(08-20-2016 01:37 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote: Mark my words .... if they jack up the premiums AGAIN to bail this failed system out I will either try to get on my gf's insurance or go without insurance completely, visiting cash only doctors with up front price lists, and socking it to the system by picking up coverage when it need it if something serious happens. I'm sick and f*cking tired of being fleeced by this scam. Single ... white ... male .. under 40 ... self-employed buying on the individual market. I am the center of the Venn Diagram of f*cked by this law. I refuse to be robbed at gunpoint to the tune of four figures a month between taxes and insurance premiums. NO MORE.
And this grand failure? By design. They want this thing to implode so they can go full single payer and bottle up everybody in this giant steaming turd. So if you have non-sh*t insurance through your employer you better keep an eye looking over your shoulder. Uncle Sam is coming for you next.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/17/obamacare...warns.html
I really don't understand what the big deal is. Just drop your insurance completely. It's kind of like dropping cable tv: you think you just can't go without it. You think it's necessary, or that by the time all is said and done, it will end up costing you more without it than with it. Both are wrong.
You just pay cash for what you need medical service-wise (and you'll be surprised how little you
actually need when you have to think rationally about each visit before going. And you become a medical
consumer not a medical slave-robot. If you do happen to get something catastrophic, you can survive it until the next open-enrollment period. If it's pancreatic cancer- you'll be dead within a year anyway, so go out and enjoy your life instead (had a friend who was diagnosed with lung cancer (she did NOT smoke at all) after returning from a cruise last Sept. She was dead by end of February. She decided to use the remainder of her time spending it together with friends (we went out for a burrito together with her and other friends 1 and a half months before she died) and NOT in a hospital over-medicated on drugs that weren't going to save her anyway. She took a reasonable amount for pain and nausea and enjoyed the time she had left. She had in-home hospice care the last month. That's it. Saved her husband a bundle of money, spent waaay more time with friends and family during her last months, and went to church a lot (she was always big into church anyway, and was a eucharistic minister for many years.)
Give you a second example: last week I accidentally slammed my fingers in my car door. It almost immediately started bleeding profusely (had a deep gash into index finger, less damage on other fingers), and it was my writing hand to boot), and had a lot of nausea from the intense pain. I was alone running some shopping errands. Instead of panicking and wasting money stupidly, I calmed down, assessed the situation and considered my options (I do not carry any insurance, because Obamacare is stupid, and most insurance policies after ACA screwed things up are overpriced, bloated and inefficient wastes of money that do little if anything for the customers).
My choices were: Emergency room (a stupid, stupid place to go almost every time.) Emergency clinic: Expensive for walk-ins, they would insist on an overpriced x-ray, and they really weren't going to be able to do anything I couldn't once I took several minutes to stop the bleeding and think about it. Doctors office visit: It was evening (most accidents tend to happen in evenings for some reason) so they were not open. Plus, if I went the next day again, I was looking at an expensive walk-in visit charge, an over-priced x-ray and in the end, they were not going to be able to do anything that I couldn't do.
My decision: Drove to the nearest pharmacy. Purchased one two-liter store brand bottle of ginger-ale (natural flavoring) for the nausea (ginger is great for nausea and upset stomach) for 99 cents, bought a roll of store-brand medical paper tape for $2.59. Asked pharmacist to take a look real quick. She recommended cleaning it with hydrogen peroxide (I have some store brand at home at all times - costs $1.50 per bottle), antibiotic ointment (again, I keep store brand a-b ointment at home), a couple of finger splints (I had a few at home from previous injuries), some bandages (again, I keep a supply of various store-brand bandages, gauze and wraps at home for when life happens), and some tylenol for the pain (I keep store brand acetaminophen in my car and at home at all times, anyway). She said I could probably use a stitch, and would want to get it x-rayed, to be sure it was not broken, but swelling was already pretty bad, so either way, I'd have to wait for that to go down. I thanked her for taking the time, bought the tape and ginger soda, and proceeded home.
I took a couple of tylenol (acetaminophen) with a big glass of the ginger ale for the pain and nausea. I then cleaned the hand carefully, using the hydrogen peroxide, using my other good hand. Bleeding started again a bit, I patiently wiped and cleaned it again, then took antibiotic ointment, placed on bandages, and bandaged each injured finger, which was a bit tricky with one hand, but I managed by being calm and patient. I secured splints on each finger, wrapped the overwrap flexible bandage on hand, then got a ziplock bag and filled it with ice from my freezer (cost: basically free) and kept it on and off hand for 20 minute periods for a few hours, and another glass of soda, some chicken noodle soup to calm my stomach and settle me down for the night, and went to sleep.
In the morning, my hand still hurt badly and was quite swollen. I resumed ice treatments for the morning. I called the local chiropractic college and asked about scheduling a hand x-ray. Cost: $30 for 3 x-rays. (Cost at Dr.'s office: would have been $195--I checked a couple- plus the doctor's visit fee- what a rip-off!!) (Cost at emergency room: an a$$inine place to go for medical help.) I decided to wait until swelling went down, as I had secured the fingers in splints to immobilize them. I rested the next day, keeping my hand as stable and un-moving as I could all day. Taking several acetaminophen, some more chicken noodle soup and tea and ginger ale for my stomach, and just bed-rest to let my body heal. I cleaned and changed the bandage dressings a few times, each time being sure to use antibiotic.
