Wednesday, June 10, 2009
I Hate Insurance
This is a long boring story but one that I hope you’ll read because it is also an example of what’s wrong with insurance, particularly health care in this country. In fact anything to do with insurance is boring which is why most people don’t pay any attention to it or try to educate themselves about how it works. Most middle class people, myself included, simply take for granted that insurance is a necessity of life in America and pay whatever the cost is and hope that they never need it.
I’m a firm believer that if the federal government came out tomorrow and stated that all insurance companies should cease conducting any business whatsoever and Americans were no longer required to have any insurance, then the economy would spike within days. Everyone would suddenly have an additional $12,000, more or less, per year to spend on anything but insurance. Insurance is the biggest scam perpetrated on the American public, ever. I’ll share a recent personal example of how insurance works.
I have been paying for several types of insurance my entire working life, which would be roughly 35 years. That would be health, life, auto, homeowner and disability insurance and because I’m a contractor, I am also involved in liability and workers’ compensation. I don’t think I’ve forgotten any.
My health insurance, up until last year, had always been paid by my employer, at least most of it. All insurance increases in cost every year especially health insurance, but I was always able to have my employer cover that cost, so in effect it was like a raise in pay most years. Because of that, most years I sacrificed a real raise in pay so that the money could be put towards the insurance costs. Last year however, the law in Massachusetts changed and my employer suddenly had to include everyone that worked for the company on the health insurance plan and pay for it equally. This means that, despite the fact that I had been in the same business for 30 plus years, my health insurance plan would no longer be a “perk”. The first year apprentice at the company would be covered by the same insurance and the company would pay the same amount for his insurance as mine, by law. Not only that, but because the company could not afford the cost of paying for everyone’s insurance, they would have to pay for less of mine, meaning I was essentially taking a cut in pay. So instead of allowing that to happen, I opted out of the company’s insurance plan and decide to acquire and manage my own health insurance plan. Because I and my family have always been reasonably healthy, I decide to keep the monthly payments to a minimum by having a large deductible. Are you bored yet? Bear with me.
A couple of months ago, I noticed that the life insurance plan that I had faithfully paid for, every year, for past 15 years had gotten to the point where it would begin paying for itself. Understand now that this was a particular insurance that I specifically purchased so that it would eventually pay for itself. I was looking forward to saving the $1,500 per year that I had been paying. Of course no one called ME to let me know this, I had to call them. A young fellow promptly came to the house to review the policy and agreed that it had reached maturity. The only hurdle would be a blood and urine test. A week or so went by and a certified nurse came to the house and took my blood and urine and another week or so later I was notified that there was a problem with the tests. Sometimes this happens I was told and the nurse came out again and took another sampling and week or so later I was notified again that there was a problem. Of course nobody could actually tell me what the problem was, so I asked for the test results and brought them to my physician. My doctor told me that there really was no problem, that I might have a minor “stone” in my kidney but that it was a normal occurrence and there was no need to think that I was suddenly an insurance risk. To be on the safe side I decided to have some further tests done, basically a second opinion, just to verify I was healthy. All in all, I made 3 more trips to the hospital for testing, amounting to approximately 5 hours of accumulated time spent there. I saw 4 different people during those visits, only one being a doctor.
It has now been 4 months since I attempted to change the insurance policy. I received letters from 2 doctors certifying I am healthy and I still have not been able to get the policy changed to favor me. On top of that, because of the type of health insurance I now have, I actually see all the invoices and submit them to insurance for payment myself. In the past, as it is with most people with health insurance such as Blue Cross or Tufts, I would never actually see the hospital charges; they would go directly to the insurance company. The cost for the testing I received, which would be the 3 trips to the medical facility for tests totaling 5 hours came to over $5,000. Being a contractor, the first thing that comes to mind is that if I had spent 5 hours working for someone and sent them an invoice for $5,000 I most assuredly would never be paid, no doubt get an earful of criticism and might even end up in jail. As far as the life insurance policy goes, I am preparing to consult a lawyer in order to force the insurer to honor their agreement with me.
POSTED BY STAN at June 10, 2009
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