Benefits

[Petras]

Wasn't one of obummers selling points for AHA that there would be coverage for pre existing conditions?

 

[Big J]

Insurance is expensive. I pay $700 a month for a family plan, however my deductible is only $600 for the year. It is expensive but at what point is a lower monthly premium and higher deductible worth it? I guess most people can never plan for that as they don't know what medical issues they might face.

 

[Brian Renville]

Insurance is expensive. I pay $700 a month for a family plan, however my deductible is only $600 for the year. It is expensive but at what point is a lower monthly premium and higher deductible worth it? I guess most people can never plan for that as they don't know what medical issues they might face.

Does you employer pick up part of that tab, it seems cheap. Two years ago I was paying $800+ per month for 3 of us. We switched back to insurance through my wifes job but as far as the advertised rate increase goes with 4 of us now we would be well over $1100 per month.

 

[guywhofishes]

yep - $1200/month for family at BCBS here

 

[johnr]

On average it is going to lower everyone's insurance rates by over 25% was what obama told us all when he was selling his snake oil to the uninformed voters.
Anyone have their rates reduced by 25%? cause I sure haven't heard of anyone with lower rates

 

[Twitch]

My deductible went up by way waaaaaay more than 25% does that count johnr

 

[sparetire]

Sanford Health is a non-profit organization. Let's hear some numbers. What do y'all think is reasonable compensation for the CEO of the entire organization for Sanford Health? How about, say, the Chief Operating Officer for the Bemidji division? Answers to come soon.

 

[Big J]

Does you employer pick up part of that tab, it seems cheap. Two years ago I was paying $800+ per month for 3 of us. We switched back to insurance through my wifes job but as far as the advertised rate increase goes with 4 of us now we would be well over $1100 per month.

Yes. The monthly premium is close to being 50/50 split.

 

[Ericb]

On average it is going to lower everyone's insurance rates by over 25% was what obama told us all when he was selling his snake oil to the uninformed voters.
Anyone have their rates reduced by 25%? cause I sure haven't heard of anyone with lower rates

From what I've heard the 3 in ND asked for between 15- 20% rate increases on individual polices for next year.

 

[Brian Renville]

Bigger pools make insurance tick. Still illegal to sell across state lines, doesn't seem to make much sense.

 

[Mocha]

Wasn't one of obummers selling points for AHA that there would be coverage for pre existing conditions?

You are correct and that is the way it is now but it all comes at a cost. When all they did was attack the insurance companies and not address the costs of health care this was bound to happen. I agree some of the insurance companies probably needed a trip to the wood shed but the biggest problem is the actual cost from the health care providers.... i.e. ..hospitals, clinics, Doctors ........

 

[DirtyMike]

Switched to my wife's policy yesterday. It was in the plan for us to do this so I didn't want to jinx myself before October 1 hit. Now my calf can completely tear so I can walk normal again. I don't know what the premium is now. It's close to $800. Deductible is down to $500 a person/$1000 cap. This new insurance is the dumbest thing ever. My brother in law is in upper management at Sanford in Fargo. I think he makes more per year than I'll make in half a lifetime.

 

[guywhofishes]

I often use exotic materials and devices when developing new products/prototypes. When shopping around I avoid any supplier of "medical" tubing, membranes, electronics, etc. because I know they'll want ten times more for the same thing I can usually get for industrial application. Exact same things... Grossly more expensive if "medical". It's criminal.

 

[sparetire]

Switched to my wife's policy yesterday. It was in the plan for us to do this so I didn't want to jinx myself before October 1 hit. Now my calf can completely tear so I can walk normal again. I don't know what the premium is now. It's close to $800. Deductible is down to $500 a person/$1000 cap. This new insurance is the dumbest thing ever. My brother in law is in upper management at Sanford in Fargo. I think he makes more per year than I'll make in half a lifetime.

