Posted by Rod Speed on January 16, 2008, 1:34 am
> Rod Speed wrote
>> and you certainly dont get one of those every year.
> Off Topic,
Nope, completely on topic when discussing what
sort of insurance makes most sense for you.
If you dont keep wasting the doctors time with visits to
the doctor to stuff like that that is a complete waste of
everyone's time, including your own, that reinforces the
fact that you only need catastrophe insurance at your age.
> I just mentioned two reasons one may need to visit a doctor at my age
But havent actually established any NEED with those two.
> and did not claim them as the only reasons for every year.
There arent any others that NEED anything like that frequency with a healthy
individual at your age.
And you're wasting your money getting insurance that pays for that sort
of visit to the doctor anyway, you are much better off with catastrophe
insurance and paying for the doctors visits out of your own pocket if you
are stupid enough to keep seeing the doctor for that sort of medical problem.
> BTW, if you have lived in a dorm you may catch such illnesses quickly from
others.
Irrelevant to whether there is any point in bothering with a doctor's visit when
you do.
>>>>> Well, I could have stayed at home, rested and probably could have recovered
>>>>> in some 3-4 days but going to the doctor helped me get better soon
>>>> Nope, not with a cold it doesnt.
>>> Depends on how severe it is
>> Nope.
> Well, if you live in a dorm sometimes you need to visit the
> doctor just to convince others you are taking proper steps.
No you dont.
> The medicines can ease your running nose
> and reduce your sneezing while you are in class.
You dont need to visit any doctor to get stuff like that, just the pharmacy.
>>> and mainly to ensure it is not a symptom of some illness.
>> The obvious way to check that is to see if it goes away as
>> colds always do and only bother with a doctor when it doesnt.
>> You certainly dont get those every year or anything like that either.
> I never said that one gets them every year
You did say that you see a doctor every year.
> (though if you are living in a dorm your chances are high).
Irrelevant to whether there is any point in seeing a doctor about them.
> Just because I mentioned two reasons does not mean I claimed
> that they were the only ones due to which I had to go to the doctor
> every year. There can be a muscle spasm, food poisoning,
Fuck all need to see a doctor every year for stuff like that either.
> minor car accident (if you are traveling in someone else's car),
Fuck all get that sort of thing anything like every year.
> back pain due to wrong posture
Or that.
> or many other factors due to which a person my age might require to visit a
doctor.
There are fuck all 'other factors' that see someone
of your age needing to see a doctor every year.
Presumably you're a mindless hypocondriac.
> Again, this is not a exhaustive list nor do I mention these occur
> every year to someone of my age, but some reasons due to
> which a person of my age may need to visit the doctor.
The total of all those dont see someone of
your age needing to see a doctor every year.
And it makes absolutely no sense to have that covered by your insurance even if
you are a mindless hypocondriac. You are MUCH better off financially paying for
the doctors visits out of your own pocket and only paying for catastrophe
insurance.
> Agreed, people at my age fall in the lower risk for insurance
> companies, but there are some liabilities associated with us also
Yes, thats why catastrophe insurance isnt free at that age.
> and people at my age might need to visit the doctor typically once a year.
Nope, they might be stupid enough to visit a doctor that often, but no healthy
individual with your detail actually NEEDS to visit a doctor that often at your
age.
> Some more, some less.
Virtually all MUCH less.
> The purpose of starting this thread was to get some good ideas
> (which I got, thanks to all who replied). I appreciate your help,
> but please don't misunderstand me.
No one has misunderstood you.
Posted by Goomba38 on January 15, 2008, 11:33 pm
P wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:40:57 +1100, Rod Speed wrote:
>
>
>>> I did not realize visiting the doctor typically once a year due
>>> to high temperature or cold can be considered very often.
>> Pointless bothering with a doctor for a cold unless you
>> need the doctor's visit to get the time off work etc.
>
> Yes, but if you have a viral fever(high temperature a visit does help).
What is your experience with treatments for viral illnesses?
>
>>> Well, I could have stayed at home, rested and probably could have recovered
>>> in some 3-4 days but going to the doctor helped me get better soon
>> Nope, not with a cold it doesnt.
>
> Depends on how severe it is and mainly to ensure it is not a symptom of
> some illness.
Usually cold symptoms are just symptoms of a cold. A pretty self
limiting illness for the most part.
Posted by Logan Shaw on January 14, 2008, 12:55 am
P wrote:
> I have browsed the web and talked to a few agents, but the more agents I
> talk to the more confused I become as to which plan to choose. Some offer a
> premium of 100/month and some as low as 30/month(which have a high
> deductible of 2500 and which cannot be considered credible coverage) if I
> get a position(as told by the plan agent).
