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We need health care, not insurance.
Insurance providers are just parasitical, expensive middlemen.
All they do is make the health care delivery system expensive and inefficient and unfair.
Particularly for many in Hawaii, if you are between say, 55 and 64, you are talking about
$750-$1500 a month insurance premium for a single person.
There are cheaper rates, but the things that are not covered, the high deductibles and co-pays
essentially mean you are giving HMSA or Kaiser money for nothing.
The private health insurance industry is nothing but a legalized protection racket.[  !][ !] The Mafia could only dream of such a deal!
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dwedeking:
A re-emphasis on primary care would help, but the existing system makes it impossible.
Just take a look at the lack of primary care here.
I think you may be saying a direct doctor patient relationship is the way to go?
How would we handle the cost of medical technology?
Just thinking out loud about it.
Thoughts anyone?
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Laying off the nurses.... and doctors leaving........my current dr. at kaiser is leaving my previous dr. left........i may be the next one to bail on kaiser !
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I already bailed on Kaiser. Was very dissapointed with the way the Dr's just brush you off. I have been using Keaau urgent care for anything. Paying out of pocket is cheaper than the fees every month.
And the Doctor there appeared to be more knowledgable than any Dr I've seen at Kaiser. Only consideration is,hopefully, nothing major happens to me. Looking at other Insurance in the meantime. It's all too expensive.
One Thing I can always be sure of is that things will never go as expected.
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My visit copay has doubled at Kaiser in the last 7 years; monthly "dues" have almost doubled, and max copay has almost tripled.
That said, the two of us pay a little over $500/month for the "$30 plan." That's a lot less than $750-1000 for the individual plan quoted above.
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Aloha spelled backward...think about it.
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Ignoring the strangeness of $6K/year sounding "cheap", I'm left wondering how much of that money is for the "insurance" and how much is for the "healthcare".
As it happens, I don't have "insurance", so I know exactly how much my "healthcare" costs, and it's closer to $500/year. For major injuries, I just make sure to collapse on State or County property, mumbling something about "liability".
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So...any economists out there want to take a stab at explaining how insurance companies can survive after they price most of us out of the market?
If I ran my old factory the way they run hospitals and doctors offices, I'd have been out of business/out of a job my first year. Waste is rampant in our medical industry, and sadly, punaticbychoice nailed it: insurance companies create conditions whereby the provider and insurer are at odds, a reality that results in lots of waste: the insurer wants to minimize its costs while the medical establishment wants as much revenue as they can get. It's much easier for medical providers to "game" the insurance company than to try squeezing dollars from the average Joe.
Admittedly I'm not knowledgeable about the medical industry. But as a "customer" anyone with half a brain can see the waste. I saw the same kind of waste in the car insurance industry when, years ago, my team analyzed the operations of a body (repair) shop at a dealership in the Deep South. We were flabbergasted to discover that some of their repair guys were making $150,000+/year in a rural Podunk town. How? By gaming the system. Here's one way they did it: their minimum billable time unit was one hour. So the body guys would spend 15 minutes to half an hour on one car (this is all "on paper," not at all a reflection of reality), bill for an hour, then go to the next car and do the same thing. The insurance companies were naturally suspicious because they know how the game is played. So they were always sending in auditors to make sure only work was done on what was "covered," costs weren't misrepresented, etc. Well, the dealer knew this so they hired staff for the sole purpose of hiding the waste, through complicated paperwork, misrepresentation of hours worked, etc. The end result is that both sides increased their costs to maximize their own benefit. In the end the customer got screwed.
I'll admit I'm not smart enough to solve this problem. But I am learning from this thread. So veering the discussion back to Hawaii, how can Kaiser survive after most folks can't afford them anymore?
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
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Name of the game is "privatize profits, publicize losses".
Think "insurance industry bailout".
One more: whenever I'm asked "what kind insurance" (in the doctors' office, at the pharmacy, whatever), I pull out the platinum and say "insured by VISA", and guess what? The "cash" price is always 50-80% less than the "insurance" price.
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Well, I didn't say it was cheap.
Overall, I've saved money having medical insurance--I don't mean to boast of ill health, but multiple surgeries and various treatments probably would have left me bankrupt by now.
quote:
Originally posted by kalakoa
Ignoring the strangeness of $6K/year sounding "cheap", I'm left wondering how much of that money is for the "insurance" and how much is for the "healthcare".
As it happens, I don't have "insurance", so I know exactly how much my "healthcare" costs, and it's closer to $500/year. For major injuries, I just make sure to collapse on State or County property, mumbling something about "liability".
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Aloha spelled backward...think about it.
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Further slightly off topic... The cost of health insurance is one of the drivers for people to go to the university....
I had not realized it until a year after we moved here & in an introduction was asked if I was going to the university for insurance... I stated that I did not know that the university HAD an insurance program, and was informed that some people take the minimum classes to enroll in the student insurance & still save money over individual insurance....
I had not realized this, but it can save money for some (2-party & family student policies are much higher & might not = any savings...) added benefit...you get education along with health insurance for less money!....and some even get scholarships & FA for this!
If you are interested, next week is the end of the spring health care enrollment...& a little late for most of the spring classes...but:
http://www.hmsa.com/portal/?gid=student&pg=8#rates
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