57yr old FIRE wannabe...

[Patsweb]

I am 57 and emotionally and financially ready to retire, but failed to "qualify" for health insurance due to a benign condition...seriously suspect was due to my age, as I am in excellent health according to my Dr. So, I am hoping that health reform will pass this year...in the meantime, I am working the minimum required to maintain my health ins. which is only 4 days a wk.
I am so desperately wanting to retire, that I have even started sending letters to members of my Congress encouraging them to pass health reform this year!

[CuppaJoe]

Welcome, Patsweb.

Is there any way you can appeal the insurance decision?

[donheff]

That makes my blood boiled. I join you in your hopes for a decent health insurance system. What ever happened to the health insurance consultant who had all the answers for everybody with problems like this (Ilikemykids, or something).

[DallasGuy]

The insurance companies only care about one thing....profits. Like I said in the past I believe that health insurance companies should be run like a public utility company....with a fair, but not obscene profilt built in.

Hopefully congress will pass some sort of law soon that doesn't allow insurance companies to deny coverage based on a pre-existing condition.

[Stevewc]

I'm with you Patsweb.
I'm 55 and hoping to retire at the end of this year.
Insurance is my biggest problem. I too am firing off E-mails bugging anybody I can think of. Hopefully they will come up with a good option for us. Not sure what the best thing coming down the pike is or even what I really want to happen. I just know I need insurance that is portable, not tied to a job and somewhat affordable. I'm hoping the attention to the industry will cause them to get more competitive at the very least.
Steve

[leftbucket]

Patsweb-

You've probably already considered this, but just in case...
Are you close to or can you get residence in a state with a guaranteed issue
law in place?

Buying Your Own Health Insurance - Kiplinger.com

-LB

[huusom]

I'm with you on this health insurance issue. There should be a better way for people to get decent heatlh care. Why should one have to move or spending a ridiculous amount of money just to get health insurance coverage.

Employment and health insurance should be separate from each other.

[bd68]

huusom asked...

"Why should one have to move or spending a ridiculous amount of money just to get health insurance coverage." ?

Because health insurers have to spend ridiculous amounts of money to pay the benefits that they are obligated to pay.
bd68

[DallasGuy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bd68 huusom asked... "Why should one have to move or spending a ridiculous amount of money just to get health insurance coverage." ? Because health insurers have to spend ridiculous amounts of money to pay the benefits that they are obligated to pay. bd68

And make ridiculous amounts of profits too. The basic premise of health insurance for profit is ridiculous.

Health insurance companies in business of making profits :: Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog

For-profit health insurance has outlived its usefulness | Physicians for a National Health Program

[burch64]

Health care insurance is coming down to the "Haves" and "Have Nots" I have a friend that has retiree Health Insurance free from Megacorp "big phone company". Bring up Health care reform and he is completely against it.

Burch

[Patsweb]

thankyou all for the helpful info...Health Ins. is something that I always took for granted until just recently, when I realized just how discrimatory the Health Ins. Co. are if you are not getting your ins. through your employer. I really think we need to be on the single payer plan in order to truely make insurance affordable to everyone, but it is looking as if Sen. Baucus and his finance Committee are too deeply in the pockets of the insurance industry. See this report:Consumer Watchdog - Health Insurers & Drug Companies Contributed $5.5 Million to Top 10 Senate and House Recipients Since 2005 and then see what happened today.
Doctors, Single Payer Activists Arrested, Make History at Senate Finance Roundtable | Physicians for a National Health Program or to see the video: Video of Disruption by Single-Payer Advocates at Senate Roundatable on Health Reform | Healthcare-NOW!
Doctors were arrested after being escorted from the room. I guess the best we can hope for is some sort of gov't plan as an alternative to the private ins. co. and hope that eventually we will all be able to have affordable, health insurance.

[Bestwifeever]

Are you saying you are uninsurable as an individual, Patsweb? Have you looked into state programs if so?

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DallasGuy The insurance companies only care about one thing....profits. Like I said in the past I believe that health insurance companies should be run like a public utility company....with a fair, but not obscene profilt built in. Hopefully congress will pass some sort of law soon that doesn't allow insurance companies to deny coverage based on a pre-existing condition.

Unless that is mated with mandatory universal coverage it would be a disaster. Just think about it.

But for that reason alone the current administration and congress should be all over it like flies on a dead cow.

Ha

[Moemg]

Welcome ! I also hope they pass health care reform .

[bd68]

I am normally not this argumentative but I can't help it on this issue. Here are several random thoughts.

If it comes...universal healthcare, which is coveted by so many as the "answer", will be a millstone around this country's neck just as so many houses are currently millstones around peoples necks when 3 years ago they looked like their tickets to easy street in the middle class.

