MSN: 40% of Americans lack medical insurance

[anonymuse]

Hmmmm....think this is a little relevant to BK? Sounds like the perfect recipe for BK.

Many middle-income Americans lack insurance
Study: 40 percent without coverage in 2005, up from 28 percent in 2001

MSNBC News Services
Updated: 11:00 a.m. ET April 26, 2006


WASHINGTON - The percentage of working-age Americans with moderate to middle incomes who lacked health insurance for at least part of the year rose to 41 percent in 2005, a dramatic increase from the 28 percent in 2001 without coverage, a study released on Wednesday found.

Moreover, more than half of the uninsured adults said they were having problems paying their medical bills, with 20 percent of working adults paying off medical debtThe percentage of individuals earning less than $20,000 a year without insurance rose to 53 percent, up from 49 percent in 2001.The study found that 21 percent of the adults surveyed between August and January had unpaid medical billshttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12480260/

[Minnymouth]

What do the EXPECT - with the cost of medicines and office visits.
Average office visit is $55.00 to $75.00 a pop.
Medicines - A pill (approx $.07 to $.12 to make) can cost as much as $5.00 to$10.00 a piece, depending on the amount of pills you get......

Most medicines cost $40.00 to $80.00 for one bottle..... DUH - WHO CAN AFFORD THIS IF YOU TAKE SEVERAL MEDS...

Doctors make money off office calls, office procedures, test in their office, equipment they use or sell you, and every medicine bottle that filled at a pharmacy...........

Then it's "follow-up" time, usually 10 days later....

A typical trip to a doctor can cost from $55.00 to $150 to $175.00 by the time the day is over and you have been the doctor and pharmacy......

People who have no insurance, CAN'T PAY THIS........... This is their grocery money, electric bill money, etc... SO THEY DO WITHOUT OR OWE IT......

It's even expensive for those with co-pays!!!!

Yes, its out of hand - something needs to be done soon - but WHEN???

[SinkingFast]

The "skipping medications or not filling prescriptions" is what caused my brother's early onset High Blood Pressure to escalate into strokes, heart attacks, quadrupel bipass surgery and now CHF.

Even tho he had insurance, it didn't cover prescription meds. He had a very sympathetic doctor who gave him as much medicine as he could in the form of pharamaceutical samples. But Brother did not qualify for any of the free pharma assitance programs, or any type of State aid to get assistance with his medications. Many times he had to decide to buy groceries or pay the rent, or fill his scripts. The first time Brother had prescription drug coverage was when he signed up for the New Medicare Plan D.

HBP put him in the hospital in kidney distress several times. Blood in the urine. Then came the strokes. That's when they discovered the blocked arteries in his heart. Angioplasty and cardiac cathertizations. When he was in his early 40's his cardiologist said the way his condition was progressing, Brother would be a member of the "Zipper Club" before he was 50. And that's the way it turned out. Quadrupel heart bipass surgery when Brother was 48.

Brother has been in CHF for 2-3 years now. Just recently, his doctor referred him to be placed on the Heart Transplant List. Brother is now undergoing all the pre transplant testing to clear him as a qualified candidate. Brother is concerned that he will not pass the dental exam. He's never had dental insurance and knows he has problems with his teeth and gums. If the Heart Transplant team finds any health issues, Brother must correct them himself before he can be cleared as a candidate for transplant. He doesn't have the money to fix his teeth, so he's fairly certain he'll never make it to the Transplant list.

Brother has the same attitude as DOA, a member of the Forum here. It is what it is and he lives with it. He prays every night when he falls asleep that he'll wake up the next morning. When he opens his eyes each morning and realizes he's still here, he's Thankful for another day to be with his family and enjoy spending time with his granddaughter. He's given up on dreading the next round of medical bills that are sure to come. He pays what he can each month and tells everyone they have to get in line.

[SinkingFast]

To relate a personal experience of our own,.......

For years after HMO's and PPO's became all the trend among companies, we still had a traditional 80/20 medical insurance plan. When we went to the doctor, instead of flashing a card and paying a small copay, I had to fork over $50 up front. After we met the deductibles for the year, we'd get back $40 from the insurance company. But it was pay out of pocket first and then get reimbursed. And not quickly at that. Sometimes it would be 2-3 months getting the money back.

