Healthcare insurance

JKL33 · Oct 4, 2017

My husband's employer doesn't deduct anything for our insurance & we pay almost nothing for doctor visits & $0 for meds. The benefits of being in the Teamsters Union.

To be sure, they have already presented the wages/salary in accordance with that fact.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Oct 4, 2017

Weeeelllllll, your employer doesn't really "give" you insurance -- your insurance is paid for out of your earnings that you never see because your employer withholds them to pay for the insurance. :)

Colloquially speaking they give me insurance in the same sense that they give me a paycheck. Yes I earn it through a contract I have with them in exchange for my skilled labor as part of a benefit package, but without them, it would be much harder to have. And it would certainly be impossible to have at the cost I/they pay for the coverage level provided without the group leverage.

elkpark · Oct 4, 2017

And it would certainly be impossible to have at the cost I/they pay for the coverage level provided without the group leverage.

That part is certainly true.

bunnehfeet, BSN · Oct 5, 2017

My first thought is always that we'll see a higher volume of sicker patients with longer problem lists - which at first blush seems impossible given what we see already, because hospitals will be the first and last resort for the majority of people with any healthcare issues, the majority of which could have been avoided with appropriate, regular, primary care and wellness visits.

kcochrane · Oct 5, 2017

Exactly. If we had to pay out of pocket ourselves, the premium would be way more than what we are required to pay. The employer gets a reduced group rate and in my case they pay part of the monthly premium.

nursej22, MSN, RN · Oct 5, 2017

My thought is it is unethical for health insurance companies to profit off the misery of others.

Mini2544, ASN, RN · Oct 11, 2017

This is where I am. Congress can't agree on a plan, and until they do it is difficult to have an opinion on it. Generally speaking, we pay more for health care than any nation on earth, and our outcomes are middle of the pack. In my opinion, there should be a national system of some kind. Every other industrialized nation has one. In no other country is health insurance tied to employment, or is it allowed to exclude certain conditions.

No other country is like the US. We have too many people for universal ish healthcare and too many sick people. Also healthcare providers in other countries don't get paid nearly what they they get paid here and that includes nurses. Why do you think we have so many foreign doctors?

Colleenj19 · Oct 11, 2017

Right now I am in school for nursing and I am doing my preceptorship in an Emergency Department. I've noticed that lots of people come in for non emergent things, like a stubbed toe or vomiting one time, things like this. I'm wondering why these people aren't going to quick care, is this coming from being uninformed about what is an emergent situation or is insurance covering these trips? Maybe it has something to do with medicaid? I'm curious why the ER is the first place people are thinking to come for these things.