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Surrending CS Pension?
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<blockquote data-quote="traveler" data-source="post: 72849" data-attributes="member: 1954"><p>As a couple with NO HEALTH INSURANCE, you would think that I would be in agreement with your statement but nothing is farther from that fact.</p><p> </p><p>First, let me say that when I was in management with UPS (this was about 25 years ago) I had wonderful coverage (seemingly at no cost to me). That was until a doctor in New Jersey said something that really made sense. When on a regular visit he suggested a certain expensive test I simply said, "go ahead, I am covered for anything you want to do." Well, with that he took a moment to explain that that particular attitude will soon bring down the entire USA medical insurance system. He did give a much more detailed explanation but I will not go into that here for the sake of brevity. Well, needless to say, just a few years later things did change drastically from full coverage policies to HMO's, PPO's and the like.</p><p> </p><p>Right now, having no insurance, my wife and I shop for prices on thing like drugs, blood tests and other services. People that have insurance have no idea how much different prices can be on these items. </p><p> </p><p>Example 1: my wife, being a retired RN shopped the price of various blood tests between what our physician, the local hospitals and other labs charged. She found that the least expensive was the hospital even before her 10% professional discount. We approached the doctor with this when he was ordering some routine tests and after a short discussion on this he offered to match the lowest prices available!</p><p> </p><p>Example 2: We are going on an extensive cruise in 2006 to some very exotic ports. For some places, malaria medication is recommended and there are two types. The one we chose to use we also shopped for price. The differences are dramatic. The highest we found was about $6.21 per pill. Canada offered the same at about $6.05 per pill, much less of a difference than I thought there would be but still less. The least expensive by far was Sam's Club pharmacy at about $4.55 per. When did any of you out there shop for drug prices?</p><p> </p><p>Example 3: Most medical providers offer a discount for payments at the time the work is done. Some as great as 40%. Many providers will negotiate even if they don't have a policy on discounts. Takes some work but certainly worth the effort. Yes, I know there is some negotiations that insurance companies do but not as much as you may think.</p><p> </p><p>Now a question: If there were universal health care in the USA how far would the coverage go? Many times you hear of people with huge expenses (millions of dollars a year) for treatments. Would these persons be covered? Where would the cutoff be dollar wise? Would "orphan drugs that often cost $500,000 to $900,000 per year per person be covered? Why not? Who would administer all this? The federal government? Would it be farmed out to private companies? Fraud possibilities? Fraud is rampant in medicare with the government doing little to halt it. There is no other country in the world where a "universal system" works well if one looks closely. The last an biggest question is WHO PAYS? A special tax to all workers or just an increase in income tax? </p><p> </p><p>By the way, over the last five years my bottom line costs are LESS paying all medical bills than it would have cost for insurance for my wife and I. This includes not only regular medical care but also cancer treatment. Working with doctors, hospitals, etc. directly is not as difficult as one would think.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="traveler, post: 72849, member: 1954"] As a couple with NO HEALTH INSURANCE, you would think that I would be in agreement with your statement but nothing is farther from that fact. First, let me say that when I was in management with UPS (this was about 25 years ago) I had wonderful coverage (seemingly at no cost to me). That was until a doctor in New Jersey said something that really made sense. When on a regular visit he suggested a certain expensive test I simply said, "go ahead, I am covered for anything you want to do." Well, with that he took a moment to explain that that particular attitude will soon bring down the entire USA medical insurance system. He did give a much more detailed explanation but I will not go into that here for the sake of brevity. Well, needless to say, just a few years later things did change drastically from full coverage policies to HMO's, PPO's and the like. Right now, having no insurance, my wife and I shop for prices on thing like drugs, blood tests and other services. People that have insurance have no idea how much different prices can be on these items. Example 1: my wife, being a retired RN shopped the price of various blood tests between what our physician, the local hospitals and other labs charged. She found that the least expensive was the hospital even before her 10% professional discount. We approached the doctor with this when he was ordering some routine tests and after a short discussion on this he offered to match the lowest prices available! Example 2: We are going on an extensive cruise in 2006 to some very exotic ports. For some places, malaria medication is recommended and there are two types. The one we chose to use we also shopped for price. The differences are dramatic. The highest we found was about $6.21 per pill. Canada offered the same at about $6.05 per pill, much less of a difference than I thought there would be but still less. The least expensive by far was Sam's Club pharmacy at about $4.55 per. When did any of you out there shop for drug prices? Example 3: Most medical providers offer a discount for payments at the time the work is done. Some as great as 40%. Many providers will negotiate even if they don't have a policy on discounts. Takes some work but certainly worth the effort. Yes, I know there is some negotiations that insurance companies do but not as much as you may think. Now a question: If there were universal health care in the USA how far would the coverage go? Many times you hear of people with huge expenses (millions of dollars a year) for treatments. Would these persons be covered? Where would the cutoff be dollar wise? Would "orphan drugs that often cost $500,000 to $900,000 per year per person be covered? Why not? Who would administer all this? The federal government? Would it be farmed out to private companies? Fraud possibilities? Fraud is rampant in medicare with the government doing little to halt it. There is no other country in the world where a "universal system" works well if one looks closely. The last an biggest question is WHO PAYS? A special tax to all workers or just an increase in income tax? By the way, over the last five years my bottom line costs are LESS paying all medical bills than it would have cost for insurance for my wife and I. This includes not only regular medical care but also cancer treatment. Working with doctors, hospitals, etc. directly is not as difficult as one would think. [/QUOTE]
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