Welp, let's debate this insurance rate hike.

http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2016/07/08/insurers-seek-big-price-hikes-obamacare-policies/86875274/

Here's what I don't get:

"Industry experts have attributed the insurers' losses in recent years to high drug costs and having to cover people with expensive pre-existing conditions, among other factors."

Is that like me getting into a car accident then going to an insurance company and getting the car insured after I hadn't paid on it for two years? I know we're talking health vs a hunk of medal, but are we saying because we are American citizens we have that absolute right?

You're talking health versus hunk of metal...

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:You're talking health versus hunk of metal...

Oops. But the question still stands. Can I make a case I need my car to be a contributing member of society and provide for my family, thus saving our countries money in the long run?

Motown Spartan wrote:You do know you're talking health versus hunk of metal, right?

Yeah. Gold silver or bronze.

Single payer?

I wish your premiums could be based on your actual health and how well you take care of yourself. Like if insurance companies had you come in and do a full physical with all of the blood pressure and cholesterol twice a year... a bunch of things I don't know about cause I'm not a doctor.... but then base your premiums on that

Rather than lumping everyone in. Doesn't someone who's fit, runs 3.5 miles a day, has a salad with every meal (a real meal, not fast food) get any break over someone that drunks 42oz soda every day, eats fast food 3 times a week and the only exercise they get is walking from their car to their cubicle? Maybe make that person's premiums that much higher because they clearly don't care about their health. I just don't like this whole...."we're all in this together" thing when we clearly are not all in this together. Some of us care and others don't.

I'm trying to turn a new leaf and not debate so much on here but it's something I've been pondering.

Maybe this does exist. I dunno.

I also fell 30 feet off my roof today trying to clear trees from making a mess of my shingles.... so I'm a little loopy from the narcos.

It's been a rough week.

Rocinante wrote:Single payer?

If this is the system we're destined for... I'm all in for this model as opposed to what we have. This is what we should have done in the first place. In my opinion, of course.

Urgent care sucks by the way.... maybe I misunderstood but I was told there's a new government mandate where urgent care can no longer administer pain killers. Which is awesome considering my ankle is the size of a cantaloupe.

So basically they're going to "help" the few people with mental issues that seek pain relief by denying people with physical issues that need pain relief. We need even more government control.

Anyone work in the health care industry that can shed some light on this particular policy? It didn't make sense to me; "Yes, I'm aware that your ankle looks like a Tampa Bay Rays away jersey.... but someone who's suffering from emotional childhood trauma may try to get a percocet so you're just going to have to deal with ibuprofen, sir"

Not that it matters... a few minutes on the internet and you can get morphine sulphate, morphine hydrochloride, diacetylmorphine or fentanyl. So I guess it's unnecessary... besides the time it takes for the mail to arrive.

xsanguine wrote:I wish your premiums could be based on your actual health and how well you take care of yourself. Like if insurance companies had you come in and do a full physical with all of the blood pressure and cholesterol twice a year... a bunch of things I don't know about cause I'm not a doctor.... but then base your premiums on that

Sounds great but the healthy have to subsidize the unhealthy or the whole scheme doesn't work.

LooseGoose wrote:

xsanguine wrote:I wish your premiums could be based on your actual health and how well you take care of yourself. Like if insurance companies had you come in and do a full physical with all of the blood pressure and cholesterol twice a year... a bunch of things I don't know about cause I'm not a doctor.... but then base your premiums on that

Sounds great but the healthy have to subsidize the unhealthy or the whole scheme doesn't work.

Which is an incentive to not be healthy if being healthy doesn't affect how much you pay for health care. You'd think there'd be an incentive to be healthy built into the system.

Like it still seems like it's a subsidy. But if you're going to choose to be unhealthy, you need to put in more to subsidize others like yourself. Not make the guy that takes care of himself subsidize your unhealthy lifestyle just because.... you have some right to be taken care of despite the fact you refuse to take care of yourself.

I'm positive there's a reason why I'm wrong about this. I'm just trying to get to that point to understanding why I'm wrong. It doesn't make sense to me.

LooseGoose wrote:

xsanguine wrote:I wish your premiums could be based on your actual health and how well you take care of yourself. Like if insurance companies had you come in and do a full physical with all of the blood pressure and cholesterol twice a year... a bunch of things I don't know about cause I'm not a doctor.... but then base your premiums on that

Sounds great but the healthy have to subsidize the unhealthy or the whole scheme doesn't work.

The healthy and the young, except that premiums can now be tied to age as well and they're skyrocketing for anyone over 55 with deductibles that make it cost-prohibitive to even use the insurance. The biggest problem in this whole scam is insurance companies like United (the nation's largest private health insurer) pulling out of the Medicaid HMO exchanges because they're losing money on it. This is the very segment where the overwhelming growth in insured has come from. So, if the lower end collapses, why have Obamacare anyway?

Problem with obamacare is they didn't make the penalty for young healthy makes steep enough to force them to buy in. Had they done that, it might have worked.

I should have gotten into lobbying. The marriage between corporations and government is such a lucrative market. Goddamn what was I thinking.... making music was just masturbation.

I still like the free market idea. But it's such a dirty word and uttering anything of that nature is political suicide.

Single payer is my second choice.

Is there ever going to be a point where premiums stop increasing each year?

Dude you fell off your roof?

Fuck

Rocinante wrote:Dude you fell off your roof?

Fuck

Yeah, so X gets to go to a funeral on Monday in crutches. I was trying to cut some tree branches out from under the shingles... they were starting to get under them and I don't want to redo a roof before I have to. But I'm a moron and had to step on the top step to get to where I needed to get to and the ladder leaned one way and I went the other. The doctor was amazed that I only sprained it. I have one of those soft cases on and I can't put any weight on it for a week. Lots of ibuprofen and since they can't give any painkillers (even though I was practically in tears) I've been digging into my stash that I haven't touched in over 6 months to take the edge off. Too bad I didn't grow any poppies this year.

Not only that I just have to deal with the pain. I guess they only give out 5mg vicodins if you saw your arm off with a chainsaw. I wonder what you have to do in order to get percocets.... probably have to get in a plane crash or something.

LooseGoose wrote:

xsanguine wrote:I wish your premiums could be based on your actual health and how well you take care of yourself. Like if insurance companies had you come in and do a full physical with all of the blood pressure and cholesterol twice a year... a bunch of things I don't know about cause I'm not a doctor.... but then base your premiums on that

Sounds great but the healthy have to subsidize the unhealthy or the whole scheme doesn't work.

That's the way insurance works.

GRR Spartan wrote:

LooseGoose wrote:

Sounds great but the healthy have to subsidize the unhealthy or the whole scheme doesn't work.

That's the way insurance works.

I know, that's what we're complaining about. Or at least that's what I was complaining about. LG was just letting me know the system wouldn't work if individuals premiums were based how seriously you take your individual health.