Premiums up, profits up, employers paying the tab

Oddly enough I have zero idea how much insulin costs. It does not say on the vials or cartridges. I asked once at the pharmacy and was told they would have to look it up. Do you suppose if I knew that it was expensive or inexpensive I just might have a different perspective or attitude about it in each of those cases?

I do know that novofine needles cost about a hundred dollars a box because when I asked about that the pharmacist knew the answer.

Strips are of course sold in a display case so I can see the price on that - yikes a dollar a strip. And we use about ten per day. Even though I don't have to pay for them just knowing they are expensive makes me wary about wasting them - I am just naturally frugal and don't like to waste anything. I just makes me cringe every time we get an error message on the meter. Then this year the school scheduled recess and gym at the worst possible times so we have to test more than we would otherwise have to.

If you go to www.Childrenwithdiabetes.com you will see lots of people complaining that the insurance companies are trying to limit how many strips they can use. I got one of those letters too and had to have the clinic get special authorization i.e. jump through hoops to get more strips. Given how expensive they are I have no doubt the insurers want to limit how many people use. I also have no doubt that there are some people who just dont give a hoot how many they use or waste making collages out of.
I think this answers Dogtowner's question about the cost of insulin. Most of the customers don't know what it costs. What incentive do the manufacturers have to charge a reasonable price in such a market?

This is what drives up the cost of medicines, along with the fact that there is no alternative to purchasing them. You must have the insulin, there is no real alternative. Most goods are either not necessities of life, or have a substitute. You have to eat, for example, but if the cost of eggs rises to $10 each, we'll all eat something else. When it comes to meds, we don't have that option.
 
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Oddly enough I have zero idea how much insulin costs. It does not say on the vials or cartridges. I asked once at the pharmacy and was told they would have to look it up. Do you suppose if I knew that it was expensive or inexpensive I just might have a different perspective or attitude about it in each of those cases?

I do know that novofine needles cost about a hundred dollars a box because when I asked about that the pharmacist knew the answer.

Strips are of course sold in a display case so I can see the price on that - yikes a dollar a strip. And we use about ten per day. Even though I don't have to pay for them just knowing they are expensive makes me wary about wasting them - I am just naturally frugal and don't like to waste anything. I just makes me cringe every time we get an error message on the meter. Then this year the school scheduled recess and gym at the worst possible times so we have to test more than we would otherwise have to.

If you go to www.Childrenwithdiabetes.com you will see lots of people complaining that the insurance companies are trying to limit how many strips they can use. I got one of those letters too and had to have the clinic get special authorization i.e. jump through hoops to get more strips. Given how expensive they are I have no doubt the insurers want to limit how many people use. I also have no doubt that there are some people who just dont give a hoot how many they use or waste making collages out of.


Insulin is in the top of three co-pay tiers I have to pay. I could probably look through the paperwork to see the actual cost but the bottom line is that its far in excess of the generic meds we get and has been in production far longer.

I am starting to question the price of strips as well as that tech is not new either. Imagine life before in home blood sugar testing (as it was for many years for wife's mother). These things are kind of miraculous but lets face it, the patent period is over.

Might want to consider the insulin pens, I think the needles are cheaper. A pump may also be worth considering.
 
What you found has to do with misrepresentation by the insured. If you have a disease, and say you don't, then the insurer can drop you. There is nothing that says that they have to renew your policy, however.

What is the term of you policies?

After that term is up, what law says that they have to renew?

Now that I searched using the word "non-renewal" I got better results.

It does appear that they can choose not to renew a policy as long s they give notice and don't discriminate unless you buy one of these:

Renewal of Health Policies--Several types of health policies may be automatically renewed. Guaranteed renewable health insurance policies permit the policyholder to continue coverage for a stated period as long as the premiums are paid. Insurers may raise premiums on these policies. Noncancellable policies are guaranteed renewable for a stated period at a guaranteed premium. An optionally renewable policy is one under which the insurer retains some right to refuse renewal. Premiums may be raised. Some health policies are not renewable.

If I had an individual policy I would clearly want to buy a noncancellable policy and would even be willing to pay some amount more for it.
 
I think this answers Dogtowner's question about the cost of insulin. Most of the customers don't know what it costs. What incentive do the manufacturers have to charge a reasonable price in such a market?

This is what drives up the cost of medicines, along with the fact that there is no alternative to purchasing them. You must have the insulin, there is no real alternative. Most goods are either not necessities of life, or have a substitute. You have to eat, for example, but if the cost of eggs rises to $10 each, we'll all eat something else. When it comes to meds, we don't have that option.


Price fixing huh ? Could be. But I was under the impression that was illegal. I know guys from Coca-Cola that went to prison for it. If only law enforcement were interested in this than shutting down lemonade stands...
 
Price fixing huh ? Could be. But I was under the impression that was illegal. I know guys from Coca-Cola that went to prison for it. If only law enforcement were interested in this than shutting down lemonade stands...

Pot and 70 in a 65 are illegal as well. Yes, if only...
 
Now that I searched using the word "non-renewal" I got better results.

