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Showing posts with label insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insurance. Show all posts
Wednesday 23 October 2013
Friday 24 April 2009
How much?
How much would the following cost?
2 emergency room visits
30 blood pressure tests
20 blood extractions
60 blood tests
20 electro-cardio grams
2 angioplasty procedures--one stent implant
1 nasal packing procedure, subsequent removal
24/7 nursing care for 1 week
7 days and nights in hospital
1 nasal swab analysis
1 rectal swab analysis
10 consultations with various doctors, including cardiologists
30 pills of various sorts (one of which is $10 a pop)
transportation back and forth between two hospitals
3 visits with a psychiatrist
follow-up visit with family doctor
follow-up visit with cardiologist
I probably missed something, but the above is enough to make my point.
Answer:
It depends on where you live.
For the 75 million Americans who have little or no health insurance, the above costs associated with an "average" heart attack might run over $100,000. I have to estimate the cost because as a card-holding communist of Canada, the hospital did not present me with an invoice. My comrades paid a few cents apiece to cover the entire cost just as I have been doing through my taxes for anyone else who has been unfortunate enough to have experienced a heart attack. The thing is, I never missed whatever part of my taxes went to paying for other people's medical costs. I wouldn't want anyone to be saddled with costs like this. It's enough to give you a heart attack.
To my American friends: I hope you all have insurance and I wish you all good health.
By the way, my son (living in Dallas) told me this evening that Obama has levied a huge tax on tobacco. It was enough for my son to vow to quit smoking as soon as his current supply runs out. Yes, we can!
2 emergency room visits
30 blood pressure tests
20 blood extractions
60 blood tests
20 electro-cardio grams
2 angioplasty procedures--one stent implant
1 nasal packing procedure, subsequent removal
24/7 nursing care for 1 week
7 days and nights in hospital
1 nasal swab analysis
1 rectal swab analysis
10 consultations with various doctors, including cardiologists
30 pills of various sorts (one of which is $10 a pop)
transportation back and forth between two hospitals
3 visits with a psychiatrist
follow-up visit with family doctor
follow-up visit with cardiologist
I probably missed something, but the above is enough to make my point.
Answer:
It depends on where you live.
For the 75 million Americans who have little or no health insurance, the above costs associated with an "average" heart attack might run over $100,000. I have to estimate the cost because as a card-holding communist of Canada, the hospital did not present me with an invoice. My comrades paid a few cents apiece to cover the entire cost just as I have been doing through my taxes for anyone else who has been unfortunate enough to have experienced a heart attack. The thing is, I never missed whatever part of my taxes went to paying for other people's medical costs. I wouldn't want anyone to be saddled with costs like this. It's enough to give you a heart attack.
To my American friends: I hope you all have insurance and I wish you all good health.
By the way, my son (living in Dallas) told me this evening that Obama has levied a huge tax on tobacco. It was enough for my son to vow to quit smoking as soon as his current supply runs out. Yes, we can!
Wednesday 8 April 2009
You may be already be a winner!
Okay, there's nothing to win here, but read on and you might save a few hundred bucks...
I switched to a new car insurance company a few years ago after my then current company raised my rate to a level that seemed to me unreasonable. I switched to CAA since I was a member (I believe it is the same as AAA in the U.S.), and got an unbelievably lower rate. If memory serves, it was in the order of $450 per year less.
It's up for renewal next month and although the new rate isn't unreasonable, I was thinking of maybe checking out Grey Power whose ads (in this area) can be seen everywhere. It is for safe drivers over 50 and promises savings of $300 or more. I mentioned this to my daughter as we were driving one day and she told me about (How about that--a "Grey Power" commercial has just come on TV at this very moment.) a website that will do the insurance comparison shopping for you.
As soon as I got home, I went to the Kanetix website, entered my information in about two minutes and immediately got quotes from about seven insurance companies. There was only one quote that was lower than the one from CAA, and get this--they provided one from CAA, also, and it was right on to the dollar as the one on my renewal form. The sole lower quote was only about $13 less--not enough for me to go to the trouble of changing. Just so you know, the Grey Power quote was exactly $299 more than what my insurance company is asking.
There are two sister websites--one for Canada and one for the United States. You just enter your Zip/Postal code and off you go.
I switched to a new car insurance company a few years ago after my then current company raised my rate to a level that seemed to me unreasonable. I switched to CAA since I was a member (I believe it is the same as AAA in the U.S.), and got an unbelievably lower rate. If memory serves, it was in the order of $450 per year less.
It's up for renewal next month and although the new rate isn't unreasonable, I was thinking of maybe checking out Grey Power whose ads (in this area) can be seen everywhere. It is for safe drivers over 50 and promises savings of $300 or more. I mentioned this to my daughter as we were driving one day and she told me about (How about that--a "Grey Power" commercial has just come on TV at this very moment.) a website that will do the insurance comparison shopping for you.
