Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Universal Healthcare Now! Please?

My monthly health insurance payment is $389 dollars.*

Yes, three hundred and eighty-nine smackaroos.

Apparently because of an ongoing medical condition and family health history, I am considered Level 3. I am really curious now as to how many levels there are. Or could Level 4 equal un-insurable?

I called about possibly raising my deductible in order to pay a cheaper premium. The very next level from my current $500 deductible is deductible of $1,500. And get this, the monthly payment would be around $336. The deductible has multiplied three times and the premium cost only went down $53 dollars!! This is already the cheaper flexible "pick and choose" plan.

The very cheapest plan they have, well, the customer representative made it sound ominous. I sure wasn't going to make the change right there so she's sending information out to me. I don't know what it will cover yet, but the premium for this one was quoted at $230 dollars a month and that's not bad. If that really applies to "sickly" li'l ole Level 3 me, just imagine what it might cost for the "healthy" people. I'll keep you informed.

*This is the cost for individual coverage. For more scary health insurance stories, read these at blurbomat.

3 comments:

AMCSviatko said...

Holy Moly! I pay around $500 a year and that's mainly so I don't have to pay the same amount in tax as my Medicare levy. (Don't ask - I don't understand it either)

Is this insurance optional or if you don't have it do you have to die quietly on the front step of the hospital?!

Anonymous said...

One of the main reasons I stay at my dead-end job is the health insurance. Last time I looked at private insurance, it was about $400 a month, so your experience doesn't surprise me.

Before this job, I just went uninsured, used free clinics, and hoped for the best. Scary stuff.

Why health insurance ever got tied to employment, and why someone thought that was a good idea, I'll never understand.

Christina said...

Ugh, so sorry to hear this. Very frustrating. I'd love to have a universal health care system. Access to health care should be a right, not a privilege, and it certainly shouldn't be tied to employment status as it currently is.