Health Insurance: "Peace of mind or Robbery?"

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Re: Health Insurance: "Peace of mind or Robbery?"
« Reply #60 on: April 19, 2008, 08:00:11 AM » by Pennie

Quote from: ~nickole~ on April 19, 2008, 07:53:42 AM

Oh my gosh, Pennie, I had no idea that was going on anywhere! Sounds like the precursor to forced universal health care that all three presidential stooges (um, nominees) want. That really stinks. You certainly did move to a very liberal state!

We got some more info in the mail on the Save to Share program, so I wanted to mention that the $200 max per year is for couples. It's $300 for a family, if you have a family membership. We just have a couples one.

My hubs is from here but we are back here b/c God called.

We are the type that never go to the doc too. The last time was back in OK my daughter cut her finger way bad and it was an ER visit. Oh, and then a chiro here a few times. One more decision we aren't allowed to make. My parents use medashare and we looked into that but have not done that as of yet. I don't know how much the penalty is either. I wondered how they were going to go about penalizing people. I just thought if you show up at the hospital but, they are more devious than that I guess. They'll getcha either way this way. Roll Eyes

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Re: Health Insurance: "Peace of mind or Robbery?"
« Reply #61 on: April 19, 2008, 08:10:48 AM » by Nickole

Yes, I do remember why you guys moved back. I'd be interested to know what the penalty is, when you find out.

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Re: Health Insurance: "Peace of mind or Robbery?"
« Reply #62 on: April 19, 2008, 09:04:48 AM » by mexmarr

Quote from: MommyGus on April 17, 2008, 10:00:48 PM

Has anyone out there ever used any type of government insurance for kids? Out here it is called "kid connection". Over the years I have had a few friends tell me that they would never use the government insurance again (due to bad experiences). My husbands company is going to stop paying for our insurance (they increased his pay) and we are looking for something less expensive. We RARELY go to the Dr. and just need something like "catastrophic" insurance. My DH said we would qualify for the above mentioned government insurance, so I called to see what it entails. I would be required to take them in every 6 months to have our case reviewed with a social worker. I am not to comfortable with that, since we don't vaccinate, have had six home births, don't run to the Dr for every little sniffle etc, I don't think they would like me very much. Anyone had a good experience doing this?

We have used this in two different States. I think that all States have a program for kids, and pregnant women. I hve had no problem with getting my pregnancies covered with it-even a 6 week hospital stay. It was mostly just a matter of providing paperwok, proof of citizenship, income etc. In CO, we never had to see anybody, it was mostly done throught the mail, plus a few phone calls to our Social Worker, who bascially was there to help make the process easy for us and give info. In AZ, my dh had to have 1 appointment at the office, but it was just to bring paperwork in person.

You either pick, or are assigned a PCP, Primary Care Physican. If you go with a family doc instead of a pediatrician, generally they won't even bother to ask about vaccinations and such, they will just see you for whatever you came for and and call it good.

If you need to see a specialist, you have to make an appointment with your pcp,and ask them to write a referrel to the specialist. All you need is that referrel to be covered anywhere else.

Does that make sense? There has really been no invasion of my privicy, and my dc have never ha a well child visit or vacs. No one has even said a word about it. You just have to go through a bit of red tape to get it started, but then you are good for a year.

I hope that answered your questions.

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Re: Health Insurance: "Peace of mind or Robbery?"
« Reply #63 on: April 19, 2008, 03:15:25 PM » by MommyGus

Quote from: mexmarr on April 19, 2008, 09:04:48 AM

Quote from: MommyGus on April 17, 2008, 10:00:48 PM

We have used this in two different States. I think that all States have a program for kids, and pregnant women. I have had no problem with getting my pregnancies covered with it-even a 6 week hospital stay. It was mostly just a matter of providing paperwok, proof of citizenship, income etc. In CO, we never had to see anybody, it was mostly done throught the mail, plus a few phone calls to our Social Worker, who bascially was there to help make the process easy for us and give info. In AZ, my dh had to have 1 appointment at the office, but it was just to bring paperwork in person.

