I'm curious.

tlv204 · September 2009

Someone the other day on here posted in an insurance thread that they couldn't afford to have insurance. And then in a couple threads later they said they were considering going to Europe. I judged.I would too. My mom really can't afford insurance for the most part (not offered through her job, she already shut off every utility but electricity and water. No cable, internet, or phone), but every time she goes to the bar I judge like it's my job. She doesn't even do it that often, but I still judge. Insurance is more important than booze mom!

amlewis83 · September 2009

I work at a hospital and still have to pay some crappy amounts. $25 is my basic co-pay, $35-35 for a specialist. Not bad. $500 for an ambulance ride I think. $1000 if you are admitted. Boo. The plus...free yearly check up, free yearly gyno, and a bunch of free prenatal stuff. I get all vaccines and stuff like that for free.

goheels05 · September 2009

Ditto Sarah, times a thousand.My parents both worked for the same company and both got laid off a month into my Freshman year of college. I didn't have insurance for the next 5 years. There are resources out there. I guess I could have had some high deductible plan that wouldn't cover anything, just to have coverage, but with my track record of good health, it just made more sense to deal with stuff as it came up. I went to the county health clinic the whole time I was in undergrad. Visits were free, prescriptions that they could give me onsite were $5, or they'd give me a $10 voucher at CVS, BCP's were free until my senior year. Then I made too much and had to pay $10 a month. ha. The clinic was a bit sketch and I hated the doctors there, but whatever, it was free.Grad school was even better. Our on campus health clinic was awesome. Free visits, free generic drugs, $5-$10 for everything else (including BCP). We called it the brown bag special.I'm uninsured now. I'm looking into private plans, and there are a lot more options than I thought (thanks SarahSmile, you rock for pointing me in the right direction). I do miss my Aetna coverage, though.

shannonalise · September 2009

Haha! Heels, your badge is CRACKING me up. Get it? I should be shot. Get IT!??Ok, it's the Excedrin. I'm not even remotely funny.

goheels05 · September 2009

SnortI like your style.

SarahSmile23 · September 2009

(thanks SarahSmile, you rock for pointing me in the right direction).No problem! I sure wasn't going to allow for a gap in my coverage, so I started researching private options when I started working for a small business that did not provide health care benefits. Honestly, I didn't even know much about private options at all and thought it was SUPER expensive to get a private plan. It's super easy for people without pre-existing conditions to obtain one. Now we just need to help people with pre-existing conditions have access to quality, affordable plans.

shannonalise · September 2009

You are probably the only one.

Bubbalub · September 2009

I have insurance through my company. I have a $10 copay for office visits and pay about $50/month total for my insurance. It doesn't cover as much as my last plan, though, so I get bills later and end up paying more. I have to get blood drawn every few months because there are a couple serious diseases in my family and we are trying to be proactive about my health and catch it early if I'm going to develop something. (Like hypothyroidism). But apparently my insurance doesn't care and won't cover the labs.I recently switched to the UCSF Women's Health center and they are awesome, but I haven't gotten the bills for anything yet which included a blood draw and an ultrasound. I'm terrified that it's going to be really expensive, even with the insurance.

SarahSmile23 · September 2009

Decent private health policies are VERY expensive! Mine is $130/mo. I know it all depends on age, etc. I could have found a less expensive plan if I was willing to have a very high deductible. I settled for a $1500 deductible because I am comfortable with that. If I was struggling a lot financially, I would opt for the very basic plan to cover emergencies. I don't really think there is any excuse for a young, healthy adult our age to not at least have a basic plan to cover them in case of a major illness or injury. I could have obtained a basic $5,000 deductible plan for $80/month. Is that a ridiculously high deductible? Perhaps. But it would protect me in the case of an extremely costly health issue, which is what people tend to use as an example of why people who don't have hc end up with a lot of hc related debt.To answer your question, I selected a plan that does not cover maternity care. But it would make sense that ones that do cover it are more costly, considering that it's a costly process. It would have cost me an additional $106/month to add maternity coverage.

goheels05 · September 2009

Yeah, the maternity thing sucks. I will have to get on Mr. Heel's policy before we even think about TTC.

Travis&Cari · September 2009

oh don't even get me started on this BS.I have health insurance (it's crap but I have it). A few years ago I had horrible chest pain and they thought I had a pulmonary embolism and they wanted to do a CT Scan. They told me I didn't want to pay it out of pocket so I better sit around and wait while insurance authorizes it. I sat for an hour in a waiting room by myself scared to death that I had a blood clot in my lungs while insurance decided if I should have a picture taken! Then the nurse tells me, "ok, they authorized it, but just so you know that still might mean they don't pay for all or some of it." The CT cost $1700. Good thing I waited for insurance to OK it. They paid $75!!! Health insurance is such a freaking joke. After working in an ambulance and knowing that just for us to show up and drive you to the hospital is $1500 FI and I have now agreed that unless the other is on the verge of death we are never calling an ambulance.

jajph1974 · September 2009

My doctor co-pay is $20. Without insurance an office visit around here is around $150.I had surgery last year. The hospital bill came to $77,000. I only had to pay the $500 deductible. Sweet!

