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Originally Posted by Timbo
(Post 1130083)
I missed half of the commercials because I kept having to go pee and get another beer! I've got to put a toilet and 'fridge in my TV room!
When my buddies from Europe complain about all the stoppage of play in "American Football" I remind them, American Football is just an excuse for us to eat nachos and drink beer all afternoon! We NEED commercials, so we can go get another beer from the kitchen!:D Then I remind them that most of the Soccer games I've watched...for 90 minutes of uninterupted excitement...ended in a 1-1 tie. That's some real exciting stuff...NOT. :rolleyes: |
Originally Posted by hockeypilot44
(Post 1130024)
Does anybody else think our health insurance sucks? I have the gold plan. My 2 year old couldn't stop throwing up. Called doctor. Was told by my doctor to go to emergency room (doctor called hospital and told them I was coming). Plan doesn't cover any of it. I guess I'm supposed to ignore my doctor's orders and put my child's life at risk next time because our insurance does not cover emergency room visits at in-network hospitals at midnight (sarcasm). In all serious though, it's bullcrap.
A few months ago, I had a 103 fever, nausea, joint aches, night sweats, etc. upon returning from a 72 hour ACC layover. I called UHC and was told by their nurse to run, not walk to the ER, as everything sounded ominously like malaria. I specifically asked if I needed to do anything to make sure the visit was covered. She said I was all set. The good news is, I was diagnosed with only strep throat (no idea it could be so bad--the above symptoms lasted almost a week). The bad news is that I got a bill for $3700. UHC turned it down, saying "strep throat is not an ER-worthy event." Hey a$$hats, how would I have known it was strep without going to the ER (like your representative told me to!). Further good news: you can appeal the denial. Instructions are on the website. I sent them a letter explaining the situation, and they covered the charge. While it shouldn't have come to that, at least I wasn't out the $3,700. The appeals process took me about a month (getting daily calls and letters from the hospital's billing department (later collection agency)). Good luck. |
Originally Posted by capncrunch
(Post 1130064)
Is there a better option through Delta for health care for the family? The gold plan doesn't sound very golden.
I'm still on the Plan N. But the deductables can be very high and it's best to have that money (up to the max OOP) put aside in case something bad happens. I had a common diagnostic procedure 3 years ago, and got the bill. The facility was in-network, but the Dr that read it wasn't. Nice trick. The cost for the deal was like 4 times what the UHC "estimator" on their website said it should be (and, of course, I was on the hook for %20 of that up to the max OOP). I ran that up both flagpoles...both the company and the union. I figured the company would have some interest since they self-insure and seemed to be getting fleeced, but they didn't care, and said it was what it was. I looked into 3rd party co-insurance. It sits as a rider on top of your heathcare, and will pay deductables and OOP, but not routine co-pays. It wasn't horribly expensive for a single person, but I dunno about a family. Lot's of paperwork, though. Fairly complicaed enrollement (moreso for a family I would think), and you have to submit everything by hand for reimbursment, but the overall cost per year is less than the max OOP for the N plan. It would be a roll of the dice each year to see which would be more expensive...the co-insurance or the max OOP. I'd give a trip's pay to go back to BCBS and the old NWA plan. DYODD, YMMV... Nu |
Originally Posted by Bucking Bar
(Post 1130107)
It is a true shame that Obama-care does not address the real issue.
The problem is that we do not do this business in an open and fair market. You've got one party in desperate need, without pricing information dealing with an enormous Corporation which lacks a body to incarcerate, or a soul to convict. UHC has had themselves exempted from the same laws which govern our conduct with one another. There is so much low hanging fruit here:
Unfortunately a lot of the things UHC is telling you is probably true. If things are the same as when I was studying the stuff, there is no way to find out for sure. But, in all likelihood your policy isn't with UHC, they are just a buffer for DAL. |
..Delta Reports January Operational and Financial Performance
Press Release: Delta Air Lines – 1 hour 3 minutes ago .... DAL 10.99 -0.31 ...... ATLANTA, Feb. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines today reported strong revenue and operations for January 2012. For January 2012, consolidated passenger unit revenue (PRASM) increased 14.5 percent compared to the prior year period, as the company's capacity discipline and revenue momentum contributed to a strong increase in yields. All regions generated double-digit unit revenue gains, with the strongest performance in the domestic and transatlantic regions. For the month, system load factor increased 2.3 points to 77.5 percent. Delta employees delivered excellent operational performance for their customers. The company's preliminary DOT on-time arrival rate of 86.4% was 11.8 points higher year-over-year and its mainline completion factor increased 5.2 points to 99.4%. The company's financial and operational performance is detailed below. Preliminary Financial and Operational Results – January 2012 Consolidated PRASM change year over year 14.5% Consolidated average fuel price $3.17 On-time performance (preliminary DOT A14) 86.4% Mainline completion factor 99.4% Note: Fuel price includes taxes, transportation, settled hedges, and hedge premiums, but excludes mark to market adjustments on open hedges. I am just waiting for ALPA to tell us we don't deserve huge raises, and we "aren't Southwest." |
I just called UHC. The lady was helpful. She said her paperwork said one word, "virus." She said they couldn't understand why we took our daughter to the ER for a virus. After telling her what happened, she called our doctor's office and confirmed they instructed us to go to the ER. Now it is covered, but I still owe $200 as it is the contracted rate and I have not yet met the deductible. I can pay with my HRA now and it actually counts towards my deductible so it has gotten a little better.
