medical/health insurance
 

Micheal Moore's new movie, Sicko, is out in theaters this week. The movie portrays America's broken health care system, and the fact that even insured workers have inadequate health care coverage. There was one guy in the movie, i forget his name, who was covered through Humana via his place of employment. He paid his premiums on time for I think 15 years. He became sick and needed a pancreas or he would have died.:sad: Humana denied the surgery. Micheal Moore exposed them for their denial, so he eventually was granted the surgery he desperately needed. I'm not a truck driver as of yet, but I would like to know does the trucking industry as a whole provide good health/medical coverage? Has anyone had a good experience with their insurance because they or someone in their family needed major medical surgery? How expensive/inexpensive is medical insurance provided by most major trucking companies?

Funny- I would never expect anyone else to pay for my health insurance. When I was a company driver, the company provided health insurance at a cheap rate as a BENEFIT. And it was just that- a benefit for working there. Not an entitlement. Now I am an O/O and it's not provided for me. It's something I pay for for myself.

People think that the government should provide health care. If our health care system is supposed to be broken now, can you imagine what will happen if you get the government involved? No thank you- I prefer my health care issues to be kept between me, the insurance company and the doctor/hospital.

Like any industry, the health coverage in the transportation industry is all over the place. Some of it is good, some fair, some not worth the premiums at all. Then the costs are all over the place as well.


While insurance companies can be a PITA when it comes to paying out, one thing to keep in mind that it is the company you are working for who more often than not sets up coverage limits, exclusions to what is covered, etc.

Rates and coverage will vary from one carrier to another. Some carriers may have more than one plan from which to choose. Michael Moore only likes to show things from his perverted point of view. You can use statistics to show most anything you want. He and others want to force national healthcare on us. Personally, I want less government involved in my life, not more. When I grew up, we didn't have so much government involvement in our lives. We also didn't have so many people who would sue at the drop of a hat. We could actually afford to go to the doctor and pay the bill ourselves. Much of the cost of medical care is a direct result of litigation and excessive government regulations. If we paid less taxes we would have more money to buy things for ourselves. Personally, I would like to see a government about 1/3 the current size. 8)

I wouldnt believe a word Michael Moore says.
And if you want a preview of Univerisal Healthcare..........go to the DMV without an appt.

As someone who is on Medicare the closest the Goverment does offer to Universal health care I have something to offer. I feel it is not to bad overall care the hospitals are required to accept it or they lose their contracts with the Goverment for other stuff and that would be the key for the universla health care syustem. However do not get me started on Bushes giveaway plan called Medicare part D that was the plan written by the dug companies and insurance compaines and it SUCKS THE BIG ONE. Right now I am again in the freaking dounut hole called the second tier of coverage till I pay the next 2500 dollars in prescipican costs then and only then will they chip in 90% I should get out of the hole about december. Right now I am spending around 500 a month on my meds and it stinks tough choice keep having seizures or feed my kids.

Sheesh. I tried to stir the pot with my reply and you all are civil. What's wrong with you people!

It's hard to stir the pot with truth and logic. :lol: :wink:

Work for a union company.

Teamster health, vision & dental benefits are awesome.

I lived in New Zealand for a couple of years and government health care sucks big time. Fractured my ankle and no one took an x-ray. Just told me to stay off it for a few days. Several years later I sprained my ankle back here in the States. Doctor took an x-ray and said how long ago did I fracture my ankle. Had no idea it was fractured in New Zealand, because to save money they just guessed it was sprained and sent me on my way. Still have problems with that ankle from time to time.

Also, no private rooms. Hospital wards with 8 to 20 people in them. Much cheaper that way. Emergency rooms. No way. Only way to hit an emergency room is on an ambulance. Get sick and you will get the cheapest drug first. Not the best drug. Hope it works.

Doctor screws up and don't even think about suing. They are employed and insured by the government. Think they will let you sue the federal government? Minor knee surgery. Here you will wait a couple of days. New Zealand 6 months. To save money they ration health care. Younger people first. Eldery go to the end of the line, because they have had long lives. Why waste money on someone who only has a few years to live.

