Health costs rise

[DuneAHH]

The mathmatical projections that come out of Washington to sell us on whatever 'fill in the blank' agenda-du-jour it may be hardly ever pan out. Like the HAMP program. Like the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf. Utter crap. Any math with a dot-gov behind is my sign to flip the page. Next.

I'm becoming a fan of self-insuring, paying cash for what I do need, and making darn sure I'm not running to the doc for every suspicious thing. Maybe the gov's savings estimates come from increased numbers of people just gutting-it-out on their own ;-)?

I've personally experienced SAVINGS of 30% when paying cash for some medical procedures. Factor in the additional savings of not paying (affording) exorbitant monthly premiums for health insurance and it can make $ sense. I regret all the health insurance premiums I shelled out during my young, healthy, 20's-30's-40's. Wish I'd stuck that money in an interest bearing savings account for all those years.

 

[Lynnie]

The mathmatical projections that come out of Washington to sell us on whatever 'fill in the blank' agenda-du-jour it may be hardly ever pan out. Like the HAMP program. Like the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf. Utter crap. Any math with a dot-gov behind is my sign to flip the page. Next.

I'm becoming a fan of self-insuring, paying cash for what I do need, and making darn sure I'm not running to the doc for every suspicious thing. Maybe the gov's savings estimates come from increased numbers of people just gutting-it-out on their own ;-)?

I've personally experienced SAVINGS of 30% when paying cash for some medical procedures. Factor in the additional savings of not paying (affording) exorbitant monthly premiums for health insurance and it can make $ sense. I regret all the health insurance premiums I shelled out during my young, healthy, 20's-30's-40's. Wish I'd stuck that money in an interest bearing savings account for all those years.

I agree almost 100%. Only two years in my life have I exceeded my out of pocket exposure in claims, but they were very expensive claims...and, due to an accident. I was glad to have had the proper insurance. One was about $50K (bone graft and metal plate to repair my wrist) and I didn't even spend the night in the hospital. The other was about $15K (removal of plate when my body rejected it) - was under the knife about an hour and half. But, we're supposed to insure for catastrophic claims only, technically. I am a proponent of self-insuring for the smaller claims - routine office visits, minor colds, etc. When Kaiser HMO began in the 70's, managed care was resisted, but is now practically an entitlement for many employees.

The number 1 item in ObamaCare should be education to the public regarding accountability/responsibility of medical care, preventive care, healthy lifestyle, diet, etc.......implementing a sliding scale cost sharing for each recipient of the plan. But, they didn't consult with me.......go figure.

 

[scooterbug44]

I'd love to be able to just plan ahead and pay for my health care myself. (Hell, based on my coverage I pay for most of it anyway.)

But one minor injury blows that out of the water.