I am for the most part what is known as a “late adopter.” Or maybe it’s “lagger”—I forget. I didn’t get a cell phone until 2001, and I only got it because I got into a VERY MINOR, INJURY-FREE, NOT-MY-FAULT accident while pregnant, and Paul kind of freaked and said it was stupid we didn’t have cell phones. So now we have them, but they don’t play games or music or anything, and Paul always leaves his at home on the counter. We still have a landline, and our phone has a cord.
And, like, we don’t have a DVR or a Blu-Ray or HDTV or a iPhone or a Kindle, and it’s not because we’re technology snobs, it’s because we’re cautious. Okay, I’M cautious: Paul is by temperament (though not by bank account) the sort who would buy every new thing the day it came out. I tend to buy things when everyone I know has already replaced it with something two generations more recent.
All this is to say that I have finally acquired the Fear of Recession everyone else picked up a few years ago. Yesterday I was in a funk all day and couldn’t even figure out why I felt so doomy. I tried to pinpoint the problem: was it marital? No. Was I worried about one of the kids? No. Was it ennui? No. Hormonal? Probably no. A fight with a friend? No. But it felt like it was SOMETHING, and finally I figured out what I was feeling was Financial Stress.
I know exactly what triggered it, too. We got a letter from Paul’s company saying they were changing our health insurance plan AGAIN (as they do EVERY YEAR), and that as usual there was no good news. Not only is our monthly contribution now MORE THAN OUR MONTHLY MORTGAGE PAYMENT (just let that sink in a minute: if we chose to wing it on the health insurance, we could OWN A SECOND HOUSE) (well, okay, we couldn’t pay the taxes or the water bill or the utilities or whatevs, but STILL) (and maybe we could rent it to a doctor in exchange for free check-ups), but now we have a $2000 annual deductible before the dubious benefits (we haven’t seen them yet, but the copays always go up and the covered services always go down) kick in.
This is difficult to accept. Health insurance, like life insurance, is a gamble you WANT to lose—but it’s still difficult. I did some quick math and found out that even if I had paid cash for all my c-sections, we would STILL have paid less for health care than we have paid for health insurance. That utterly sucks. And yet I’m too chicken to drop the health insurance: something could Happen, and THEN WHAT?
Anyway, that whole thought process made me get all squirrelly about money, and that’s when the Recession Worries finally kicked in. And yet, I am having exactly as much effect on the situation as when I WASN’T worrying about it. Yay.
I’m right there with you on technology (I waited until 2003 to get a cell phone), but I’ve been worried about the economy for a couple of years now and am trying to give myself a break from it by avoiding the news and reading a lot of fiction.
I did watch Frontline this week though, and they had a good episode about health care. You can see it online at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/
It was scary in that it shows how little things that could happen to any of us could push us over the edge into bankruptcy, how much insurance doesn’t cover and how costs keep going up.
BUT I liked it b/c it showed how important fixing the system is, and that’s what Obama is trying to do. I hope that people get behind him and support him — this is important :) ~Steph
Health Insurance is so scary. When I was growing up my Dad was a farmer and my mom stayed home. Thus, they didn’t have a group health insurance plan. Their health insurance was catistrophic only and cost a couple thousand a month for the 7 of us (5 kids too!). In fact, the main reason why my Dad had to get an off the farm job was for the health benefits.
I am convinced that in order for our country’s economy to be truly healthy again, we need a sort of universal health care. And I don’t think we can afford a ‘everything is free’ system. What I think we need is a high deductible plan where after you meet the deductible things are covered.
End of rant.
I have been feeling very uneasy about money stuff for quite a while. First our health plan, like yours, got WAY worse. No dental, no vision, no copay, higher deductible. Then they temporarily suspended overtime and yearly raises. All while we are contemplating more kids. I don’t want to let money or fear dictate the choices our family makes, but it is HARD.
That health insurance cost is positively UNACCEPTABLE. But of course, you HAVE to accept it, and that just about makes my blood boil. The whole health insurance industry is going straight to HELL when it dies.
