Comments on: All Performers Are About To get health Insurance https://mikesouth.com/mike-south-commentary/all-performers-are-about-to-get-health-insurance-8508/ The institute for the advance study of insensitivity and pornography Thu, 03 Oct 2013 02:17:15 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 By: laura https://mikesouth.com/mike-south-commentary/all-performers-are-about-to-get-health-insurance-8508/#comment-12686 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 02:17:15 +0000 http://www.mikesouth.com/?p=8508#comment-12686 In reply to acftmech.

According to my marketplace search today (coveredca.com), a hypothetical 47 year old that makes 40,000.00 a year and goes to the doctors approximately 1 to 2 times a year, and has approximately 1 to 2 prescriptions pays $225.00 a month for anthem blue cross (a $48.00 discount from their usual rate for this coverage)
I put this on my facebook today for my friends to see and have a gage to estimate where they would fall…..in the porn industry most people are younger so that premium should decrease:)

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By: acftmech https://mikesouth.com/mike-south-commentary/all-performers-are-about-to-get-health-insurance-8508/#comment-12624 Wed, 02 Oct 2013 19:36:03 +0000 http://www.mikesouth.com/?p=8508#comment-12624 What I still don’t understand how or why Weinstein and AHF hasn’t pushed on the state or federal level (I know us congress is as dysfunctional as they come but puritans rule the house and this is almost worthy of the democrats if they aren’t on FSC payroll). But in Transportation and even retail that requires pre employment drug screens that those are paid for by the employer and not the future employee. How is this any different? That has been federal law for decades and I would only see this as a natural and logical extension of that law. I know AHF want to push for Condom and have been successful at the county level, but when the argument can be made that condom should be a piece of mandatory personal protective equipment under OSHA guidelines to protect an employee from a blood borne pathogen it should be easy to get that argument made and accepted. Here is where I think a lot of porn sets get lucky. US OSHA inspectors are few and far between and usually only end up at a work site after blood has been spilled and someone is in the morgue or spends more than 3 days in the hospital. Since porn sets aren’t that dangerous then an OSHA inspector will never be there unless someone calls in a complaint that there is an imminent threat of severe bodily harm or fatality which by federal regulation requires an immediate onsite visit by an OSHA inspector.

Now I am proud of how many porn stars are taking a stand on using condoms in interviews like those on the Huffington Post saying they support the law though production companies keep pushing bareback and I understand they are worried about not being given work if they insist to heavily on condom use.

I personally think it is time AHF take this fight to another level and make his arguments in new ways. Hell filming permits are public record that you and request copies of via freedom of information act. Maybe he needs to start pushing via the OSHA blood borne pathogen statute to mandate personal protective equipment. I am all for freedom of speech and expression, but also feel that public safety and health issues can trump freedom of speech when it comes to work place safety and with an STD the general public in large because we know that both the men and women in adult entertainment due have personal relationships with those outside that work circle.

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By: MikeSouth https://mikesouth.com/mike-south-commentary/all-performers-are-about-to-get-health-insurance-8508/#comment-12596 Wed, 02 Oct 2013 04:06:06 +0000 http://www.mikesouth.com/?p=8508#comment-12596 In reply to BT.

VERY well said BT and yer right on the money.

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By: BT https://mikesouth.com/mike-south-commentary/all-performers-are-about-to-get-health-insurance-8508/#comment-12593 Wed, 02 Oct 2013 03:20:41 +0000 http://www.mikesouth.com/?p=8508#comment-12593 Mike: Like me via my daughter, you have experienced health issues and understand how valuable real health insurance is if you have an issue. I’m not talking about the kind of plan you get for $50 a month with a $3,000 annual cap. I’m talking about health insurance that pays your bills, according to the contract, if you get sick.

During the debate over the affordable care act, Obama said once that the biggest problem with the argument of health insurance is that most people don’t know what health insurance costs. It costs a lot – in fact, real insurance costs that covers you when you’re ill costs a lot.

