Can anybody recommend where to get individual insurance affordably sm
Posted By: Jackie on 2005-11-10
In Reply to:
for self-employed MTs that doesn't exclude pre-existing conditions? My husband just lost his job and we haven't received the COBRA papers yet and it has been over a month. I have health problems and really cannot afford to be without insurance so I thought I would ask if anybody here knows of good reasonable insurance for the self-employed but more importantly one that actually will cover something! Thanks so much!
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Their individual insurance is $52 a mo and their dental and vision
run it up to about $60 a month. If you leave, you also get to Cobra the dental and vision together at $30 a month. I know because I left and went back. Nice folks.
Can anyone recommend a co. that has decent family insurance.
I cannot afford to stay working for the company I am presently with. Low to no work and the family insurance rates are over $700 a month. I have over 13 years of experience and I am hoping there is a company out there that rewards that with decent benefits.
he's not looking for individual MTs
He's looking for a group that collectively can handle 5000/day.
I have the individual coverage
and it's about $17 per week. United Healthcare, good plan. 250 deductable. I wish I could help you more but I know my regular doctor is on the plan so I am quite happy with the coverage. Hope that helps.
It's not so much the school, it's the individual.
x
CUT-THROAT INDIVIDUAL
I know who you are too, and what goes around comes around!
What a pathetic individual
I know what you're alluding to, even though you are too much of a coward to say it outright. If you can't say anything nice, or heaven forbid be supportive of this individual, then just keep it to yourself.
I, too, work for OSi and have for a few years. It's bad enough that you come on here and trash the company, now you're making personal attacks?! Go crawl back into your hole! 
Oh yes they can! It depends on the individual sm
QA person, of course. There certainly are some with very strange ideas on the interpretation of transcribed work (they don't take time to read the entire report to get the proper context) and some with vendettas. There are rotten apples everywhere.
How can you know for a fact how much another individual is capable of doing? sm
I have tried to ignore your constant negativity, and I do feel sorry for you because you must have an unhappy life to want to always rain on everyone else, but enough is enough.
I average 300-350 lines an hour, at 11 cpl that equals over $33/hour. I have been an MT for over 30 years now, and have been blessed with a natural ability for speed and spelling, and, although there are new things to learn every day, I do not have to spend the majority of my work day looking up things.
I am not trying to be adversarial, and it makes no difference to me what you believe. I cannot believe I even got sucked this far into defending myself against some stranger. I wish you well, and hope you have a job that you enjoy as much as I do mine.
Merry Christmas :)
I have individual coverage and I pay less than $100 per month. They pay
the rest. I think it's definitely more for family coverage and I am not really sure what those rates are. I would just call and ask them. They're really nice and helpful.
I have BCBS individual policies for myself and
my last home-living son. When all my children were still at home, they had individual policies that they could take with them.
It was cheaper for me to do buy each of us an individual policy and know that I can keep us insured 100% of the time regardless of whether I changed jobs or not.
The plan I chose for ours has a $5000 major medical deductible but we have not ever had to use hospitalization and I can pay out $5000 one way or another. Office visits are covered 100%. That was my main concern as I wanted the routine items covered. I can handle facing the other big ticket items. I also wanted the lowest premium possible. It was a great bargain for us.
Reports for any individual company. nm
Is that individual or family and what is the company?
nm
This is why I prefer group over individual..
The bottom line is that.. When you have group insurance, you have a set rate, along with everyone else, regardless of your health insurance..and when it renews each year, it will only go up based on the group's rate, nothing to do with your personal health history and it is generally better benefits overall. Now, you have a private policy, can only afford one with a huge deductible (major medical)..well, during the year, you had an emergency surgery, heart attack..whatever.. Well, first off you have that preminum which is high, then you have all of that deductible to meet, upwards of $5000..THEN, your shocked at renewal time that they jacked up your preminum about $200 a month..and then your stuck..You can pay that outrageous amount or go without insurance because another private insurance wont touch you will all of your medical claims in the past 10 years. If they do touch you, it won't be cheap. So, your bad to square one.. crappy insurance at a bad price or signing up with a company for okay rates but better insurance.
