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Jun. 9th, 2005
More on healthcare...
Jun. 9th, 2005 05:14 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
missbabyblue.livejournal.comSocialism isn't the answer -- but something needs to be done about health care in this country!
My mom just called and told me she paid their quarterly health insurance - $1400 for a family of four. (Yes, that's $5600 a year!!) My dad, 63, is a self-employed mechanic - and therefore has to buy his own private health insurance through Blue Cross of CA.
He has heart issues and high cholesterol, so IF he could find another insurance company to even carry him, they couldn't afford it the fees they'd be charged for his preexisting conditions.
Now, the kicker: my parents live out in the country near the town of Placerville, which is about 30 minutes from them. There is a hospital there - Marshall. The next closest hospital is in Folsom, Mercy, which is nearly an hour away.
Marshall just failed to negotiate acceptable terms with Blue Cross, so they are no longer a Blue Cross provider. At all. Nothing is covered.
This means if my dad has emergency heart trouble, he has to be taken to Marshall - and none of the costs of stabilizing him and transfering him to Mercy will be covered by health insurance. I don't know if any of you are familiar with hospital costs... but those expenses alone can be in the thousands of dollars. When he had some heart trouble a few years ago, he was in the hospital at Marshall overnight before they transferred him. Again - thousands of dollars right there.
On top of this, my mom's doctor (who she's been seeing for years) recently switched from his private practice to a partnership agreement... with Marshall. So guess what? She can't see him anymore, either. (She's 49.)
The only other people on the plan are my sister (14) and myself (19). We just keep our fingers crossed we stay mostly healthy, because we get a max of two covered doctor visits a year, each with a $30 co-pay. Most lab fees and tests come out-of-pocket. We only have prescription coverage on generic brands, and there is a $10 co-pay for that, as well.
My point? My parents literally CANNOT switch health insurance companies. So, they are stuck paying $1400 every 3 months, so that they can get zero coverage at their own town's hospital, thus be saddled with emergency fees out-of-pocket, can't see doctors they've been seeing for years, and have absolutely LOUSY preventive health care.
This is the reward for my dad being a member of the blue-collar workforce, and my mom wanting to do right by her family and stay home with her kids. We all vote Republican... And I say it's damn time the folks we're voting for get on the ball with tort reform, reduce the ridiculous malpractice insurance costs (courtesy of upstanding individuals like ambulance-chasing John Edwards), and make it so hard-working people can afford to live here!
I guess if my parents wanted to know they'd get into the hospital whenever they wanted, not have to pay outrageous fees, and be a-okay, they could just go on welfare. Too bad we believe in working for what you have.
/off soapbox
My mom just called and told me she paid their quarterly health insurance - $1400 for a family of four. (Yes, that's $5600 a year!!) My dad, 63, is a self-employed mechanic - and therefore has to buy his own private health insurance through Blue Cross of CA.
He has heart issues and high cholesterol, so IF he could find another insurance company to even carry him, they couldn't afford it the fees they'd be charged for his preexisting conditions.
Now, the kicker: my parents live out in the country near the town of Placerville, which is about 30 minutes from them. There is a hospital there - Marshall. The next closest hospital is in Folsom, Mercy, which is nearly an hour away.
Marshall just failed to negotiate acceptable terms with Blue Cross, so they are no longer a Blue Cross provider. At all. Nothing is covered.
This means if my dad has emergency heart trouble, he has to be taken to Marshall - and none of the costs of stabilizing him and transfering him to Mercy will be covered by health insurance. I don't know if any of you are familiar with hospital costs... but those expenses alone can be in the thousands of dollars. When he had some heart trouble a few years ago, he was in the hospital at Marshall overnight before they transferred him. Again - thousands of dollars right there.
On top of this, my mom's doctor (who she's been seeing for years) recently switched from his private practice to a partnership agreement... with Marshall. So guess what? She can't see him anymore, either. (She's 49.)
The only other people on the plan are my sister (14) and myself (19). We just keep our fingers crossed we stay mostly healthy, because we get a max of two covered doctor visits a year, each with a $30 co-pay. Most lab fees and tests come out-of-pocket. We only have prescription coverage on generic brands, and there is a $10 co-pay for that, as well.
My point? My parents literally CANNOT switch health insurance companies. So, they are stuck paying $1400 every 3 months, so that they can get zero coverage at their own town's hospital, thus be saddled with emergency fees out-of-pocket, can't see doctors they've been seeing for years, and have absolutely LOUSY preventive health care.
This is the reward for my dad being a member of the blue-collar workforce, and my mom wanting to do right by her family and stay home with her kids. We all vote Republican... And I say it's damn time the folks we're voting for get on the ball with tort reform, reduce the ridiculous malpractice insurance costs (courtesy of upstanding individuals like ambulance-chasing John Edwards), and make it so hard-working people can afford to live here!
I guess if my parents wanted to know they'd get into the hospital whenever they wanted, not have to pay outrageous fees, and be a-okay, they could just go on welfare. Too bad we believe in working for what you have.
/off soapbox
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