# United Health Care



## imp (Nov 19, 2015)

Just saw news release United Health, biggest in the country (?) is about to pull out of Obamacare. They have recently lost hundreds of millions of dollars. 

*"(Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group Inc, the largest U.S. health insurer, warned on Thursday that it might stop selling individual health plans on the Obamacare exchanges in 2017, citing weak enrollment and high medical costs for people who did sign up."

*http://news.yahoo.com/health-insure...GNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDVUlDMV8xBHNlYwNzYw--


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## Son_of_Perdition (Nov 19, 2015)

I had UnitedHealth and switched after losing my enamored love affair with AARP and their endorsed payola.  I also didn't like the pencil whipping I took in 2011/12.  Changed in 2013 to a regional plan that is not as wide spread but has a lower maximum out-of-pocket limit and got a higher rating from my local PCP and Hospital.  I don't travel as much and my new plan is more widely accepted in the Northwest.


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## imp (Nov 19, 2015)

Maybe I'm f. o. s., but I can foresee the possibility of of the demise of the healthcare "shopping-place" as the competitive edge gives way to continuing losses. Then, the healthcare "insuror" will become the government. Private insurance companies exist to turn profits; governments, by nature, never do.   

Hey, Canadians! How is this sort of basket-weaving handled up there?   imp


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## Butterfly (Nov 19, 2015)

Here, many people dropped UHC because they had so much trouble getting them to pay their claims and many docs wouldn't accept this company's coverage any more.


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## Son_of_Perdition (Nov 19, 2015)

imp said:


> Maybe I'm f. o. s., but I can foresee the possibility of of the demise of the healthcare "shopping-place" as the competitive edge gives way to continuing losses. Then, the healthcare "insuror" will become the government. Private insurance companies exist to turn profits; governments, by nature, never do.
> 
> Hey, Canadians! How is this sort of basket-weaving handled up there?   imp



   I personally think we have painted ourselves into a corner with no escape.  Everything from a bottle of aspirins to major surgical procedures should be re-evaluated.  I'm sure that the creation of the healthcare industry has helped the costs of healthcare reach new heights.  During my hospitalization 2 mistakes were made one that could have caused a major set back and one not quite as dramatic but wasn't beneficial to me.  

When I had surgery in 2011 I was poked, prodded and pushed from here to there for additional tests.  Finally after I started to question the tests and refused a few of them they slowed down somewhat.  I was given blood thinners until I had a nose bleed that almost put me under, I asked my surgeon to rethink any additional injections and he agreed.  Prior to surgery I told them I reacted adversely to Zinc and when they tried to give me a second dose I refused.  I survived their mistakes, albeit most were accidental but caused issues.  

The other day I watched a commercial about a 1 a day pill to lower blood sugar and of course it followed with all the possible dire warnings about side effects.  I looked it up on the website I search for drug costs in our area and found that I could buy the most expensive long term/short acting insulin at full retail cheaper than I could buy a month's supply of the pills ($440 vs $530).  I also researched discovering that the $.18 glucose strips at Walmart are just as accurate as the $1.15 ones made by Bayer.  

There is a video we were talking about where they are interviewing someone, about drug costs.  What he was saying was that now the 'Baby Boomers' are entering their retirement years, you will see that prices for diabetic supplies dropping because the drug manufactures are realizing that the more repeat customers you can corral the higher your profits will be even at lower costs, the 3 main areas of health care with be for heart disease, cancer and diabetes.  We have an epidemic in obesity amongst the elderly and near elderly which leads to all the above maladies.  Competition for repeat customers will cause drug companies to realize that the more repeat customers they can maintain the more drugs they will sell, but if the costs are too high they will look elsewhere for the lowest price.  

When I was employed we had a training seminar that used examples of how Walmart controls many product lines, where they can dictate quality and price. Walmart's customer base represent lower income and by volume selling will reflect in higher income for Walmart simply because they will sell more in bulk and set prices lower for the drugs that treat those maladies.


