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Question for older(ish) folks on here: what was standard health insurance like decades ago
Posted on 2/23/25 at 12:03 am
Posted on 2/23/25 at 12:03 am
I came across this post on r/askolderpeople and was wondering if it was also your experience?
Do the bolded parts jive with your own experience? Was health insurance in your younger years basically just catastrophic and affordable, and you paid cash or credit for routine services?
quote:
What we call health "insurance" today isn't really insurance -- it's the pre-payment for medical needs, averaged out among the subscribers.
A few decades ago it really WAS insurance. It covered surgeries, expensive tests and procedures, etc. And, of course, it wasn't that costly.
Now it covers everything so it costs through the roof. Is a doctor's visit for a cold or a physical a "catastrophic, unpredictable" event? Of course not, but "insurance" covers it so there goes the premium.
Problem #2: Because the true cost of medical events is largely unknown to the recipient -- because it is paid for by a 3rd party -- there is no market pressure to keep costs down. If the insurance company (or gov't) allows a doctor to charge "X" for some event, then "X" it will be.
But this all lost to people today. Even older people who well remember how it used to be. Years ago people did not sit around daily discussing health insurance because it wasn't an issue. Most employers provided it as a benefit because it wasn't that expensive.
The only solution is to have health "insurance" be actual insurance, and have people pay for average medical needs out of their pocket like they pay for tires, furniture, clothing, etc. -- this would bring back market pressures to the providers, pushing costs down.
But it will never happen anytime soon. The public is too brainwashed to understand any of it.
Do the bolded parts jive with your own experience? Was health insurance in your younger years basically just catastrophic and affordable, and you paid cash or credit for routine services?
29
Posted on 2/23/25 at 12:10 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
Sadly, unexpected health events would wreck your future if you were 35 or younger just 10 years ago. It’s a sad reality that the healthcare system is so profittized to destroy your life even still. Thanks Obama. Literally, thanks Obama. Weed all be bankrupt otherwise. frick the neigh sayers
Posted on 2/23/25 at 12:13 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
But it will never happen anytime soon. The public is too brainwashed to understand any of it.
The public is really dumb. Most people on employer based plans don't realize how many plans are subsidized.
I will say, I loathe medical billing. It's a racket. It's confusing by design and also by design to take months to bill you for added confusion.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 12:18 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
It was nice to pay a premium, get lab work done, or an XRay, then NOT get a bill in the mail for the balance of what the insurance companies didn’t pay. The insurance agreement used to say it was fraud if the labs or doctors charged you beyond the “negotiated price.” Now the motherfrickers nickle and dime you after tests and visits and shite. Mostly tests.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 12:51 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
You might not get many good answers. I've had employer-provided insurance since I was 22. But, being young and healthy, I never went to the doctor back then, so I don't know what the deductibles or copays might have been.
When I was a kid, however, and needed vaccinations, we always went to the county health department, where they were free.
When I was a kid, however, and needed vaccinations, we always went to the county health department, where they were free.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 12:53 am to Rambler
Was your first employer-provided health plan a catastrophic plan or a plan like today that covers most medical expenses?
Posted on 2/23/25 at 12:59 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
When I entered the work force over theee decades ago, the company I went to work for paid 100% of my insurance on me, and 50% for the rest of my family.
In the late 2000’s that all changed.
In the late 2000’s that all changed.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 1:09 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
I think it covered most expenses, but I really don't remember. I probably went 10 years without ever stepping foot inside a doctor's office so never had to deal with it.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 1:19 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
The big difference in the 70s was medical care hadn't been corporatized, it was still sole practioners or small partnerships. In the 80s that started changing and has now become medical care whose sole purpose is to maximize profits.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 1:37 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
Employer provided. Comprehensive. No co-pays.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 6:34 am to Dalosaqy
For one thing, you had to file your own paperwork. The doctor's office didn't do it for you. Talk about a pain in the arse.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 6:40 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:This is the issue and “X” goes up each year.
Problem #2: Because the true cost of medical events is largely unknown to the recipient -- because it is paid for by a 3rd party -- there is no market pressure to keep costs down. If the insurance company (or gov't) allows a doctor to charge "X" for some event, then "X" it will be.
