OT - NO POLITICS Off Topic 2019 part XVIII - Treat or Trick

[BMC]

I pay $688 a month just for myself with Anthem BC/BS. It is going up to $ 775 in January. This is with a $ 6100 deductible and an out of pocket max of $ 8150. I have drug coverage too but since my meds are generic the co-pay is just $5 apiece but that's going up to $10. I get one physical, one annual with the OB-GYN and one mammogram a year with zero charges for the visits or tests so that's something.

 

[BMC]

My company still won't tell us when open enrollment is going to open. They keep telling us mid November.

Sigh

It is mid November.

 

[BMC]

And yes, I'm convinced our Prez and VP would go this route if they thought they could

View attachment 279533

Web.Md for the win!!!!

 

[BMC]

Well......what could possibly go wrong here? LOLO!!

Hope you're not too attached to your highway exit number

Over the next two years, exit numbers along Massachusetts’ highways and routes will change under a federal mandate, MassDOT officials said Monday.

Exits, which currently use sequential numbering, will shift to mileage-based numbering, according to Neil Boudreau, the department’s assistant administrator for traffic and safety.

Crews are planning on starting with Interstate 91 and working on a route-by-route basis, he said.

“We don’t want to confuse the public when we’re out there,” he said. “We intend to move from west to east.”

MassDOT anticipates traffic impacts from the project will be minimal.

To ensure the public adapts to the shift, Boudreau said MassDOT will leave signs up indicating each exit’s old number for at least two years.
The department won’t be in a rush to take them down, either.

We just went through this in Connecticut. I'm going to have to get my GPS updated because it still uses the old exit numbers. If states don't do this they lose their Federal highway funding.

 

[Bruinaura]

I pay $688 a month just for myself with Anthem BC/BS. It is going up to $ 775 in January. This is with a $ 6100 deductible and an out of pocket max of $ 8150.

Ouch!

 

[BMC]

Ouch!

I get it through the agents' association otherwise it would be a lot more. Luckily I can afford it now, I went 6 years without any. I couldn't qualify for Obamacare because on paper I had too much money/assets

 

[Bruinaura]

My company still won't tell us when open enrollment is going to open. They keep telling us mid November.

Sigh

Sounds like here. We've had the renewal info since early November and the execs didn't decide until yesterday how much they wanted to charge the employees. And they aren't going to announce it until Thursday.

Sometimes I think they are actively trying to kill me.

 

[Alicat]

It is mid November.

No kidding.

I don't think they realize just how bad it makes local HR look (all 2 of us).

The good news is that our plans aren't changing much if at all. We have 2 PPO's and an HSA plan. I do one of the PPO plans and have a 500 deductible and pay $53 per paycheck. In total I pay a shade over $240 per paycheck for all benefits.

The one thing I'm not looking forward to is the $100 deductible up front for my prescriptions as of 1/1. Paying $115 for a 30 day supply of medicine is crap.

I'm expecting at least a 10% increase which I'm sure will have everyone complaining.

 

[Alicat]

Sounds like here. We've had the renewal info since early November and the execs didn't decide until yesterday how much they wanted to charge the employees. And they aren't going to announce it until Thursday.

Sometimes I think they are actively trying to kill me.

I hate that kind of crap but there's not much you can do when you work for a small company :/

 

[Bruinaura]

Web.Md for the win!!!!

 

[Bruinaura]

I hate that kind of crap but there's not much you can do when you work for a small company :/

And family owned.

By people who think it's still 1974.

 

[Bruinaura]

You know what this thread needs?

Cookies.

 

[BMC]

You know what this thread needs?

Cookies.



View attachment 279565

Right on!

 

[Seidenbergy]

 

[Deleted]

My God the prices you guys are quoting for health care are insane!!!

Is there not such a thing as free public health care in the US?

 

[LSCII]

My God the prices you guys are quoting for health care are insane!!!

Is there not such a thing as free public health care in the US?

No, there is not. You can get sick here, just so long as you can afford to.

 

[BMC]

My God the prices you guys are quoting for health care are insane!!!

Is there not such a thing as free public health care in the US?

It is free if you are on public assistance (Medicaid) or over age 65 (Medicare). Most people get their health insurance through their employer. I'm self employed so I have to purchase it myself.

 

[Alicat]

My God the prices you guys are quoting for health care are insane!!!

Is there not such a thing as free public health care in the US?

Nope at least not at the moment.

 

[Deleted]

Jez I don't envy you guys, that's crazy!

 

[jgatie]

Jez I don't envy you guys, that's crazy!