Who wants to deal with the largest HMO in the world. The United States of America. No choice if you aren't happy. Can't change insurance companies. If you think government health care is so great think about the soilders who were living in the hospital in Washington D.C. with mold on the walls, rats, and paint peeling off the walls. Right under the noses of our elected officials. NO THANKS

I thought this would happen, mention Micheal Moore's name in a sentence and all he@@ breaks loose. I'm not interested in the politics. I was just wanting to know if current drivers approve or disapprove their current insurance coverage plans. :roll:

Some carrier's have more than one plan from which to choose. Others may only have a single plan. If there is a carrier that you are interested you may just want to get in touch with their human resources department and ask them.

I believe for those that think that nationalized healthcare is a bad idea because the government would have control over it are sadly misinformed. Guess what the government already has control over our health system. The special interests and the PACS of the insurance industry and the lawyers have the politicians in their back pocket that enables the aforementioned joe lunchbucket who paid his insuranse for 15 years without so much as a er visit, who now needs a surgery, to be told sorry bout your luck, but we can't cover that. Our government is in the healthcare biz allright but on the wrong end of the spectrum. Insurance points fingers at the lawyers, lawyers point fingers at the doctors and insurance folks, don't be fooled they all laugh all the way to the bank and tee up on Wednesday morning.

Ah yes , but we have the greatest healthcare system in the world you say. Do a google search and find out for yourself where USA ranks in several catagories,for instance like infant mortality, it was about 18th last time I checked.

Don't get me wrong,I'm not knocking the Doctors,RN's,LPN's,or any other profession that got an education and are dedicated to helping folks and true heros, but nowadays an upper tier insurance exec ,or a higher up HCA with an MBA makes more than the medically knowledgeable folks who really deserve it.

If national healthcare sucks so bad, why are blue-collar Canadians coming down to thier winter aka second home here on the expensive West Coast of Florida and driving nice cars. Leave it to your imagination .

Oh and to answer your question 40 shortie, I wasn't in the trucking industry at the time but Blue cross/blue sheild was good insurance, on the dental they did exactly what they said they would, free xray free exam, free cleaning and if I spent a $1000 they would match it. Years later i had a about a $ 5000 surgery they covered every penny and at first I got a bill saying we cover the surgery but not the anesthisia because about the time I had the surgery they just changed thier rules. I explained that they never notified me of the coverage change and even though they really didn't have to pay they reimbursed me a couple months later for the anesethia charge.

There's a difference between the plan and the level of care. I am quite satisfied with my plan- we pay for Blue Cross Blue Shield and the coverage is excellent. That doesn't address, however, that we have had some questionable experiences with health care providers. IMO it's always best to get treatment near home and always at the same place.

My husband had a recurring problem and, being on the road, kept getting different diagnosis/treatment plans. Finally we found someone who knew what the heck he was talking about and fixed the problem. That has nothing to do with BCBS, though. They paid through the nose for everyone else's mis-diagnoses and we didn't.

I sure is and it's free!

I work for a company that is "self-insuring" as are most in this industry, but what makes ours good is that it is managed by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of IL, and thus far....we are happy with it and how they pay the bills.

I know the prescription side of the coverage is excellent, and our family deductible is only $500.00...and I only pay $37.00 a week.

Some companies have more expensive and lousier coverage, and others may have less expensive and better coverage. Me, I think mine is above average, and satisfies my needs all the way around.

And yes, Teamsters Health Benefits are probably the best in the land!!

what good that government would have control if we are in an era of technology and we still have 30 people in line at the hospital just for information, not to mention medical tests ...

I think countries whose governments have and support healthcare systems have fewer healthcare problems compared to those countries that don't have. It is so unfortunate that poor individuals, poor families suffer the most because their government don't have any healthcare system.

Yeah, due to covid..

That's not only due to the covid, it happens when the country has a party/president who cannot take care of all spheres of life of its people to provide them with all the necessary services and just to have all the organs working properly and under control. So most of the time such countries have lots of paid health insurance. I personally purchased a paid one https://healthplan.co.uk/ (even if I live in the UK) because I don't work, I'm a trader and don't belong to a company that can cover my health insurance cost.

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