Hubby had a kidney stone that required hospitalization and lithotrypsy. Our part of the Hospital bill, after the insurance paid, was nearly $2K. I called the billing dept of the Hospital to set up a payment plan, but they didn't want any of that. They wanted all their money NOW! So I gave up on that conversation, waited a day or 2 and called back. This time, I got a lady with a bit of authority. The head of billing for the Hospital. She said, if we could pay $1000 in cash, right then and there, she'd write off the rest. I asked if they would take a CC. She said sure. So I whipped out plastic, gave her the card number, and paid the bill. What a deal for us, I thought!!

Turns out, we were the Cash Cows for the Medical Industry anyway. Later when Hubby's company went to PPO insurance and I saw the statements I realized what had been going on the whole time. We were getting billed the full amount, and between insurance and our payments, paying the full amount. The people with HMO's and PPO's had negotiated rates. Our Doctor's office that had been charging us $50 for a routine office visit was now getting $36 allowed by the insurance company, writing off $14, and we paid a $10 copay at the time of visit. A $1000 test at the Hospital was getting dinked down to $650 immediately, and then we only owed 20% of the $650. Same test that used to cost us $200 out of pocket and now we pay $130.

If the US medical care system as a whole is making huge profits on negotiated amounts and offering a certain level of free assistance to people without insurance coverage, why can't they lower their prices to everyone, and offer more public assistance??!! They'd still be making a profit. Maybe not as much, but profit none the less. Making money is one thing. Greed is a whole different evil.

[anonymuse]

Prescription drug costs can kill you--even if you do have decent medical coverage. At least there is a midway point if you don't have Rx coverage and don't quality for medicare.

Together Rx Access

http://www.togetherrxaccess.com/

25-40% off a lot of Rx

Requirements:

Not eligible for Medicare
No prescription drug coverage (public or private)
Household income* equal to or less than
$30,000 for a single person
$40,000 for a family of two
$50,000 for a family of three
$60,000 for a family of four
$70,000 for a family of five
Legal US resident

[kelly]

This insurance thing has gotten out of control. In my area, if you end up in emergency, the hospitals will accept the insurance (BCBS etc). But then a month later a bill comes from the doc's office because they do not participate in any insurance. So either pay up or they hand you over to the collection agencies.

[Annika]

Yep, not being able to afford insurance is what got us into our mess.

DH lost his job (not his fault), and was unable to find another job quickly enough. We filled out the paperwork to withdraw his 401K money, so we could pay household bills and to try to keep up our medical insurance through COBRA. But the 401K money arrived too late, and we lost our insurance ... the deadline had passed.

Since DH was frantically searching for a job, we figured it would be okay for two totally healthy, mid-30-year-olds to go without insurance for just a few months until he found a job. We did check on getting new insurance, but the cost for individual insurance was outrageous. We simply couldn't afford it.

Then I suddenly became seriously ill -- it was a situation that was totally unanticipated and completely unavoidable. It's kinda personal (female-related), but basically I nearly lost all the blood in my body (4.3 blood count). I was passing out, extremely dizzy, couldn't walk, etc. I had no choice but to go to the hospital, where they had to give me 6 pints of blood just to get me back up to "low-normal". They said I probably set a new hospital record as far as having that low of a blood count and still being conscious upon arrival. Obviously, if I hadn't gone to the hospital, I wouldn't be here now.

They did upteen tests and procedures to try to find the cause, and after 3 total weeks in the hospital and several more E/R visits, I finally had major surgery.

I'm totally recovered now (and now have medical insurance through my husband's new employer), but the hospital bills were staggering.

We had no choice but to file BK.

[SinkingFast]

This insurance thing has gotten out of control. In my area, if you end up in emergency, the hospitals will accept the insurance (BCBS etc). But then a month later a bill comes from the doc's office because they do not participate in any insurance. So either pay up or they hand you over to the collection agencies.

Where we used to live, if you had an after hours event, you had to go the ER. No way around it. And during the day as well, there were somethings that the doctor just refused to handle, so off to the ER.

Where we live now, they have Urgent Care facilities. If we can't get an appt with our doctor, or it's not a matter that requires the services of a hospital, we go to the Urgent care. They charge our insurance a tad more than the doctor's office does, but not near the amount a hospital would. And, when we walk in the door, it's just like the doctor's office. $15 copay and we're done. Amazing!!! The Urgent Care center has made life much easier for us. For a while, after we first moved, we hadn't found a doctor yet. When we needed to see a doctor for something, we went to the Urgent Care instead. Now, if we get sick, and can't get in to see our Primary Care doctor, we go to the Urgent Care. This has been one of the best parts of moving here.

[SinkingFast]

Yep, not being able to afford insurance is what got us into our mess.

