not carry medical insurance?


@Laura14 wrote:

@geezerette   That's where I am.  My almost $4000 policy is catastrophic only with a $6000 deductible and only one wellness visit 100% covered a year.  I figure if I go without and even paying the $700 one time, I'm up big time.   Only risk is if the catastrophe, god forbid, happens.  And even then, with the insurance they only cover 60-70%.  


Your policy is VERY good for $4000 a year.  You must have excellent health and be very young to get that plan.

 

If you may be able to raise the deductible to lower the annual cost.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,017
Registered: ‎06-09-2014

Re: Does anyone not carry medical insurance?

@Abrowneyegirl   I hear your point but a one hour visit, if that, at the rate of $4000 is a bit steep even for a medical professional.  I wish I got discounted if I went responsibly like on my supplementals or even a deductible that didn't reset.  It would help!

 

 

Valued Contributor
Posts: 874
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

Re: Does anyone not carry medical insurance?

Healthh insurance is such an issue today.  Personally I would not go without it.  I have been paying close to $1,000 month for my coverage alone and socking another $3,000 a year  in a HSA.  Believe me I am one happy camper August 1st when I go on medicare.  I have my deduction from ss, another $94 month for supplemental and $14 month for prescription.  I really thought hard about cancelling prior to August 1st and then thought of a dear "healthy" friend who's life quickly changed when she suffered a stroke and they discovered brain aneurysms resulting in two brain surgeries.  Even with insurance thay had major bills.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,510
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

Re: Does anyone not carry medical insurance?

[ Edited ]

@Laura14 wrote:

For those of you not eligible for Medicare yet, anyone do regular wellness visits and pay as you go?

 

I came home to a letter that my insurance company and my doctor are fighting with one another again and I will have no insurance with my doctor as of 10/1/19.  That's the exact date of my next physical. 

 

This happened to me before where I had to cancel a 10/1 appointment and couldn't get back in for two months after they finally settled with one another.

 

I'm over it.  I'm over paying for insurance I can't use for one reason or another.  I'm over paying my own medical bills and insurance premiums because I will never reach my deductible amount every year. 

 

They will cover nothing that's not a wellness visit and now they won't even cover that after 9/30 with a doctor I have had for almost 20 years.  I can't even move the appointment because they won't cover two appointments in one calendar year. 

 

I am done, done, done with the whole industry.  I am seriously considering now that the tax penalty is gone not picking up insurance for next year and becoming self insured. 

 

Does anyone else do this?  Anyone do their physicals at an urgent care center or some such animal and just pay upfront?   

 

 

 


You probably can still do your wellness exam at your regular doctor. Just call the office and find out the charge. You can pay the charge out of pocket. If this isn’t an option for you you’ll have to switch to a doctor that is still with your plan. No matter what coverage you have, private employee paid coverage, ACA plans, Medicare Advantage Plans or Medicaid; you’re still going to have this doctors leaving the plan/revolving door issue. My husband picked a plan because his doctors were on it. The month after the start of the coverage, he gets a letter that two of his doctors are no longer with the plan. He pays cash and continues to see those doctors. The visits are not covered but any tests or meds they order are still covered.  Straight Medicare and Medicare supplement are usually not affected by this since there usually are no in network doctors. Most primary care doctors have self paying patients and the doctors usually have fair prices for visits. Some lab and imaging companies work with the uninsured as well. There are also medical clinics in each state that cover office visits on a sliding scale. The Urgent Care places are usually not the best place for wellness exams unless they have set themselves up and advertise wellness exams. With the money you pay for your employee coverage, you might be able to find one of the high end ACA plans with a low annual out of pocket for the same price you are paying for your current plan. Some of the most expensive plans have surprisingly good coverage, however, these plans change doctors and change what is covered at the drop of a hat. You could also get one of these plans that has great hospital and catastrophic coverage and so-so doctor visit pricing and self pay your own doctor, even if he or she isn’t with that plan. Then you’d still be covered if hospitalized or suffer a major health crisis.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,938
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Does anyone not carry medical insurance?

I try to only go to the doctor once per year for labs so I can get a year refill on my thyroid medication. I'm not interested in all their other tests they think I should do or meds they think I should take. We have really good insurance right now but it's not always been that way.

I have a brother & sister with no health insurance. My dad was paying their bills. He's gone now so when his money is gone don't know what my sister will do. My brother is now 62 so he's collecting SS & no Ins til he can get on medicare. Since neither work neither pay a penalty.

My brother was in the hospital for just over 2 months with over $500,000 hospital bill. Medicare paid for part of that for him but the rest will have to get wrote off because he's not paying it. Now they say he's not eligible for medicaid?

I have another brother with mental issues that lives off the state so I don't know how his health care works.

If DH retires before I turn 65 I will be without health ins for almost a year.

Our medical & Ins Industry has gone over the hill. It all needs to be revamped so it works for the people without causing them to go bankrupt.

We live in a world full of crooks.