Travis&Cari · September 2009

I used to work for a company that gave me health insurance. the policy said they covered one wellness visit per year for women. I went to the gyno and then got a $225 bill for a pap-smear. I called insurance and they explained that while they do cover the visit they do not cover labs. I calmly asked if they understood what women do when they get a yearly exam and he said, yes but the pap-smear is a lab and we don't cover that. I was so mad. I told him if I just needed someone to look at my junk I could have my fiance do it for free and hung up.

Travis&Cari · September 2009

Kappa - My FI can't get insurance because he went to treatment for chemical dependency 7 years ago. It doesn't matter that is clean and perfectly healthy. It's a pre-existing condition and he has been denied by every major company. He now pays over $200/month for insurance through the state.I was denied from one company because my moderate acne was a pre-existing condition.

SarahSmile23 · September 2009

The biggest problem is that the health costs in this country have gotten out of control. If we could figure that out, then we would be in much better shape. Bingo! This is what goheels and I are chatting about right now, actually. We really need to start with the source and figure out how to make our health costs fair. Obviously, the cost of malpractice insurance is a factor, but that's just the start.

SarahSmile23 · September 2009

He now pays over $200/month for insurance through the state.I don't find this to be excessive. My coworker spends $1400/month for herself and her husband to be covered. She is a late 40's smoker with pre-existing conditions. It blows my mind! Can you imagine spending $1400/month on insurance? These are the people we need to work to help.

Travis&Cari · September 2009

The costs ARE out of control. But it goes beyond the malpractice. Just the supplies are ridiculous. When I would take patients in the ambulance that I know didn't have insurance I would feel so bad knowing what that bill was going to be. I have to document every.single.thing I do to cover my own butt, but I know starting an IV is going to cost hundreds of dollars. It gets to the point where people aren't getting the best care because it's so expensive.FI was telling me about an old lady they picked up in the ambulance the other day. They called 911 because she had fainted but she was awake when they got there. FI wanted to do an EKG to see if he could see something going on with her heart, but since they were taking her to the hospital anyway his superior said that he shouldn't do it because it would just be more expensive for her.

Travis&Cari · September 2009

I don't find this to be excessiveIt's all relative. Some people on here thought $150 to go to the doctor was do-able, while for others it's not. If you don't have the money to pay for it, it doesn't matter if it's $200 or $2000....

kikibaby · September 2009

My sister was in ICU for about a week. She had insurance, so it only costs them a couple hundred bucks. They saw the bills though: about $70,000.

smokeybailey · September 2009

I once had insurance where maternity was covered but BCP was not. Lame.Also, I want to throw out Tonik for those that live in the approved states (https://www.tonikhealth.com/). There is no maternity so the cost is lower. With a high deductible, you can get it for as low as $70/month. There might be something similar in other states if you look...Ways to beat the cost: consider urgent care clinics, planned parenthood and similar clinics for womanly needs, pay cash for a dr. visit but only go if absolutely necessary. There are also non-profit locations that you can visit.

SarahSmile23 · September 2009

It's all relative. Some people on here thought $150 to go to the doctor was do-able, while for others it's not. If you don't have the money to pay for it, it doesn't matter if it's $200 or $2000....I know this. The point some of us were trying to make is that people are spending thousands of dollars on things like weddings but saying they cannot afford $150 on their own health. Sorry. if you are spending money on a wedding, $150 is affordable. It comes down to priorities. The people who TRULY cannot afford insurance are the people who will need to spend thousands of dollars on it. These are the people I am worried about. These are the people who TRULY cannot afford it and who have the system stacked against them. These are people whose entire quality of life is rocked by one visit or even one month's premiums. I have little sympathy for people who don't want to pay $150--$200/month but they have a nice car and spend that same amount on car insurance. They have laptops and collect nice shoes and use an iphone. For a large # of people, it's a matter of priorities.

betrothed123 · September 2009

I am insured through my company. They pay 50% of my premium. I pay >$100 a week to cover my H and myself (making the weekly contribution for our insurance more than $200 between myself and my company). When I see my primary care physician, my copay is $10. If I see my OB/GYN my copay is $10-20 depending on the reason for the visit. If I go to the hospital, no matter the reason or what they do, I pay a $40 copay. I pay $250 for an ambulance ride.Without insurance, it would cost me roughly $200 a visit for my primary care physycian, $250-$300 for my OB/GYN, and god only knows how much a hospital visit might cost me.

veronabrit · September 2009

people who make over a certain amount dont qualify for medic-aid...it is just sad/

Ciaram22 · September 2009

It doesn't cost me anything to see a doctor. I pay $7 a week for health insurance and so far this year I have been to the doctor 4 times and the dentist twice and havne't had to pay for anything out of pocket.As far as I know maternity is covered.

meriamjuicy · September 2009

I had to go in for problems with my period 1 year ago. $175 for visit, $750 for full panel blood work. Unfortunately It costs too much to go back to see the doctor to check my levels again. I am waiting it out until after marriage and then I have to hope his insurance doesn't consider it a pre-existing condition. That would be another 9 month wait.problems mostly fixed with monthly$3 metformin$9 birth control

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