Guest guest Posted December 1, 2002 Report Share Posted December 1, 2002 Pam L - I sympathize greatly with the self-insurance dilemma. We had to self-insure when hubby started his own business. I hate it, but also glad to have it. Thankfully we had it before he got diabetes and I got GD. I shudder to think what would happen if we had to get it with those conditions. Granted we live in Iowa, but when we got our private insurance for the family, we pay about $500 a month for the 5 of us. And that's for pretty comprehensive coverage. We recently had to get our last remaining employee private insurance and for him it was like $200 a month for just himself. We get ours through Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which I don't know if you would have in your area. But would it really be so much more expensive because of the part of the country you live in? That's just unbelievable! What a racket these insurance companies have! I easiely understance how there can be so many un- and under-insured people. When was unemployed for so long, we sweated about how we were going to be able to pay that insurane premium, but we couldn't dare not. We'd never be able to get coverage for either of us again. Sad that that is the way it works in this supposed " modern " world of ours. Re: Venting- insurance > Thank You Terry for 'getting it'. > > It is so very frustrating, in that most people do not. You said: > " So I figure they inflate the cost of > the tests, because the insurers will disallow so much and then, the people > without insurance at all will be forced to pay the inflated amount, > subsidizing the rest of us. " > > This is true. > I just wrote my final check to Quest Diagnostics for that FreeT3 test I had > back in March. I have paid them every month for this one test. I have also > spoken to them twice, trying to understand why I am paying $100 more for > this test than is changed to the insurance companies. > I understand that I do not have a 'union' ( ins. co. ) behind me, and that I > always pay more for everything, BUT...this time the difference was > excessive. As you may remember we took a small poll when I asked what the > rest of you paid for FT3. ALL answers I received were in the $50 range, give > or take. I was charged $155. > Quest was very skilled in avoiding a definite answer. And I am normally > pretty good at these kind of conversations. Even if it is only a hint or > getting some one so flustered they almost spill the beans. But they are > trained to evade any kind of hint at all. > > Interestingly, I also just paid my final payment on my brand new Maytag > washer and dryer I bought at the same exact time I had my FT3 done. Pretty > darn ridiculous if you ask me. > > Bottom line. Any uninsured thyroid patient is NOT going to be able to have > proper testing done. > > WE are the honest , hard working people out here that always pay all our > bills no matter how long it takes, and can not afford the price they want to > insure us. I have not checked for several years, but at last check, the best > I could find was $460 a month , which would be well over $500 a month now, > and this included the exclusion, that anything affected by my ovaries would > NOT be covered at all. This is because I had ONE period that would not stop > on it's own, while I was insured. So this will be with me forever. > Now with Graves' I can only imagine all the rest of the things they will not > cover while I pay the $500 a month. Yeah...right. > > Now mind you, I was smart enough they never knew about the Ulcerative > Colitis. Once on ins. I went else where for continuing treatment , used my > old doctors name, but happened to not quite get MY name right at the new > doctors office. They don't check Id you know. They also accept cash as > payment. > > At this point, it doesn't matter who knows how I had to swing this, since I > will never be able to have medical insurance anyway. > > So folks, this is how the uninsured, honest people live in this country. > > -Pam L- > > > > ------------------------------------- > The Graves' list is intended for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace expert medical care. > Please consult your doctor before changing or trying new treatments. > ---------------------------------------- > DISCLAIMER > > Advertisments placed on this yahoo groups list do not have the endorsement of > the listowner. I have no input as to what ads are attached to emails. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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