Do you pay more for health care than you get back?

[starzrn]

When I left my last job, the cobra payment for my family and I would have been $900.00/month. We declined and took our health into our own hands.

We started walking everyday, cut out sugar, salt and white bread, increased water and veggies...you get the picture.

Since we wern't eating sugar, our teeth were staying stronger, I was able to get off almost all of my meds after weightloss, so we saved money there, and now that I am at a new job I just wonder if it's worth it to even take up their expensive insurance.

Yes, I want it there if something horrible happened, but I only go to the doctor to get my labs checked, and paying cash is actually cheaper.

Do you think your insurance gives you back more then you put in?

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

I had CIGNA, which is evil incarnate. However, in my husband's case, really bad insurance turned out to be cheaper than no insurance.

I paid $795 a month for COBRA from August to January. My husband eats far more vegetables than I do, and walks every day. He went to the ER in August, had surgery in September, and needed another ER visit in October. Without insurance, the out-of-pocket costs would have been at least $10,000.

Dietary changes are nice, but they aren't a magic bullet. They won't stop you from getting hit by a car, or having a fire, or developing one of a surprising number of illnesses that have little or nothing to do with diet.

[starzrn]

I had CIGNA, which is evil incarnate. However, in my husband's case, really bad insurance turned out to be cheaper than no insurance.

I paid $795 a month for COBRA from August to January. My husband eats far more vegetables than I do, and walks every day. He went to the ER in August, had surgery in September, and needed another ER visit in October. Without insurance, the out-of-pocket costs would have been at least $10,000.

Dietary changes are nice, but they aren't a magic bullet. They won't stop you from getting hit by a car, or having a fire, or developing one of a surprising number of illnesses that have little or nothing to do with diet.

I am so sorry to about your husband and glad it helped.

I agree diet isn't a magic bullet, but getting healthier has probably saved me $10,000 because I was on several meds and was having test after test done because of my heart, liver and labs. The last time I had labs done with insurance, it still cost me 900.00, then I switched doctors who only charged me 45/visit plus her cost for labs and I saved much more than using my own insurance.

Did you have a copay?

[elkpark]

I certainly hope that I'm paying more for my health insurance than I'll ever get back -- I hope I won't have any catastrophic healthcare crises and bills, and that's the original idea of insurance; to protect you from crises that would ruin you financially (not to pay for every routine healthcare expense -- that's part of what's driven the cost of insurance up so much in recent years (not that I'm defending the insurance companies!!!!)).

I pay a lot more in premiums for my homeowner's and auto insurance than I ever expect to get back, also (I've had the homeowner's insurance for >25 years and have never needed to make a claim (knock on wood!)), and that's fine with me. :)

If everyone, or even just most people, got more (or as much) in benefits from their health insurance than they paid in premiums, the companies would go out of business. Basically, you're gambling that you're going to have a lot of healthcare expenses, and the insurance company is gambling that you're not (and, of course, doing everything they can to avoid paying for the expenses you do incur ... ).

[nicurn001]

Starzrn as Elkpark said the whole purpose of insurance is to shift the risk of a financial liability from yourself to an insurance carrier .I hope and pray that I am paying more for my insurance than I recieve in claims , as I do not want to have the calamities happening which would lead to claims .

We can do what we can to reduce risk eg . in health we can eat well and excercise , in our home , have a monitored security system , in our vehicles ,antilock brakes etc..But although we have minimized risks we cannot cover all risks , that is why we have insurnce .

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

Did you have a copay?

We hit our deductible for the year, so we had to pay 20% of the final cost. Two ER visits, inpatient surgery, and 3 nights in the hospital cost about $2,000. Hubby was out of work for 6 weeks, so that was a stretch.

[tewdles, RN]

I will tell you from personal experience that it is financially devastating to require catastrophic care in the absence of insurance to pay the bulk of the cost.

I give you kudos for taking firm control of your health habits. Unfortunately, we can't plan for all things. FWIW, I would not recommend extended periods of time with no catastrophic coverage.