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Re: Health insurance

Re: Health insurance-renewal

having one payer would be simpler and possibly efficient BUT having the government being that payer, a disaster. our government is very inefficient, wasteful, fraud-ridden and you get people like lois lerner in charge of things, bureaucrats who are only concerned with their jobs and when needed, a political jerk working against americans not for them. my bud who just moved back from canada laughs when discussing how all of his coworkers up there bragged about their socialized medicine but then moaned and complained constantly about getting things done and things not covered or paid for. there is no perfect world but one thing is for sure, the government in charge of more of our life, is terrible and not a formula to actually improve anything.
 
Re: Health insurance-renewal

From RTD , anthem and bon Secour have reached an oral agreement. BS is waiting for the written contract.....glad to see I am on equal footing with BS with regard to any writing from anthem. Anyone in richmond area have optima? united health only writes groups at this time but may re-enter the market. ( full disclosure, I think one of our former polo guys is related to UHC.). I heard canada was good. If the closest clinic was too booked you merely need to find one not so busy.
 
Re: Health insurance-renewal

don't live in canada but do know that historically they have come to the US to get care a lot because of waits. as i said, my bud has lived the past 3 years there and said they were obnoxious when he first moved there bragging about their care as opposed to the US which he had there, but then over the years, said it was just constant complaining, moaning, whining, about how bad it was. just think about our government and how comical they are with any program, not counting that they are all broke, just how they are run and you want them in charge of your healthcare? i do not but don't think i will have any choice, will be forced to be involved. not saying what we had was perfect but you did have choices and business is much more efficient, not perfect, but just better in managing things than the government.
 
Re: Health insurance-renewal

Well WS, I'm ready for the full government takeover of the healthcare system after spending about six hours on the phone with Anthem yesterday. I was traveling so it helped pass the time. I sent in my payment and a week later noticed it had not cleared. Called Anthem and they acknowledged receiving payment , gave me the date and all was good. Still kept noticing it had not cleared. Thurs received a notice, dated 9/17, that bank had returned check, no reason and of course being Anthem, no contact information. And so it begins. I have not received any notification from bank of a returned check and a phone call confirmed check not presented. Here is the gist of my conversations with Anthem. Check was returned 9/23. No one could find a copy of the check as I asked each person so I could take to my bank to ask why it was returned, until 530 when the employee found the front image, not back, and the payment remittance. Others told me that only a partial amount was returned by the bank in amounts not matching any line item on my bill except for one. One time I was out on hold and it flipped me to a call sex number asking for my credit card. All the while the poor employees kept apologizing which got tiresome., and they would not allow me to speak with billing. So I have a date on Monday at 7, when they open, for an update. In late morning I received an IMPORTANT vm to call an anthem number, which I did and was advised how to make a payment by phone and if I didn't want to receive any future calls like this to call another number. Heck I was crossing the HRBT and it was another hour plus back to Richmond, so why not. That number told me that they were offering some procedure that I had declined and wanted to confirm that was correct. Well, I don't know of any procedure I had declined. Yea I know I can switch from Anthem when enrollment opens and will research. BTW the earlier waiver and coverage issue was resolved, as it should have been a non issue and outcome all good. I know I can make a payment by phone and render this a non issue but I don't trust them with my uncashed check, a stop payment is not Immediate, and the end of the month is approaching. And I don't know howmany "systems" they have for the employees to go back and forth between. They seemed likewise frustrated.
 
Re: Health insurance-renewal

A, you have complained and had a prob or probs with this outfit for a long, long time. recommended a while back to switch carriers and not sure why you have not. that is why we have choices which will go away in the near future, then you will have none. if some entity treats you wrong, you go elsewhere, do it!
 
Re: Health insurance-renewal

I can't yet. Then it s like picking between Comcast and Verizon. At least with banks there are still choices. Also spoke to the local job association and found they are unable to pool like the old days so they also use the national exchange. Don't forget our previous administration declined to implement a state level. I wonder what coverage our former first family has since the conviction and they can't apply until the open enrollment ? There is stop gap coverage.
This post was edited on 9/27 4:30 PM by Anachnoid
 
Re: Health insurance-renewal

are you saying that in VA, you cannot go online and buy from a multitude of companies?
 
WS, according to people in the insurance field I have spoken to or gone to individual websites, United Health pulled out 7/1 but may resubmit plans for the upcoming open enrollment. Optima does not offer individual coverage. No one in the industry knows what plans or companies will be available until the open enrollment. I want directly through A and am still considered exchange. I pay a line item amount for the ACA. My understanding is the fee goes to DC to help fund Medicaid expansion for those who can't afford insurance. Now my question, since our lawmakers decided against accepting federal funds for Medicaid expansion am I as Virginian paying twice for the services received by those without insurance, once as a Virginian taxpayer to the provider and once under,the ACA to DC which is to be used for reimbursement to those states that accepted Medicaid expansion- but not Va? If someone can point to an explanation much appreciated. Yea I know I complain about. anthem, but if they are treating me this way and I keep questioning them, I wonder how much are they getting away with by rolling over others?
 
most states which decided to say no to expansion said it was because the feds were trying to suck them in and has told them they would not fund past two years, they were on their own. they did not wish to take on more financial problems than they already had. just cannot see how anyone is winning in this new atmosphere, just a cluster F. you mention only two companies but if you google health insurance, there are many more, not as many as there used to be but still numerous companies from which to choose. if you cannot figure out where your money is going, how can anyone in washington?