I thought I was smart not keeping my group insurance through work because it was $400 a month (deductible $1000 etc..) so I went and got myself a family plan through private insurance for ONLY $196 a month.. Yes, then I had a $5000 deductible and come to find out my prescription benefits were only 50% instead of the $10-40 I had been paying. One of my son's prescription cost us $100 a month with that great insurance, and it would have only been $25 on my old group policy. Yes, I was saving a lot of money..NOT. I did check into my private insurance to get a policy similar to my group one.. and imagine that.. they wanted over $1000 a month for decent insurance. So, no thanks. I'll stay with group..It's worth it in the long run.
Are you looking for individual or family coverage?
X
A flyer for individual docs:
*If you're like most doctors, you never read dictated medical reports, anyway! Yours, or anyone else's! So why pay through the nose for something you'll never look at?*
*At AchooQuist, we understand the needs of busy docs like you.... men and women who laugh in the face of malpractice suits. That is why we've tailored our MT services to suit your busy, careless, greedy lifestyle.*
*When you joint the AchooQuist team, you'll pay what YOU want. (next-to-nothing). And you'll get exactly what you pay for.*
*We GUARANTEE it.*
Maybe you could solicit work from individual
and give them a good rate for paying CASH. Then no one could prove who you were working for.
No, Diskriter is owned by an individual - they have never been linked to MQ - never will -
never ever ever ever never - if they ever did join with MQ, I would quit in a heartbeat and never go back to the field of transcription.
What a charming individual you are -- thanks, and Merry Christmas to you. :-) nm
x
Yes, my husband is self-employed so we have individual plans but...
the preminums keep going up and up. I realize they also do when you work for a company, but since they get a group rate, the hit isnt as hard as when you are self-employed. Once you have a medical condition and your self-employed, the rates are horrible. I am going to check into some of our plans here locally just to see. My husband and kids are on their own individiual plans and they do have a copay but all we could afford was the cheapest plan which does not cover a lot and like I said every year we get hit with higher preminums just to end up with less coverage. It is very discouraging.
Very affordable for individual, high for families, sm
but I think all insurance is high for families. 6 holidays, a few days PTO until you've been there over 6 years. (and they keep changing the PTO yearly).
Pros and cons dependent on individual (sm)
In my own case, I was never a power producer MT. There were several reasons, but suffice it to say that though I always made quota, I never really soared past it. My transcripts were always nearly perfect, though, and that got attention and I got asked to do QA.
I am a better QA person than I am an MT, both because I have a knack for hearing things other people can't, and for finding the answers in books or on the Internet. And it allows me to do my typing in shorter bursts, which works better in conjunction with my health issues and honestly, my attention span. (I joke that I'm both OCD and ADD, and my QA job is easier on both of those than straight transcription.)
I have a friend who's just the opposite. She's a fantastic MT but hates doing QA. She hated dealing with others' mistakes and was uncertain of herself when having to make a judgment call about something. She also can transcribe fast enough that she makes more money on the hour transcribing.
So, overall, yeah, I personally think it's more a preference. Different strokes...
That is individual and the company is paying a big portion. sm
That is the employee portion. They were having problems getting enough people interested last year but I guess they have enough now!
To answer your other question, they may hire MTs for individual departments
like Renal Transplant, Orthopedic department, etc. They do not have hire for their MR or radiology department as those departments are outsourced.
You could probably get in a specialty practice.
I know Rothmann Institute hires on-site MTs for their Hand Center - Orthopedic surgeons. They have an office in Center City, a satellite office in King of Prussia, and another one in Cherry Hill, NJ.
