Market Farming

[Pat Meadows <pat AT meadows.pair.com>]

>I have been reading over all the medical insurance emails and I don't think
>I have seen anyone mention Medical Savings Accounts.  I just started reading
>about these, but I think the idea being that you have a low-cost, high
>deductible (limits set by the government) and then a tax free savings
>account (that I think can be invested in mutual funds or stocks as well)
>that you use to pay out of pocket expenses until you reach your deductible
>limit.  And the family plan is setup so that when the total expenses for ALL
>the members combined gets to the deductible limit, the plan kicks in to pay
>all the other expenses.  Any comments, or anyone actually using such a plan?
>whatever you don't spend rolls over for the next year so the account can
>grow, like an IRA.  When you get to 65, like an IRA, you get the money as
>income.  I guess you are on Medicare after that.
>

Comment:  a chronic illness can be vastly expensive.  Both
my husband and I have chronic illnesses.  

Mine is an auto-immune condition - cause:  unknown.  I don't
mean the cause for me *personally* is unknown, I mean that
modern medicine and science has no clue of the cause for
this condition in ANYONE.  (Lots of research has been done
to find reasons for auto-immune conditions, without much
success.  Research continues, of course.)

My husband has a chronic pain condition:  the cause is an
inoperable spinal deformity, probably present since birth.

I mention these details so you don't think you can
necessarily avoid chronic illnesses by good, healthy living,
etc.  You need good luck as well.  We didn't have good luck.

Now, the cost:  we have spent more than $9000/year for the
last six years on medical costs.  Out-of-pocket expenses.  

And - at that - we haven't used any of the *really*
expensive drugs such as the new drugs that prevent crippling
in people with rheumatoid arthritis.  $1200/month for some
of these 'wonder drugs'.

Can you pay $1200/month to prevent your child/wife/self from
becoming crippled?  I imagine you'd have a hell of a fight
to get an insurance company to pay for these drugs, too.
Ours (when we had them) never wanted to pay for any even
mildly expensive medications and we had to fight for each
one.  

We're now getting some medications free and some doctor
treatments at reduced rates so our costs will drop...but you
need to have a very low income for these and they are both
subject to changes in policy over which we have no control.
I.e., if the drug company decides to stop giving free drugs
to low-income patients, I cannot stop them.  And you don't
*want* to have this low an income, believe me.  

Unless you personally are in a position to save vast amounts
of money, I don't think an MSA is a good sole solution.  

An MSA combined with a very high-deductible insurance policy
($5000 deductible) to cover catastrophic illnesses might
work well, *if* you can get someone to insure you.  Those
with pre-existing conditions probably can't get this type of
insurance.  It isn't exactly cheap either.  

MSAs are - of course - not a solution for most Americans,
who don't have that kind of money.

Pat
-- 
"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of
supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to
live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry