Anybody says anything about at&t again & I am going to scream they are some greedy bastard & I know first hand. if they weren't union run they'd fire everyone & move all the reps over seas. people who have been their 10 20 years now pay at least 300 deductable.
Originally Posted by Cheaper2buyit
You may be giving AT&T a bum rap (at least on health insurance). If employees have only a $300 deductible, it would appear that they (like many employees at many companies) are all being nicely sheltered from what's really happening to the cost of health care.
I would be VERY happy with $300 deductible, mine is currently $3,500.
Total premiums for my family were $1,246/mo, but BCBS is raising rates by 32% for 2010. I know everyone in our group, no one has had any medical claims, except annual visits, for 4-5 years, and no one has any major medical problem besides our age. It's not just BCBS, it's all of the major health insurance companies, we've tried them all to keep costs down. Over the past decade all of the annual premium hikes have been in the 15-25% range or more.
We are being raped by the Health Insurance Industry. There is no real competition, even the small "independents" are underwritten by the same four or five major companies, and that sets the prices for everyone (just like the petroleum industry).
There is no good choice in health care in the U.S., only the lessor of evils. We can have huge uncaring bureaucracies that put executives and share holders ahead of consumers collect and pay (or deny) everything, or we can let the government collect and pay.
We have NO VOICE with the insurance companies (ever try to call one?). We have elected representatives and can vote to change them in the U.S.
I am a fiscal conservative and hate expansion of government, but absent regulations and controls (removed in the 70's) to prevent the insurance corporations from preying upon the public at will, I believe our only reasonable choice is government centralization of health payments.
Given the current health care environment, I applaud the president for pushing a Health Care bill through. At the same time, I condemn him and our Congress for handing the control to the same system that has caused much, if not most, of the Health Care crisis.
President's grade for Health Care Reform promise: "D" The delivered reform is nothing like the "The same health care we senators have". I fear that the reform bill will probably simply exacerbate the problems we already face.