Hi, friends! I hope your week is going well!
We’ve seen jokes the last few weeks about girl math etc, and I have an addition to the list of “things where the calculation logic is different than basic math.”
Annual enrollment math. So full disclosure, I work for a big company and have great benefits by American standards. And they’re surprisingly affordable compared to other places I’ve worked.
So, we have to pick the health insurance plan based on simple cost or guesstimating our usual health needs. Then we have ancillary plans like dental (luxury bones!), vision, etc.
This year, my employer has added “Accident Insurance,” which I had to google because what the fuck is that when I already have health insurance?
Turns out it’s a policy that pays the holder directly when accidents occur, based on what happens. For example, there’s a “fracture benefit” that pays from $100 to $5000 depending on the fracture and the type of repair. Or $1000/day payment for hospitalization from an accident. Not to mention $450 if you need to take an ambulance. Last time I needed an ambulance ride, 1.7 miles to the hospital was $630 after my insurance copay covered some of it.
And I’d love to be like hmm unnecessary, but looking at deductibles and copays for my health insurance, goddamn $3.57 a pay period seems reasonable.
Side note, if you get hurt doing some high risk things (hang gliding, parachuting), not covered. Also if you get injured flying a plane when you’re not the pilot of a commercial jet. And a few other exclusions LOL.
Healthcare is so broken in so many ways.  My wife is so done but we need her to keep working for awhile just so we have shitty healthcare benefits.  It’s only going to get worst if progressives can’t take over & get Medicare for all.  I may have posted this before but this is a big factor…
https://www.commondreams.org/news/medicare-advantage-overcharging
Also, everyone should read this book, short but really well done.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56298780-the-hidden-history-of-american-healthcare
My employer started offering three different versions of those optional insurance policies. One for accidents, one for inpatient hospital stays and one for some other fucking thing. Initially I had enrolled in all three, but after a few years I asked our financial advisor about it and he said “dump them”.
Aflack is one of those that’s supposed to cover shit your normal insurance won’t but my wife says they will rarely actually cover anything that they claim.  It’s supposed to cover lost wages but hard to get them to actually pay out.  When your whole business model is we make money when we deny your claims, I guess you shouldn’t expect much.
Yeah I declined the hospital indemnity insurance as that one was surprisingly pricey.
I don’t know why everyone is dumping on their health plans. Our local health conglomerate just sent me a lovely email with tips for safe trick or treating like “cross at intersections” and “avoid distracted walking.”
That makes up for high deductables!
You think private health care is confusing and shitty, wait until you have to start navigating Medicare, Medicare Part B, Medicare Part C, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, etc.
Fortunately, we don’t need it yet, but goddamn, whenever I try to look into it, my eyes glass over faster than a Canadian pond in December.
If I work until I die, then I won’t have to deal with Medicare? This sounds like an upside to that whole work until I die expectation???
I don’t know all my letters but C & advantage are the same thing & basically take you off Medicare & give your Medicare money to an insurance company.  They incentivize taking as much from Medicare for each patient as they can & then deny your claims whenever possible.  See the above article I posted.
accident insurance?
O.o
yeah thats just health insurance if i dumbass myself into hospital outside of working hours over here
it’ll cost me at most $385 total per year….so..really…any 2nd fracture is a freebie
if its an on the job injury it wont cost me anything…unless i was breaking safety rules….at my current job…with all the rules they arent following…its more likely to be a fracture and a fat payout…..its tempting some days