We switched plans b/c of that exact issue. We figured we could put the difference in savings and save it up ourselves instead of throwing it away. We have a Health Savings Accout and an plan with a 6000 Deductable. Yes, that’s high, but we’ve only hit it once (baby) and they cover everything after that. PLUS, they do all well-kid check ups, yearly exams, etc. (just no precriptions) And we figure it’s worth the gamble, we’re young and healthy, but we have the backup in case something major happens. Of course, we we do decide to have another baby, we know we need to start saving up for that!
My husband is a PhD student so the money isn’t rolling in and I am the primary breadwinner. His first semester we decided to not get his $40/month insurance through school because we were overloaded financially. That summer, two months before he could opt in for insurance again, he had an accident that has cost us close to $20K. Despite the fact that we were $200 away from the cut off line for support from the hospital cutting our bill in almost half, they rejected helping us, resulting in a big fat load of success. We didn’t get the insurance because, we are young! Healthy! accident free! Then he got a $20 new shoulder. We are down to almost $8k in two years, but will be paying the rest off in $50/month increments over the next ten years. So I know it sucks donkey balls to pay out the wazoo for insurance, please be cautious before you throw it to the wind! And he must actually have good insurance bc the big old university (with 90,000 employees throughout the state) I work for charges $247 a month for a family. That family could be just me and my husband or it could be you and your five kids).
basically, insurance blows.
I was feeling the same way recently and then I realized it was because of a recent announcement about an increase in sales tax. Good timing, government.
Everytime I read about health insurance plans and co-pays I feel all panicky for my American friends. I know we Canadians pay way more in taxes, but I’ll take that over ever worrying about whether or not I can afford to seek medical treatment any day!
I have been so lucky and blessed, we have options at my office for health insurance, ranging from high deductible, but completely premium free insurance (company pays) or low deductible with premiums. It actually works out better, even if you max out the plan to do the no premium high deductible route.
A premium as high as my mortgage would send me out into the free market to see if I could find a better deal out there through private insurance. But I have a pretty high mortgage.
The thing that sucks about insurance (and let me say here that I have fabulous insurance) is that when you are young and healthy it seems like such a waste. But last October I ended up in the ER twice with crazy pain, followed by a 9-day hospital stay, two procedures and eventually having my gallbladder removed. Nearly $70k in bills later (I had to pay $50 out of pocket -please don’t hate me) I was so happy to have that insurance and all of a sudden that monthly premium didn’t seem like such a scam.
And honestly, when I switched jobs 18 months ago the insurance coverage was just about as important as the salary. It sucks that Paul’s company keeps switching it on you!
Shop around. My husband changed jobs and the new company doesn’t offer health insurance until like 6 months from now. So, we are buying our own AND it was CHEAPER than what we were paying at the old company with basically the same benefits. But we got rid of the maternity because: highly expensive and no longer an issue. (Thank you, Mirena.)
So shop around. Try United Health Care. That’s what we did.
Health insurance sucks. I have what is pretty much the best insurance ever–but they still may or may not pay for surgery, and if they do it will only be at 70%. Ugh.
The fear of the recession thing really bothers me. I know we’re in a recession and it’s very real and people are losing their jobs and struggling financially. This is all very true. But I absolutely think the media is making the whole thing worse. All this ridiculous fearmongering and YOU WILL BE NEXT reporting… it’s not helping! Recessions have a ton to do with consumer confidence and when everywhere you turn somebody is intoning WE ARE ALL DOOMED into your ear, it’s hard to have that confidence.
Which ties back to your starting point of cell phones b/c if you wanted to cut the budget, that would be a great place (they’re so expensive), but you’re trapped by this huge fee if you leave before your contract is up.
I’m with Misty: maybe give it a try and shop around on the health insurance. We did that when we found out that Chip’s insurance was going to to TRIPLE. By moving me and Alice to another insurance carrier, we reduced our spending by 50%. It was amazing, and also sucks that insurance can literally TAKE US for that much money.
However, thank you so much for writing this. It made me laugh, especially the part about how worrying about the situation accomplishes exactly the same as NOT worrying about the situation. Nice.
Also: Chip wants to know, if like him, you also still have cassette tapes and watch VHS videos. He also has a video camera that is the size of a small commuter car. Hee!
I think you should THINK about putting the money (VERY RELIGIOUSLY) that you would put towards your healthcare into a savings account and NOT SPEND IT ON ANYTHING ELSE NO MATTER WHAT EVEN AT THE END OF THE YEAR.
If Something Bad were to happen, you would have the funds to cover that Bad Thing. And you wouldn’t be eating the money if Nothing Bad happened.
I have good insurance because I work for the state, but if you choose one of the crappier higher deductible choices, you also have the choice of a healthcare spending account to save money in the event of Something Bad.
Our insurance is decent, thank god, because the whole complicated pregnancy/preemie situation totaled around $750,000 – insanity. The whole time I kept wondering what we would do if we didn’t have insurance.
BUT now I’m worried about how screwed we’ll be if Matt loses his job (he works in banking, not a stable industry, currently). Insurance is one of the reasons I’m thinking about going back to work, my salary won’t come close to Matt’s but at least we’d have some options for things like healthy coverage if he lost his job.
I have had to do a lot of deep breathing to calm myself, and I will also admit to some fingers in the ears lalalalala singing when people start talking about the crap situation we’re all in.
Jess Loolu- Another thing that drives me crazy is all the smug “Because of the recession” excuses companies give for raising prices. Some are probably legit; most are probably not.
Thia- We have Virgin Mobile, and we don’t use many minutes, and we don’t do texting or whatever, so it’s only $10 a month for both phones. BUT—that’s still $120/year, for something we basically use for saying, “Oh, hey, did you want the ROASTED peanuts or the COCKTAIL peanuts?”
We’re usually five years behind or so on the technology thing. Sometimes it bothers me, sometimes I don’t care too much. I will say the dvr has changed our lives (for the way better) though.
The insurance situation kills me; as you know we’re doing the fertility thing – most people I know who have done it, their insurance covered at least part of it. Mine? Nada. So things like this morning when I took the twenty dollar Clear Blue Easy ovulation test and called the nurse with the result and she had me go on down AGAIN to the doctor’s office to have MORE blood work done because she said sometimes those tests aren’t reliable…I’M A LITTLE TENSE RIGHT NOW. Another seventy bucks gone. Unplanned for. Unavoidable. Grr.
Whimsy- Ha! I only got rid of my cassette tapes last summer! And it was because I no longer had anything that would PLAY them! And I have a videocamera that makes tapes, too!
Late adapter here, too. Although my phone DOES have “Tetris” on it.
And it’s been just in the last two months that I’ve really focused on our financial status. I set up a new budget and saw our credit card balance and thought, “Hey? When did that happen?” Then I thought, “I’ll just trim a little out of the budget to put more toward the card.” And now, a month later, we’re staring at the budget saying, “Ouch. We’ve trimmed to the quick, and no extra for the card.” Stupid finances.
I love your closing line.
Health insurance is ridiculous. When you REALLY need it, good luck getting them to actually PAY it. I’ve been watching a coworker battle it out with our insurance company over a 50K surgery she had done last year, that was PRE-APPROVED. It was AUTHORIZED by our insurance carrier and they still won’t pay.
I don’t pay out that much because I just have me and my son on my plan (abt $300/mo for dental and health), but I would seriously consider a savings account instead if I had that many dependents to cover.
P.S. I have a tape videocamera, too. But I also have a DVR :)
Ridiculous! When I hear things like this, it makes me furious!
The financial stuff is so stressful that it can literally make me sick if I let myself absorb any of the info. People think I’m crazy because I don’t watch the news or read the newspaper. I occassionally read cnn online but even that just stresses me out. I prefer to act like an ostrich and bury my head in the sand in order to stay sane and happy. You know, in general I know what’s going on, but don’t tell me any of the details. Irresponsible? Maybe. But I just can’t imagine the extreme levels of cortisol coursing through people who watch the media financial info for several hours a day.
I’m sorry about the health ins increase – that is just absolutely UNACCEPTABLE!
Please don’t be tempted to drop your ridiculously expensive health coverage. (I’m sure you aren’t really considering that, right?)
This is how quite a few people end up in bankruptcy. They have one medical emergency and a three-day stay in the hospital…and all of a sudden their financial picture is bleaker than ever.
Talk about a topic than can make one feel ill…
Hi Swistle – I’m a long time lurker but had to comment today. I was watching the Today Show about a week ago and Jean (the money expert) recommended that people check out this site http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/. She said that many people are finding that they can get their own health insurance through these companies less expensively than through their companies. Before anybody judges, the companies are those like Blue Cross, Aetna, United, etc. Check it out! Maybe you can find something reasonable.
We just got a DVR (for free!) a couple of days ago, I love it!!
Oh dear.
I’m so glad I’m Canadian. Even though I won’t have full coverage (for dental, eye care, etc) when I finish University (until I get a job)… at least I can always go to a clinic, seek medical attention if I need it, without feeling worried about it or pay thousands a year.
Don’t worry. You just come live with me if things get too bad in the US of A. I’m sure my mother won’t mind 7 guests… lol.
I have been discussing the “stress” on my blog the last couple of days too. Yesterday I was like “WOE IS ME” but today I am like “Meh- this too shall pass.” I do get queasy when I think of how much I spend on health insurance for my husband and son. I have paid over $200 a month for my husband for YEARS and he has never ONCE gone to ANY doctor for ANYTHING.
I am like “CAN YOU PLEASE HAVE SURGERY OR SOMETHING TO MAKE THIS WORTH IT?!”
Not that I am wishing surgery on my husband, but still, I would like to get some bang for my buck.
Ha, we are also late technology people. We first got cell phones about a year and a half or two years ago. First got internet access at home last year. DVR? Not there yet.
Insurance = evil. For five+ years I paid premiums even though I didn’t use mine at all. For ANYTHING. Then I got pregnant and thought how it was probably a good thing. For kicks I added up all the charges from my pregnancy and all the premiums, co-pays and deductibles paid – because I’m a nerd like that. The insurance company is still thousands ahead. Now I’m paying for family coverage and even with me being on the pill and taking the baby in for regular checkups and one cold, they are still making a bundle on me.
But the what-ifs keep me from dropping this crappy plan and saying adios to all the confusing paperwork and technical language. It makes me so mad.
i don’t know how different this would be for you since you have 5 kids and i have one, but when my contribution to my health insurance (thru my job) that only covers my daughter and me topped $500/mo(that’s in addition to my employer’s contribution PLUS copays) i looked into just getting a policy on my own. no, wait, FIRST i looked into putting us onto the policy my husband gets through his job, and although he is fully covered and the premium is paid 100% by his employer, to add any family members (even a dependent) would have been 100% our premium to pay, to the tune of about $1000 a month. THEN i looked into getting a private plan for toddler and me, and it is MUCH cheaper than the other two options. the deductible is not super cheap, but it is completely do-able if there is a major medical issue. the copays are the same as thru my work sponsored policy, and the regular check ups are covered completely. we use blue cross/care first.
Have you thought about getting one of those health savings accounts? You put so much money into it and then are issued a debit card. You make healthcare purchases with it and are getting those items tax-free. See if your husband’s employer offers it. I have the Medical Flex account… and a certain amount comes out of each check but the entire amount is available on the card immediately. You are not taxed on that money from your pacheck so it lowers your taxable income. I’m sleep deprived so I think I’m rambling… hope this made sense. lol
You are totally right that health care has to be fixed. I can’t imagine if we were having to pay as much as you are right now.
I would like to say that this is not the fault of the insurance industry. Their profit margin is less than HALF most other industries. When you think about the people who do get sick who are then covered…that’s why everyone else has to pay so much. You will be glad you have it if something goes wrong. Our insurance company paid out close to a half-million when one of my daughters needed surgery. /rant
I just get tired of people thinking they can point to this one entity as the source of all our problems.
Not to mention the fact that if you have health insurance, the actual charges are lower. The insurance companies negotiate lower rates with the providers. So if you don’t have insurance, not only is that scary if something big happens, but you have to pay a lot more than an insurance company would for everything that you do pay for. How great is that?!
insurance makes me stabby.
i love how many helpful ideas your readers have, though!!
HOLY FRACK!!! ‘Cause you happen to have a second mortgage payment lying around collecting dust every month ~ so why not pay for the health insurance?!
