Robert Sturgeon wrote:

I have lousy insurance that costs me over $800 per month. I really
don't know how much longer I can afford to pay for it.

What sort of policy do you have that you pay $800/ month for?? What age
group??

And why are you paying $800 a month?? How much medical expense do you
have each year?? When was the last time you actually spent $9600 on
medical bills for a year??

One of the MAJOR problems with our health insurance is that everybody
expects the insurance companies to pay out every time they have a
sniffle or a broken fingernail. I know people that go to the damn doctor
3 times a week like clockwork for stuff that will simply pass if they
let it run it's course. Worse yet, the doctor listens to them whine for
30 seconds, writes them a prescription for cough syrup, and they expect
the insurance company to pay for that too.

Do we turn in a claim on our auto insurance and expect them to pay out
for every oil change and leaky tire?? You can bet if you did your auto
insurance would be just as expensive as your health insurance. Oh, and
the mechanic's bills would go up too since he now has to hire a
secretary to deal with the insurance forms.

What we need is plain old catastrophic health insurance policies, the
kind that pays for things that cost more than we can pay for out our
pocket. Figure out what your comfort level is and buy insurance for
anything above that amount.

About 6 months ago I checked on family catastrphic health insurance for
myself/wife/daughter. Wife and I are 40, I'm a smoker, daughter is 16,
no current medical problems etc. The policy to cover us, $2500
deductible/year, 80-20 after $2500 up to $10,000 max out of pocket/year,
with a preganancy exclusion.
This policy was $138/ month. Not exactly cheap, but alot cheaper than I
hear other's being quoted for policies they don't really need. My
employer offers the exact same policy to me for free, as opposed to over
$200/month for the "bells and whistles" policy.

Tom