As soon as I got home, I went to the Kanetix website, entered my information in about two minutes and immediately got quotes from about seven insurance companies. There was only one quote that was lower than the one from CAA, and get this--they provided one from CAA, also, and it was right on to the dollar as the one on my renewal form. The sole lower quote was only about $13 less--not enough for me to go to the trouble of changing. Just so you know, the Grey Power quote was exactly $299 more than what my insurance company is asking.
There are two sister websites--one for Canada and one for the United States. You just enter your Zip/Postal code and off you go.
Sunday 15 March 2009
The world has gone mad
Insurance giant AIG reported the largest corporate loss in history in the fourth quarter--a whopping $61.7 billion! You'd think that would be enough for them to slash salaries across the board, right? Wrong. They are handing out $165 million in bonuses mostly to members of the group responsible for the massive losses stemming from risky credit default swaps. Doh!
The kicker is that AIG was given $170 billion (yes, with a "b") in bailout money to help keep it afloat. These executives keep singing the same, tired song. We need to give bonuses so that we can retain the best talent. Duh! If you had any talent on board at all, you wouldn't be in this mess.
Here's a radical idea: Fire all those responsible for the current mess you find yourselves in and hire three truly talented individuals for every four dead wood you fire and pay each of the new hires 25% more. Here's another insane idea: Pay according to performance. What, common sense is not a pre-req to getting an MBA?
The kicker is that AIG was given $170 billion (yes, with a "b") in bailout money to help keep it afloat. These executives keep singing the same, tired song. We need to give bonuses so that we can retain the best talent. Duh! If you had any talent on board at all, you wouldn't be in this mess.
Here's a radical idea: Fire all those responsible for the current mess you find yourselves in and hire three truly talented individuals for every four dead wood you fire and pay each of the new hires 25% more. Here's another insane idea: Pay according to performance. What, common sense is not a pre-req to getting an MBA?
Saturday 6 September 2008
You're in good hands...or are you?
In a recent Allstate car insurance commercial, they explain that they reward their clients with a good driving record by sending them a cheque each year if they did not get into an accident. I have no idea how much the cheque might be for, but regardless, let's think about this, shall we?
Do you believe that Allstate had all this extra cash laying around that they wanted to get rid of? Do you believe that Allstate's premiums are equal to or lower than other car insurance companies and they give away cash to their customers? Let's face it--what they're probably doing is raising rates just a bit across the board, taking that extra cash and redistributing it to the good drivers. That's all well and good if you happen to go year after year without an accident. You can bet your bottom dollar, and you will if you have an accident, that if they are rewarding the good rivers, logic says that they must be penalizing the "bad" drivers by an equal amount just to break even.
Further pondering suggests that not only are you just getting back your own money (if you go accident-free), they've also been kind enough to store it in safe-keeping for you for a whole year. When you get that first cheque, ask them what happened to the interest they earned on your money.
Do you believe that Allstate had all this extra cash laying around that they wanted to get rid of? Do you believe that Allstate's premiums are equal to or lower than other car insurance companies and they give away cash to their customers? Let's face it--what they're probably doing is raising rates just a bit across the board, taking that extra cash and redistributing it to the good drivers. That's all well and good if you happen to go year after year without an accident. You can bet your bottom dollar, and you will if you have an accident, that if they are rewarding the good rivers, logic says that they must be penalizing the "bad" drivers by an equal amount just to break even.
Further pondering suggests that not only are you just getting back your own money (if you go accident-free), they've also been kind enough to store it in safe-keeping for you for a whole year. When you get that first cheque, ask them what happened to the interest they earned on your money.
Monday 18 August 2008
A very attractive girl
...in the TV commercial for an insurance company says "Call me for a free quote."
What, exactly, is a free quote? Are some insurance companies charging for a quote? Imagine this concept applied to other businesses...
You walk into a candy store, browse around for a minute and then ask:
"How much per pound are these?"
The crotchety, old man says "$8.99".
You say "Thanks" and look around a bit more. You don't see anything that interests you, so you walk toward the door.
"Ahem...that'll be 45 cents, please!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You're in the dentist's chair and you mention you've been thinking about getting veneers. He reaches into a drawer and shows you photos of clients who got the work done and gives you a ball park figure. He adds $35 to your invoice.
Next, I'm going to research how much companies who do not give "a free gift" charge for their gifts.
What, exactly, is a free quote? Are some insurance companies charging for a quote? Imagine this concept applied to other businesses...
You walk into a candy store, browse around for a minute and then ask:
"How much per pound are these?"
The crotchety, old man says "$8.99".
You say "Thanks" and look around a bit more. You don't see anything that interests you, so you walk toward the door.
"Ahem...that'll be 45 cents, please!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You're in the dentist's chair and you mention you've been thinking about getting veneers. He reaches into a drawer and shows you photos of clients who got the work done and gives you a ball park figure. He adds $35 to your invoice.
Next, I'm going to research how much companies who do not give "a free gift" charge for their gifts.
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