Here are the things that people don’t understand. Prior to Obamacare, health insurance was regulated at the state level by the state insurance commissioner. The commissioner determines the base plan that an insurance company has to offer to do business in the state – that applies to all insurance, including auto, homeowners, life insurance and health insurance. There are states – they tend to be Republican southern states – where insurers can offer very cheap, no frills insurance plans for any of the above. The problem is — they don’t cover squat when you need them.

I live in a state where the base plan is pretty good, when it comes to heath insurance. Even a crappy plan offers a lot of coverage if you’re sick. It’s just a very high deductible and no co-pays or very high co-pays.

Now, I’m the treasurer of a non-profit organization that offers its director a family health insurance plan with $20 co-pays, prescription coverage, and $1,500 maximum deductible/out of pocket from Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The annual cost for a family plan? $26,000. That is not a misprint.

Now, when the feds announced the cost of the exchanges for my state, Michelle Bachman was still running for president. The exchange plan that was equivalent to the Blue Cross plan my director enjoys was about $18,000. Michelle Bachman said: $18,000. That’s outrageous. Who can afford that? Meanwhile, I’m looking at it and thinking, I can’t wait to get that plan for only $18,000, because it’s $8,000 less than what I’d have to pay for a BlueCross plan.

My $968 a month plan – just under $12,000 a year – comes with a $7,500 per person deductible per year ($22,500 for my family), no prescription coverage; and a $75 office co-pay.

Again sounds like a gyp, right? But prior to Obamacare, I was paying $1,350 a month to cover me, my wife and daughter, $10,000 per person deductibles ($30,000 a year), no prescription, no office co-pays and no coverage for lab tests, annual physicals or things like my wife’s mammograms or the formerly mentioned colonoscopies. I used to spend $2,000 a year on my wife’s physicals, so she could get mammograms and pap smears.

So, is $968 cheap? It is not. But, it is a bargain compared to what I spend.

Obamacare is only expensive to people who were previously uninsured, had no desire to buy insurance, and if they got ill, went to the emergency room because the hospital was obligated to treat them. If you were buying real insurance – insurance that covered you in an illness – it’s a bargain compared to the alternative.

Last point – health care isn’t like an automobile if you need it. If you or I go to buy a car, we can choose a new Mercedes for $100,000 or a 98 Honda Accord for $1,000. Either one will get you to work.

If you get cancer, break your leg, need a heart bypass or, like my daughter, develop a post surgical infection that threatens your life, you cannot choose between a Mercedes or an old Honda Accord. There’s one standard of care and it costs what it costs. You get treatment or you don’t. You live or you die. You get an Xray and a cast for your leg, or you risk losing your leg or developing gangrene.

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By: Lacey Blake https://mikesouth.com/mike-south-commentary/all-performers-are-about-to-get-health-insurance-8508/#comment-12592 Wed, 02 Oct 2013 03:02:50 +0000 http://www.mikesouth.com/?p=8508#comment-12592 In reply to MikeSouth.

@Mike –
I bet it was the line “the government will pimp slap the shit out of you and take your money” that did it, huh?
Very inappropriate for a porn news publication, I guess? 😉

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By: MikeSouth https://mikesouth.com/mike-south-commentary/all-performers-are-about-to-get-health-insurance-8508/#comment-12588 Wed, 02 Oct 2013 02:32:02 +0000 http://www.mikesouth.com/?p=8508#comment-12588 In reply to jilted.

You made a good point…ask the performers if they are going to get insurance in 2014 or pay the penalty and i will bet you 9 out of 10 give you a blank look. I even suggested to Helmy that Im sure Lacey would allow him to run her arrticle on XBiz…. and he actually said it “wasnt appropriate for Xbiz.com.” As if bathmate training is more appropriate (That was his lead story) XBiz and AVN want to keep performers as clueless and beholden as possible because their advertising revenue depends on it.

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By: BrookeTyler https://mikesouth.com/mike-south-commentary/all-performers-are-about-to-get-health-insurance-8508/#comment-12586 Wed, 02 Oct 2013 02:15:55 +0000 http://www.mikesouth.com/?p=8508#comment-12586 In reply to jilted.