You either pick, or are assigned a PCP, Primary Care Physican. If you go with a family doc instead of a pediatrician, generally they won't even bother to ask about vaccinations and such, they will just see you for whatever you came for and and call it good.

If you need to see a specialist, you have to make an appointment with your pcp,and ask them to write a referrel to the specialist. All you need is that referrel to be covered anywhere else.

Does that make sense? There has really been no invasion of my privicy, and my dc have never ha a well child visit or vacs. No one has even said a word about it. You just have to go through a bit of red tape to get it started, but then you are good for a year.

I hope that answered your questions.

Thanks Mexmarr, that does help. Anyone out there done this in NE? Or, have any other experience with govt insurance?

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Re: Health Insurance: "Peace of mind or Robbery?"
« Reply #64 on: April 19, 2008, 03:34:45 PM » by Nickole

We used pink medicaid for my last pregnancy - everything was totally free. The qualifications for that are much easier to meet than plain medicaid. Basically you don't have to be as poor Grin

. And our kids have been on state health ins. for years. It's called NC Health Choice here. Call social services and ask about programs. The SS dept here are so so nice. We figured we pay so many taxes, may as well get something back when we can.

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Re: Health Insurance: "Peace of mind or Robbery?"
« Reply #65 on: April 19, 2008, 08:54:25 PM » by ShabbyChic

Can I just agree with Nickole on the health insurance thing? I pay taxes for water I have to re-filter to get the fluoride out, public schools my kids will never attend, and on and on and on. Our home school supplies are not even tax deductible, but if I sent my kids to private school or charter school I'd get a voucher. I do not feel bad for one second that they have state insurance.

Honey and I do not have insurance (though we also used the state for labor and delivery) but we hope to have that in the budget by the end of the year. Course we said that LAST year... Grin

Unfortunately the cost of living has gone up, honey's responsibilities have gone up, and our pay check has, well, not yet...

« Last Edit: April 19, 2008, 08:56:23 PM by ShabbyChic »
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That's Shabby SHEIK not Shabby CHICK. Hee-hee.

Re: Health Insurance: "Peace of mind or Robbery?"
« Reply #66 on: April 19, 2008, 11:16:52 PM » by jessicah

Quote from: MommyGus on April 19, 2008, 03:15:25 PM

Quote from: mexmarr on April 19, 2008, 09:04:48 AM

Quote from: MommyGus on April 17, 2008, 10:00:48 PM

Thanks Mexmarr, that does help. Anyone out there done this in NE? Or, have any other experience with govt insurance?

Years ago, when we were first married with just 2 kids and my dh was workng and in school full time we had the LACHIP (which I think is equivalent to what mexmarr is talking about. I had no major issues with it (that is why we decided we would use it again if we absolutely had to)

The one thing that bugged me about it was the kid care checkup they "required" They were really required but the Doctors staff would call you when it was time for a check up. I would tell them that I did NOT need to get my child a check up b/c she was fine and that bringing her in there with sick children would expose her to germs she did not need. So, they would "threaten" by saying we would loose the LACHIP if I didnt do check ups. But i stood my ground and they found out that the check up were not actually required after all. But the hassle was dealing with the nurses who tried to push me to do check ups. Another reason why I hated check ups was b/c we don not vaccinate and they would always make an issue out of that- some staff memeber more than others.

I changed doctors with LACHIP several times until I found one that was the most laid back. But you have to wait six months to change (you can get around this too, if you have very good reason for switching)

Anyway, b/c of those problems we decided not use it unless it was absolutely nessassary- only if one of our children were injured so badly that we had 10k or more med. bills

BTW- we are in Louisiana

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Re: Health Insurance: "Peace of mind or Robbery?"
« Reply #67 on: April 19, 2008, 11:19:51 PM » by jessicah

And what about charity? Around here their is always fundraisers for people with medical expenses. We always give to these fundraisers when we can afford to. I have a friend who has a little one with cancer and she also has cancer. They have insurance but still had 200k in med bills from chem, radiation, bone marrow transplants,etc.

They are now down to only owing 40,000!
Somehow God will work it all out.

