People Lose Their Employer-Sponsored Insurance Constantly
peoplespolicyproject.org
People Lose Their Employer-Sponsored Insurance Constantly
1–10 of 246 posts
Re: People Lose Their Employer-Sponsored Insurance Constantly
#2Yes, people do lose their insurance constantly when they switch jobs...and then immediately sign onto their new plan. Is the argument that switching insurance plans is stressful? What's stressful is remaining uncovered. Switching plans is hardly comparable to the transition to a Medicare-for-all program.
Re: People Lose Their Employer-Sponsored Insurance Constantly
#3Yes, people do lose their insurance constantly when they switch jobs...and then immediately sign onto their new plan. Is the argument that switching insurance plans is stressful? What's stressful is remaining uncovered. Switching plans is hardly comparable to the transition to a Medicare-for-all program.
> Switching plans is hardly comparable to the transition to a Medicare-for-all program
The big stressor is having to pay two deductibles in one year. That said, from an individual perspective I don't see what would be different. Before you had an (Aetna|Cigna|BCBS|UHC) card, now you have a M4A card.
Re: People Lose Their Employer-Sponsored Insurance Constantly
#4Yes, people do lose their insurance constantly when they switch jobs...and then immediately sign onto their new plan. Is the argument that switching insurance plans is stressful? What's stressful is remaining uncovered. Switching plans is hardly comparable to the transition to a Medicare-for-all program.
> Is the argument that switching insurance plans is stressful?
It absolutely is stressful, because every single time you have to carefuly inspect the documentation to figure out what conditions and care (if any) you're "allowed" to have without going bankrupt.
Re: People Lose Their Employer-Sponsored Insurance Constantly
#5Health insurance in the United States is a shit show. The Medicare for all that Bernie is proposing is a reaction to the inability of Congress to meaningfully fix the issue.
I personally would prefer a market based approach to fixing the issues with obtaining medical care, but Congress can't do anything because there's just too much money and influence involved.
Re: People Lose Their Employer-Sponsored Insurance Constantly
#6Yes, people do lose their insurance constantly when they switch jobs...and then immediately sign onto their new plan. Is the argument that switching insurance plans is stressful? What's stressful is remaining uncovered. Switching plans is hardly comparable to the transition to a Medicare-for-all program.
If you switch to another insurance provider, you might have to change doctors, pharmacies and other service providers, because your previous service provider is no longer in-network or too costly.
Also your coverage may completely change for better or worse. The worst case scenario is just as disastrous as losing insurance entirely.
This is particularly bad for people with chronic/ongoing medical needs.
Re: People Lose Their Employer-Sponsored Insurance Constantly
#7When I quit my job in SF in November 2017, I had $1200 on my FSA. When I switched to COBRA, my FSA account kept its balance, but my VISA card associated with it immediately and unexpectedly stopped working. I was seeing a psychologist at the time and it was awkward when I didn’t pay him right away because I thought it would be fine to try and fix my card and pay him the next day (which I did). It felt awkward enough to me that I stopped my therapy sessions with him, because I felt like it had become strained. Anyway, the company stopping my card from working was intentional. It was the same company and the same account but my card didn’t work anymore and I had to go through the trouble to submit a claim, and they acted like this was by design that my FSA card would stop working when I quit and switched to COBRA.
Now I’m working remotely and am in a new state (Florida) and not sure I’ll stay here long enough to switch everything to this state. I needed to get a fever checked out and ended up paying out of pocket because I was told over the phone that they accepted my out of state insurance, but when I got there in person, they didn’t.
What a mess.
Re: People Lose Their Employer-Sponsored Insurance Constantly
#8Yes, people do lose their insurance constantly when they switch jobs...and then immediately sign onto their new plan. Is the argument that switching insurance plans is stressful? What's stressful is remaining uncovered. Switching plans is hardly comparable to the transition to a Medicare-for-all program.
They lose their insurance for other reasons, too. Their employer changes plans; they get dropped from full time to part time; they lose their job and don't immediately get another.
And switching insurance plans at almost any time can be very costly, even if you go straight to a new one, as all your deductibles and out-of-pocket limits get reset. And then you have to hit them again when the plan year starts again, almost certainly sooner than a year later.
Re: People Lose Their Employer-Sponsored Insurance Constantly
#9People [in the US] … ;)
Re: People Lose Their Employer-Sponsored Insurance Constantly
#10Health insurance in the United States is a shit show. The Medicare for all that Bernie is proposing is a reaction to the inability of Congress to meaningfully fix the issue. I personally would prefer a market based approach to fixing the issues with obtaining medical care, but Congress can't do anything because there's just too much money and influence involved.
The insurance companies have had years (decades?) to come up with one.
Instead they've invested in lobbying to keep the status quo.