Not if you need an MRI, a CAT scan, a biopsy, to see a specialist, advanced treatments/procedures, or anything else public health care denies or makes you wait months/years to get. I have friends who moved to Canada, took them one bad illness to wish they could have the supposedly terrible US health care back.

 

[Seidenbergy]

Jez I don't envy you guys, that's crazy!

No country has "free" healthcare. You pay, just through taxes, fees or some other "hidden" mechanism.

 

[Deleted]

Not if you need an MRI, a CAT scan, a biopsy, to see a specialist, advanced treatments/procedures, or anything else public health care denies or makes you wait months/years to get. I have friends who moved to Canada, took them one bad illness to wish they could have the supposedly terrible US health care back.

No country has "free" healthcare. You pay, just through taxes, fees or some other "hidden" mechanism.

I in no way meant to sound like I was ****ing on the US health system, it is far from perfect here in Ireland and I know there is no such thing as "free" anything in this world.

I'm gonna leave it there because I don't want to start some sort of **** measuring contest between two countries far from perfect health care systems.

 

[jgatie]

I in no way meant to sound like I was ****ing on the US health system, it is far from perfect here in Ireland and I know there is no such thing as "free" anything in this world.

I'm gonna leave it there because I don't want to start some sort of **** measuring contest between two countries far from perfect health care systems.

It's just two different ways of doing things. If I go to a doctor and he says I need an MRI, I call the MRI center and get it in a day or so. If I need to see a specialist, I call for an appointment and get it in a day or so. Nobody from the government has to approve it, there are a dozen or so MRI or specialist joints within driving distance, and I don't have to wait. But I pay through the nose for health insurance.

Other countries regulate what you can get, you are put in a long line to wait, emphasis is placed on General Practitioners instead of specialists, less populated areas often are not allocated the expensive machines needed for diagnoses, and you pay through the nose in taxes. But health care is free.

 

[Deleted]

It's just two different ways of doing things. If I go to a doctor and he says I need an MRI, I call the MRI center and get it in a day or so. If I need to see a specialist, I call for an appointment and get it in a day or so. Nobody from the government has to approve it, there are a dozen or so MRI or specialist joints within driving distance, and I don't have to wait. But I pay through the nose for health insurance.

Other countries regulate what you can get, you are put in a long line to wait, emphasis is placed on General Practitioners instead of specialists, less populated areas often are not allocated the expensive machines needed for diagnoses, and you pay through the nose in taxes. But health care is free.

I can't speak for the US or Canada but I'll give you a rough idea of what it's like in Ireland for no other reason than to compare, not in any way to suggest it is better.

Here there is a basic level of free public health care for everyone who has resided in the country for a minimum of one year. When availing of any public health care there is no approval process, you quote what's called your PPS number which every Irish resident has and away you go. You are absolutely right in that certain things you will have to wait for if using the public system and often it could be months or years. If it is an emergency or a case of life or death you are obviously going to jump to the top of the list but yes you could potentially have to live in pain for a long time when going public if you are unfortunate enough to fall ill.


There is unlimited free GP visits for all children under 6yo. All maternity care is 100% free, my wife for example has had three midwife visits, 5 or 6 GP visits, 3 baby scans, 3 parental classes for us both all free and when the time comes her labour and hospital stay will all be free too with a midwife visit to our home for 5 days after she is discharged also included to make sure everything is ok. ( Yes I know we pay for it in taxes and I'll get to that).

If I was to get private health insurance here it would cost me around 70euro a month for an entry level plan (78usd) and could go up to maybe 150euro (166usd) a month or thereabouts for a higher end one.

I believe it is about having choice and from what I gather (correct me if I'm wrong) there isn't much of a choice in the US. At least your friends who moved to Canada had the choice between public and private, unfortunately they got sick and subsequently felt they would have been better off with private.

I don't know what taxes you pay there but here it is around 20-40% of your income depending on what you earn and personally (everyone is different) I'd prefer to pay a couple of percent more in income tax knowing in the case of an emergency I can just walk into a public hospital and I am covered.

Ultimately there is no such thing as a perfect health care system (there is a severe shortage of hospital beds and staff here) so I apologise if my shock at some of the prices being quoted rubbed anyone the wrong way, it's just not what I'm used to.

 

[Glove Malfunction]

The fact that you're offered any of that as a consultant is strange.

Are you employed through a consulting agency and get sent to different contracts?

Yes, I work through different consulting companies, as a W-2 employee for the consulting company. I've worked with other consultants who work on a corp-to-corp basis, and they get nothing in the way of benefits. But they make a higher rate.

When one contract end, I put myself out to the many consulting companies I've worked with, and find the next contract with whomever has one that fits at the time. So it looks like I job hop, but that's pretty much the norm with consultants.