Nobody bit on my request for thoughts on what is reasonable compensation for executives at Sanford, but your post hints at it. Tax returns for non-profits are public information and are available at guidestar.org.

In 2012 the President and CEO of Sanford was compensated $1,500,000. He also received another $500,000 in deferred compensation. I'm not savvy enough in reading the reports to tell if that was previously deferred and then paid out in 2012, or deferred in 2012 to be paid out later. Nevertheless, that's massive income.

Of course each little subdivision of Sanford must also have its executives, so the Chief Operating Officer for Bemidji was compensated about $280,000, and the COO for "Bemidji Clinic" got about $200,000. Oh, let's not forget the person with the title of "President- Bemidji" who got about $550,000. It goes on and on.

I am employed in healthcare and I make a good living. Having said that, healthcare as a business which makes people ridiculously wealthy sickens me. In my place of employment, there has been an explosion in the number of executives over the last ten years, and their exorbitant salaries have to be funded somehow. Medicine is the only field I am aware of where a person can get a doctoral degree, have minimum 3 years post-doctoral training, enhance their skills through years of experience and education, then flip to an "executive" position using none of those hard-fought skills and triple their salary.

I think BCBSND has gone for-profit, so I can't find their numbers, but rest assured there are some obscene salaries being "earned" at that place.

 

[b2down]

I have a Sanford single plan. I pay $285 a month with a $6000 deductible. (which I met this year thanks to a torn meniscus) My wife pays another $785 per month for her and the two kids, with a $5200 individual deductible. Thanks Obama!

 

[Biglunch]

I have a Sanford single plan. I pay $285 a month with a $6000 deductible. (which I met this year thanks to a torn meniscus) My wife pays another $785 per month for her and the two kids, with a $5200 individual deductible. Thanks Obama!

Couldn't you just do a family plan?

 

[shorthairsrus]

what is happening they have lowered medicare spending and some how medicaid spending as the hospitals do not get the $$ they used to before obummer care. Granted the low income is now insured but in reality they were before by not paying or enrolling in Medicaid. What Obum didn't think of is that these huge overbearing medical institutions are not going to cut costs and they are going to keep rolling --- rolling by increasing costs and forcing the working stiff's insurance company to pickup the difference. What needs to happen -- we need to free up the laws regarding regulation on pharmacy and for that matter procedures. Yes no license required stuff -- freedom to pick who ever you want.

 

[b2down]

Family plan was over $1200, so it was cheaper for me to go on my own and my wife to go on a single with dependents. I know it doesn't make sense but it saved me $120 per month.

 

[johnr]

Family plan was over $1200, so it was cheaper for me to go on my own and my wife to go on a single with dependents. I know it doesn't make sense but it saved me $120 per month.

the only draw back is 2 deductables.

We did the same thing, as we (fingers crossed) are healthy. But if we had to meet the deductible on my family plan and her single plan we would be upside down a few thousand.

When my oldest daughter was born, the hospital bill for our out of pocket was $147, my last child 13 years later was C-section(big headed johnr kid) that bill after deductible, and non covered stuff, etc. was close to $9,000.

Tell me that in 13 years it had become that more expensive, or less insurable, or what, and that was before obamacare and any of this nonsense.

 

[Norske]

"Obamacare" did absolutely nothing to control medical costs! As written, it wasn't supposed to.
The Congress passed it without reading it because they didn't write it. The parts about Rx meds was written by PHARMA, the hospitalization parts by the hospital lobby, etc. Each lobbing group passed out their package and a pile of campaign contributions and got their votes.
By-the-way, much of the 2300 pages of lobbyist-written legislation had been lying around since before "Hillarycare." A lot of it was written in the late '60s in response to Nixon's plan to regulate the medical industry. His plan was the first to operate the business privately, (TR and H. Truman wanted government healthcare) but heavily regulated. At Tricky Dick's time, healthcare amounted to 10% of the US economy. It's now over 20%. The old system only worked for the medical industry, the new system works for them even better. It should, they wrote it.