Health Insurance and the Economic Problems It Has Created

Many times I have used this blog as a soap box for issues that are close to my heart. Insurance trumps all of them. My daughter had special needs, and I know what it is like to have to deal with an insurance company that doesn't want to cover something or pay for a necessary item.


All that being understood, I'm going to rage against the insurance and drug companies for a bit right now. Prepare, it's not going to be pretty.


President-elect Obama keeps having his "talking heads" tell the masses that he wants to fix the economy first. I don't know where he thinks the money will come from, but the nation is in shambles because people can't afford anything UNLESS they buy it on credit. Here's why I think that is.


We are currently a family of 3 healty individuals. 2 healthy adults, and 1 very healthy child. We are currently paying, through my husband's employer, $662.00 per month for basic health insurance. My mortgage is $796.00. That basic health insurance is REALLY basic. I have a $3,000 annual deductable, and I pay 20% of the cost of everything after that. Now, since we have had this insurance, we have paid $0.00 towards our deductable. (Office visit co-pays are not counted towards the deductable.) I go to the doctor maybe 3 or 4 times a year. My son, he also goes about that many times. My husband on the other hand, hasn't gone in the last 3 years. I also take medicine every day, to keep the crazy at bay, and that costs me a whopping $10.00 per month. (I am a firm believer in generics!)


Now, if I was on a medication that didn't have a generic, (which, lets face it, all the cool drugs don't have a generic), it would cost me a minimum of $50.00 per month, all the way up to however much the drug company actually charges for that drug. There are LOTS of drugs that the insurance companies won't cover. (They'll cover Erectile Dysfunction meds, but not cancer meds, go figure!) There are lots more drugs that the insurance company says, "well, I guess we'll throw you a bone, and we'll call it a 3rd tier drug, and charge YOU 75% of the cost, we'll pay the other 25%".


Major manufacturers were busted for price fixing on LCD's, but we can't get our act together to bust BIG PHARMA?



The auto manufacturers that are begging for $25 billion right now, are blaming skyrocketing retiree health care costs as a MAJOR reason for the lack of cash. How is it, that we have created a society where you cannot afford to get sick? Yet, everywhere you turn, you see people asking for money for this or that cancer foundation, or diabetes association. Really, if they haven't come up with a cure for it yet, after the billions of money that has been spent, do you think your $5.00 pink/yellow/black/green/purple/orange/rainbow colored pin will help? There will NEVER BE A CURE FOR EVERYTHING! There cannot be a cure for everything. If there were, you would never get grandchildren, and you would hate your life more than you do already, because you'd never be able to retire.

I've said it time and time again, there is something fundamentally wrong with the people in this country now a days. Let's face it "baby boomers" it's YOUR fault. Boomers have run this country into the ground, created debt beyond imagination, fostered apathy and irritation, and created a generation of needy spoiled rotten brats. You have also pushed the limits of everything imaginable, but does that really forgive the fact that none of you want to die, and therefore, I can't afford health care?

There is a cycle to life, and I hate to be the one to tell you this, but at 50, you're not supposed to look 35. You have ruined it for the rest of us, and there is nothing we can do about it. Now granted, I'm barely a Gen Xer, but I am smart. I know that I will never REALLY be able to pay for my medical bills if something catastrophic happens, but I also am aware that I can't go without it either.

I sit here at my table, thinking about dropping my health care coverage. I think, "I could save that extra $660 bucks a month, I would put it in savings." I really don't think that I could. I would spend it. I would buy nice clothes again, I would make sure that my son had clothes that fit, and weren't a size big because I knew that I wouldn't be able to get him clothes until way after I got all the bills paid. I would buy new flooring for my bathroom, the sub-floor is damaged, and I'm pretty sure that one day, I'll sit on the toilet, and it will fall through to the crawl-space. I would buy new glasses for myself, ones that I could ACTUALLY see out of. I would buy my husband a Blu-Ray player, and a new receiver for the stereo. Maybe, I would just pay his student loans, we've put them in forbearance again. I'd also get a bed for the guest room, and sheets to go with it. Nobody will come to visit unless I have a place for them to sleep. (There's a mattress outlet down the street that's selling queen sets for $150.)


Maybe I'd just buy something that we wanted instead of needed. I sure hope that somebody who searches the web all day for references to Barack Obama reads this post. PLEASE, please contact me. I'd love to put my two cents worth ALL OVER the networks.