Bucking Bar's post is very informative. I had no idea how bad it is. This stuff needs fixed yesterday. It's not right. People have emergencies. I hurt my hand last year and went to the emergency room. It ended up costing me $600 out of my HRA account. It's pretty sad that I'm putting $2000/year in a FSA to cover what our HRA does not and I still end up paying more money out of pocket every year. |
Re. the Tri Care post:
I did volunteer to serve, and served for 8 years, but to get Tri Care coverage, you have to be on active duty, (or Reserves) or retired AD, ie. put in 20 years. But ultimately, who is it that's paying for your Tri Care? The Civilians...you know, those other Tax Payers that don't have access to Tri Care. |
Originally Posted by Roadkill
(Post 1130106)
Not sure about the true utility of this technique, but I did find it an interesting read and something good to have in my hip pocket. BBar should enjoy it.
"How to Survive Hospital Costs Without Insurance" http://www.lawfulpath.com/ref/shc_rev2-0eval.pdf The article makes one assumption that might not always be true for us. It assumes UHC's contract is better than a customer could achieve by walking in and paying cash. Recent experience clearly points out that is not true. When UHC agrees "reasonable and customary" for in network is $1,800+ and out of network is $374 for the exact same service code, one of the two numbers is fraud. New York's Attorney General points this out: This is where the fraud comes in. This reasonable and customary fee is intentionally set low by Ingenix, a company owned by United Healthcare, an obvious conflict of interest which bilks customers out of millions. For example if the doctor’s fee is $200, Ingenix says the customary fee is $90, and they pay only 72 dollars instead of $160. "Health Insurers such as United Healthcare have been systematically cheating patients and doctors of fair reimbursement for medical services through the industry’s arcane procedures for calculating "reasonable and customary" rates", according to a New York Times editorial. (New York Times, 2/18). |
Originally Posted by Timbo
(Post 1130124)
Re. the Tri Care post:
I did volunteer to serve, and served for 8 years, but to get Tri Care coverage, you have to be on active duty, (or Reserves) or retired AD, ie. put in 20 years. But ultimately, who is it that's paying for your Tri Care? The Civilians...you know, those other Tax Payers that don't have access to Tri Care. WIC provides better neo-natal than DAL thru UHC or TriCare. Is there really any doubt as to the brokenness of our "system?" |
Originally Posted by Bucking Bar
(Post 1130034)
Bill,
Management's strategy has been obvious to me for the last 12 years now: "Reduce Delta pilots' until they are irrelevant." I think Contract 2000 and the Comair strike both left an impression on management. They seek to never be held hostage by organized labor. They will outsource and dilute our flying, continuing steadily to reduce our numbers. By the time our pilot group wakes up, it will be too late. Management is smart enough to try to pull the shrinkage off the top. That lowers costs and keeps the majority from demanding change in our bargaining priorities. Management is aware that the bottom third is stagnant, they don't care. They are not a majority. Management knows they just need to keep the majority focus on self interest and the rest will fall their way. The Delta pilot group is shrinking and seniority progression has pretty much stagnated for most. A few have advanced, some have regressed. At the end of the day we have fewer captain positions now than we had right after the last hiring wave. I don't believe managements motivation is a s sinister as you believe. For one, a few of the top guys weren't at Delta for C2K or the Comair strike. The issue is really related to appease financial types. All to often Employees and related expenses are viewed more the way the financial types look at "liabilities." And outsourced work or services are simply viewed as "operating expenses". As SD said we are creating something of value to the company. At at some point that will have to create value to Delta pilots. We have two currencies we accept: Seniority and Pay. As FtB's charts showed, pay rate restoration, even if matched in dollars, won't restore the buying power when factoring in inflation. I'm flying with quite a few captains that are in a jet several pay categories below the jet they were on when rates were better. There is a value to seniority progression. It's measured in Dollars, Schedule, Day's off and Vacation. It would be foolish to not capture seniority progression as part of any credible attempt at restoring pay. Apart from lack of organic growth the biggest threat for seniority progression is coming in the form of fleet renewal. Even if we manage to bring the 100 seater in-house, it will only replace the parked DC-9s. Large DCI jets are replacing the DC-9 mission. The MD90s are being used to perform missions typical to the 73N and 320. The 739 is slated to replace some domestic 75 and 76 flying. Going forward it will only take a few 777-300s to replace 7ER capacity 2:1 while boosting cargo revenue 3:1. The 7ER category, for many the jet to fly 'till retirement, will shrink significantly going forward. That means even fewer wide body captain positions, fewer augmented crews, etc. The expected impact of the "big wave of retirements" will probably be similar to the impact of the mythical "pilot shortage" wave... How can we move forward? I's not that complicated...
Cheers George |
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