Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: health insurance

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Posted by Mark Maxwell (Member # 1355) on 03-30-2003, 01:35 AM:

i had asked my boss a couple of times in the past few months wondering about my health insurance. he said he didn't know much about it because he gets his through military retirement. I was eligible 10 months ago, but never recieved any paperwork or anything because he never followed through. my arm went through a window, severed some arteries, i almost died. if you thought the begining to ghost ship was bad, tryimagining all of that blood spraying out of your arm. it's all over my apartment, the parking lot, my truck, my brothers place, and his truck. i went into sugery for a few hours and for the next month or so my right arm is gimped out. because i asked about my insurance and never got a good answer, are they still responsible.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-30-2003, 02:05 AM:

Very sorry to hear about your accident. How long will it take for your arm to fully heal? Are you "bedridden" so to say? Be sure and do whatever the doctors say to get better soon.

Posted by Aldo Baez (Member # 790) on 03-30-2003, 02:08 AM:

Ouch, hope everything turns out ok.. did this happen at work or at your apartment I've never had to use my insurance before but it should be ok if this happened at work right?

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 03-30-2003, 02:10 AM:

I can't give you any legal advice except to say you should talk to a lawyer about it.

What Brad said -- take care of yourself and help yourself to heal. Focus on that and then worry about the legal ramifications when you're on the comeback trail.

Get well soon.

Keep us posted on your recovery.

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 03-30-2003, 02:11 AM:

Glad to hear you're ok Mark. I had a similar accident...I severed three tendons in my left hand a couple years ago (I'm a lefty). The healing process is difficult--just make sure you keep up on your physical therapy.

Not sure what the rules are for them covering you...were you told you would get insurance when you were hired because they are not required by law to offer it. If the do not offer it, you have the opportunity to apply for State Aid. Thats how it works in Massachusetts as to the best of my knowledge.

Not sure what happened with you exactly but I don't think they have to cover you unless the accident was at work.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 03-30-2003, 02:12 AM:

Sorry to hear that! I hope you get well soon. How did you do that stunt?
You should ask a lawyer. You can not walk around without health insurance!!! You could have an even worse accident and it is easy to amass medical bills which take several lifetimes to pay off!

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 03-30-2003, 02:20 AM:

From what I understand even if they offer you insurance I think you may still have to sign the insurance contract for the group insurance plan and have them submit it to the insurance provider. Until then you do not have insurance. Trying to get insurance to cover an injury that occured before an insurance policy is issued is hard to do. However, you may be able to get things covered like medicines for the injury without hassle. The important thing is to consult a lawyer with the matter of insurance benafits through your work. One thing to note when you do get insurance through the job it is illegal to cut the person off from insurance all together if you are let go for any reason. It must be rolled over to what is call a Cobra plan for a period of time in order for a person to seek new coverage.

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 03-30-2003, 07:26 AM:

Mark,
I must have missed this post earlier. Sorry to hear about your arm.. hope you don't have any permanent damage. As for the insurance, most of the time, there si a probationary period on employees who would be elegible for insurance. By your employer letting you know that you were eligible and then not following up on it, whether by their dropping the ball or your not being persistent enough, I really don't see how they could be held accountable in any way. Then again, I still don't understand all the frivolous lawsuits filed and won these days. [Confused]

I guess it's the (ahem) liberal judicial system..... [Eek!]

As previously posted, it'll also be very hard to get current/future ins. policy to cover any pre-existing condition(s).

Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 03-30-2003, 10:46 AM:

Consumer Reports On Health, 2003 April, Vol. 15, No. 4:

Health-insurance help

"HealthCareCoach.com is a new web site designed to help consumers navigate the labyrinthine U.S. health-care system. A project of the nonprofit National Health Law Program, the site offers free information and advice on a host of insurance-related topics, from minimizing costs and coping with emergencies to switching coverage and dealing with denied claims. To visit, log on to www.healthcarecoach.com.

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 03-30-2003, 01:24 PM:

Mark, still trying to figure out if you were actually 'offered' it when you were hired and told you were going to get it after a certain amount of months (usually 3). That probably makes a big difference...

Posted by Don Bruechert (Member # 1538) on 03-30-2003, 02:13 PM:

Mark, Sorry to hear about your arm, and hope everything works out OK. I have a hard enough time lacing a projector with a bandaid on my finger (can't feel the sprockets) and I couldn't imagine how it will be with a gimpy hand.... Glad to hear you got the immediate injuries taken care of.

