# Health ins. Needs



## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

Stop shouting.


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## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

Bigt,

I'll let you in on a little secret. You do get the best insurance rates with numbers. You want to know what that number is? It is ONE. A group rate will never be as cheap as an individual rate. But a group rate will cover a spouse who is paralyzed, has cancer, and HIV, and who is pregnant. You cant buy that coverage if your solo.


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## LGLS (Nov 10, 2007)

BIGT43N8 said:


> I DON'T KNOW WAY ALL OF OUR LOCALS DON'T JUST HAVE 1 LARGE HEALTH/DENTAL CONTRACT FOR US. THE NUMBER OF MEMBERS WE HAVE WE SHOULD HAVE THE BEST INS. THERE IS WITH NO EXTRA OUT-OF-POCKET COST TO DUES PAYING MEMBERS. IT STUPID THAT IN LU 26 THAT AFTER PAYING $500 IN DEDUCTABLES, I STILL HAVE TO PAY 20% OF ALL THE DOC. BILLS.


The international was mulling that option, but it turns out there's little savings once a group plan reaches a certian number, and most locals with good insurance plans already pass that number.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

LawnGuyLandSparky said:


> The international was mulling that option, but it turns out there's little savings once a group plan reaches a certian number, and most locals with good insurance plans already pass that number.


 
4 times in a month. 

Why would we change something that works. LOCAL 26 has a very good plan the cost are related to increases across the board in healt care.

You make a good wage and the Co-pays are minimal, keeps hypochondriacs in check.


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## Buddha In Babylon (Mar 23, 2009)

Brian i didn't know you were local 26. 

BigT i feel your pain though. Our dental has a 2000 dollar per year maximum or something...2000 dollars is easy to run up when it comes to medical procedures...so in the middle of a crown, i have to wait till next year to have it finished? lame...
But it's better than no insurance at all.


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## Frasbee (Apr 7, 2008)

20%?

That's it?

So insurance is provided, and you're paid more than most non-union, and only pay 20% of your bills, but that's still not enough?

Would you like a blowjob with that, sir?


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

We can get improved benefits BUT it will cost more already our cost have more that tripled in 12 years. Most members want the money in their pocket not in their insurance.

It is all a process that any member can get involved in.


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## Mike_586 (Mar 24, 2009)

brian john said:


> You make a good wage and the Co-pays are minimal, keeps hypochondriacs in check.


Just a few hypochondriacs can eat up hundreds of times what the average guy uses in a year when its all 'free'....

With that said, between my wife's and my benefits, my last root canal and subsequent crown cost me about $1.50 (89 cents for the crown, and 61 cents for the root canal) combined 
(there are annual limits on our plans, luckily no deductibles on necessary work)


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## LGLS (Nov 10, 2007)

Frasbee said:


> 20%?
> 
> That's it?
> 
> ...


I complained when I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet. So I said "hey buddy, you got a pair of shoes you don't need?" :thumbup:


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## Bob Badger (Apr 19, 2009)

Frasbee said:


> Would you like a blowjob with that, sir?



Only if your a good looking female. :laughing:


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

LawnGuyLandSparky said:


> I complained when I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet. So I said "hey buddy, you got a pair of shoes you don't need?" :thumbup:


 Where did you get that comment? Here maybe?:whistling2:



<LI class=profilefield_category>About electricistaWhat is your electrical related field/trade: electrical contractor Location NC <LI class=profilefield_category>Signature *Alice

**"I complained because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet."*


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

Bob Badger said:


> Only if your a good looking female. :laughing:


 If thats the case I'll take mine first.:laughing::laughing:


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## miller_elex (Jan 25, 2008)

We folks continue to subsidize that hungry hog in this country called health care. Its going to eat us alive, every year I can't believe how much more it costs that the last year.

What I want to do, is give guys more options:

Option 1: Your health is covered through spouse's program, you get the money set aside for your insurance put on the check. If you are not covered by a spouse, you can still choose this option, but yur on your own.

Option 2: Kaiser Permamnente

Option 3: You keep half on the check, the other half goes to a high-deductible insurance plan for traumatic injuries. In other words, you are responsible your yer own health's upkeep.

And under my plan, all options would have available a network of lowcost cash only medical practitioners and flights to Thailand for surgeries. In Thailand they have first-world quality medical care, where the stay is like a five-star hotel, for pennies on the dollar. Also, my plan will mailorder prescription drugs from Canada and Mexico.
All this would be covered under your flexplan's account. We will make it legal via corporate shells to be tax free.

This is the only way we are going to survive folks, either that or we get strangled by the for profit Insurance system. In this state all hospitals are non-profit by law, and costs for care are still outrageous. We got to do something, and I don't expect the government to help us, as much as I wish they had our best interests at heart, but they do not.


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## LGLS (Nov 10, 2007)

There is only one REAL PERMANENT solution.

OUTLAW all kinds of HMOS and Insurances concerning health.

Does anyone really think a quadruple bypass costs $360,000.00??? No, that's what it's SOLD for because a big rich company is footing the bill. Does anyone really think heart or brain/nerve medication costs big pharma 17.00 per pill? No, and in fact those very same drugs are often sold to 3rd world countries for pennies.


