Thank God you dont have a family in Orlando

[Nitroaddict]

Florida now leads the Country in Health Insurance rates. Orlando is the highest cost City in the nation

Average Premium for Family Coverage? $801.00/month

Squeezed by fast-rising health-care costs, employers are again requiring their workers to shoulder more of the burden for medical expenses this year.

Employers' health-insurance premiums rose an average of 18.9 percent this year, the third consecutive year of double-digit increases and the biggest annual gain since 1979.

In Central Florida, health costs rose even faster than the national average -- at least 21 percent -- for a second straight year.

By comparison, the nation's overall inflation rate during the same 12-month period was 2.2 percent, while the wages of nonsupervisory workers rose an average of 2.1 percent.

The Kaiser survey, the experts warned, points to a harsh new reality for consumers: The days of $5 and $10 copays are over.

"I don't think any employer has any choice these days but to pass more of its costs on," said Becky Cherney, president of the Central Florida Health Care Coalition, which represents large employers such as The Walt Disney Co. and Darden Restaurants Inc.

The average Orlando worker now pays $801 a month for family medical coverage, up 18 percent from last year, Kaiser found. The average premium for individual coverage rose 7 percent, to $92 a month.

Some employers are already asking workers to pay annual deductibles as high as $4,000 before coverage takes effect. And the Kaiser survey found that as many as 32 percent of the Orlando area employers are considering health plans with such high deductibles for next year.

 

[Candyman]

Uh oh. Sore topic....

Don't worry, I won't explode. First, I feel sorry for you living in that city. Seems as though everything there costs an arm and a leg (and a set of big black ears).

And secondly, HMO's suck! I spend most every day seeing people who need help and who have insurances who won't. The insurance scene is grim. Sky high premiums. Minimal reimbursements. Simply, the insurances refuse to pay the providers what they charge for services. So patients pay a ton to these companies. These companies pay a little to the doctors. So the doctors jack up their prices so they can cover their work. So the insurances raise their premiums. And then pay less to the doctors. Know who's making out in this scenario? The insurance company. It is becoming dangerously close to a scam. I have come to realize that you don't get rich being a doctor. Nope. The people making all the money are the people running the hospitals and insurance companies. So don't bother getting a job helping people (take this from someone who does this for a living). Nope. Get a job telling people who help people for a living what to do. That's where all the wealth is.

 

[Nitroaddict]

Candyman - my mother is a doctor, so i grew up with daily dinner topics related to what u are saying. She currently pays ------ are u ready for this ---- $82,000.00 a year in medical malpractice premuims. Now - the worst part, she has never, ever had a single suit filed against her in 26 years. Figure that one out. Between malp ins, and her hlth ins - over half her paycheck goes to insurance.

Finally, do a database search, and find out who owns most of the skyscrapers, and huge office parks in your local downtown comunnity - u will find that the majority are owned by insuance companies. They are multi-billion dollar companies. Personally, I think insurance should be a non-profit organization.

 

[Candyman]

So you see firsthand how the system works. Malpractice is a bitch for most docs. Luckily, in my profession (Audiology), it's cheap. It's almost impossible for me to harm anyone in my line of work. But you do see how these companies handcuff physicians. It's a shame. There are a lot of rumblings going around about ways to fix this system. But I fear that these companies have such a stronghold on the system that it will only continue to increase it's benefit to them.

 

[Nitroaddict]

Agreed - My mother works in one of the worst fields - Neurology. So you can imagine how bad it is for her. She knows alot of doctors that will order tests that arnt really needed just to protect themselves from the attorneys in case they are sued. Thats sad, but I understand why they do it.

Her favorite line is: When someone comes in, and has a .1% chance of survival, and they survive - it was an act of God. But if they die, then it was her ineptitude at being a Neurologist.