Posted by Justin West (Member # 920) on 03-30-2003, 06:44 PM:

If you have a union contract that specifies health insurance coverage, you at least have a grievance avenue to take. If this is non-union and the insurance is optional at the choice of the employee (where you would have to pay a monthly or weekly fee for the coverage...and you have NOT paid)you probably have no argument; however, if you had been paying fees or you can show that you tried and tried, made documented attempts (try to recall when you spoke with the boss and how often and what was said) and you kept getting promises or were blown off, you might be able to convince management to accept at least some of the blame and cough up some out-of-pocket expenses...and get your insurance started right away.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-31-2003, 12:00 AM:

Maybe I have missed something in the first post, but did this accident happen at work or at home on personal time? Any injury that occurs at work must be covered through workers comp.

I'm not positive on how workers comp operates in Texas, but in Oklahoma it is very much a mandatory thing. And since Oklahoma is still set up on a trial system model (rather than the more sensible administrative method), there are lots of trial lawyers just dying to sue the living crap out of any business not fully in compliance. What am I saying? The lawyers sue the hell out of all the honest businesses too! The workers comp situation is one reason why Oklahoma is so far behind many other states in terms of business progress.

Health insurance is a very important thing. But it is fast becoming an extremely high priced thing for only a privileged few. Our company's group rate shot up 43% this year when our premium was renewed. There is a very good chance our company will drop health insurance coverage altogether. I can't afford the ridiculous rates of individual coverage. Probably the only alternative I'll have is joining the Graphic Artists Guild and getting their group coverage (it is an actual union now tied to the United Auto Workers of all things).

The situation with vanishing benefits and skyrocketing premiums is one reason why this economy is generally in crappy shape. So many employees in every field of work are getting "downsized" one way or the other. Many businesses have adopted 34 hour work weeks just to deny workers any benefits --that way they can show some kind of short gain on their financial reports. Here's something those asshole bean counters don't realize. Cannibalizing employee pay and benefits is no way to improve a company's numbers. And the cutting only gives you so much.

Right now, the economy is seeing the last benefits of all the interest rate cuts and other junk designed to "keep the economy going." Just about everyone who could refinance their home has done it. New home sales are flat in a lot of places. Consumer confidence levels are down dangerously low. If you're worried about important things like keeping health insurance converage or trying to prevent your retirement fund from being devalued because of the stock market you're not going to be running out buying new cars, plasma screen TVs and other big ticket items.

The economy is only getting little false boosts here and there. The only way things get a REAL improvement is when worker pay rises and living standards improve. All that other shit is just a financial shell game with about the same level of reality as a hair-brained Internet IPO scheme.

What did I do with my tax cut money? I paid bills with some of it and ratholed away the rest.

Posted by Jason Burroughs (Member # 68) on 04-02-2003, 05:07 PM:

Sorry to hear about your accident, and wish you a speedy recovery.

I'm not sure about Texas laws regarding health insurance, that's something you may want to talk to the TWC Texas Workforce Commision

If this happened on the job, you may be eligable for workman's compensation.

I belive you may also be eligable for short-term disability.

You may also want to check the Dept of Human Services
web page

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 04-02-2003, 06:18 PM:

I have a feeling based on the evidence stated in the original post that his accident did not happen at work.

Posted by Mark Maxwell (Member # 1355) on 04-05-2003, 02:23 AM:

I'm not worried about the insurance anymore because I found out that PUSH for the insurance, there is nothing I can do. Someone asked how it happened. I've always had problems sleeping, and then my aprtment complex set up a spotlight right outside my window. Totally lit my room up. After being awake for five days I was like a zombie and tripped on this fog machine that we use for the Harry Potter promo and went into the window. I'm actually lucky I threw my arms out verses going head first. Luckily, my sister is a physical therapist, and I talked to her today. I have kept my arm at a 45 degree angle for the past week so as not to pull the stitches. Bad thing. That's why the hospital didn't give me a sling, but they never told me about it. My elbo is almost locked up, but my sister looked at it and gave me an exersize and stretching routine to follow. She said I have to staighten out my arm until the pain is almost unbearable, and hold it for 2 minutes, and do it again every 2 minutes for halve an hour twice a day. By the way, I don't know if any of you know anyone in the medical field, but they are used to people in pain. My sister checked me out at the clinic my mom manages. They were both in the room moving my arm around, poking muscles and tendons. When I started moving my feet around franticly, and grabbing my hair with my free arm, they would look at each other and say,"i think it hurts when his hand is in that position, turn it around the other way and see what happens." I'm rambling again as I always do on here. My point is that my arm will turn out fine. As long as I pay the hospital a little each month, they can't hastle me. And if anyones wondering why I didn't go to my mom's clinic when this happened, it was 2 hours away. And I really appreciate that all of you were concerned, because some of my best friends haven't been even after they found out what my arm looks like now. Thanks.