By day 3 swelling had stabilized, nail looked like it would probably fall off, eventually. I cleaned it again with peroxide and let the hand breathe a little to let the wounds congeal a bit, since I didn't want to spend money on a stitch. In a pinch, I could just use some super-glue, which works just as well for smaller deep wounds, anyway. Other than that, it will just take some time to heal, and I have to be careful. Typing the second day made it start bleeding again, so had to use other hand to click and type only a little. Browsed, read a book and rested instead. Day 3 I was careful as well. I'll wait on x-ray as it doesn't feel broken, but I can get 3 x-rays of hand for only $30 at the chiropractic (I had a similar experience previously with my foot- I hyperextended my toes and was on crutches (a friend had a pair he gave me) for several weeks.
That's when I price-shopped x-rays by calling around and asking for alternatives to full price options. Eventually, a chiropractor told me the secret that most x-rays are grossly overpriced profit centers, and told me where to go to get them cheap. They gave me a complete printed price-list last time I went. The most expensive thing on their list (it had over 100 different medical and x-ray services) was a set of full chest x-rays for only $95 total. What a bargain!
My point is...if I had done what everyone else seems to, I would have likely spent between $400-$500 or, if I went to Emergency room, the bill would have been over $1,000--for what??? Nothing any doctor would do would be more than what I could do for myself if I thought about it and remained calm and rational, as well as thinking about what it was going to cost me, and deciding if it was worth paying for that, or finding an alternative solution that was cheaper and more efficient.
Now, if it was a gunshot wound? Yeah, I'd be going ER. But then, I stay away from bad areas, nightclubs, "celebrities" and "models" and idiots of that nature, I also do not do drugs or drink, or smoke, so it's unlikely I would find myself with a gunshot (not impossible, just highly unlikely) and so, because I don't lead a crazy lifestyle (crazy lifestyles and bad choices are expensive and inefficient, and I don't like to waste money, so no smokies, no drinkies no drugies and say yes to saving money) I can better afford to "risk" going without "health insurance" (which isn't really insurance at all, it is mostly wasting money that you could save if you made smarter more rational and consumer-oriented choices. I'm for choice, you see.) It's not a risk--it's making a rational and better choice. I pay the tax/fine when I have to, but have found there are many ways to avoid it. The whole thing of the ACA/Obamacare is based on a lie anyway--remember that.
Based on past experience, my hand will heal fine, it will take time, care and rest. The body is capable of doing a lot if you let it. I admit I was scared at first, until I got a-hold of myself. My first thought was: "no insurance." My second thought was: "George Washington didn't have health insurance either, and he managed just fine without it, along with millions of other Americans for a few centuries. Calm down and think rationally and get through this smartly, and save money." So that is what I chose to do (I'm for choice, you see.) I'll probably get the x-ray later since it's so cheap, just to be sure, but looks like I handled that pretty efficiently and inexpensively, with ZERO 'insurance."
Most things people consider using their "health insurance' for are by and large complete wastes of money, many are just normal expenses of living life and have nothing to do with health insurance at all. But we've been told they do so many times for so many years, we believe the lies.
I've had a couple of kidney stones over the years, gotten sick every other year with cold/flu, and a few other things. I generally do NOT take prescription drugs as I believe our country is highly, highly, highly over-medicated. (Look at what all Hiliary is drugged up on right now, for instance). I keep myself reasonably slender because 20-25 years ago I bought a lot of nice, expensive clothes that fit, and I want to keep fitting into them more than buying bigger clothes for a fat body all the time, which is wasteful and stupid, in my opinion. I only shop for clothes a few times a year, and mostly just socks, underwear and a few basics like a couple of replacement polos, t shirts and dress shirts to replace ones that have wornm out previous season. I get my shoes re-soled at the cobblers (many people do not even know what that is!) and have had a couple of pairs of boots for more than 30 years that I wear a LOT and are still going strong.
We are such a wasteful and spoiled and over-medicated country. I choose not to participate in that. I drive a 25 year old car that is cheap to maintain and insure. I carry a medical rider on my car insurance just in case I need it for a severe accident. That is a more rational "health insurance" policy than anything offered on the medical market exchanges.
GTS, you CAN go without all the BS of the health insurance system. You will have to give up the big Gulps,
never order fries with any fast food meal (not only are they empty calories, they are among the highest profit for the companies--screw you McDonald's!), stop slathering everything with sauces an ranch dressing, etc... the endless beers and over-salted and over-caloried meals out all the time, and get in reasonable shape according to your height, eat a LOT better (but still eat fun stuff once in a while) cook a LOT more for yourself (it's fun, and social--home cooking dates and pot-lucks are tremendously fun and rewarding!). Get a home steamer and steam several meals a week- cuts a tremendous amount of excess calories right there- you don't need more than slat and spices, and I haven;t even owned a microwave in 10 years--so much healthier! Also, no more frozen meals--overpriced, too much junk and preservatives, and just bad news all the way around for your health. Store brands are your friend--read labels EVERY TIME you buy something. Even familiar items change every once in a while.
KNOW what you are putting into your body. Google what Xantham gum is (it's NOT a gum) and preservatives you don't know about and learn why you don't really need them. Stop eating most of that crap (have a little fun sometimes) and you will be healthier, feel better, weigh a LOT less, and won't need to worry about spending on an overpriced, under-serviced, "health insurance" policy that does little to nothing for you but get you tom pay for doctor visits you don't need and endless drugs upon drugs upon drugs that poison your body.
YOU can do it!!
Caveat: Now, if instead, you WANT to choose to smoke, drink, do drugs overeat, drink soda all the time, and take waaaay too many Rx drugs that you do NOT need, then don't complain about the cost of "health insurance." YOU are choosing to make yourself more expensive to take care of than you neeed to be. And there is a price for that. Happy Obummercare!
