I only have one thing to say about the insurance madness of the upcoming legislative session: ha.
But,
there are two interesting tidbits relating to health insurance that
have come up in this house over the last few days, thanks to surprising
missives from bothWSHIP (which I pronounce as much like WASSUP as possible) and Sweetie's insurance provider, Lifewise.
Tidbit 1: WSHIP informs me that they have recently fiddled with the
health insurance questionnaire that people have to fill out to get
individual coverage in this state. The way the questionnaire has worked
for the last few years: Points are assigned relating to various
existing medical conditions. There is an invisible sliding scale based
on what the condition is, and whether it's happening now, a year ago,
or in the last 10 years. This causes trouble for me because, while the
vast majority of my health problems are stable and inexpensive, they
count as "happening now" as I take prescription medication to keep them
stable and inexpensive. All themeds are generics, even. The changes to
the form: conditions stop being tracked at 5 years rather than 10;
also, the points have been reassigned, so perhaps a stable-but-chronic
condition like mine won't be as big of a deal. No promises for me, as I
am about 275 points over the number that would allow me to get non-WSHIP insurance and that would mean some really remarkable changes to that form.
Tidbit 2: This one sent Sweetie into one of his rare conniption fits.
As of now, anyone whose insurance is expiring because of COBRA isn't
required to fill in the questionnaire in the first place. My health
insurance for 8 years was via Sweetie's job; when he quit it flipped
for 18 months to COBRA; when that expired, I failed the questionnaire
and have had to pay preposterous monthly sums ever since. Now, if he'd
quit his job 18 months ago or less, I would be paying about $250/month
for health insurance, nearly 1/3 what I currently pay each month.
For the record, COBRA insurance averages 150% of typical premiums and you are required to expire it before qualifying for WSHIP
individual insurance. While it's hard to sort out, from our former
$700+/month COBRA payment how much was for Sweetie and how much for me,
it's safe to say that onWSHIP I pay more like 175%.
(As a side note to all this, it might be tempting to say, well, that
Boom, she's been in the hospital a few times, so she SHOULD pay more. I
will ask you if you are, or are in a relationship with, a woman who's
had a kid in a hospital. If so, we are even, or overall expense might
be in my favor. Pregnancy, weirdly, is not considered a medical
condition, even though it is.)
With Tidbit 1, I expect this
will help a number of people out, and I am doubtful it'll be good news
for my monthly expenditures. It's impossible to say until I see the
results of the new questionnaire and compare its point ratings for my
existing woes.
Tidbit 2 is exceptionally great news--just not for me. Health insurance
should be tied to the person, not to the person's job. Duh.
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