After talking about health insurance today in class, it got me thinking about a situation that I would share with the blog. Last year, after having went from full time work to part time work I had to come off of my employee health insurance. I had been a long time customer with Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC for many years, from a child on my parents insurance until college on my own policy - for a hefty $250 a month consistently.
For people with a "pre-existing"condition such as diabetes, insurance is a nightmare. There are several stipulations that you must abide by in order to be able to have health insurance. You must have had insurance since you had the pre-existing condition and you could not have had a lapse in coverage, not even 1 day or they can deny you coverage or make it impossible to find a company that will.
During my venture out into the wild land of health insurance premiums I decided to go back with BCBS of NC because I had been with them for a while and thought that they had good coverage. After applying, I was dumbfounded to find out that in the mist of 6 months my premium had skyrocketed from $250 a month to $450 a month. Nothing had changed in my condition, no new bills or doctors. All the same, just $200 more a month. I have come to find out that this increase is due to the new "health reform". Witch all sounds good but in real life for people with pre-existing conditions makes health insurance even more of a nightmare. Let me explain:
The new health care bill made it possible for "everyone to be covered" meaning that the insurance companies can't deny you anymore (even if you have a lapse in coverage or have a pre-existing condition). This sounds good right? But if you are like me with a pre-exiting condition there is one thing the government did not take into consideration: Now that the insurance companies can't deny you coverage, they are raising the premiums to astronomical amounts to compensate for this. There is no cap on what they can charge you now if you have a pre-existing condition or lapse in coverage. What I can't figure out is if they are going to penalize someone for not having health coverage - what if you can't afford the premium each month that was inflated due to the new bill. It all sounded good but if they are going to reform then there needs to be a reform in the billing and premiums department. They have a good start but they have a while to go.
Health insurance companies are highway robbery. There was no reason to raise my premium. I still have the same meds, same doctors, nothing to explain a $200 a month jump. What I found online while searching on BCBS of NC was ridiculous. I have attached an article on the profits of BCBS of NC from 2009. They made so much money they don't know what to do with it. Their CEO made $2,000 and hour. That is ridiculous. And to be so hard up for money that they need to raise their premiums $200 a month and not allow for the care that people need that have paid their premiums their whole life, just to be denied coverage. What a joke. Like I said - there needs to be a reform just in the way of a whole new health system.
http://wral.com/news/local/wral_investigates/story/4668082
I know exactly how you feel! My family has insurance and there are several procedures between all of us that need to be performed but we can't afford them. My husband goes to work everyday, we pay our taxes, and it's a shame that we still can't afford to have them done, but if we had Medicaid, it wouldn't be an issue. I was almost to the point of being irate when we went on the field trip to the medical supply store and the owner said that if you worked all your life and now had Medicare, most of this equipment won't be covered, however, if you have Medicaid it will. It's just not fair!
ReplyDeleteJust today in class we were discussing how so many people are on disability, and I thought to myself, "There's go to be some job out there that they can do." It makes me angry when I see my mom go to work everyday and left 50lbs boxes and have to work so hard when some people are just sitting home taking advantage of the system. I also feel like this mess that the government is dealing with right now is a product of all the free programs that some people take advantage of. Instead of shutting down tourists attractions to save money, why not start investigating some of the people who are receiving services that they don't need.
ReplyDeleteI know from first-hand experience how some people with FMLA take advantage of the system. There was this individual who used to work at the same facility as me who used her FMLA whenever she didn't feel like going to work. One time she called in with FMLA and went to a concert, while I was working my butt off. That's just not fair!
Here's a link with some suggestions on how to stop FMLA abuse.
http://hr.blr.com/whitepapers/Benefits-Leave/FMLA-Leave-of-Absence/12-Ways-to-Curb-FMLA-Abuse/