Quote:
Originally Posted by Barefootsies
To address your first point, if I had cancer, I would reapply for Blue Cross Blue Shield and in 6 months they would be back to picking up the tab for a pre-existing condition. I would pay the same rate I did before for my age, as that is what it is based on, regardless of my condition. They take everyone, and are the only company out there (to my knowledge, and the insurance agent) who will. So for 6 months I would have to foot the bill, second mortgage, whatever. Then I would be covered again with major medical for that shit.
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Good luck on that one. If you're diagnosed with cancer you're not getting insurance from anyone but the government. That's like saying you'll buy a warranty for my car when the engine goes out. You're every doctor visit and your condition is cataloged for this very reason. The insurance company is a for profit company. They damn sure aren't going to sign you up on their policy when you'll cost them a million bucks minimum and you're paying a few hundred a month.
My dad worked for a 100+ year old company. Just before his minimum retirement point (15 years) they sent out a notice they were no longer paying for health insurance. Not long after the said no more retirement benefits. He will get the minimum retirement payments (if they still exist then) because he made it to that point everyone who hadn't was screwed. He worked for this company because of their history thinking he could retire from there and be done. Whereas he could have made much better money working for a smaller company without the security blanket. Once they took away the security blanket he quit.
He went on cobra insurance and 5 months down the road he was diagnosed with cancer. After the 6 months you have to pay full premium for you policy via cobra which was a month after he was diagnosed. His premium shot up to near $1000 a month and he couldn't work. He did keep paying with the money he had saved over the years. Just before his first surgery they did a check on his insurance and there was a glitch somehow where they told the hospital he didn't have any. They canceled his surgery and said he would have to go elsewhere they couldn't do the surgery. He eventually worked it out but if he wouldn't have he would be dead. Stage 3 cancer and months into it he's blown through everything he owned and can no longer afford medical. Medical bills mounted up to way past 1 million more than he's probably ever made in his life insurance was gone. Luckily and only because he was stage 3 he got government coverage and disability.