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## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

LawnGuyLandSparky said:


> Does anyone really think a quadruple bypass costs $360,000.00???


Sometimes it works the opposite. My grandpa had an unnecessary "cinco"ruple bypass and it cost them around a half a million. Surgery was totally unnecessary and they had to shave his balls. Aparently the "itch" was more painfull than the healing breast plate. 

http://www.ect.org/tenet-settles-bogus-heart-surgery-claims/


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## LGLS (Nov 10, 2007)

The American Medical Association has weighed in on the new economic stimulus package. 


The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves. 

The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve. 

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception and the Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted. 

Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, 'Oh, Grow up!' 

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it. 

Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing. 

The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter.." 

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea. 

The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no. 


In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington .


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

LawnGuyLandSparky said:


> There is only one REAL PERMANENT solution.
> 
> OUTLAW all kinds of HMOS and Insurances concerning health.
> 
> Does anyone really think a quadruple bypass costs $360,000.00??? No, that's what it's SOLD for because a big rich company is footing the bill. Does anyone really think heart or brain/nerve medication costs big pharma 17.00 per pill? No, and in fact those very same drugs are often sold to 3rd world countries for pennies.


 
I read an article several years ago that stated electrical engineers made more than doctors pre 1940. After WWII unions pushed for medical coverage, as more items were covered by healt insurance the cost went up. Hospitals knew the cost were covered and drove prices up.


The research for many medicines are footed by tax payers at NIH and Ft Detrick.

Legal fees also drive up cost, malpractice insurance is EXPENSIVE. My doctor told me he had been sued several times, once by the family of a 96 year old patient that died in his care. Case was thrown out but it cost his insurance company to defend him.


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

LawnGuyLandSparky said:


> There is only one REAL PERMANENT solution.
> 
> OUTLAW all kinds of HMOS and Insurances concerning health.
> 
> Does anyone really think a quadruple bypass costs $360,000.00??? No, that's what it's SOLD for because a big rich company is footing the bill. Does anyone really think heart or brain/nerve medication costs big pharma 17.00 per pill? No, and in fact those very same drugs are often sold to 3rd world countries for pennies.


The government will do it cheaper? Can you think of any part of any government that does anything efficiently? 
Complaining about cost of a pill in a hospital is just stupid a homeowner complaining that they can buy a receptacle for 39 cents at Home Depot.
The less you know about a subject the easier it is to give an opinion, facts do not get in the way of your thoughts. I hear the same arguments about our industry that I hear about the medical industry, just swap around a few nouns. The pill receptacle only costs $1 39 cents why are they charging me $10 $35? The Doctor Electrician was only here for a few minuets why did they bill me $1000 $250?


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## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

Basic medical care is actually quite a bargain. A few weeks back, I pulled something stupid. Drill bit right through my fingernail. Because the nail basically shrapneled, I wanted to make sure it got properly cleaned to prevent infection. I also needed an updated tetnus shot.

I asked for the cash price. Total cost: $221

Office visit - $100
Steri-strips - $5
Regular bandaid - $10
Admin of Immunization - $55
TD (Tet/Dipth) - $51

If this was a WC claim or regular insurance claim, the bill probable would have been over a $1000. Sure, I could bitch that he charged me $10 for a bandaid. I usually charge $20 for miscelaneous (which could be 3 tec screws and 2 tan wirenuts), so I am not going to complain. I believe $221 was a very fair price. 

Another thing, when I told the gal at the counter that I was paying cash, I went immediately to the front of the line. I filled out paperwork in the exam room.


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## LGLS (Nov 10, 2007)

drsparky said:


> The government will do it cheaper? Can you think of any part of any government that does anything efficiently?


Sure...













> Complaining about cost of a pill in a hospital is just stupid a homeowner complaining that they can buy a receptacle for 39 cents at Home Depot.
> The less you know about a subject the easier it is to give an opinion, facts do not get in the way of your thoughts. I hear the same arguments about our industry that I hear about the medical industry, just swap around a few nouns. The pill receptacle only costs $1 39 cents why are they charging me $10 $35? The Doctor Electrician was only here for a few minuets why did they bill me $1000 $250?


First and foremost, and electrician, say an electrical contractor who owns and operates a small shop consisting of himself and a couple of helpers, and maybe the wife back home fielding calls, does not generally expect, and price his work to become a millionaire by age 35.

And although the cost of malpractice insurance is very high, there IS a reason. Some of it has to do with people who feel that when a loved one, or a newborn dies it's the doctor's fault. But it's also true that doctors these days do many unnecessary procedures simply for the income of performing the test (and often are invested in the testing lab) and omit some costly or time consuming procedures or tests because they run their office like an assembly line - no more than 6.4 minutes spent on any one patient...

I believe the medical profession, like the legal profession, has lost it's way. Doctors don't become doctors in the name of health, (hence the shortage of GP's as everybody wants to become a highly-paid specialist) just like lawyers aren't becoming lawyers in the name of justice. Hence, just as there are tons of lawyers out there that can't do much more than defend speeders and DWI cases, there ARE doctors who went into the field for the wrong reason, and really aren't any good at what they do.


