Finally, someone to point out that the Emperor has no clothes!
Recently, my wife had a hysterectomy to relieve problems with fibroid tumors. Normally, this type of surgery would run $15k-$18k, assuming no complications. We called all the care givers in advance: OB GYN Surgeon, assistant surgeon, anesthesiologist and the hospital to make payment arrangements. This entire procedure will cost us less than $10k, less than the cost of my last car. The discounts ranged from 30%-60%.
If we had bought insurance for the last two years, it would have cost us at least $500 a month which would have equaled $12,000. Plus we would have to have paid a 20% co-pay of the retail price of this surgery which would have been about $3600. The insurance companies would have gotten the discount from the medical care provider instead of us. So we would have spent over $15,600 on this surgery by combining the cost of insurance and co-pays. By choosing not to buy insurance, we were able to take advantage of the discounts and come out thousands of dollars ahead.
The health care proposal before Congress will severely penalize our freedom to choose to manage our own health care. We will either have to buy the government plan, a private plan or pay a 2%-8% penalty every year. While I am not against insurance companies, to stay in business, they must charge more than it cost them. So it makes sense that buying insurance, most of the time, will cost more than just paying for the medical care ourselves. We are not any smarter than most folks, but we are very capable of managing our own health care spending. We have exercised our freedom of choice to choose not to let an insurance company manage our health care.
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timeasmymeasure
Uninsured and Happy
Date: 2009-08-24 06:44 pm (UTC)Recently, my wife had a hysterectomy to relieve problems with fibroid tumors. Normally, this type of surgery would run $15k-$18k, assuming no complications. We called all the care givers in advance: OB GYN Surgeon, assistant surgeon, anesthesiologist and the hospital to make payment arrangements. This entire procedure will cost us less than $10k, less than the cost of my last car. The discounts ranged from 30%-60%.
If we had bought insurance for the last two years, it would have cost us at least $500 a month which would have equaled $12,000. Plus we would have to have paid a 20% co-pay of the retail price of this surgery which would have been about $3600. The insurance companies would have gotten the discount from the medical care provider instead of us. So we would have spent over $15,600 on this surgery by combining the cost of insurance and co-pays. By choosing not to buy insurance, we were able to take advantage of the discounts and come out thousands of dollars ahead.
The health care proposal before Congress will severely penalize our freedom to choose to manage our own health care. We will either have to buy the government plan, a private plan or pay a 2%-8% penalty every year. While I am not against insurance companies, to stay in business, they must charge more than it cost them. So it makes sense that buying insurance, most of the time, will cost more than just paying for the medical care ourselves. We are not any smarter than most folks, but we are very capable of managing our own health care spending. We have exercised our freedom of choice to choose not to let an insurance company manage our health care.