I’m covered under my company’s policy ~ but my girls & J’s coverage would be more than our house note every month. Thankfully that gets us accepted for CHIPS care under the state for the girls ~ but J is out of luck. We pay for a private policy for him every month … $250 (could buy a car) with a $2000 deductible just to see the doctor. He never sees a dr. He’ll have to loose a limb before he goes to the dr. But I can’t let him have nothing because OMGwhatifsomethinghappens?!
I am also a late adopter…more by reason of a tiny tiny bank account though… I still don’t have a cell phone.
My advice…even though you didn’t ask…move to Canada! We could be neighbours then and you could have everything paid for. Also the government sends you $100 a month per child until they are five. Just for having a child….
think about it ;)
Whatever you do please DO NOT drop the insurance. Shop around and find another plan or whatever you have to do but DO NOT LET IT LAPSE. The insurers have contracts with the providers so that they might charge someone with no insurance $2300 for a scan, they pay that same provider $600 and call it done. The amount you pay out of your own pocket without insurance is way more than your insurer pays. Even if you have to apply it to a deductible, you still get the contract savings. If you change plans make sure you check into the pre-existing waiting periods…keeping a policy active usually will ensure that, as long as the new policy complies with HIPAA, you won’t have to serve them. Some policies won’t cover eyeglasses, tonsillectomies, or ear tubes for at least a year if at all. And , worst case scenario, try having to pay out of pocket for brain cancer treatments because your carrier decides that the headaches and migraines you had before your policy started were actually symptoms related to your cancer! I may be overly cautious but it is SO worth knowing you have the insurance if you need it.
I do that too, where i have a nagging feeling of badness, and I have to sort through the different areas of my life until I can figure out what’s causing it.
The health care thing is terrible! I didn’t read through the comments so I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but if you get an HSA account to pay for medical stuff, (lots of banks have them now), every dollar you put in there is a dollar you don’t have to pay in taxes. We use ours to pay our $2000 deductible, as well as prescriptions and stuff. You can even use that money for band-aids. Anything medical-related, you can use your HSA money for. And when I spend money out of that account, I don’t feel nearly as bad as when I spend money out of our regular checkbook (I guess because I’ve already squirreled it away). In 2008 we put $2400 into that account, and that took $2400 off our taxes. (There’s a limit for the year, $5800 for a family, I think.)
Don’t worry, I’m NOT going to ditch the insurance! Ha ha ha ha! The very idea! I am MUCH too much of a worrier to even CONSIDER such a thing. FIVE CHILDREN, people. FIVE.
Aren’t health insurance decisions scary? Seriously– you could be completely healthy,– no illnesses in years— and still be petrified about the what ifs: the crazy car accident, the disaster while remodeling, the freak accident with a curling iron… I don’t know… I mean, most of us have seen ‘Sicko’ here! Our work even offered a Health Savings Account option-the money could be mine if unused… MINE…if I kept up my good health. I still didn’t want to ‘chance it.’ I’m in your boat, Swistle, and I don’t have any kids! Let’s hope something changes in the near future to make things a bit more affordable for all. I’ll never forget a trip to France where a visit to a doctor for a UTI cost $25.00, including prescriptions…
Isn’t how heathcare works crazy? I stress over health insurance too. You would think I wouldn’t as I am a NURSE and I know DOCTORS that would see us for free if it came to that. But I think like you…what if something DID happen? It keeps me up at night.
All I keep thinking is “Someone Has To Fix This”. Something has to happen. Affordable healthcare is a right, not a privilege, in the richest country in the world. As is a good education. And if you want to, heaven forbid, be a small business owner or an independent writer forget it. It’s enough to keep someone out of small/independent business.
It’s disgusting, is what it is, and it’s depressing. I hear ya. Loud and clear.
I hate the health insurance issue. I hate that it costs so much and I hate that the US is the only modernized country that has such a messed up healthcare system. That being said, it is one of the greatest perks about being in the military. There are plenty of things I don’t like, but the fact that we get free healthcare is a HUGE reason to stay in my mind. I too obsess about the big what IF (something horrible happens to one of us) and I know that it will be totally covered no matter what and no matter where.
I like the idea of everyone having a certain deductible and after that everything is covered. I know a lot of people dont want the gov’t involved but ANYTHING has to be better than health insurance companies ripping people off for their own profit.
