- 14,808
We're talking about accident coverage.
Here is another article pertaining to health coverage of the insured vs. uninsured.
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/S...SJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173351125270
I found the part about people making 350% being unable to afford health insurance to be quite interesting. For those of you who don't know the levels here is a link
http://www.workworld.org/wwwebhelp/poverty_guidelines_federal.htm
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/S...SJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173351125270
I found the part about people making 350% being unable to afford health insurance to be quite interesting. For those of you who don't know the levels here is a link
http://www.workworld.org/wwwebhelp/poverty_guidelines_federal.htm
If you assign your benefits to the provider then the carrier does cut a check to them.
Balance to the insured? What is that? Can't say when I have heard of an insured paying MORE than their liability.
Some plans automatically cut a check to the insured rather than the provider (but you can assign benefits here too). These are the indemnity plans such as accident, hospital daily indemnity, cancer, critical illness, etc.
Almost always these plans do not coordinate with traditional insurance (group or individual major med).
You (and the author) are still focusing on the wrong thing.
It really doesn't matter what is billed. All that matters is what is collected.
The amount collected from uninsured is usually in the 10 - 15% range. The rest is added on to your bill & mine.
How so?
The numbers on the uninsured will vary from study to study, but in general, the breakout looks like this.
40% fall within the guidelines that make them eligible for taxpayer funded programs. For whatever reason, they are not in the system.
20% earn too much to qualify for taxpayer funded plans, but earn enough that, by most standards, truly could not afford health insurance.
The remaining 40% earn in xs of $50,000 per year. Many earn $100k+. If you earn $50k+ in most situations you could afford at least cat cover.
About 4% of those from all groups are uninsurable.
- 14,808
Although I feel sorry for people who are trapped in bad situations the overwhelming majority of uninsured in this country can afford to have coverage yet choose not to. For those people I have zero sympathy and I hope they do get billed 3X's the normal rate.
How many people do all of us talk to every week who are currently uninsured and really could care less. I got stood up yesterday (for a phone appointments) by an uninsuraned family of three - both husband and wife own a business. I didn't even get a chance to show them quotes but they told me they needed to be in the $400's to be in their budget. I had them in the $300's. They could care less.
Don't buy into the media bullshit. There is no healthcare crisis. The crisis is whether or not to get health insurance or that new SUV. Guess what people choose?
I ran an appointment about 3 years ago that I'll never forget. Uninsured family of 5 in a very nice house. The husband took me to his garage and showed me his two classic Corvettes. At the end of my presentation he said he'd have to think about it. Never got back to me. That's the truth about health insurace in this country and no reporter's gonna write that story. It's not liberal enough.
How many people do all of us talk to every week who are currently uninsured and really could care less. I got stood up yesterday (for a phone appointments) by an uninsuraned family of three - both husband and wife own a business. I didn't even get a chance to show them quotes but they told me they needed to be in the $400's to be in their budget. I had them in the $300's. They could care less.
Don't buy into the media bullshit. There is no healthcare crisis. The crisis is whether or not to get health insurance or that new SUV. Guess what people choose?
I ran an appointment about 3 years ago that I'll never forget. Uninsured family of 5 in a very nice house. The husband took me to his garage and showed me his two classic Corvettes. At the end of my presentation he said he'd have to think about it. Never got back to me. That's the truth about health insurace in this country and no reporter's gonna write that story. It's not liberal enough.
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The author and I are not focusing on the same thing. I did mention once anything relating to the differences between what is billed and what is collected. I am in agreement with you about the biases towards the uninsured and the fact that the rest of us pay for the bills that are not paid, although in fairness, the statistics on that are all over the place.
Because I found it interesting that the author purported a family of four making $70,000 a year cannot afford a plan in the $300-$500 range here in MD. Take away the Mercedes and there's your payment.
If there is a will there is a way. I strongly believe in that saying in most cases. The poor have federal, state and charity assistance. The middle and upper have MONEY to pay for their coverage but choose not to do so. Who does that leave?
- Thread starter
- #17
That sounds like this lady from Nigeria, or some where in Africa, that wanted quotes for her and her daughter and I showed her plans for less than $150.00 a month and she wanted to know why she would pay that much for some thing that she doesn't need? I said you dont need? She said "well If we only go to the doctor once or twice a year why would I pay $100.00+ a month for insurance?" I told her you are not buying insurance for the Doc visit co payments. You are buying it to insure that in case any thing catastrophic happens you wont be bankrupt because of medical bills. She then said "well then I would just go to Parkland and get treated for free". (Parkland is the local Dallas goverment funded hospital) I just laughed and said OK! CLICK
I agree that most people simply don't make health insurance a priority. I remember when my son was born and was allergic to both milk and soy and had to have this special formula that was $85 a can! Needless to say we couldn't afford that, so our pediatrician helped us apply for state benefits to cover it. Luckily we qualified for the benefit, but I had to go to the local health office to pick a check for it once a month. It always seemed that a lady would pull into the parking lot in a new Tahoe, then get out and come in to apply for benefits. Her kids would have brand new Nikes and play thier video games. I know it sounds terrible but it always bothered me. Here I was feeling horribly guilty for using the system to pay for a necessity and this family was using to get out of paying for health insurance. On one of these vistis a nice young pregnant lady informed me that if you don't get married to the babies father you don't have to claim his income and can still qualify for everything from free daycare, to food stamps. The year I spent waiting for those checks was very informative. On the other hand I have had single moms in my office looking for health insurance who could barely make ends meet and refused to go to the state for assistance. I guess it just depends on your priorities.
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If you knew you were going to send out a bill and not collect anything on it, wouldnt you jack it up to some ridiculous amount so you could put on your expense side as a "bad debt"?
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