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Raymond Fries
04-03-2014, 10:22 AM
Is your insurance company costing you money needlessly?

I am one of those people that were required to sign up for Obamacare. YAY. I must pay a what I feel is a ridiculous price per month for a $6K deductible plan. Given my choice, I would not have the insurance. I go the doctor maybe once every two years as I am a pretty healthy guy so this makes me a dream customer for the insurance company. Although, I do have to take a B12 shot every other week as I have pernicious anemia which just prevents my body from absorbing B12 naturally.

So I went to Walgreens last week to get my B12 vials. They had run it through using my AARP discount card and the total was $17.52. I thought I would get my insurance card (decided to not include the name) on file with them so I could use the benefits of the plan. After the clerk made the change the total went to over $25 (sorry I do not remember the cents).

So I am thinking what good is this? I told her to put it back and run it through AARP.

Although insurance companies might save you money off retail price, they obviously make a lot of money from your medications. I was stunned that the price of an inexpensive medicine went up by about %50 to use an insurance card.

So I suggest if you have an AARP card check the pricing against your insurance plan. Maybe you can save some money as well.

Enjoy Life…

Art Mann
04-03-2014, 11:40 AM
I don't belong to AARP because they spent millions in membership dues and profits to lobby for the Affordable Care Act which required you to sign up. There is a certain irony in your advice though.

Val Kosmider
04-03-2014, 1:13 PM
Insurance, however distasteful, is a lot like lawyers: You don't need it until you do. And then you really, really need it.

God forbid you have a small shop accident and slice off a couple of digits. Your life savings of $200,000 gets eaten up pretty quickly.

As for meds, THIS time for THAT med AARP was cheaper; next time it could be your insurance price. After that it could be a toss up. It is sort of like trying to figure out how they price airline seats. Most importantly, NEVER pay the 'cash' price. For that med you received, it could likely be a hundred bucks, or more.

Mike Henderson
04-03-2014, 1:35 PM
There was a real need for improvements to our health insurance system, which I can attest to from personal experience. I've had health insurance all my working life. When I was 59, I was laid off and carried COBRA for a while. When I had to purchase an individual policy, no company would issue one to me because I had had a basal cell carcinoma removed a few years earlier - which has an extremely low risk of recurrence. I finally found a policy -at an extremely high rate - and considered my self lucky.

If I hadn't been able to find a policy, or been able to afford the rate, I could have been completely wiped out financially by a medical issue. Everything I had worked for all my life would have been gone because I couldn't have gotten a health insurance policy, even though I had done all the right things and had carried health insurance all my life.

Mike

Andrew Joiner
04-03-2014, 2:16 PM
Yes Raymond good post. I learned to always ask for the cash price on anything medical.

Prior to Obmama Care I had a 5K deductible health insurance policy. I had it for over 20 years. It never paid a dime for medical costs. I considered it bankruptcy insurance to cover major medical bills. I learned along time ago to negotiate cash discounts and shop around for most medical visits.

For years I had been getting a far cheaper price on blood tests by calling and saying "I have no insurance may I have a cash discount" after the bill arrived. The discount was about 20 or 30%. Then 6 months ago on a test ordered by my MD at the same local hospital they said they couldn't give the "Non insured discount" because the old records show I still have insurance. It's 5K deductible and would never pay a dime I told them. No discount they said because it's there OPTION to offer it as a mercy discount for the poor. Now, my MD's billing dept.took that insurance completely off my record. I still have the 5K policy but my MD's billing dept. say's I can just use the insurance if I have a bill over 5K and be way better off.
I have 5k deductible per diagnosis not per year which is a rare old policy that I want to keep. If the pre-existing condition rules allowed me to shop for better/cheaper insurance I would.



This MD's website has some good info-- http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2012/06/hide-health-insurance-status... (http://bounce.fatwallet.com/redirect/bounce.php?afsrc=1&mid=17613396&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinmd.com%2Fblog%2F2012%2F 06%2Fhide-health-insurance-status-pay-cash.html)

He say's:

"First, to get the discounted prices, patients would have to withhold insurance information from hospitals. If you tell them you have insurance, they will be bound to charge you the insurance company’s negotiated rate. Those are the up to 89% higher fees documented in the previous paragraph.

