You Call That "Insurance?"
OK, warning. Another conspiracy theory is about ready to land... I'm preparing to wax political and mount my soapbox.
I had a procedure done at the local hospital recently. No, it wasn't a lobotomy, though I'm sure they'd have charged even more. Without disclosing my entire health history for the entire Internet to ponder over, I figured this diagnostic procedure would cost a few hundred bucks and that my health insurance would cover the majority. Today I get the bill from my wife and find out that not only did it cost me $13.09 per minute, but the insurance covered none of it! So this leaves me wondering why my more-than-$300-per-month health-care premium is so worthless. I looked it up (I'm sure most of you are calling me stupid about now) and found that I get the pleasure of forking out many hundreds of dollars for deductibles with zero insurance before anything at all gets reimbursed. I'm thinking, "OK, so after paying thousands a year to carry a nice little card in my wallet I might as well have had no insurance at all!" Guess I should be glad that I've not needed to use the care much before now (and hence my lack of knowledge about it).
Last year when my eldest got very sick, we definitely used the insurance and were glad for it. It would have cost us near six figures without coverage. Still, even with a good plan, we paid many thousands more than I would have had to pay only a few short years ago. Scary.
What a sad editorial on our health-care system and our political paralysis that prevents lawmakers from doing anything more than campaigning on hollow promises to fix something that is largely unfixable right now. I don't pretend to have the answers. The socialized systems of many countries may not cost as much out of pocket to citizens as what we pay, but the quality of care certainly suffers. My in laws often wait many months to see specialists. Everyone knows that the current inflationary rates cannot continue because the majority of the population in the US will be priced out of the market in only a few more short years. So what will happen? Not sure. I guess we'll keep praying that we can be healthy, as that's the only choice I have.
Perhaps I'll purchase some tools on ebay and start my own health care. I could get some cool tools for my $6000 per year. Does Makita make medical tools? :-)
Maybe I can get 25-45% raises annually to keep on par with the increase in health care costs. Or maybe I should just opt for the lobotomy next time...
Random picture (taken at Cooke City, MT last summer with friends). It's a cold, ugly winter right now, so I thought summer pictures would be fun. The minivan shot is really just a commentary on how we take vacations:
I had a procedure done at the local hospital recently. No, it wasn't a lobotomy, though I'm sure they'd have charged even more. Without disclosing my entire health history for the entire Internet to ponder over, I figured this diagnostic procedure would cost a few hundred bucks and that my health insurance would cover the majority. Today I get the bill from my wife and find out that not only did it cost me $13.09 per minute, but the insurance covered none of it! So this leaves me wondering why my more-than-$300-per-month health-care premium is so worthless. I looked it up (I'm sure most of you are calling me stupid about now) and found that I get the pleasure of forking out many hundreds of dollars for deductibles with zero insurance before anything at all gets reimbursed. I'm thinking, "OK, so after paying thousands a year to carry a nice little card in my wallet I might as well have had no insurance at all!" Guess I should be glad that I've not needed to use the care much before now (and hence my lack of knowledge about it).
Last year when my eldest got very sick, we definitely used the insurance and were glad for it. It would have cost us near six figures without coverage. Still, even with a good plan, we paid many thousands more than I would have had to pay only a few short years ago. Scary.
What a sad editorial on our health-care system and our political paralysis that prevents lawmakers from doing anything more than campaigning on hollow promises to fix something that is largely unfixable right now. I don't pretend to have the answers. The socialized systems of many countries may not cost as much out of pocket to citizens as what we pay, but the quality of care certainly suffers. My in laws often wait many months to see specialists. Everyone knows that the current inflationary rates cannot continue because the majority of the population in the US will be priced out of the market in only a few more short years. So what will happen? Not sure. I guess we'll keep praying that we can be healthy, as that's the only choice I have.
Perhaps I'll purchase some tools on ebay and start my own health care. I could get some cool tools for my $6000 per year. Does Makita make medical tools? :-)
Maybe I can get 25-45% raises annually to keep on par with the increase in health care costs. Or maybe I should just opt for the lobotomy next time...
Random picture (taken at Cooke City, MT last summer with friends). It's a cold, ugly winter right now, so I thought summer pictures would be fun. The minivan shot is really just a commentary on how we take vacations:
Comments
I love that mini van picture. totally cracks me up.
I do appreciate the pictures. Pictures (related to the post or not) always help any post. I need to take a picture of our drive to church some sunday. Especially when the train comes and backs up a line of 20 minivans.