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View Full Version : Health Insurance for me and my family



Thunderknuckles
12-06-2011, 04:36 PM
As most of you know I live in Southern California. I have a wife and 3 kids. Currently I am paying about $220 a week for health/dental insurance for me and the family through the company I am working for. I was wondering if anyone else in a similar situation has a cheaper option or some advice on seeking a cheaper alternative?

Between health insurance and taxes nearly half of my pay is gone and it's really starting to frustrate me.

Kathianne
12-06-2011, 05:05 PM
As most of you know I live in Southern California. I have a wife and 3 kids. Currently I am paying about $220 a week for health/dental insurance for me and the family through the company I am working for. I was wondering if anyone else in a similar situation has a cheaper option or some advice on seeking a cheaper alternative?

Between health insurance and taxes nearly half of my pay is gone and it's really starting to frustrate me.

Seriously, talk to your GP, pediatrician, and dentist. Tell them that you are finding insurance costs unbearable. Could you either pay per visit or send them a set amount monthly while carrying major medical? You might find them agreeable, depending on locale. You may have to find a low cost prescription service, I know Walgreen's has one, that also discounts other things you buy.

Be pro-active.

ConHog
12-07-2011, 11:08 AM
As most of you know I live in Southern California. I have a wife and 3 kids. Currently I am paying about $220 a week for health/dental insurance for me and the family through the company I am working for. I was wondering if anyone else in a similar situation has a cheaper option or some advice on seeking a cheaper alternative?

Between health insurance and taxes nearly half of my pay is gone and it's really starting to frustrate me.

Move away from the cesspool known as California?

Nukeman
12-07-2011, 02:06 PM
As most of you know I live in Southern California. I have a wife and 3 kids. Currently I am paying about $220 a week for health/dental insurance for me and the family through the company I am working for. I was wondering if anyone else in a similar situation has a cheaper option or some advice on seeking a cheaper alternative?

Between health insurance and taxes nearly half of my pay is gone and it's really starting to frustrate me.Around here in Indiana there are a few "church" affiliatied insurance plans. they are basicly a coop for insurance. every family puts about 200 a month in the kitty and when you have 1000 families doing so every month thats 2.4 million annualy that is available for cash payouts on medical expences. What they do is pay cash and negotiate down the price since there is little to no overhead of the coop and the hospital and offices get payed quickley without insurance involvement most test and procedures are discounted to 50% of cost. They work great and are a lot cheaper for the families.

Don't know if you have anything like that, but you may want to look into it. They work great and gives you a litle insight into HOW MUCH MONEY INSURANCE COMPANIES MAKE.....

ConHog
12-07-2011, 02:14 PM
Around here in Indiana there are a few "church" affiliatied insurance plans. they are basicly a coop for insurance. every family puts about 200 a month in the kitty and when you have 1000 families doing so every month thats 2.4 million annualy that is available for cash payouts on medical expences. What they do is pay cash and negotiate down the price since there is little to no overhead of the coop and the hospital and offices get payed quickley without insurance involvement most test and procedures are discounted to 50% of cost. They work great and are a lot cheaper for the families.

Don't know if you have anything like that, but you may want to look into it. They work great and gives you a litle insight into HOW MUCH MONEY INSURANCE COMPANIES MAKE.....

What amazes me about the whole insurance thing is how much cheaper hospital services are if you don't have insurance. You would think that insurance companies would insist on the same prices and pass those savings onto their customers.

Nukeman
12-07-2011, 02:22 PM
What amazes me about the whole insurance thing is how much cheaper hospital services are if you don't have insurance. You would think that insurance companies would insist on the same prices and pass those savings onto their customers.Actually insurance comapnies "negotiate" down a price and pay reduced amounts all the time they tell you the list price and make you pay 20% of that even though they probably have negotiated down to about 50-60% of list price.. Its a scam. I always say if insurance wasn't making money there wouldn't be so damn many companies in the business now would there.....

I know my hospital will drop 50% off if you tell them you will pay cash right there on the spot, for some its a heck of a deal. than you claim it on your insurance as your out-of-pocket max and your done for the year...

It's all a game and the worst players are good old Uncle Sam through CMS. they change the rules half way through the year and its up to YOU to figure out what they changed and if you don't like it well than the wont reimburse ANYTHING.....

Thunderknuckles
12-07-2011, 03:30 PM
Thanks for the advice so far folks. It is greatly appreciated :D

fj1200
12-08-2011, 11:10 AM
They work great and are a lot cheaper for the families.

Sounds cool, I hope they buy some reinsurance for the catastrophic stuff.

Nukeman
12-08-2011, 12:34 PM
Sounds cool, I hope they buy some reinsurance for the catastrophic stuff.The way most of them work is through monthly payments, and I hate to say but tthey do play the odds that they will maintain enough for severe or catastrophic events. Like I said earlier if you have 1000 families putting in 200 a month that works our to 2.4 million a year, thats a lot of coverage since most of the families will not use anything other than a couple of office visits, now if you have a few good years plus investments they grow the funds significantly.. Most will not have the big dollar payouts but even if they have a million dollar year for a patient that is still only 1 patient and the fund will quickly recover...

fj1200
12-08-2011, 12:50 PM
^I understand, I was just saying that reinsurance coverage could insulate the fund from the truly catastrophic events. It wouldn't take more than a couple of cancer patients to blow through something like that and probably not unlikely when covering 1000 families/3-4000 individuals. Reinsurance just helps even the odds.

But even something like that needs to be set up properly and with the right incentives to hold down costs or limit when coverage kicks in. Insurance is expensive but iirc the margins are not that high that 200 per month vs. Thunderknuckles 220 per week is necessarily adequate.