Health Insurance Question

[Below Zero]

OK, so I did a search for some info on health insurance for a ski bum and here are some good threads I found (question is below):

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showt...ight=Insurance

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showt...ight=Insurance

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showt...ight=Insurance

Question: So what is the best insurance to get to cover you as a ski bum: Temporary Health Insurance or Catastrophic Health Insurance


(Forgive me if this is a tech talk question - wasn't sure)

[Superstar Punani]

Back when I was a bum I had CA Blue Cross for about fitty dolla per month. Never had to use it so I'm not sure how good it was if shit hit the fan.

For Int'l ski bummery I went with Travelguard.com, again, I never had to use them for claims.

[mrw]

Do a google search for Fortis Insurance Co
They are or were the largest provider of interim health care coverage. I was using them a few years back. Covered the whole family for a reasonable amount of money. Anyway, during that time my wife hurt herself while we were skiing Stowe. I was thinking "well here we go" but when I called them they said to take her where ever we neede to go and to give the provider their 800 # for confirmation. I was impressed.

HEADS UP NOTE----------------------------------------------------
When you find their website you can get a realtime quote. The rate you pay is based on your zip code. Pump a couple of different ones in and see if it lowers your rate (it did for me by a whole lot) then go get a po box in that zip code. Once you get the policy in the mail, there is no further mailings from them. Payment is by direct withdrawl. DO NOT OPT FOR A 6 MONTH POLICY. Tell them you want to pay monthly and then you can cancell at any time during the contract with 30 days notice.

good luck

[mrw]

https://www.etdbw.com/fh/stm/servlet...e=pp&sptype=gg

[13]

What good is health insurance if every company you apply to rejects you?

Yeah, it's like that. http://www.tetongravity.com/ubb/icons/icon13.gif

[mrw]

Originally posted by 13
What good is health insurance if every company you apply to rejects you?

Yeah, it's like that. http://www.tetongravity.com/ubb/icons/icon13.gif

They all report to a data base just like credit bureaus.
there is a way you can request a copy to review. A while back I spent 2 months doing a safari in Zimbabwe and Botswana. I returned with some kind of microbe f###ing me up. I was going from specialist to specialist.The wind up was after I was cured I tried switching insurance companies and found it impossible for like 5 years. During that time, i requested a copy (a doctor ordered it for me) I found lots of inaccuracies. I needed a doctor to straighten it out. It's total bullshit and ought to be illeagal for them to do that but welcome to the information age.

[13]

I know exactly why I've been rejected & have had them put it in writing.

There's nothing I can do about it and yes, it ought to be illegal.

It's illegal to drive a car without insurance, so why shouldn't it be illegal to live without insurance?

[badmigraine]

Altaholic, would they cover you as a spouse/dependent of a person with coverage?

After all, people marry for money or green cards all the time. Doing it for health insurance seems a lot more respectable.

That, or getting citizenship in a country with national health insurance.

[optics]

Originally posted by badmigraine

That, or getting citizenship in a country with national health insurance.

So...just about any industrialized country other than the US. We can't afford it.

[mrw]

Originally posted by optics
So...just about any industrialized country other than the US. We can't afford it.

Sure we can all it takes is a willingness to handover our medical decisions to uncle sam (they run everything else so well so why not) and a willingness to pay about 6 bucks a gallon for fuel. Oh yeah I almost forgot...you really have to like standing in line at a doctors office and god forbid if you're reaaly sick, being on a waiting list for say heart surgery for about 3 months longer than you are alive.
If you have a vcr,a cell phone ,tv or a cd collection, you can afford to take care of your own ass. My ass is my responsibility. Your ass is your responsibility. own it, insure it and don't whine about wanting someone else to pay your bills.
Every nation with national health care is going tits up from costs.

National health care...the perfect oxymoron

[optics]

Right.
Health care costs have nothing to do with astronomical drug prices, tort reform, etc.

You don't think the government indirectly makes a good deal of your medical decisions now?

[Superstar Punani]

Originally posted by mrw

National health care...the perfect oxymoron

Works here

[mrw]

Originally posted by Punani
Works here

"These patients prefer private cover to fund their stays in private hospitals (which offer private rooms, better food, and other amenities making hospital more tolerable) and on-demand treatment for elective surgery such as joint reconstructions or heart bypass surgery (for which there are often long waiting times in the system of public hospitals)."

