Health Insurance ?

[hellosailor]

gettinthere-
Not setting up anything now. I'm guessing your wife's employer is a Chase business customer, so Chase has someone a little sharper than the average branch CSR making sure they can supply *everything* to capture that business customer. Little things like direct deposit, payroll...all that stuff too.[g]

[gettinthere]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

gettinthere-
Not setting up anything now. I'm guessing your wife's employer is a Chase business customer, so Chase has someone a little sharper than the average branch CSR making sure they can supply *everything* to capture that business customer. Little things like direct deposit, payroll...all that stuff too.[g]

More guessing. I did not receive any soliciting from Chase for any other products. The HSA account was not set up by her employer but by the insurance company. My suggestion was to contact the insurance company that one would be dealing with.

You say you aren't setting up an HSA but then go on to detail all the trouble one would have..."I don't know about HSA's this year, but in the past I've found that most "financial institutions" (banks, funds, etc.) give you a big blank "HUH?" when you use terms like that"


Our experience setting up the HSA through the insurance company was very easy and clear. Perhaps you need to shop for a new "financial institution".

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by gettinthere

More guessing. I did not receive any soliciting from Chase for any other products. The HSA account was not set up by her employer but by the insurance company. My suggestion was to contact the insurance company that one would be dealing with.

You say you aren't setting up an HSA but then go on to detail all the trouble one would have..."I don't know about HSA's this year, but in the past I've found that most "financial institutions" (banks, funds, etc.) give you a big blank "HUH?" when you use terms like that"


Our experience setting up the HSA through the insurance company was very easy and clear. Perhaps you need to shop for a new "financial institution".

I'm with you on that one.

The knowledge level of an HR staffer or bank clerk certainly isn't going to be my deciding factor in financial matters. Take the Roth 401K option that just came out. Sure it's new, and not a lot of people know it yet, but honestly that's just because they're uneducated and don't really read up on personal finance for fun.

I'd be hard pressed for someone answering a customer service phone anywhere to even be able to explain even simple concepts, like an index fund.

All insurance plans have plusses and minuses, and not having insurance has plusses and minuses. An HSA is no different. You just have to evaluate whether it's a good fit for you. If you want to wait around until a general consensus of lay people is an agreement with your financial dealings, well, I'm just glad you're not managing my finances.

[nettyjetty]

Hi, I have read all the posts (well most of them) about medical insurance but they all seem to relate to Americans, they need far greater insurance coverage due to their lack of 'free' healthcare at home. Does anyone have any advice on companies that will insure Europeans just for emergency cover and repatriation to home country, sailing only outside of the US.

[alex4522]

DAN insurance is a form of travel insurance for Diving tourists. I haven't looked at it in a while but they will cover you for a large amount if your accident is diving related but only a small amount if your problem is not diving related. The small amount is really peanuts. Travel insurance is different that medical insurance and only covers for accidents and emergencies (not urgent or elective medical problems like cancer or things like that) and is not renewable. The underlying assumption behind travel insurance is that you have medical insurance to return home to if you have an urgent or elective medical problem.

[alex4522]

For those that self-insure, several hundred thousand people leave the USA for medical treatment every year for Thailand or India where the cost is about 20% of US prices. Other places like Mexico are higher more like 40%. I attended the International Medical Tourism conference in Cyprus in Feb 2007 and got a good picture of services available around the world. The bottom line is that where ever you are, if you want to get to these cheap places where you can pay for your own treatment, you have to be able to get on an airplane and travel there. If you have had a serious accident and stuck in an ICU, or need evacuation, then you may not be able to do that.

[John A]

This is a very personnal decision that each of us must make. I can only relate my experiences. Yours will be different.
As a fulltime solo cruisier, I had IMS off shore insurence and at 60 years old the primiums were $3200.US a year. By 2004 the premiums had risen to $4000 US a year.
In June of 2004, while in Trinidad, with prior approval from IMS I had surgery to remove what turned out to be catogory 3 cancer from my bladder, no follow up treatment was required. Three days in a private room, surgery and everything else came to $5200 US. Sending all receipts to IMS resulted in a check for $1500. It was a difficult decision to cancel the insurance after having the surgery, but I did chefly because of the lack of IMS paying for a bargan, but more because the premiums for a 65 year old rose to $4400 a year.
I was told that if I had had the surgery done in the US, the payment would have been larger, of course the total bill would have been larger too.
Five yearly examinations in Trinidad were $1500 US each. Negitive can be a very beautiful word, I was lucky..

[_Oxygen_]

Reading this thread through I think I may be just out of luck. I have Ulcerative Colitis. My family and I are looking to head out sometime next Fall into the Caribbean from Florida. We have the idea of coming back in a few years.. We may never really make it back.. I'm currently trying to work out a budget and health insurance is a big blank spot in my spreadsheet. My medical treatment currently consists of an IV infusion every 3 months costing about $20k each time. The medication is a HUGE portion of the expense costing about $18k.. Does anyone know if some of the rare more specialized drugs going to be available outside the US. I've heard I can get the medicine I need over the internet for about $200 but I doubt if I walked into a hospital around here I'd be able to just hand it to them and tell them to infuse me. If I CAN do that in other countries I'll be a lot happier as the disease I have is not fatal but IS chronic. I'd like to get some answers on what people w/ current medical conditions are doing and how they handle it.. All this HSA talk definitely has me jealous but certainly doesn't fit my needs.

