How important are your health benies??

[UserRemoved1]

My dad's surgery in July was $130,000 no bs he has a copy of the bill. 9 days in icu. There's probably another 30-40,000 to add to that due to all the other bs he's been through since then. And it ain't done yet

Lemme make a comment from the self employed side of the fence.

If you get insurance through your company you have no clue how good you got it. I pay $750 a month for a family hmo through Tufts. We used to be on bcbs but they went up last year to $1100 a month and we had no choice but to dump them. Next year the bill will prob be around $1000 a month and realistically we're probably going to have to dump it. As much as I hate putting money in these lizards and snakes pockets it's almost a necessity. But at what expense. It's not worth working 7 days a week to be able to afford health ins.

Canada has universal health care. Their gas, cigarette and booze taxes pay for most of it. They can go to any doc they want. I'm not impressed with their hospitals but if they can do it then we can too!!!

It's all about money.

[gone fishin]

Salty - I'm in the same boat witih you..another bennie of being self employed. Don't that piss ya off? And on top of that the income tax adds another 15% to their take for the privilage of being in your own business. On top of all that bull Tufts has a 500 buk deductable on my policy for hospitalization.

[timf]

I did not have insurance while unemployed for 9 months. It was scary to think if either of the kids got really sick what that would have done to me.

In terms of universal health care, try before you buy. Go to canada, or ireland, and try and get decent care. I have a brother-in-law in ireland that had to sell his cows when he hurt his back and could not get care for 6 months. He ended up flying over here to get treatment. Luckly my other sis works on mri's, she took the pics and asked a doc to look at them. He ended up getting a couple cortizone shots and was back in business in a month or so. All that and his wife (my big sis) is a nurse in the county hospital over there.

I hope we continue to push the need for health insurance but stay away from universal health. It does not work as a viable health care system.

[mrmacey]

8 weeks ago Honest to God 43 thousand dollars I paid 300.00 thank God for wifes insurance.