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botiasThings like this make me want to cry. I buy individual insurance and have a whoppin' great choice of Blue Cross of CA or Blue Shield, but I sometimes think I may as well save my money and expect to be bankrupted by any serious illness or injury:
"I used to work for Blue Cross of California. Even if you do get individual health insurance and have no pre-existing conditions, they get you another way. If you're already covered and come down with a condition, they just keep raising your rates and now you're stuck, you can't switch to another plan, even within Blue Cross. The law says they can't raise your rates because of your condition, so they raise the "group" you're in every 4-6 months. The individuals that are healthy (and smart) just re-apply, get accepted into a new "group" and get a lower rate. Over a year's time, all the people who are left in the "group" are paying exorbitant rates and can't leave. So, in reality, even if you DO get an individual policy AND get sick after you get it, you end up paying for it through the nose."
Both of my potential insurance companies have recently been in California courts for recission which is the delightful practice of cancelling a policy on a technicality if the policy holder should become seriously ill. This is effective retroactively (they send you a check for all the premiums you have paid), leaving patients suddenly responsible for all medical costs incurred during the time they thought they had insurance coverage. I had actually thought I might be safe from recission since they can only do that for policies that are less than two years old, but it seems that the insurance companies have other ways of dealing with people like me. :P
*writes to congressperson*
"I used to work for Blue Cross of California. Even if you do get individual health insurance and have no pre-existing conditions, they get you another way. If you're already covered and come down with a condition, they just keep raising your rates and now you're stuck, you can't switch to another plan, even within Blue Cross. The law says they can't raise your rates because of your condition, so they raise the "group" you're in every 4-6 months. The individuals that are healthy (and smart) just re-apply, get accepted into a new "group" and get a lower rate. Over a year's time, all the people who are left in the "group" are paying exorbitant rates and can't leave. So, in reality, even if you DO get an individual policy AND get sick after you get it, you end up paying for it through the nose."
Both of my potential insurance companies have recently been in California courts for recission which is the delightful practice of cancelling a policy on a technicality if the policy holder should become seriously ill. This is effective retroactively (they send you a check for all the premiums you have paid), leaving patients suddenly responsible for all medical costs incurred during the time they thought they had insurance coverage. I had actually thought I might be safe from recission since they can only do that for policies that are less than two years old, but it seems that the insurance companies have other ways of dealing with people like me. :P
*writes to congressperson*
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-16 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 11:23 am (UTC)Working in the medical environment for many years, I can say that the inception of DRGs took a broken system and made it a million times worse. Premiums have rose exponentially since the '90s and the inception of the DRG.
While I find ironic that most of the town halls with people opposing the public option because of socialism/too much government are those that are already on Medicare which is government-run (sigh), the current proposal by the Senate Finance Committee's idea for insured coops-the credit union equivalent of insurance- is interesting. The idea that individuals and families would get fined for not having insurance by a co-op or a bigger company...not so good.
I'm sorry that you are going through this. When you need them most, that's when your insurance company runs. It's a Ponzi scheme of the most nefarious sort.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 03:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 04:05 pm (UTC)Do you have an idea why DRGs raised prices? The little bit I read said that DRGs were meant to control costs, by letting the buyer essentially set the price.
I don't mind the 'fine' idea, though I get why the notion that one is being punished is not appealing. It's not really different than paying into a public option with your taxes even if you don't use it.
Oh, thanks! But I'm not really going through anything. *knocks on wood* Healthcare reform is just one of my pet issues, and I'm also in charge of my family's finances, and I don't feel I have any good options when it comes to protecting myself from medical bankruptcy if I or someone in my family were to get sick. It sounds like individual insurance is like you said, a scam.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 04:54 pm (UTC)You'd think they'd try to be a bit surreptitious, wouldn't you.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 06:58 am (UTC)I've emailed my congresscritters, and I intend to keep that up.