However, if you don’t tell them your insurance and pay cash instead, the cash payments don’t apply to your annual out-of-pocket spending limits."

Brian Deakin
04-03-2014, 3:04 PM
The other side of the pond

I am a pharmacist and live in the Uk the cost of prescriptions in the uk is $13 per item regardless of the cost of the medicine or quantity Additionally if you have a number of items you can purhcase a prepayment certificate for 12 months $170 this exempts you from all prescription charges

Further the following groups of people are exempt from charges

Who is exempt from NHS prescription charges in England?
Some people are exempt from paying prescription charges. To qualify for free prescriptions you must be:


Under 16
16 to 18 and in full-time education
60 or over
Pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months and hold a valid maternity exemption certificate (MatEx)
Have a specified medical condition and hold a valid medical exemption certificate (MedEx)
Have a continuing physical disability which means you cannot go out without help from another person and hold a valid medical exemption certificate
Hold a valid war pension exemption certificate and the prescription is for your accepted disability
An NHS inpatient

You will also be exempt from prescription charges if you or your partner (including civil partners) are named on, or are entitled to an NHS tax credit exemption certificate or a valid HG2 certificate (full help with health costs), or you receive either:


Income support
Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Pension Credit Guarantee Credit

There are also some situations in which medicines are supplied free:


Prescribed contraceptive
Medication administered at a hospital or an NHS Walk-in Centre
Medication personally administered by a GP
Medication supplied at a hospital or PCT clinic for the treatment of a sexually transmitted infection or tuberculosis (TB)



People with certain medical conditions can get free NHS prescriptions if they hold a valid medical exemption certificate.

You can get all your NHS prescriptions free if you have a valid medical exemption certificate because you have:




a permanent fistula (for example, caecostomy, colostomy, laryngos-tomy or ileostomy) which needs continuous surgical dressing or an appliance;
a form of hypoadrenalism (for example, Addison’s Disease) for which specific substitution therapy is essential;
diabetes insipidus and other forms of hypopituitarism;
diabetes mellitus, except where treatment is by diet alone;
hypoparathyroidism;
myasthenia gravis;
myxoedema (that is, hypothyroidism which needs thyroid hormone replacement);
epilepsy which needs continuous anticonvulsive therapy;
a continuing physical disability which means you cannot go out without the help of another person; or
cancer and are undergoing treatment for:
- cancer;
- the effects of cancer; or,
- the effects of cancer treatment.

You can only get a certificate if you have a condition on the list. If you are not sure about the name of your condition, check with your doctor. Doctors may advise you about free prescriptions. However, it is up to you to find out if you are entitled to an exemption certificate.

Additionally you pay the following if working

How much National Insurance you pay

The amount and type of National Insurance contributions you pay depend on whether you're employed or self-employed and how much you earn. The rates shown below are for the 2013-14 tax year.
If you're employed

Please note figures are in uk £

If you're employed you pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions. The rates are:


if you earn more than £149 a week and up to £797 a week, you pay 12 per cent of the amount you earn between £149 and £797
if you earn more than £797 a week, you also pay 2 per cent of all your earnings over £797

There are no other costs to pay You register with a local doctor and book an appiontment usually you are seen within a few days If it is thought to be serious you would normally be seen the same day monday to friday

If you have a minor injury you can visit the local centre in my case 2 miles away

If it is more serious there there is accident and emergency 12 miles away

Brett Luna
04-03-2014, 6:44 PM
I count myself as fortunate to have the medical coverage I do as a retired vet. If I didn't, I'd have to find another kind of discount. AARP will never get a dime of my money.

Pat Barry
04-03-2014, 6:49 PM
I think its incredble that the insurance companies, so obviously run by and catering to the wealthy, can hold the american people hostage to the health plans they engineer and then blame it all on obamacare while at the same time pocketing enormous profits. Not trying to be political here by the way, just my observation. If its too political then please let me know or edit this as need be.