This post was edited on 9/29 8:00 AM by WebSpinner
 
Originally posted by WebSpinner:
most states which decided to say no to expansion said it was because the feds were trying to suck them in and has told them they would not fund past two years, they were on their own. they did not wish to take on more financial problems than they already had.
Click to expand...
Love me some 'Spinner.. My favorite poster on this board..

I live in Florida- we're what you call a "donor state" meaning we pay more federal taxes out (my tax $ built a road West Virginia last year instead of Tallahassee- hypothetical example) than we receive in federal $ back.

It doesn't make any sense to reject federal money (specifically Medicaid expansion) that would essentially help to "make us whole" as a tax base. That plus the coming modifications CMS has planned like DRG payments vs per-Diem, and with ICD-10 on the way, show that refusing Medicaid expansion is a purely political decision.

Not that I'm a fan of the ACA... In the interest of full disclosure, I'm in favor of a single-payor "Medicare for All" type solution combined with a streamlining of the Medicare system to save $- Why siphon off public money to corporate interests like Blue Cross in a taxpayer subsidized cluster*&*% of a bill that's supposed to socialize medicine? Simply reducing the age for Medicare enrollment to fifty (and thus substantially mitigating the 'risk pool' for insurers) would have created a competitive market for younger, healthier people that could have actually worked, and saved all of us money.

The medicaid "gap" population- those single folks under 138% of the poverty line that Obama anticipated covering by Medicaid until the states refused expansion, and who are ineligible for premium subsidies because Barry was to myopic to realize the red-states would push back, are the largest consumers of unfunded healthcare today.




This post was edited on 9/30 6:49 PM by CommieGator
 
Commie, agree with some of that and there probably is no perfect solution just hate the government running it because so inept, wasteful and terrible in managing anything. the reason you turn down the expansion of medicaid in your state is financial not political, the feds get the states to expand, help them pay for it for two years then pull out leaving the big bill to the states, a real loser long term, really stupid. does not matter, the government is going to do whatever they want and we just have to endure it.

by the way Commie, will you be in the market for a new football coach for next season or will the AD there stand by him?
This post was edited on 10/1 7:09 PM by WebSpinner
 
A., just received my costco mag for the month and they have a site, www.costcoquote.com, to aid people in shopping for healthcare. not sure if you have to be a member, might, might not but worth a try to see what they might have for you.
 
Originally posted by WebSpinner:

by the way Commie, will you be in the market for a new football coach for next season or will the AD there stand by him?
This post was edited on 10/1 7:09 PM by WebSpinner
Click to expand...
I hope so.. I was never a fan of the 'Champ hire- the guy had no reasonable experience as a head coach anywhere, unlike his predecessors, and we've had a revolving door of coordinators over the past few years..

Our AD seems like he's going to live and die by CWM, although recently he's said all the right things about "evaluating the season at the end of the year" so you can take that for what it's worth, but the smart money's on 'Champ coming back one more year if what I'm reading is correct...

If we sh!t the bed against the Vols this Saturday, which is very possible for the first time in a decade, it just might hasten his departure, which would be great IMO, but there's no way I'd be happy with a loss.. CG is UF class of '95, two sheepskins hanging on the wall..

I need to get up your way sometime soon.. The "No Way" fest is now defunct, but I love Richmond, and if I didn't already live in the only people's republic here in Florida, I'd settle down in the Commonwealth.





This post was edited on 10/2 6:18 PM by CommieGator
 
Commie, uga lost its coach, with a pretty good record but without a win against the gators. do gator fans feel the same, lose to uga too much and you are gone? even though one feels sometimes it is time for some coach to go, just detest, coach after coach coming in, really hurts the program. would assume if he does not have a pretty good conf record this year, he could get the boot. how many years for him now, 4? when you have won national titles, you have very little patience for mediocrity....
 
Re: Health insurance,

Here"s a short version of my week with Anthem. Anthem spent the beginning of the week impugning my bank and me, to the point an anthem employee wanted me to three way call my bank so she could ask my bank whatever she wanted. I declined and told her it was not necessary as I a
had already spoken to two different depts at my bank and they both concluded my check was not presented. That didn't stop her, as she called me back and said she had a rep from my bank on the phone and wanted my permission to bring her on so,she could ask questions. I declined and requested a three way call with anthem financial. Haven't heard from her since. She never took another one of my calls so I did some searching and found an officer at Anthem and made a call . That person was helpful and directed someone to call me. The story as it sits now is that the anthem bank returned the check which I was told has now been shredded, because the bank didn't know how to apply it. Really, a bank? Maybe that's the three way call,I will request next. This is after they earlier in the month confirmed receipt of the check and my accounts to which it was applied. I'm with CG WellPoint is sitting on a continent of cash pays their top officers teen millions a year in salary and gives me this service. What can be better?
WS I am a Costco member and for those who wear glasses and contacts I don't believe anyone can beat their prices, so will take a look. Just went back and read my letters from anthem. " returned unpaid from your bank."
 