First of all, the insurance industry doesn't go to very much trouble
to make anything understandable. You pretty much have to learn what
the heck is going on by personal experience or by a lot of reading or
asking questions.
Nevertheless, there are some basic questions you can ask that help
you understand policies and compare them to each other. These are,
to me, the essential differences between insurance policies. The
questions are:
1. Does this insurance let you choose your own doctor?
2. Does the insurance pay for office visits and major
problems (like hospital stays or surgery), or does
it just pay for major problems?
3. Are there specific issues that the insurance excludes?
4. How much does it cost?
5. What is the lifetime maximum amount they'll ever pay out?
6. What is the deductible?
7. What is annual out-of-pocket maximum?
8. What is the co-pay percentage?
9. What kind of paperwork is necessary, what is the claims
process, and does the doctor submit the paperwork for
you or do you have to do it all yourself and then get
reimbursed by submitting a claim on your own?
10. What kinds of prescription drugs do they cover?
11. What is the rating of the company, i.e. what are the
chances it will have financial problems?
Regarding #1, there are generally three types of plans. With
a "traditional plan", you can choose any doctor, and the
insurance company pays for whatever services you choose.
With a PPO ("preferred provider") plan, the insurance company
negotiates a contract with a bunch of doctors, and you can go
see a doctor they've negotiated contracts (and discounts!)
with, or you can see your own choice of doctor but they cover
only a bit of that. And finally, with an HMO, the insurance
company runs everything and you get no choice at all about
what doctor you get.
About #3, some insurance companies will include or exclude
certain things from coverage. One area where this varies a
lot is mental health care. Let's say you suffer from major
depression or bipolar disorder or something. Some insurance
companies will let you go see the psychologist/psychiatrist
all you want, and some will only let you see them 5 times a
year or some crazy low amount. Other areas besides mental
health have the same sorts of variations too.
Regarding #8, basically the idea with a co-pay is that until
you reach your out-of-pocket maximum for a year, they'll pay
75% and you pay 25% or something.
Anyway, for a young person who is in good health, generally
speaking you just want catastrophic coverage. There are
two basic purposes to health insurance: one is to help defray
the costs of things you have to do regularly (like medication
you might be on, or a condition that requires you to see the
doctor every few months), and the other is to make sure that
if something major happens (like if you get cancer), they
will cover the $500,000 or whatever it may take to treat it.
Generally, as a young person with no known health problems or
risk factors for them, you benefit most by covering the major
problems and not worrying at all about the minor issues and
what kinds of doctor's visits are covered.
That means that insurance with a $5000 annual deductible and
a $2,000,000 lifetime maximum is probably preferable to
insurance with a $1000 annual deductible and a $1,000,000
lifetime maximum, if they're both the same price. You
generally don't care if doctor's visits are covered, you
don't care how much your co-pay on prescription drugs is,
you probably don't care about whether several random
miscellaneous things are excluded. Basically, all you care
about is the question, "If I get cancer and it takes a million
dollars to treat it, am I covered?". You can get a policy
that allows you to answer "yes", and you can probably do it
for a relatively low price.
- Logan
Posted by P on January 14, 2008, 11:54 pm
On Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:55:33 -0600, Logan Shaw wrote:
> Nevertheless, there are some basic questions you can ask that help
> you understand policies and compare them to each other. These are,
> to me, the essential differences between insurance policies.
Thanks for your useful suggestions. I was mainly puzzled by some plans
which have a premium of 18/month like
http://consumerdirect.bcbsfl.com/wps/portal/cwsales/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd473DAHJmMU7xYc46kcii1jEewbDRXw98nNT9YOAMpHmQLVGFmb6UTmp6YnJlfrB-t76AfoFuaER5d6OjgBpqrdy/delta/base64xml/L0lJSk03dWlDU1lKSi9vQXd3QUFNWWdBQ0VJUWhDRUVJaEZLQSEvNEZHZ2RZbktKMEZSb1hmckNIZGgvN19CXzI4Ni8zOS9zYS5zcGZfQWN0aW9uTGlzdGVuZXI !?PC_7_B_286_spf_strutsAction=!2fviewPlanDetailsAction.do!3fdispatch%3dsuccess!26planId%3d25!26toScreen%3dQuoteResults#7_B_286
whose features are
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
BlueOptions
Limited Benefits - Hospital and Surgical
Plan 72
With BlueOptions Hospital and Surgical insurance policy, you get
ˇ§catastrophicˇ¨ coverage for major illnesses and emergencies requiring
hospitalization or surgery. Itˇ¦s perfect for healthy individuals who donˇ¦t
visit the doctor often or take many prescription drugs.
