How many of you nurses do NOT have health insurance

HyperSaurus, RN, BSN · Oct 29, 2010

So we as nurses can't afford to have health care. How messed up is that?
We have teachers that are on strike now because they want more money and don't want to have to pay more for benes. Right now they are getting more than our local average and this in a good school district. Starting out at 45k a year and many are up around the 92K per year range with the average at 60, ooo per year. now they are paying 0.5% a year up to .95% a year for a family on their benefits. Rumor is that they want to increas it to 4% a year for a family.
In this day and age...I just can't wrap my head around this. So many teachers in our area are begging for jobs too.
I get benefits thru my hubby since I only work PT. The CNAs and LPNs don't have benefits at our place and they are in the union. That I don't understand.

You know, if I were a teacher, I would probably strike too for more bennies. Teachers in MANY areas have a minimal income and put in a lot more work than just the 8-3 M-F. I wouldn't begrudge teachers their insurance anymore than I would a nurse.

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Oct 29, 2010

I found out recently that the pregnant girls being treated at a local clinic who are illegal aliens, get free care, a baby car seat, a cell phone and a Wal-mart card for diapers. I do not know if anyone regulates what is actually bought. Then there is the WIC program------ would not be so bad if someone actually went to work to support the family. I blame this on the Pres of Mexico who is too intimidated by drug lords to pull his country out of the snake pit economy they endure.

linearthinker, DNP, RN · Oct 29, 2010

Some of these comments make me physically ill. How anyone can think of another human being as being less deserving of health care because of their country of origin is simply mind boggling. There is no rational response to that kind of selfish, disgusting attitude. I am ashamed to be called a nurse if this is representative of todays' nursing values. Truly.

Leelee2 · Oct 29, 2010

I am currently sick with active Graves disease, no insurance...Bills are pilling up quick, all those labs are expensive. Too sick to work, and can't afford independant policy at $500 a month, with $2,000 per person deductible, crazy... :confused:

WI_home_RN · Oct 30, 2010

i have had no health insurance for about two years now. my bills are adding up as well. and i'm a private duty nursing working for the state of wisconsin (medicaid) and we get no benefits. can you believe that? so here i sit, uninsured. hope nothing catastrophic happens to me.

allnurses Guide · Oct 30, 2010

I don't find them objectionable at all. That is the reality of private health insurance.
Even in this country (UK) insurance companies try every which way to wriggle out of paying. How do I know? My sister-in-law works for one.
As for "illegals" I can imagine this is a problem in a private pay system. Not here. The UK will treat first, ask questions later.
Yet all you US folks seem dead against a universal system like the NHS.
Go figure.

It's not that we're against it so much as the system we've got now is a complicated mash-up of public and private to varying degrees that have to be dealt with, as there is no way to go back in time and undo it all. Healthcare in the US and other countries is not an apples to apples comparison, either. There are quality differences and there are ethical considerations and end-of-life care decisions that are quite different. I'm not sure the American public would readily sign on to it if the hysterical response to the mere hint of what they call "death panels" is any indication.

We do "treat first" as required by law for a life threatening condition.

Some of these comments make me physically ill. How anyone can think of another human being as being less deserving of health care because of their country of origin is simply mind boggling. There is no rational response to that kind of selfish, disgusting attitude. I am ashamed to be called a nurse if this is representative of todays' nursing values. Truly.

I think they are talking about people who enter the country by alluding authorities to get here, not their country of origin. I demonize no person based on their immigration status. I work with many people who speak only a foreign language and I don't concern myself with it. I do know for a fact that people use false SS numbers, overstate their number of dependents, sign over real estate to a relative to avoid losing free goods and services, false claims of home caregiving hours by family members while everyone goes to Disney World, and many more. You are romanticizing, I'm being realistic. Being realistic is not being a bigot.

To the topic - I don't have health insurance, either. I work for a home health agency. If you work over 33 hours a week you are eligible for a plan with premiums almost as impossible to pay as an individual plan. Not poor enough for assistance, not paid well enough to afford insurance. Very disconcerting.

LemonDrop1234 · Aug 20, 2018

I know this is old but it makes me so sad! Literally every other country in the world (except for like, New Guinea) has health insurance. Only in the USA is it dependent on your employment. So happy I don't live in the USA at the moment.

Also, it seems like people brag about "not needing it" and wear their lack of illness as a badge of honor. I find that so confusing! What about preventative medicine? Annual exams? PAP TESTS !!!! Or of course, emergencies, like what if you were hit by a car?

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Aug 21, 2018

I know this is old but it makes me so sad! Literally every other country in the world (except for like, New Guinea) has health insurance. Only in the USA is it dependent on your employment. So happy I don't live in the USA at the moment.
Also, it seems like people brag about "not needing it" and wear their lack of illness as a badge of honor. I find that so confusing! What about preventative medicine? Annual exams? PAP TESTS !!!! Or of course, emergencies, like what if you were hit by a car?

Or get appendicitis, or cancer?

My husband is self employed, and I work PRN. We have private insurance, at the cost of $33K per year for a family of 3.

Our system is just crazy.