I have no political bent regarding ObamaCare, oh wait, I do. The cost of health care is rediculous (misspelling intended - we're in the Red, people!) My hope for reform was that the profits made by the companies that "manage" care for millions and design and dispense medicine and all the other healthcare related businesses would surrender profits or be regulated into a reasonable pricing structure, which would make healthcare globally affordable. If that is one of the goals of ObamaCare, we seem to be taking the long-way-round to get there. That is only my opinion - I could be wrong. Today's post starts really with a letter to an employee at a hospital about changes coming in their level of care. It's good news.
The next images are the rest of the brochure pages explaining the cost and coverage. Having had to renew my coverage with my employer, I have to say that while I am happy to have coverage, I would have been happier to have it explained so simply.
I'll admit that a rosy as this sounds, the quality of care and the technology is likely incomparable with today's standards, but still, this seems so much better.
I have had Kaiser since the late 1950s, when my father's employer began offering it. At the height, with five of us, it cost 5 dollars per month. I have continued on Kaiser through my various jobs and even through self pay. Kaiser takes a lot of heat, especially for the wait times in a waiting room in the Emergency Room. Fact is, all ERs operate exactly the same: The most critical needs first, sputtering blood takes precedence over the cold. However, on the umpteen times I have visited the ER, I know that once I do my co-pay, I am 100% covered. A couple of times have resulted in one day, or more stays. On one of the hospitalizations, I asked one of the nurses how much my procedure and stay (of six days) would have cost without insurance. She said about $65,000.
ReplyDeleteThings certainly were much simpler back then and health care wasn't the big business it has become today. I was able to calculate the inflation rate from 1944 to 2013. The 1944 family plan of $2.00 per month would have jumped to $26.67 per month in 2013. I believe the average yearly salary for that period would have been in the neighborhood of $1,200.00 or $100.00 per month. They were paying a lower percentage of their paycheck for their coverage than we do today. Having been born in 1948 I well remember our family doctor making house calls when my siblings and I were sick and the occasional visits to their offices for checkups but I never knew what, if any, health insurance my father carried during that time period. I'm sure his company had some sort of health coverage back then.
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