Regarding the articles that you linked to...I would not recommend a law organization as a source of unbiased information...although I do suspect that the title of their article is truthful..."Health Insurance companies in business of making profits". Now there is a headline...imagine that...a company wants to make a profit...shame on them in the Socialist Republic of America.

The other article you linked to that was authored by a doctor had an interesting line..."While Obama’s plan includes a requirement that insurance companies accept anyone who applies for coverage and sets up a new public plan to provide another coverage option, several states that have adopted this kind of model (Massachusetts being the most recent example) have invariably abandoned them, citing uncontrollable costs.". And how are those uncontrollable costs going to work on a national basis?

To paraphrase something I have heard about Universal Healthcare that I think is insightful..."if you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it is free"...when the costs will explode.

We hear constantly about people who "can not afford healthcare" ...( I do not deny that is seems expensive)...but the real reason that many can not afford healthcare is because they prioritize other things instead of paying for healthcare because they know that if something really bad happens they can show up at an emergency room and get care. I know a guy who was a contractor (worked by himself most of the time) who had 3 or 4 kids and wife who did not have health insurance...but he showed up one day with a $900 camcorder (when lesser models were available for $300-$350)...that's it...priorities.

I don't deny that overall the cost of healthcare is a problem, but the answer is not to make it free, the answer is to have transparency in pricing, increase copays and deductibles, and have health savings accounts (that are refunded to people if they don't spend it all) so that people have some skin in the game. People must have some skin in the game, period.
bd68

[huusom]

DB68:

Why do people keep equating universal healthcare with free healthcare? We all should pay for it through our taxes just like the French, Brits, Germans, etc.

In fact, they pay less than what we are paying now and everyone is covered.

Just remove the middleman (insurance companies and HMOs) so we can focus our resource on real healthcare. And yet, I don't really have a choice of doctors because of the stupid HMO.

[Patsweb]

I am certainly not an expert on how to reform healthcare, but just a woman who was denied health insurance from the same company, that I am insured through at work. It was hardly free, as I went for the $5K ded plan at $240 a mo. as I am very healthy, no scrips in years, low cholestrol, norm BP...but the last mamo showed a couple of lumps which were biopsied and declared benign. Nothing to worry about so said my Dr, probably just showed up because I tend to drink lots of coffee. However, the insurance co. claimed I was a high risk, but then I have heard that you can be denied insurance for something as minor as allergies...so go figure. Anyhow, like most people with good health insurance through work, I never gave it much thought until I realized how much power the insurance industry has over deciding who they will insure. Some of the stories of people who have been denied are just heartbreaking...too many to list here. True many choose not to buy insurance when they can afford to do so, but this is why it needs to be mandatory...cradle to grave to make sure that the healthy as well as sick are all contributing....because, we all eventually get old and sick. I do believe that the gov't is capable of providing a comprehensive and yet more financially sound plan if we don't have private insurers in the mix...but, it needs to be nationwide, not done on a state by state basis as in Ma. My mother who passed away after living with me for 7 yrs, had Medicare/ Tricare (military ins.), and though she was in & out of hospitals, drs. appts...she was able to see any Dr and go to any hospital...quite unlike my present plan. I don't recall her insurance denying anything that her Drs. recommended. I would be more than happy to have insurance like hers, but guess I will have to settle with whatever our Congress comes up with, which most likely will be some sort of mix of private and public insurance for un-insurables like me. But that is fine, so long as it is available and reasonably priced.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patsweb My mother who passed away after living with me for 7 yrs, had Medicare/ Tricare (military ins.), and though she was in & out of hospitals, drs. appts...she was able to see any Dr and go to any hospital...quite unlike my present plan. I don't recall her insurance denying anything that her Drs. recommended. I would be more than happy to have insurance like hers, but guess I will have to settle with whatever our Congress comes up with, which most likely will be some sort of mix of private and public insurance for un-insurables like me. But that is fine, so long as it is available and reasonably priced.

Whatever they come up with, it won't be this. Just like not everyone can drive a Mercedes, only the favored have Tricare.

Ha

[F4mandolin]

Here in England they may have the standardized health....and it kind of works if you really need help. For minor/not serious problems it can take years to get help (my wife is a Brit). Being American I also have my Govt insurance....if you want help fairly quickly I just use my personal insurance. People here with money have their own personal insurance so they can get help quickly. The UK system has + and - all over the place.

[Patsweb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha Whatever they come up with, it won't be this. Just like not everyone can drive a Mercedes, only the favored have Tricare. Ha

I think that most military retirees and their dependants would be surprised to find that they are specially "favored" after serving their country for so many years...but, they certainly are deserving of it.