Re: Health insurance,

Noiid have you thought about contacting the Insurance Commission complaint division?
 
Re: Health insurance,

A, not that this is worth anything but has been my experience both personally and in business that when one starts out in a hole with an entity, any entity, very, very difficult to extricate oneself from said hole. not exactly sure what the heck has been going on with you and anthem, just do not understand it but for sure buddy, you are in that hole. head out to roanoke, grab T along the way and sit down with someone face to face, sometimes a personal visit, with the right person, does wonders, fills that hole.
 
Re: Health insurance,

WS, I could just rollover, lower my head and accept what they tell me and be done. But I can't. What I learned in my years at UR was not to accept and always question until the facts are in the table and then consider options and make decisions. So Ed Swain , Uncle Earl, Wild Bill Doswell, Dr.Ball ( for the brief period I had him as he died my semester) , my coaches, the history, polysci depts and TCW did their jobs. It's corporate bullying. It's kind of unbelievable the mess I have been told.
I don't feel like I'm in a hole.
 
Re: Health insurance,

seems you have been with them for decades, so what changed? obamacare? why are things different now than they were?
 
Re: Health insurance,

Finally after much, anthems check scanner failed to properly read my check and so when presented to my bank no account was found. I have an image of the check from Anthem and so don't see the issue, but then I'm human. Anthem told me that I may be receiving a letter charging me $25 for a returned check and I could ignore the letter? Really? I wait breathlessly by my mailbox. Perhaps Anthem could kick a few bills from the exorbitant officers salaries to invest in new scanners. Interesting article in RTD today about Cigna suing HDL for gaming the healthcare system by waiving the co pays for patients and overcharging Cigna. Now that's funny. Open enrollment starts soon and Anthem has already started the campaign. We shall see, we shall see. WS I have had issues with anthem many times before the ACA was passed, including denying various necessary procedures which they did finally allow after many phone calls. Don't know if it's better or worse with any other company, we've must come to expect it and plan accordingly, as we pretty much have the routine down. I just want to make sure that anyone who reads this does not accept an initial denial from any insurance company.
 
Re: Health insurance,

through this entire ordeal, thought you were saying you had eligibility issues, etc. like you were signing up for the first time rather than having been with them for years/decades. social security disability is the same way, 90+% of all initial claims are denied, thus inserting attorneys into the issue and spending billions more on them, just completely unreal but attorneys write the laws.
 
Re: Health insurance,

WS , I think it's just the way they operate. Interesting article in today's rtd that cfield school s are offering their e-ees incentive money to open HSAs in lieu of higher premiums. Anthem sent our renewal notice. Premium up slightly but they lowered the deductible. I may be peeling off my kids into their own HSAs and also open one up myself.
 
Re: Health insurance,

we have the best healthcare in the world, paying for it is the huge gorilla. in the perfect world, no insurance, no third party payers, let the providers work with every patient to figure out how to pay with the poor getting a big discount or no pay and the rich paying retail. since providers have a huge % of their payments guaranteed by third parties, they have it made, make them work for their payments, just like a store or repair shop or vet. this is not going to get better, will get worse with obamacare without it, just an enormous problem, the individual cannot afford it, the government cannot afford it.
 
Re: Health insurance,

Folks who,complied and have high deductibles $6k are still avoiding the doctor as they can't afford the copay. Yea there's a lot wrong and WellPoint sitting on a mountain of cash is one.
 
Re: Health insurance,

Pleeeeeze, move to cuba for your free healthcare and ration of black beans and being told what you can and cannot do.
 
Re: Health insurance,

So the establishment speaketh. Thought that reactionary type of response ended soon after Readers Digest stopped placing flag decals in their magazine. "America love it or leave it".
 
Re: Health insurance,

just saying, you do have choices, even ones with free healthcare. are you this indoctrinated into the occupy wall street and anti capialism crowd?. there are many choices of socialism, communism available to you and others but actually seems most of those people are trying to get out and try to move here, in fact, risk their lives to leave that type of government.

This post was edited on 10/20 7:42 AM by WebSpinner

This post was edited on 10/20 7:43 AM by WebSpinner
 
Re: Health insurance,

well, we have been called mush by one academic and now stupid by another one. figured they had to lie, cheat and do whatever they had to do to get this bill pushed through and even then they would not reconcile it or take a final vote on it. but at least all of the democrats say they don't even know this guy.........HAHAHAHA, except it is not funny at all.
 
Re: Health insurance,

10,000 baby boomers turn 65 each day, that is swelling the medicare numbers immensely. 90 million americans are out of work, that swells the medicaid rolls as well as those who must purchase through the market. trillions in subsidies going to insurance companies, cannot believe dems like that one bit. i just don't like the govenment getting bigger, costing even more and being in my healthcare at all. we are stuck with it just like we will be stuck with amnesty once again. it is amazing that legislators are writing, amending, passing laws every year and then they do not or will not enforce them. WTF
 
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