My FIL just got a bill for his 6 week ICU stay. It was $165K and included a pacemaker surgery, among many other things. His portion? Only $1,200.

That's amazing to me.

It's like my medical care in reverse. I get about $100/year of services and pay like $10K.

I wouldn't trade places with him though.

Does the insurance company exclude certain conditions at the next annual renewal if they think that they have already paid out enough?

Presumably they put some sort of cash limit on various conditions from the start of cover?

Insurance is a complete waste of money...

...til you need it that first time.

They used to do stuff like that all the time. Obamacare put a stop to most of that crap.

Amen, g-friend. :)

I've been mulling that over during the course of the day and can arrive at no other conclusion than you've been mugged.
That is an extraordinary sum of money. I know nothing of your personal circumstances and I've no wish to pry but, in general terms, would a premium of that magnitude also cover immediate family?

There is no compulsion to make use of the National Health Service in the UK and anyone can make their own arrangements with a medical insurer should they wish.
Out of curiosity I'll have a look to see how much typical premiums would be. Probably even more expensive than yours. :eek:

I wasn't being fair. The 10k I quoted was the cost of insurance premiums for my wife and I and our kids, and about a third of it is paid by my employer, and I was rounding off anyway. And the $100 I quoted was also a ballpark figure for just my doctor visits. If you counted the four of us, it would be more like $1k.

So I'm getting about a tenth back, not a hundredth.

Not to worry, glatt's real last name is Wayne... or was it Stark.

Anyway, even though his part time job doesn't pay anything, he's loaded. :haha:

I think you may be thinking about the $100 in added-up copays you pay. One 15 minute visit to a GP with no followup will cost you $120 if you are paying for it out of pocket. A specialist will usually run in the $300 range for a new patient intake. The highest we ever got charged for an office appointment was $500 for the pediatric neurologist.

It does sound like a lot when we see it coming out of our pay. But - when I worked in Ontario during the 1980s, with 'free' single-payer healthcare, my husband and I calculated that we were paying about $17,000/year in health premiums (directed taxes). You pay one way or another. When taxes pay for healthcare, you may be sure that you're not really getting any major savings. It's just a different way to pay.

Thanks for your replies one and all; I'm grateful to you.

I have an old Tom Lehrer CD. It's a recording of one of his live shows and the chat in between the songs is pretty amusing.

He recalled his days at university and listed some of his fellow students, one of whom was studying medicine.

Lehrer observed that he went on to 'specialise in diseases of the rich'.:)

The county fair is over. I worked Fri, Mon, tues, wed, and today. I made a little bit of cash, and had so much fun. scheduling, money, customer service, chatting up the company, seeing friends, and helping out with the girls (and my nieces are wonderful girls and have really great and funny friends...nice kids.)

It's been a while since I have got to use my skills, and a really long time in such a fun way. Plus I got some sun and enjoyed the fair. My bro and sis-in-law said they couldn't have done it all w/o me. So, I needed that. Next week will be house and dog sitting at other brother's house. It'll suck 'cause it's the cutest sweetest dog ever and they have a beautiful home and an inground pool. ;)

Then maybe I will find an actual real job. I've been trying, but it's been tough.

So, it felt good to feel good.

Cools

I'm still alive.

Excellent Monkey.

And Buster, I'm glad you're still alive.