PS- I can’t believe how much you pay for insurance….is that the norm? Before the Marine Corps I worked for one of the countries largest banks and I paid about $200/mo for the two of us and I thought that was fairly reasonable (no deductible but $20 co-pay).
Lisa- It varies a TON: we’ve paid dramatically different amounts depending on where Paul has worked. Right now he works for a smallish company, and I think they have a hard time getting good rates.
Ummm kindle? What’s a kindle? Crap. I still have my original iPod. And I didn’t get a cell phone until 2001 either.
And health insurance? Yeah… ya gotta keep it. But it just sucks, doesn’t it? I have a feeling I’ll be losing my job this year (and I’m ok with that) but insurance is under me. We’ve already met the deductible on my insurance. Now we’d have to meet it a second time in this year on my husband’s insurance if I lose the insurance. That part really sucks.
We don’t have any of that fancy electronic stuff either…mostly because we’re poor! :)
Can I just tell you how tempted I am to just drop the damn insurance and just throw that money into a savings account? Because, seriously, like you, we never use enough healthcare to even begin to recoup what we (and my company) pay for it.
It’s madness.
Insurance rates are ridiculous. But, mostly it is due to the people like my husband who got himself in a car accident and had about 500,000 in medical bills.
Nuts.
just want to pipe in to agree that the whole insurance/worrying/paying through the nose thing sucks.
when i got laid off in october, i carried coverage for me, mandy and the kid. i’m so glad to have found another job when there weren’t any jobs to be found in my field but…no insurance for mandy. they don’t offer DP benefits. neat.
so the choices were…be unemployed, collect less than half my salary, pay twice my mortgage for COBRA (as if) that might cover mandy if i can scrape 2k a month to pay the premium OR take the job and drop the coverage for mandy?
we did the latter and it freaks me out on a daily basis. OH, and she’s not insurable on a private policy either – thanks, epilepsy!
HOT. MESS.
last thing and then i’ll shut up: we also had a “you pay 100% for dependents” coverage at the new job. i found private insurance for just the kid and am now saving over $200 a month. let me know if you want info – it has co-pays and a reasonable deductible.
Be wary of a private plan. They do not have to cover pre-existing conditions, but employer group plans do (at least in Texas). They also can go way up on the rates if you actually use the plan. Have you looked into CHIPS through the state for the kids? With a family of 7 the income requirements are surprising.
You officially have The Shittiest Health Insurance EVER. I know what you mean about not wanting to drop it, because that would practically be asking for trouble, but holy COW that’s terrible. Also, we’re getting to the age where things happen, or there are more necessary screenings, or whatever. I would stay away from a private plan. I heard a whole show on NPR the other day about how they’re all screwing people, and there are all these class-action lawsuits against them. One plan even denied coverage on treatment that it had previously covered, because when the person went to renew the plan, his cancer was then deemed a pre-existing condition, since he’d had it before the renewal, aka New Policy, started.
I’ve been a little afraid, too, lately. I’m trying to focus on anything other than that, and I’ve stopped listening to the news about it entirely. I KNOW it’s bad, stop SCARING me already, since there’s nothing I can do!
I know you’ve got 50 frickin’ comments already, but I had to add my two cents:
The thing I really HATE about insurance companies is that they actually drive up the rates for everyone with their endless paper train. Meanwhile, they get a discount b/c they have a lot of customers. If you decided to go it on your own than your bill could be as much as %400 more than what the insurance company pays. It’s like the mafia–they make it so you have to have it or you can’t afford healthcare at all. Meanwhile, if you’re disabled then you don’t qualify to insurance.
when jason was at his old job, which he was laid off of in december (2 days before we found out we were pg) we didn’t get the insurance because we honestly couldn’t afford the extra $400+ a month…i can’t imagine having a premium that equals a house payment! the kids are covered by state insurance (i guess it’s thankful we are “poor”) and so is my pg (healthy kid thing here) so thankfully that is covered, but still…when i’m not pg, i use the free health clinic (yay for that!)…and the cell phone…we have one, it’s a pay by the minute and we NEVER use all of our minutes…we have to buy them in 3 month incriments and then we get 300 minutes…come time to renew we have at least 250 left! it’s for emergencies and when i’m out running errands and need to check in on jason and the kids…