--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, off_world_beings <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> > wrote: <snip> > > Just FYI, right before I went on Medicare > > in February of this year, my group health > > insurance premiums--single, no dependents-- > > had been raised to $14,612 a year.. > > Ouch ! > > <<That's > > $281 a week, hardly a "little bit" of money. > > So Medicare pays for you? How does that work?
Complicated. Everyone over 65 who has paid into the system via their Social Security taxes is covered by Medicare automatically and (I think) completely for hospitalization; it will also, for a smallish premium, cover doctor's visits and outpatient stuff up to a point (for physicians who take Medicare), but most people need additional insurance (called "Medigap") because there are always some out- of-pocket costs. Medigap policies are offered by private companies, but to specifications laid down by Medicare. You can now also get a private HMO plan through Medicare, which may or may not cost you less and may or may not give you the same service. Some are saying it's a scam, but I didn't take that option, so I'm not up on the details. Then there's prescription drug coverage, which until a year or so ago hadn't been covered at all. Now you can get a private policy if you're eligible for Medicare that covers up to $2,400 per year with copayments; then you have to pay additional costs up to--I forget, $5,000 or something--at which point the policy takes over again. This is called the "doughnut hole" and is very bad for many people who have to take a lot of drugs or expensive drugs. The drug plan is also a boon to the drug companies because Medicare is prohibited from negotiating prices, and there are other big problems with it too complicated to go into. Even with all this, it's still considerably cheaper to be on Medicare. But it's getting more expensive to the government by the day, and something is going to have to be done to curb costs. Major policy mess. > > Of course, since I work freelance, I had > > to pay for all of it, no employer > > contribution, so it was higher than for most > > employees. But most freelancers have a > > terrible time getting *any* health insurance, > > and those who do pay a very substantial > > percentage of their income for it. > > I got it no problem as a freelancer and pay about 340 a > month (cost: about $2 an hour). Depends on what state you're in and what kind of policy you want.