The Hospital and Surgical plan is a lower-priced option that offers
peace-of-mind, covering you and your family if you need hospitalization or
have a serious illness. This plan provides benefits for covered inpatient
and outpatient hospital charges and physician services for covered hospital
admissions, plus it includes:
Well child care physician visits
Emergency room trips, even if you are not admitted to the hospital or if no
surgical services are performed
Diagnostic services related to surgery (X-rays, ultrasounds and CAT scans)
Adult preventive screenings (mammogram, osteoporosis)
Pharmacy program with discounts on generic prescription drugs
Child only coverage for children ages one to 17
And, as with all BlueOptions health plans, you can choose an in-network or
out-of-network provider or facility, with maximum savings if you stay
within the network. The choice is yours.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
and others like
http://consumerdirect.bcbsfl.com/wps/portal/cwsales/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd473DAHJmMU7xYc46kcii1jEewbDRXw98nNT9YOAMpHmQLVGFmb6UTmp6YnJlfrB-t76AfoFuaER5d6OjgBpqrdy/delta/base64xml/L0lJSk03dWlDU1lKSi9vQXd3QUFNWWdBQ0VJUWhDRUVJaEZLQSEvNEZHZ2RZbktKMEZSb1hmckNIZGgvN19CXzI4Ni85NC9zYS5zcGZfQWN0aW9uTGlzdGVuZXI !?PC_7_B_286_spf_strutsAction=!2fviewPlanDetailsAction.do!3fdispatch%3dsuccess!26planId%3d27!26toScreen%3dQuoteResults#7_B_286
whose features are
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
BlueOptions
Predictable Cost
Plan 3
Customers choose BlueOptions insurance policies for their maximum
flexibility, significant cost savings and access to excellent physicians
and hospitals. BlueOptions Conventional Plans offer comprehensive medical
coverage ˇV including preventative care and pharmacy programs ˇV at an
affordable cost. There are no referrals required, and you can maximize your
savings by using our extensive NetworkBlue provider network.
BlueOptions Conventional Plans include plans with low, predictable
copayments for covered office visits and low calendar year deductibles and
coinsurance. The choice is yours. Other features include:
A variety of deductibles to choose from
Low copayments for network physician office visits
Fixed copayments on other covered services from select providers
Coverage for well care and preventative care with no deductibles
Coverage for outpatient therapies (speech, physical, occupational, cardiac,
massage and spinal therapies included)
Comprehensive pharmacy program for generic or brand name prescription drugs
Plus, you can add maternity benefits and child only coverage is available
for children ages one to 17.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Choosing the 18/month plan endangers me in case I develop something within
the time my employer insurance comes in, but is quite affordable. The next
is expensive but considered credible coverage.
What would be a good choice in this case?
Thanks
Posted by Melissa on January 14, 2008, 8:36 am
>I have just graduated, am 24 yrs old with a Body Mass Index of 20, no
> health issues. I have started looking for full time jobs, but until I get
> coverage through my employer I want to have some sort of coverage for
> catastrophic matters. I cannot come under my parent's coverage(as they are
> self-employed so have to get their own). I can work for some
> place(WalMart,
> McDonald) full time to get coverage, but I would rather spend all my time
> searching for jobs than working at those places just for the sake of
> health
> insurance. Working full time at one job will reduce the available time to
> job searching.
> I have browsed the web and talked to a few agents, but the more agents I
> talk to the more confused I become as to which plan to choose. Some offer
> a
> premium of 100/month and some as low as 30/month(which have a high
> deductible of 2500 and which cannot be considered credible coverage) if I
> get a position(as told by the plan agent).
> Is it better to get a premium of 100/month or the one with 30/month would
> be fine? I generally visit the doctor once a year, don't have glasses.
> I would appreciate any advice and I am presently in Florida, U.S.
Our oldest son got Catastrophic coverage a few years ago. He was working
summers at a Camp, and the chance of him being hurt were higher than normal.
He bought his through State Farm. I think he bought it for 4 months at a
time, and it cost about $60 a month. It didn't cover doctor visits or
smaller expenses, but had he been hospitalized, it would have kicked in if
the bills ran over $1500 or so. Thankfully, he never needed it, but it was
nice to know he was covered if he had gotten hurt. One trip to the
emergency room can easily run well over $2k.
Melissa
XML site map
>> and you certainly dont get one of those every year.
> Off Topic,