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Re: Health Insurance: "Peace of mind or Robbery?"
« Reply #68 on: April 20, 2008, 06:51:18 AM » by Nickole

Jessicah, that is what we like about Samaritan's Ministry. It is basically charity. Just more organized charity Cheesy

. But I agree that local charities raised for people, especially within the body of Christ, is wonderful and frankly biblical if someone is in need.

I am sorry you had problems with your state health ins. pestering you about checkups. We have not had issues with that at all, and we ceased vaccinations a while ago, and have not had regular checkups for our older children in at least 3 years. No one has ever called even, so thankfully that has not been a problem with us. We used to get notices that the younger one was due for a checkup, but they just send those out at the normal time vaccines are done it seems. Just a reminder. It doesn't appear they were looking at any records, as we never went to any of them, and no more notices, no doctors called. Glad you stood your ground!

The birthing center here (ok the ONLY one in the state and over an hour away no less) accepts medicaid as well.

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Re: Health Insurance: "Peace of mind or Robbery?"
« Reply #69 on: April 21, 2008, 04:12:33 PM » by BearMama

Has anyone had experience with the state health insurance in Georgia?

Thanks,
Bearmama

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Re: Health Insurance: "Peace of mind or Robbery?"
« Reply #70 on: April 21, 2008, 05:10:58 PM » by SteveTallent

Dear Faith,

My wife and I were in a similar position. With just the two of us, and my employer paying a good portion, we were still forking out SO much money each month. When I quit that job and continued coverage would have been almost double, we dropped it. Then we were in a fix? What do we do if we have an accident or the baby needs to be hospitalized or something?

Well, after researching this and that, we decided upon a major medical plan with a Health Savings Account (HSA) provision. Here's how it works as I understand it. For the three of us now, we will pay about $120 per month. This is coverage good for up to a one million dollars. Our deductible is $10,200, I think. So, if we have something REALLY major, most of it will be covered under the insurance, but if we have something semi-major we will probably pay for it out of pocket.

That's where the HSA comes in. (I am in the process of doing this so some of my information might be off.) Once the insurance is in place, I can open up a Health Savings Account. I do my banking at Bank of America and I'm pretty sure they offer this service. You'll have to ask at your own bank. You might be surprised to find out that they do.

So, in the Health Savings Account I can deposit money - up to $10,200 per year. Depositing money into this account is like putting it into a 401k or Traditional IRA for tax purposes. You aren't taxed on this money. Let me give you an example. Let's say you make $30k per year. You put $3k into the HSA. When you go to file your taxes, you Adjusted Gross Income will be $27k, not $30k. And then you will subtract your deductions from the $27k. It's like you were paid $3 thousand dollars that the government doesn't get a part of.

So then, any health-related expenses you have, you take out of that account. ANY health related expenses. Dentist, doctor, chiropractor, massage therapist, first aid kit, Neo-sporin, comes out of that account. I don't know the process at this point of that happening, and I don't know how aggressive you can get in claiming those health-related expenses, and I would imagine that it will largely depend on who is overseeing your account. For instance, some administrators might let you get away with purchasing supplements from that account, others might not.

So what does that mean for you. Well, if you spent $1000 on medical last year, and the last $1000 of your taxable income was in the 15% bracket, you paid an extra $150 for that medical care last year. I don't know about you, but I never get any medical deductions because I never have enough to deduct. With the HSA, that's not a problem.

You can deposit any time during the fiscal year, and perhaps even up to April 15th of the next year like with a traditional IRA. I have to check on that. But anyway, you can drop $1k in, use it up, deposit more, use it, etc. Anything that is left at the end of the year, stays there. You can use it next year, or the year after or whatever.

You can also use this like a retirement account if for instance, you are making full deposits and not withdrawing much, you will start building up a stash in there. I'm not sure, but I think you can put the money into something that bears interest, like a money market. After 30 years, you could have quite a bit of cash in there if it has been earning a modest interest and you have been making large deposits and small withdrawals. At a certain age, you can start drawing that money as retirement income. Of course you will have to pay tax on anything that you draw as income.

That's what we're trying to do. I can let you know more as I know more, but if you have questions, I can try to answer them now.

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