It does appear that they can choose not to renew a policy as long s they give notice and don't discriminate unless you buy one of these:

Renewal of Health Policies--Several types of health policies may be automatically renewed. Guaranteed renewable health insurance policies permit the policyholder to continue coverage for a stated period as long as the premiums are paid. Insurers may raise premiums on these policies. Noncancellable policies are guaranteed renewable for a stated period at a guaranteed premium. An optionally renewable policy is one under which the insurer retains some right to refuse renewal. Premiums may be raised. Some health policies are not renewable.

If I had an individual policy I would clearly want to buy a noncancellable policy and would even be willing to pay some amount more for it.

Clearly, it is worth more.

However, if they raise the rates beyond the patient's ability to pay, it is de facto cancelled anyway.
 
In my universe, the phrase:



means that the insurer can raise the rates.

What does it mean in your universe?

If it had been followed by a ":" it would have meant that it applied to the sentence following it. But the way it was written it only applied to the part before it.
 
If it had been followed by a ":" it would have meant that it applied to the sentence following it. But the way it was written it only applied to the part before it.

I hope that works out for you. When they say, "the insurer may raise the rates", it usually means, "the insurer will raise the rates."
 
I hope that works out for you. When they say, "the insurer may raise the rates", it usually means, "the insurer will raise the rates."

I agree to the extent that a legally binding contract and competition allows them to that they will. In this case we were talking about contracts that for a stated period cannot have their rates raised.
if they raise the rates in violation of the contract then the legitimate purpose of gov is to enforce the contract.
 
I agree to the extent that a legally binding contract and competition allows them to that they will. In this case we were talking about contracts that for a stated period cannot have their rates raised.
if they raise the rates in violation of the contract then the legitimate purpose of gov is to enforce the contract.

Correct. and no one is going to make a contract with a term longer than a year. The idea of buying insurance when you're young and healthy and keeping it when you get old and have issues is not an option.
 
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Correct. and no one is going to make a contract with a term longer than a year. The idea of buying insurance when you're young and healthy and keeping it when you get old and have issues is not an option.

I was about to ask if you just make this stuff up then I realized that what you are doing is stating conjecture as if it were confirmed fact. I have no doubt that based on your expectations of the world you believe this to be fact.

However here is a quote describing such a policy:

"A noncancellable individual health insurance plan is one that will cover you as long as you continue to pay the monthly premiums."

You will note that it says a noncancellable policy cannot be canceled as long as you pay.

Read more: Can an Individual Health Insurance Policy Be Canceled? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8378590_can-health-insurance-policy-canceled.html#ixzz1Zv4lIkZZ


http://www.ehow.com/info_8378590_can-health-insurance-policy-canceled.html

Here is an actual definition:

"Definition of "Noncancellable Policy"

A policy that guarantees you can receive insurance, as long as you pay the premium. It is also called a guaranteed renewable policy."

http://www.totalreturnannuities.com/annuity-glossary/n/noncancellable-policy.html

Here is a second definition from a business dictionary:

"noncancellable insurance policy

insurance contract that cannot be cancelled by the insurance company . Since the insurance policy is a unilateral contract instead of a bilateral contract , the insured may cancel at will. Only the insurer makes a promise of future performance and only the insurer can be charged with breach of contract."

Source: http://www.allbusiness.com/glossaries/noncancellable-insurance-policy/4957354-1.html#ixzz1Zv5dU184


In the countries most regulated industry one would expect that the word noncanellable would mean noncancellable and in this case it actually does.

So, is it possible that a young and healthy person would buy a policy and keep it until they are old? Read this:

Pursuant to 26 CFR 1.801-3 (c) ...Noncancellable Life, Health, or Accident Insurance Policy means “a health and accident contract, or a health and accident contract combined with a life insurance or annuity contract, which the insurance company is under an obligation to renew or continue at a specified premium and with respect to which a reserve in addition to the unearned premiums (as defined in paragraph (e) of this section) must be carried to cover that obligation. Such a health and accident contract shall be considered noncancellable even though it states a termination date at a stipulated age, if, with respect to the health and accident contract, such age termination date is 60 or over. Such a contract, however, shall not be considered to be noncancellable after the age termination date stipulated in the contract has passed. However, if the age termination date stipulated in the contract occurs during the period covered by a premium received by the life insurance company prior to such date, and the company cannot cancel or modify the contract during such period, the age termination date shall be deemed to occur at the expiration of the period for which the premium has been received.”

http://definitions.uslegal.com/n/no...r-accident-insurance-policy-internal-revenue/

It appears that the law covering such policies expects that some may keep a policy until age 60 unless the person is already old when they take the contract in which case they company must honor it anyway.

Can a person who gets one of these when they are young keep it until they are old? Yes. Can he keep it until he is really old? probably not. But we should bear in mind that the stated intent of these polcies is to cover individuals while they are waiting to be enrolled in group policies. Surely, 20, 30, 40 years is enough time for a person to find a way to get a group policy.

[if anyone wonders why the facts I post are so often right and so rarely wrong it is because BEFORE I make a post that includes a fact I usually do an internet search to verify what I am about to say. Most of those times I also bookmark the source so I can later prove that I don't just make stuff up or commit the less serious offense of posting conjecture as fact. The belief that conjecture is fact is imo the most common logical error of our time]
 
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