Tue, 28 Dec 2004 11:11:30
Health Care Update
I got a lot of email and comments and wonderful people linking in when I made my plea for help, so I figure you folks would want to hear the latest…
I happen to be awake at just the right moment this morning when a local insurance broker called me back about some health insurance. Odd for two reasons: I am rarely awake early in the morning, being a night owl, and especially today, when I had so much trouble getting so sleep after our little smokeout last night.
Oh, I didn’t mention that my wife tried to kill us wth quesadillas? :) At some point during the big holiday mushroomfest, I must have gotten a plastic wrapper or something lodged in this vent in the back of the stovetop of my ancient oven. Donna turned the oven on last night to bake some frozen quesadillas, and I noticed an odd smell a few minutes later. We went into the kitchen to find smoke literally POURING out of the vent hole and I nearly passed out trying to shut off the oven and get the multiple air purifiers going, covering the rat cages with a sheet, etc. I spent most of the night hacking and coughing, but it clearly was for a purpose, because this phone call was most illuminating.
Odds are I have been rooked by that IAB nonsense. I was in a pretty desperate place when I said yes to that guy, and with just a few minutes clarity I started to doubt the whole thing. Now I’m positive it is useless. I’ll run it out as much as I can for the month of January and try to get my money’s worth, using every service available. That’ll be it for me and IAB though.
What we will be forced to do, however, is pay somewhere between $750 and $800 a month for real, actual Anthem Blue Cross health insurance. Expensive? You bet. Unlimited prescriptions though, and that’s where we’ll do better than out-of-pocket. We might be able to save a few bucks by taking a really high hospital admittance deductible, which is fine because neither of us has been admitted more than once in the last 10 years that I can think of.
Plus, this guy is local. If we wanted to, we could walk to his office. Well...theoretically. ;) And he’s offering plans I have heard of, in some cases been a member of. All I have to do is legally make Donna a partner in JKD, and the insurance companies have to, by law, take us as a two-employee self-employed business under a group plan, and they are bound by law to accept us for whatever plan we apply.
Some days I truly love Connecticut laws.
Bottom line: Iit’s a real, legit PPO. If we take the plan I think we will, we’ve been members in the past when Donna was a law student. It’s expensive as all get out, but less than paying out of pocket and the peace of mind is worth a lot as well.
Posted by JimK at 11:11 AM on December 28, 2004
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#3 Posted by Helo 
on 12/29 at 07:13 AM -
It’s good to hear that things are looking on the up and up :)
#4 Posted by dduggins on 12/29 at 12:43 PM -
Good luck Jim. I pay $1300 a month for insurance for my family. I have psoriatic arthritis and take Enbrel, which costs over $1200 a month but since taking the drug, I have felt better than I have in 20 years. My HMO covers the entire cost of Enbrel and I relly like my Primary Doc. (She drinks beer so she’s OK in my book)
#5 Posted by jo-jo on 12/29 at 01:12 PM -
What we will be forced to do, however, is pay somewhere between $750 and $800 a month for real, actual Anthem Blue Cross health insurance.
is that for both of you? because if so, that’s a bargain. my firm pays my insurance, but while john is in school, i put him on my plan. i pay about $450/month for him (pre-taxed, so it’s actually less in the long run), and the boy hasn’t been to the doctor more than a handful of times since i’ve KNOWN him.
so, if you’re paying less than twice that for you and donna, you’re getting a damn good deal, IMHO.
#6 Posted by JimK on 12/29 at 09:36 PM -
I guess I should not feel bad about that price then!
Well cool. Maybe 2005 really IS going to be our year! ;)
dduggins: isn’t it great when you like your doctor and you get the right treatment? Glad to hear it’s working out well for you!
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#1 Posted by ironmaiden
on 12/28 at 02:14 PM -
Jim, Glad to hear you got some legit advice. Hope all goes well with this. It really is “crap” to have bad insurance. I am licensed in the state of AZ for life, but not health ins., so my advice would have been worth squat. I use my license for investment clients, as I have a securities license as well. Hope you have a much better New Year, healthwise.