skippy the bush kangaroo: 22% rate hike

Monday, September 07, 2009

22% rate hike

that's what blue cross is socking michigan blue cross customers with. yeah, michigan...the state that is suffering from massive job losses.

in the past few days, 114,000 michigan households have received bad-news letters from blue cross blue shield of michigan, socking individual health insurance subscribers with premium increases averaging 22%, effective oct. 1. - detroit free press

oh...and just because you pay your premiums and have "insurance", that doesn't guarantee you healthcare.

canadians pay about $750/year in taxes for healthcare and can go to any doctor, hospital, etc. and do not see a bill.

americans can pay up to $12,000+/year with no guarantee that they will be able to see a doctor, have their doctor/hospital/pharmacy bills covered or go bankrupt over a sickness and quite possibly a loss of a job (and often their insurance) due to that illness.

why can't our politicians put it simply...the u.s. currently has a pay or die system.

Labels: healthcare, michigan, public health

posted by Cookie Jill at 8:44 AM |

3 Comments:

Whoah! Michigan just got their wake up call, and I bet part of the hike is due to the fact so many are unemployed (they have the highest unemployment rate in the nation).
Although the COBRA continued ins idea is good, the cost usually far exceeds people who are unemployed, financial reach.
As more people drop off the insurance dole, the insurance company is jacking the price.

The only silver lining here is that they are doing it BEFORE the congressional vote.
Congressional reps can use this example of WHY we need to reign in serious reforms on insurance companies.

Most people are tied in to health insurance through work-- so it is not like those folks even have the opportunity to shop around for other insurance. Plus it is legal for insurance companies to collude- they actually work together behind the scenes to set rates for regional areas.

It will be interesting to see what the teabaggers have to say about this.
Will they still recite the *I have mine & want to keep what is mine* talking point?

That is the part that most bothers me about the whole discussion-- the lack of caring about the greater good, and the failure to see that other countries are doing this with lower costs, better service & access for all.

How do those people sleep at night???

commented by

Fran, 9:30 AM PDT

"How do those people sleep at night???"

Pills.

Linking to this. Have to.

commented by

D., 10:11 AM PDT

I'm guessing that the Insurance folks are pretty confident that there wont be any profit-eating reforms coming down the pike. I've been informed that my insurance (Aetna) is going up 14% in the fall, and this is in Texas where things are somewhat okay.

$750 a year? That's less than many families pay for one month worth of insurance. Is that accurate?
Right now, my family pays about 7% or so of our take-home for insurance. After deductables it works out to about 11%. This does not include co-pays and prescriptions, nor does it include dental or eye exams.
If someone were to tell me tomorrow that I could get health care for a 10% tax, and never have to pay another dime on top of that, I'd be just fine with that, and I'm pretty sure they could do it for a lot less.

commented by

daveawayfromhome, 6:58 PM PDT

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