I don’t know who your hanging around with in the porn industry, but for the most part I haven’t met these people. Let me know who they are so I can put them on a list I will label “People to dumb to get health insurance according to jilted.”

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By: BrookeTyler https://mikesouth.com/mike-south-commentary/all-performers-are-about-to-get-health-insurance-8508/#comment-12585 Wed, 02 Oct 2013 02:06:18 +0000 http://www.mikesouth.com/?p=8508#comment-12585 In reply to jilted.

Heres the cheapest plan I could get using your link and their website and a quick copy and paste. Again…everybody knows somebody but when it comes down to it…this is what it looks like without Obamacare. This is just for me. All this goodness for $270 a month.

Benefit Summary
Annual deductible (individual) $7,500
Annual deductible (family) $15,000
Annual out-of-pocket maximum (after deductible) (individual) $5,000
Annual out-of-pocket maximum (after deductible) (family) $10,000
Preventive Services
Immunizations No charge (not subject to deductible)
Well-child visit (to age 2) No charge (not subject to deductible)
Certain preventive screenings No charge (not subject to deductible)
Mammogram No charge (not subject to deductible)
Primary care vision exam No charge (not subject to deductible)
Outpatient Services
Primary care office visit (nonpreventive) $45 copay (not subject to deductible)
Specialist office visit (nonpreventive) First 2 office visits: $75 copay (not subject to deductible) 3 + visits: 30% coinsurance (after deductible)
Most X-rays and lab tests No charge (not subject to deductible)
MRI, CT, and PET 30% coinsurance (after deductible)
Outpatient surgery 30% coinsurance (after deductible)
Mental health 30% coinsurance (after deductible)
Inpatient Hospital Care
Room and board, surgery, anesthesia, X-rays, lab tests, and medication 30% coinsurance (after deductible)
Maternity
Delivery and postpartum Not covered
Emergency and Urgent Care
Emergency Room visit (waived if admitted) $500 copay (not subject to deductible)
Urgent care (after-hours visit) $100 copay (not subject to deductible)
Ambulance service 30% coinsurance (after deductible)
Prescription drugs
Pharmacy deductible (individual) $1,000 (brand drugs only)
Pharmacy deductible (family) $2,000 (brand drugs only)
Preventive generic drugs* $5 copay (when filled at Kaiser Permanente pharmacies) (not subject to deductible)
Preferred generic drugs $15 copay (when filled at Kaiser Permanente pharmacies) (not subject to deductible)
Brand drugs $45 copay (when filled at Kaiser Permanente pharmacies) (after pharmacy deductible)
Specialty drugs ($5,000 out-of-pocket maximum) 50% coinsurance (when filled at Kaiser Permanente pharmacies) (after pharmacy deductible)

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By: CPanzram https://mikesouth.com/mike-south-commentary/all-performers-are-about-to-get-health-insurance-8508/#comment-12581 Wed, 02 Oct 2013 01:18:30 +0000 http://www.mikesouth.com/?p=8508#comment-12581 In reply to MikeSouth.

@mikesouth

I hear ya on the Libertarian aspect of this issue. However, I don’t think kids should have to move from a nice home to the projects because a hereditary disease makes a parent bed-ridden.

I agree with jilted that a lot won’t sign up. It is not technically a freebie since they have to pay, but I wouldn’t call the small sum a bad investment.

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By: jilted https://mikesouth.com/mike-south-commentary/all-performers-are-about-to-get-health-insurance-8508/#comment-12576 Wed, 02 Oct 2013 00:32:07 +0000 http://www.mikesouth.com/?p=8508#comment-12576 But in order to get this insuance the individual has to take the initiative and sign up for it, and that is why I dont see too many porn stars being insured in the near future. How many porno starlets do you envision taking this type of proactive action, hell, most of them wouldnt even get std tested if the industry didnt ‘require’ it.

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