Thanks,
Oxygen

[Kasidah]

You talk about having a $5000. savings each year if you don't have to dip into your HSA so it will add up as a savings unless you get sick and need it. I did not see anywhere what the premium cost for this is?
We lost our insurance when we left to go cruising and to pick up insurance for the two of us in New York is around 9000. per year. Now that we are out here cruising we have asked many cruisers what they are doing, we have found that many are self insuring themselves unless they have a good retirment plan, which the majority of these people retired from goverment jobs and are set for life as far as benifits go.
We are hoping with this new health bill it will be cheaper to get health ins. but we doubt it. We are hoping for a change!!!!

[Mule]

In many ways I do not have a dog in this hunt, (retired ATT, insured for life) but it is obvious we in the USA are being sold a bill of goods, and yes RICO should apply to many healthcare concerns in this country. Much of the health care industrical complex is nothing more than organized crime. It did not start out that way but it has evolved to that.

Given facts: Pharmacutical companies of combined marketing-research funds spend $1 on research, $9 dollars on marketing should tell you something. Dorthy Hamel's butt is pretty as she skates by with the strains of Celebrex being sung in the background during a commercial is an example. Perscription drug commercials dominate the airways anymore.

Over 40% of all bankruptcys in this country are directly linked to someone getting sick and not being able to pay. Many, if not most are good hard working people that did everything right and when they get sick are sentenced to a life of poverty if they surrive. Many have insurance but cannot afford the 20% or so out of pocket required to stay alive.

Hospital Corporation of America (HSA) the largest hospital company in the USA derives much if not most of their income from medicare, some years back paid their CEO $200,000,000 that is two HUNDRED MILLION dollars for one years work.

Medical insurance companies take your money, cut out a lare portion of it to pay legions of people to find any flimsy excuse to avoid paying more often that not LEGITMATE claims. So you pay salaries of people whose fuction is to keep you from collecting what is due you for the service you paid for. After you get sick more of these folks start looking for ways to drop you...Go figger.

The ethical vacumm present as described above is an example of what happens when deregulation is carried to extremes, just as we have seen in banking and Wall Street. No wonder there is a debate going on in this country.

[John A]

Mule,
Go cruising! Don't bring a laptop or a TV!
John

[Nemo5150]

It's so hard to get health insurance if you have any significant medical history. If you are healthy however, blue cross blue shield is the best. They have a cheap plan that only covers major medical emergencies.

[billyehh]

I have my OHIP government health insurance supplimented by my union out of province coverage. It is good for life. The downside is that I must be in Ontario 6 months a year. I leave the boat for hurricane season so this is not a problem.

In Grenada afellow cruiser had a stroke and went to the public hospital. He said he recieved excellent care including MRI's and physiotharapy. He said the cost was very low ( I don't have the figures ) . My sister in law severed a tendon in her big toe stepping on a conch shell. She went to a private hospital and was in surgury within 3 hours. After 2 days in hospital to combat infection and therapy the total cost wasunder $10,000.00 EC. or $4000.00 US.

The rule of thumb is any life threatening ailment will looked immediately in the public system. If it is minor the wait times are horrendous. The private system is reasonable and excellent. I went to the private hospital and the cost was $60.00 EC or $23.00 US. Try to get a doctor in the US for that.

[_Oxygen_]

See I'm thinking even if I leave my super expensive medication out of the picture self-insurance may be the best way for us to go.. When I get really sick I end up in the hospital for about 6 days the bill comes to something like $28k. What we are planning to do is something along the lines of sell everything we have and take the 200K or so buy a boat for 50-80k fix it for another 25-40k and sail on the rest.. so for the vast majority of the trip we'd have a large chunk of change to put into our health plan. The medication they give me in the hospital is so cheap that even here in the US it's only $4 for a month's supply the super expensive stuff is supposed to help me not get sick in the first place and I don't think it's working anyways.. ditching it may be the best thing for both my health and my budget.

[sww914]

You can probably find a Dr in Mexico that you can talk to to get an idea of the price & availability of your expensive medication & treatment. There are many many Dr's, Pharmacies, and dentists in Tijuana, Rosarito & Ensenada that cater to Americans. Some of them have websites and most will speak English well. I plan t have some dental work done in Tijuana soon, $900.00 vs $3800 here. My sister takes her kids to Mexico for all their dental work. She says it's just like here except they're really nice, it's cheap, the office is nicer, the equipment is newer, and everyone is good looking. Yeah, almost the same except for those things...
I used to go to Rosarito 3-4 times a year to buy prescriptions when I had no insurance. One inhaler called Advair that we bought was $275.00 each here. In Rosarito I could get 3 for $100.00. They were exactly the same, same manufacturer but 2 differences in the packaging.
1. The Mexican package is in Spanish.
2. In the US, it is in a foil envelope inside the box and the package says that it magically goes bad after 30 days outside the bag.
In Mexico, there's no foil bag and the expiration date is about 2 years out.
I call that a scam but I'm not surprised.

That's one of the reasons that I'm leaving, the people who are supposed to protect us from that sort of thing are lining their pockets with dirty money.
But it gets cleaned when it passes through a lawyer's hands.