The Joys of Private Health Insurance

[chris_gerrib]

So, I read an article this morning about a woman, a free-lance journalist, who bought private health insurance. She specifically looked for a policy that covered maternity care, and, with difficulty, found one. After she had her baby, she found out that the policy had a maximum cap of $3,000 on maternity care! ETA A disclosure buried in one appendix of a multi-page booklet on maternity coverage. Frankly, in some states, that would be consumer fraud. end edit

As she asked, after being left with a $22,000 bill, "in what mythical US hospital can you have a baby for $3,000?" Then, six months later, after she called the insurance company's press office to announce she was writing an article about her experiences, they suddenly decided to cover 90% of the costs. Consider this reason number 6,539 why we need health insurance reform in America. Go read the whole thing.

ETA One of the many things included in this reform package are "health care exchanges." These exchanges force a standardized disclosure of benefits (AKA, "no more hiding shit in fine print"). Consumer disclosures matter. (If you tell me you've read every page of the contract your credit card company sends you, I'll buy you a beer.) Another valuable reform, also mentioned in the article, is the removal of the pre-existing condition exclusion.

Comments

[bdunbar.livejournal.com]

She fails to read the fine print on a contract ... and the cure is to trust the government? Which will magically reduce the amount of clauses, fine print and exceptions in health care?

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

Actually, if you'd read the bill, yes. Because part of the not-actually-socialized-medicine bill creates health care exchanges, which force more standardized coverage and better disclosures.

Actually, if you'd read the article, you'd notice that the $3,000 limit was on ONE appendix, while the maternity coverage was a multi-page booklet. If I did that shit on a loan I wrote, I'd be looking for a way to avoid jail time.

Consumer disclosures matter, and if you tell me you've read every page of the contract your credit card company sends you, I'll buy you a beer.

[bdunbar.livejournal.com]

You owe me a beer.

You get a pass because I don't have a credit card. But I do at least skim matters like that before I sign. And I did annoy all parties involved when I closed on my house when I did sit down and read everything before I signed or initialed.

Then I got sticky over a few hundred dollars the seller had tacked on. But that's another story.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I suppose you think the insurance company changed their coverage because they sincerely thought they'd made a mistake?

Brian - you are really on the wrong side of this. Arguing against health care reform is arguing for *you* getting screwed by large corporations. It doesn't matter what your motives are - you are de facto in favor of getting screwed. Because that's what's happening now.

[bdunbar.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I suppose you think the insurance company changed their coverage because they sincerely thought they'd made a mistake?

Of course not - they were facing a PR 'issue' so they ponied up the cash.

It doesn't matter what your motives are - you are de facto in favor of getting screwed. Because that's what's happening now.

It's a matter of choosing who is going to do the screwing: private industry or the government.

I don't trust either party - but I trust the government less. For reasons we need not get into now but include every treaty signed by the Indians, medical experiments on minorities, failure to disclose information on nuclear tests, and a long sorry history of power grabs by politicians.

What I want is the government to do what it is supposed to do: set the ground rules for the game, enforce them, and otherwise stay out of it.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

So you trust a guy (insurance adjuster) who gets a bonus for not paying your bill more than a guy who gets paid the same no matter what?

Again, please look at the bill. "Set the ground rules" is exactly what the health exchange is supposed to do.

Just like those standardized forms you read when you closed on your house. Those forms look that way and are the same for everybody because Congress passed a law requiring that mortgage disclosures be standardized. Government employees (we call them "bank regulators") go around and check on those forms.

You may have noted that their was a lot of competition to give you a home loan.

[bdunbar.livejournal.com]

Again, please look at the bill. "Set the ground rules" is exactly what the health exchange is supposed to do.

I acknowledge that is the intent. I do not trust politicians to reform anything without a lot of monkey business and shenanigans.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

I do not trust politicians to reform anything without a lot of monkey business and shenanigans. Neither do I. But this is a problem that can only be fixed by political action. So we try to fix it with the system we have, not the system we wish we had.

Tell you what - suggest a charity and I'll send them a few bucks in lieu of the beer I owe you. I got a bit cranky with some of my responses today.

[bdunbar.livejournal.com]

But this is a problem that can only be fixed by political action. So we try to fix it with the system we have, not the system we wish we had.

I see where you are coming from. But ... you know what this is like?

Time travel movie. Our Hero made a whoopsie in the past and now his girlfriend is a crack whore. What's does he do? Why .. he goes back in a heroic bid to make it better. Great story.

I'm the guy in the theater yelling 'You dumb schmuck - you're just going to make it worse. Quit messing around.'

So that's where I'm coming from. It's bad, perhaps. It could always be a lot worse.

Tell you what - suggest a charity

Boys and Girls Club of America. They thank you kindly.

[(Anonymous)]

I wonder how many of those who prefer corporate run health care to government run health care carry private insurance even though they are eligible for the VA (assuming they are), or will reject Medicare and buy private insurance when they are eligible for Medicare?

In other words, if you want to maintain the current system of corporate health care, then don't accept the government plans. They are all voluntary.

Jerry Critter
critterscrap.blogspot.com