DH lost his job (not his fault), and was unable to find another job quickly enough. We filled out the paperwork to withdraw his 401K money, so we could pay household bills and to try to keep up our medical insurance through COBRA. But the 401K money arrived too late, and we lost our insurance ... the deadline had passed.

Since DH was frantically searching for a job, we figured it would be okay for two totally healthy, mid-30-year-olds to go without insurance for just a few months until he found a job. We did check on getting new insurance, but the cost for individual insurance was outrageous. We simply couldn't afford it.

Then I suddenly became seriously ill -- it was a situation that was totally unanticipated and completely unavoidable. It's kinda personal (female-related), but basically I nearly lost all the blood in my body (4.3 blood count). I was passing out, extremely dizzy, couldn't walk, etc. I had no choice but to go to the hospital, where they had to give me 6 pints of blood just to get me back up to "low-normal". They said I probably set a new hospital record as far as having that low of a blood count and still being conscious upon arrival. Obviously, if I hadn't gone to the hospital, I wouldn't be here now.

They did upteen tests and procedures to try to find the cause, and after 3 total weeks in the hospital and several more E/R visits, I finally had major surgery.

I'm totally recovered now (and now have medical insurance through my husband's new employer), but the hospital bills were staggering.

We had no choice but to file BK.

We went thru the same decision process about COBRA, Annika. We were fortunate that Hubby got a severance package. After researching our alternatives we decided to go with the Company COBRA. It was $850/mo to start in Sept and went to $900/mo January. Even after Hubby got the new job, we had to keep it going 3 months. That was the new company's policy. New employees are not entitled to any benefits until they've worked thru the 90 probationary period. So we paid COBRA from Sept 04 to June 05.

Otherwise, we woulda been in the same boat as you. Son broke his leg playing football. On the field, in a game. A rotational fracture same as Micheal Vick of the Atlanta Falcons. Lots of visits to the Orthopedist, weeks in several casts, an air cast and a brace at the end. The athletic trainers at school took care of the physical therapy or we woulda had bills for that too.

Hubby cut his thumb trimming a tree. Required a run to the ER, stitches, etc. It didn't heal properly. Took longer than normal, so, of course there were extra doctor's visits.

Daughter sliced her finger open in a freak accident one evening. Another trip to the ER.

And then there were illnesses, routine doctor visits, BP meds.

Without the COBRA, we coulda easily been in the same boat as you.

[FoolAndHisMoney]

People who have no insurance, CAN'T PAY THIS........... This is their grocery money, electric bill money, etc... SO THEY DO WITHOUT OR OWE IT......

It's even expensive for those with co-pays!!!!

Yes, its out of hand - something needs to be done soon - but WHEN???

Probably not anytime soon. The Government really isn't serious about fixing this problem. In fact they want it broken for 2 reasons, 1-So they have a political issue to run for office with and 2-So when it's beyond repairing they can take health care over Just like Hillary tried to and control it. This way when they control health care you will be inclined to vote for them. Most people want the Government to take it over thinking "it will work like Canada" or anywhere else Government has it, but that's not really true.

[FoolAndHisMoney]

This insurance thing has gotten out of control. In my area, if you end up in emergency, the hospitals will accept the insurance (BCBS etc). But then a month later a bill comes from the doc's office because they do not participate in any insurance. So either pay up or they hand you over to the collection agencies.

I know, really a shame. The only way to get something for nothing is illegally cross the border from Mexico then we won't have all these collection problems.

[edwards2]

annika - if it is any comfort to you we had health insurance and still ended up filing BK. My husband suffered a self inflicted(chemical imbalance problem) medical catastrophe 3 years ago. My husbands company changed insurance the day AFTER he was admitted to the Trauma Center. Thank goodness they did because the insurance company he had the day of the catastrophe did NOT cover anything that happened that day which included the ambulance, trauma team, etc....our bill for that day alone was almost $30K! The new insurance kicked in but still left us with a monster balance, plus food for the stomach tube he had inserted, dozens of meds, and hundreds of trips to the zillion doctors...I didnt realize there were so many doctors in Memphis. All of this and still try to live on my salary alone for 4 months. We wiped out every investment and savings account we had just to stay afloat. So I shudder to think what we would have done w/o insurance but even with it it can be a financial nightmare. And I hate the way the receptionists and other medical staff look at you when you dont have insurance. I watched how they treated those people and it was inhumane. With the cost of gas and insurance it is really hard for people to make ends meet. Neither wonder people are forced to choose especially the elderly. It is not right...I dont understand why we spend billions everywhere else and cant and wont take care of our own first.