Like I said before, if you don't want to die while waiting for your heart surgery, you better have PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE.
What that means to a normal hardworking guy with a family is this...First you cough up the government health tax and then you cough up mega dollars to an insurance company to make sure your family gets the treatment they need when THEY need it, not when the government gets around to giving it to them.
Net result...the responsible family guy ends up paying thru the ass so a few bottom of the bucket losers can sponge off the system while politicians grin ear to ear having hooked the voters on yet another program.

[jackace]

I agree with mrw.

My biggest complaint with insurance companies is---They are LEAGALY allowed to discriminate based on all aspects of your life(race, gender, age, etc.) and now they can disciminate based on your credit score. I think people should be judged based on their own actions, not those of someone else whom happens fit into one or more of the same demographic groups.

I personally hate car insurance I'm 24 years old and I drive 1996 4 door sedan (stock no modifications) I have no tickets and no claims, but my rates are $150 a month. I know married people my age who have tickets and wrecks, but they pay $120 a month for BOTH husband and wife. Now that is not fair no matter how you try to package it. Just because of my demographic my insurance rate is almost as much as the car payment (used car). MY rates are not based on MY past, but the past of others.

[freshie247]

bump

[cj001f]

Originally posted by mrw
What that means to a normal hardworking guy with a family is this...First you cough up the government health tax and then you cough up mega dollars to an insurance company to make sure your family gets the treatment they need when THEY need it, not when the government gets around to giving it to them.

The US pays a higher portion of it's GDP for health care than most other industrialized nations, for which it receives care that is no better, and sometimes worse. That doesn't sound like a bargain. State run medicine works in Germany, France, Norway, the list goes on. If you have an open mind (to the problems & benefits of state run systems) read the economist survey
http://www.economist.com/surveys/sho...issue=20040717

[365wp]

I looked into catastrophic insurance when I started contracting this spring. It was going to be about $220/month through NASE. Full medical through BC/BS is just a little more, so I went with the full coverage.

Edit: BTW, if you're uninsured for more than 60 days, even if you spring for full coverage you're not going to be covered for anything that's not catastrophic for six months (in other words, you can go to the ER but nothing else). Multiple people told me "that's the way it is."

Also, the current system is lopsided. Hospitals are required to treat people regardless of ability to pay. Some folks can't pay. The insured end up paying more in state and federal taxes and in the cost of care. This isn't going to change until we figure out how to insure everybody...those of us who are insured now will see our costs go down when everybody is covered.

[Snow Dog]

Originally posted by cj001f
The US pays a higher portion of it's GDP for health care than most other industrialized nations, for which it receives care that is no better, and sometimes worse. That doesn't sound like a bargain. State run medicine works in Germany, France, Norway, the list goes on. If you have an open mind (to the problems & benefits of state run systems) read the economist survey
http://www.economist.com/surveys/sho...issue=20040717

So are you going to share your username and password so we can read it?

Anyway, I live in Canada -- the land of health care rationing -- where you can wait for months and years for treatment. So you need an MRI? Expect to wait 7-9 months. Your other option is to drive to the USofA, pay for the MRI yourself, and have the results sent to your doctor. It is illegal for a Canadian resident to pay for an MRI (or any covered procedure) in Canada.

Is that what you mean by better health care?

[cj001f]

Originally posted by Snow Dog
So are you going to share your username and password so we can read it?

Not a subscriber anymore
http://www.economist.com/images/20040717/CSU124.gif

I've had BlueCross catastrophic insurance for $60 or so a month in Cali.

[freshie247]

bump

[13]

Originally posted by 365wp

Also, the current system is lopsided. Hospitals are required to treat people regardless of ability to pay.

The requirement is set by individual hospital policy, not by law.

One hospital may fix you up if you're broken and cannot pay, but most will not.

"That's just the way it is."

[365wp]

Originally posted by 13
The requirement is set by individual hospital policy, not by law.

One hospital may fix you up if you're broken and cannot pay, but most will not.

"That's just the way it is."

There is a law, but it's only ER care. You're correct that some hospitals go above and beyond this law to do major surgery.