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

LawnGuyLandSparky said:


> Sure...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


1. The military does a great job of breaking things and killing the bad guys, but they are not very cost effective.
2. As for a specialty, you do industrial; others do residential, does that mean you’re only in the trade for money?
3. Let’s let the government take over the electrical business. You get paid too much, you will be assigned rewiring tenements for $10 per hour, it’s for the public good.
4. Physician salaries are just a small part of total health care costs, you must pay overhead and support staff too.


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## LGLS (Nov 10, 2007)

drsparky said:


> 1. The military does a great job of breaking things and killing the bad guys, but they are not very cost effective.
> 
> *If we wanted, we could outlaw the entire DMV. No licenses, no restrictions, no tickets. But then, there would be havoc and carnage all over. Democracy MUST be regulated and restrictions and standards must be in place and must be enforced in order to maintain a "civilized" society. Are there efficiencies to be found? Sure... Of course a King would be cheaper, no Congress or Senate... Is this what we want?*
> 
> ...


*Of course. Now explain the drastic increases over the past 25 years, and explain my cardioligist's yacht & his home in the Hamptons and his other home on the Cape which he wanted me to trek up there to rewire... **Not that I don't think doctors shouldn't be very well compensated, but that is where most of the health care increases are going.* *They've cut back on nurses and they're against allowing nurse practitioners do the everyday common easy run of the mill stuff because it will cut into their profits and income.* 

*I was on the boat all day and got sun poisioning. I know that, I do NOT need a doctor to diagnose it and prescribe a shot of Benadryl.*


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## jbberns (Jan 14, 2009)

I heard that they were trying out an IBEW insurance in a few locals. Haven't heard too much else about it.
A lot of people complain about the insurance in our local. For a single person it's not too great, but for someone with a family, you can't get any better.

$650 a month. Whether it's just you or you and a wife and 10 kids. It's the same for everyone. 500 individual yearly deductable and 1500 family and they pay 100%. 
We also put I think $0.63 an hour into, what we call a slush fund, that pays our insurance if we are laid off like I am now. I have almost $9000 in that fund. Now they are letting us use that money to pay deductables or dental or eye, if you aren't off work too much. Also for guys looking to retire, they can use that money to pay their insurance until medicare kicks in.


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## westernexplorer (Jun 20, 2009)

drsparky said:


> The government will do it cheaper? Can you think of any part of any government that does anything efficiently?
> Complaining about cost of a pill in a hospital is just stupid a homeowner complaining that they can buy a receptacle for 39 cents at Home Depot.
> The less you know about a subject the easier it is to give an opinion, facts do not get in the way of your thoughts. I hear the same arguments about our industry that I hear about the medical industry, just swap around a few nouns. The pill receptacle only costs $1 39 cents why are they charging me $10 $35? The Doctor Electrician was only here for a few minuets why did they bill me $1000 $250?


 
The post office is Government owned and operated and they compete with UPS, FEDEX and DHL and they do a good job. I don't know much about healthcare except that the EMPLOYER BASED system we have is not good and it doesn't work well.

Private Insurance companies can survive and compete against the government, but DON"T WANT TO, because they will have to be lean and make services more affordable to the consumer......

The right wing Conmen, say they don't want the government getting between you and your doctor, but they are ok with an insurance CEO deciding what healthcare you should and shouldn't get....atleast with a goverment plan, I can vote on changes, by voting against a politician.......Try getting rid of the CEO of Keiser or one of the other giants.....let me know, how that works for you....

As far as picking your doctor......that is BS for most people. You will take your kids or yourself to the doctor that your insurance TELLS YOU TOO and you will have the plan, if you have one at all, that your EMPLOYER TELLS YOU YOU CAN HAVE......LOL.


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## jbberns (Jan 14, 2009)

In Europe, where they have government run healthcare, hospitals don't get built like they do here. Our local does a ton of work in hospitals, new construction and remodel. I agree our health care is messed up. I think that if we made health insurance companies compete, like we do with our car insurance, rates would drop.


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## PhatElvis (Jan 23, 2009)

BIGT43N8 said:


> I DON'T KNOW WAY ALL OF OUR LOCALS DON'T JUST HAVE 1 LARGE HEALTH/DENTAL CONTRACT FOR US. THE NUMBER OF MEMBERS WE HAVE WE SHOULD HAVE THE BEST INS. THERE IS WITH NO EXTRA OUT-OF-POCKET COST TO DUES PAYING MEMBERS. IT STUPID THAT IN LU 26 THAT AFTER PAYING $500 IN DEDUCTABLES, I STILL HAVE TO PAY 20% OF ALL THE DOC. BILLS.


 Guess what that is exactly what IBEW does in Texas and guess what else, we probably have the worst insurance program in the country and nobody really knows where the money is going. You should get on your knees and thank God you don't have a nationwide IBEW version of what we got...and you should be very very careful of what you ask for...


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