fendergirl

i think you have to be careful with lumping all insurance firms in together. I recently watched Sicko for the first time and I know it mostly talked about HMO's, but not all companies are like that.

I work for an insurance company and our employee insurance on ourselves that we have is alright.

We get a 30/month break on the premium we pay by certifying that we are a non smoker - or a 30/month break on the premium if you are a smoker and agree to participate in a quit smoking program. we also get a 20/month break on the premium for taking a health survey online which gives you feedback on how to improve certain areas of your life.


And as far as medicare is concerned... it's not free and a lot of doctors are beginning to not accept it. You still pay on average 96 bucks a month (more premium if you make more money, and chances are most of us make more then somebody who is retired and on medicare, so our premiums would be more as well), and in the event you go in the hospital you have a 1024 deductible (2008), and the deductible in the beginning of the year is 135 (in 2008)... plus you still pay 20% on most charges.

We just recently got a contract with an insurance company at work and the "basis" of their contract (from my understanding and what I remember of it) is that they will get compensated based on the level of care they deliver to the insured customers.