This post was edited on 2/23/25 at 6:41 am
Posted on 2/23/25 at 6:41 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
Blue Cross health insurance in1987 was around $98 a month go to any doctor you wanted and it covered almost everything. I don’t remember drugsallI ever got was antibiotics.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 6:41 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
Growing up and early adult life, we paid for routine doctor visits and prescriptions out of our pocket - no insurance involved. My employer provided free insurance for me, my wife, and our children w/very low deductibles and this was used only for hospital/emergency room visits.
Once the left and rinos discovered they could control healthcare and get donations from pharma and doctors' lobbyists, coverage expanded and premiums started to rise, culminating with barry-care. Suddenly, we are providing "free" healthcare to everyone, paying high premiums with high deductibles for much worse healthcare services and results.
If the goal had really been to help the poor obtain healthcare, that could have been done without ruining the healthcare most working families had and were happy with - but again, the goal was control and the worse results were benefits to the left and rinos.
Once the left and rinos discovered they could control healthcare and get donations from pharma and doctors' lobbyists, coverage expanded and premiums started to rise, culminating with barry-care. Suddenly, we are providing "free" healthcare to everyone, paying high premiums with high deductibles for much worse healthcare services and results.
If the goal had really been to help the poor obtain healthcare, that could have been done without ruining the healthcare most working families had and were happy with - but again, the goal was control and the worse results were benefits to the left and rinos.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 7:08 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
Obesity and its many complications has wrecked our healthcare and insurance system. We didn’t have nearly the Obesity rates nor did we have thousands of prescription medications (because they weren’t needed) 50 years ago either. Everything can be traced to increasing obesity rates in this country. We are a very obese sick and unhealthy population that is on a litany of prescription medications just to stay alive and function and it has completely wrecked all aspects of healthcare. The second issue is allowing low iq Illegal Immigrants to use hospital emergency rooms as their primary care doctors. Remove the Obesity and remove the Illegal Immigrants and healthcare/insurance costs would plummet.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 7:09 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
It was insurance. And you worked with doctors, not hospitals specializing on profits.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 7:14 am to Tygerdrawpings
quote:
just 10 years ago
quote:
Thanks Obama. Literally, thanks Obama.
quote:
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010.
2025-2010 = ???????
Posted on 2/23/25 at 7:27 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
When my younger brother was born in 1968, think the total cost for prenatal through postnatal care was $200.
When I was five (around the same time) I cut my hand open on a bottle (sinking a model battleship) on a Saturday.
Dad called the doctors answering service, doc met us at the office and sewed my hand up for a flat $20 fee. Natchitoches, LA.
Still remember the doctors name. Dr Seal, just off Front st not too far from Library.
When I was five (around the same time) I cut my hand open on a bottle (sinking a model battleship) on a Saturday.
Dad called the doctors answering service, doc met us at the office and sewed my hand up for a flat $20 fee. Natchitoches, LA.
Still remember the doctors name. Dr Seal, just off Front st not too far from Library.
Posted on 2/23/25 at 7:43 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
Sucked it up and drove on. Didn't need no stinking doctor, bunch of quacks!
Posted on 2/23/25 at 8:02 am to HailHailtoMichigan!
Back in the late 90s, early 2000s, BC/BS insurance was less than $100 per pay period. And that was for family coverage. If you got sick and had to visit the Dr., you had a $20 co-pay. Your prescription was like $3 -$5. If you had to be admitted to the hospital, it would. cost you $100.
For example, when my wife was pregnant in 2001 with our first child, for the last month or so of the pregnancy, I made sure to keep a $100 bill tucked away in my wallet to take care of the hospital co-pay. When the time came, due to last minute complications, she ended up having to have an emergency c-section. She and our son had to stay on the hospital for an additional 2 days on top of the routine time. When they were discharged, right before we left, I went down to the hospital business office gave them that $100 bill which squared up everything I owed.
But that was before this guy “fixed” healthcare…
For example, when my wife was pregnant in 2001 with our first child, for the last month or so of the pregnancy, I made sure to keep a $100 bill tucked away in my wallet to take care of the hospital co-pay. When the time came, due to last minute complications, she ended up having to have an emergency c-section. She and our son had to stay on the hospital for an additional 2 days on top of the routine time. When they were discharged, right before we left, I went down to the hospital business office gave them that $100 bill which squared up everything I owed.
But that was before this guy “fixed” healthcare…
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