the smedley log - suburban scrawl

More healthcare curiosity

I’ve offered up a new version of the healthcare poll, following up on Spencer’s suggestion in the comments. The new question is, “If you have health coverage, who pays the premiums?” For the purposes of this question, it doesn’t matter if you have an HMO, straight health insurance, etc., just who pays for it (or the majority of it).

Feel free to add answers if you think the ones provided are inaccurate for your situation. The question should stay up for at least a week or two.

Howard – I clicked on the wrong answer! I’m lucky enough to have my company pay all of it (rare, I know… and they never let us forget it).

For some reason I answered that the gov pays.

Howard,

My company pays part of my health insurance premium, I’m not sure how much they pay, but I still feel like I pay a good bit. The coverage is OK, not terrible, not great, but since it’s an HMO, there is a good deal of jumping through hoops to make sure your treatment is covered. Many of us who have partially employer funded medical coverage have “meh” coverage.

I have Aetna HMO, which requires referrals for damn near everything. I’ve really had an education this past week while trying to get treatment for my wrist. My primary care doctor knows nothing of the injury (I went to the ER, not to him), but he has to provide referrals for everything, even things that other doctors order. I had an x-ray today that was ordered by my orthopedist. I had no clue that I needed a referral from my primary care doctor, but I did. I’m pretty sure I annoyed the registration clerk and probably my doctor’s secretary to get this, but it was obvious that I wasn’t the only confused person they had to tolerate this morning.

It’s a crazy system and since I’d always been pretty healthy, I’d never realized how much work it is for the patient. Thank God, I don’t get sick much.

A lot of HMO patients I know seem to share your sentiment, Melissa. By the way, it may be useful to note again that respondents to the poll can add answers if needed. Thanks for the responses so far.

The HMO isn’t even the lowest rung anymore – the new fad is more “spending account” geared, where your (or you/your company’s) premium is put to an account and your Dr. visits, etc, are handled as withdrawals from it. I have a pal who’s company railroaded him into such a plan and HATES it.

Am keeping my views my views of healthcare out – between my line of work and my messed-up personal background, that’s an intellectual thunderstorm too bizarre for words (besides, every time I’ve tried to formulate something, I wander mentally off topic to somewhere quite different than where you tend to be going with this).