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## WhatInThe (Nov 21, 2015)

imp said:


> Maybe I'm f. o. s., but I can foresee the possibility of of the demise of the healthcare "shopping-place" as the competitive edge gives way to continuing losses. Then, the healthcare "insuror" will become the government. Private insurance companies exist to turn profits; governments, by nature, never do.
> 
> Hey, Canadians! How is this sort of basket-weaving handled up there?   imp



In some respects this may have been part of the plan all along. They knew they couldn't go single payer right away so to phase it in or show a need they'll let the current ACA fail. Unless alternatives are offered or problems fixed unfortunately the government will become the defacto provider/payer.


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## Lon (Nov 21, 2015)

I am currently insured through UHC and will continue to be with my new Medicare Supplement Plan begining January 1 2016. I have had excellent service from UHC since 2000 and have no complaints.


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## Pappy (Nov 21, 2015)

United Healthcare has worked well for us because we can take it with us when we travel to NYS. When we decide to stay in Florida, we will look into a local Florida plan.


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## Don M. (Nov 21, 2015)

United is making noises about dropping their ACA participation....BCBS is abandoning many of its markets....many of the State exchanges that were formed as a result of the ACA are having severe financial troubles....the list of problems is increasing rapidly.  Next, we will see the government bailing out the insurers, much the same as it did during the financial crisis in 2007/2008 with Wall Street banks.  

In the U.S., we pay twice as much for health care as most of the rest of the civilized world...and the last ranking by the WHO (World Health Organization) placed the U.S. at about number 34...in terms of overall quality of health care, and value received for our dollars.  

The ACA (Obamacare) is a Poor Half A$$ed attempt to revise our health care system, and it was largely written by the Health Care Industry Lobbyists...so as to continue this ripoff of the American People.  

If there is Any Positive side to the ACA, it is the fact that it is going to so totally screw up our present system, and drive more and more people into bankruptcy....Until this nation has No choice but to learn from the experiences of the other nations, and adopt a sensible SP-UHC system that is NOT driven by the Almighty Dollar.  I predict that day will come within the next decade...maybe by the end of this decade.


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## Ken N Tx (Dec 18, 2015)

Lon said:


> I am currently insured through UHC and will continue to be with my new Medicare Supplement Plan begining January 1 2016. I have had excellent service from UHC since 2000 and have no complaints.



We have UHC Drug plan...We just received notice that our premiums just went up $11 a Month each!! It was nice of them to do this just *AFTER* open enrollment shut off!!!


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## Dudewho (Dec 18, 2015)

WhatInThe said:


> In some respects this may have been part of the plan all along. They knew they couldn't go single payer right away so to phase it in or show a need they'll let the current ACA fail. Unless alternatives are offered or problems fixed unfortunately the government will become the defacto provider/payer.



If the plan was to go single payer all long it will never work here in this country. We have open borders where anybody is allowed access into this country and and we're supposed to give them free healthcare. It's not hard to do simple math and realize you will have more takers than givers and go bankrupt. We simply do not have enough Rich to tax. 

Maybe we can import some Donald Trumps? Well on second thought....


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## Butterfly (Dec 18, 2015)

Dudewho said:


> If the plan was to go single payer all long it will never work here in this country. We have open borders where anybody is allowed access into this country and and we're supposed to give them free healthcare. It's not hard to do simple math and realize you will have more takers than givers and go bankrupt. We simply do not have enough Rich to tax.
> 
> Maybe we can import some Donald Trumps? Well on second thought....



It is a common misconception that undocumented aliens are entitled to fee healthcare.  This is NOT TRUE.  They are only entitled to healthcare in the case of life threatening conditions of an emergency nature and public health issues (do you really want somebody with pneumonic plague walking around coughing on you?).


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## Dudewho (Dec 27, 2015)

Butterfly said:


> It is a common misconception that undocumented aliens are entitled to fee healthcare.  This is NOT TRUE.  They are only entitled to healthcare in the case of life threatening conditions of an emergency nature and public health issues (do you really want somebody with pneumonic plague walking around coughing on you?).



That's one of the reasons why we need to close the border.


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