So, I'm looking for health insurance coverage. What a joke! If you are one of those lucky people who have always had your insurance provided by your employer, give thanks. I use to be one of those people and I never truly appreciated how lucky I was. Due to some unforeseen turn of events, I'm on the hunt for health insurance coverage and learning quickly how messed up the system really is.
Let me just give you some of the basics. To cover my son, isn't too bad, he's been healthy and is up to date on all of his immunizations, so the premium wasn't too high. Or so I thought. The sales lady gave me these really great numbers over the phone and I actually felt relieved....wheew..not as bad as I thought. Wrong. Once I get the email from the insurance company and had the numbers in writing I find that the great numbers she gave me didn't include normal childhood vaccines/immunizations. WHAT? Are you kidding? Nope...that's called an "Option." Please add $40/month. Call me crazy, but being that shots are required prior to entering school, not to mention are necessary for the health and well being of a child, I fail to see how they are an "option"...to me they are a requirement in life unless you don't plan on sending your child to school. So, basically if you can't afford the "option" of having your child immunized, then you run the risk of your child contracting one of these sometimes fatal diseases. Again, you can call me crazy, but won't it cost the insurance company more in medical bills to pay for your child's hospitalization, medicines and doctor visits if they do become afflicted than if they would have just forked out the 100 or so bucks for the shot to begin with?
Oh...and then there is the maternity "option". What? Again, if you are a woman and still of child bearing age, be prepared to fork out an additional $70+ dollars a month, unless you plan on being sterilized prior to receiving insurance coverage. Oh, and that's even with a $2,500 deductible and forking out $30 every time you see your OB/GYN. Unbelievable!
All of the "options" that are out there are ridiculously expensive, especially considering the high deductibles and high cost of the co-pays and medicines. And, get this...I can expect my insurance premiums to go up at least 15-20% EVERY year. Therefore, unless I get a 20% pay raise every year, I can plan on filing for bankruptcy sometime in the not to distant future. Geez..the stress of all of this is giving me an ulcer...wait...I take that back...I don't want to raise my premiums due to a pre-existing condition.
2 comments:
I couldn't agree with you more! If you are self-employed or have a small business (very small) then you are totally screwed. We recently looked at getting health insurance on our own and not only was it like 20x the cost I was paying through my employer but just to ice the cake, they rejected my application due to several reasons, but primarily because I have a mild pollen allergy.
Insurance is disgustingly expensive! It makes no sense that immunizations aren't covered. I mean that's a required shot. Some schools won't allow children to attend if they haven't had them...
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