Hope this helps you!
agree,the pay is going to vary based on individual experience
nm
ExText line count for individual reports? Is there a way? nm
x
You know, its just so much dependent on the individual posters. That's what ruins the thread whet
good or bad about a company, and wish as we might, we just cannot make some MTs have any class, or behave like an adult. I don't think people would bash the positive posters. In fact, normally they don't, but its how the positive posters post! Most times, they just come in bashing and defending their company, and that never works! In fact, if they just realized how bad they are behaving, while they are so outraged and trying to protect their company, they actually make the company look worse - know what I mean? We all shudder and think, Uggghhh, glad I don't work with her. Or whatever! Or if they just post totally out of the blue, like "Gee, ya know, Joe Blow Transcription is just the BEST - a dream job, and I am just sooooooooooooo happy here. (and then you can bet your next paycheck that there just happens to be an ad for help at JBT on the job board, posted 60 seconds before the "cheerleader" post. Those happy posts are just insulting! And same for the negative posters. We all love the infamous "Joe Blow Transcription Sux", and they don't even have the brains to put "nm", so we all waste our time and follow the thread to see WHY JBT sux, and there is no message! These are the obvious disgruntled MTs who got the axe, and for probable good cause! But when people are upset enough to come on the board and post their grievances: a. we SHOULD lend them a sympathetic ear, even if we work for the same company (perhaps more if we work with them - they are a coworker on the same team after all), or b. we should at least let them voice their probable valid grievances. We could all benefit from their grievances, as these companies really do have a history, or pattern, of behavior. And when there are runs of these battles over a company, as upsetting as it may be for some of you to read or see, it is a very big RED FLAG and indicator that something is wrong in these companies - maybe it gets fixed, maybe it doesn't, but SOMETHING is wrong, and I sure like to know before wasting my time! Been there, done that, and have even not listened to some valid grievances about companies, applied, been hired, and crushed to find all the complaints were 100% true and still not fixed! So, negative as the posts seem, sadly they are indicative of the condition of our industry! Let these companies know we are communicating about them - it turns up the heat for them to FIX themselves!
Haven't noticed - do you keep track of individual report counts?
nm
I've had private individual policies and you pay a fortunate for bad coverage.
You either get stuck with an awful deductible or a policy which limits coverage. So, that is not always a good option. If you want a decent cheap premium, you get what you pay for.
For decent private individual policies, it is very expensive for a family.
Unless, you have a $5000-7500 deductible and a 50% copay on prescriptions which is bad for us because my son takes medication that costs $160 a month. If we went with a policy equal to what my job provides, the premium is over $1000 a month. With my job, I am paying about $400 a month for family coverage.
401k funds are protected by govt insurance similar to the insurance
that banks have (FDIC). It is safe even if the company goes under.
The insurance cost is double for Transcend but insurance probably doesn't factor in for her.
I have heard more good things about Axolotl than Transcend, although it seems Axolotl may be less flexible with your schedule and someone told me that QA was pretty strict, which should not matter either if you have worked for a hospital and know what your QA score is.
ooops. I mean that individual plans suck..not stick as I stated in previous post...NM
The insurance plan in my opinion is excellent insurance. I am not sure if it will change when it'
time to renew or not. I really hope not but I know that a lot of companies change every year in an effort to keep costs down because most insurance companies start raising rates after you have been with them a year. The insurance is Great West and they also have excellent dental and vision plans. I believe the cost is less than $70 a pay period for the employee.
Insurance sucks compared to my old insurance... sm
The insurance seems like they don't want to cover anything, even simple prescriptions I used to pay 4 or 10 dollars on I now pay 20 to 43 dollars. I like the company/people so far, just don't like the insurance.
I used them and would not recommend them
to anyone. Heaven forbid you should refuse a job from them. Extremely nasty company
I'd recommend them!
I've been with DRC a few years and the best thing I ever did was sign on with them. I make more than MTs in my area working at the local hospital; can't speak for other DRCer's though. I have a lot of experience and have a couple accounts I work on. I enjoy all the work and feel like I get a good variety. The company is great, the staff is great. Usually tons of work, and where there are lows they don't last long, flexible with schedules. I really like their operating system too, very easy to work for them.
I am there, and I would NOT recommend them to anyone. no msg
x
i used to recommend MQ
but for the last 1-2 yr have had too much trouble with working too many accounts to have work. In fact, even with plenty of work in my primary, they often bounce me around to other accounts. Keeping all the different account specific info straight takes too much time and costs me too many lines. Besides, they have stated to us in the newsletter that much of the work is going overseas to the international labor partners. So unless you would prefer to edit or do the voice technology editing, you may want to go with someone else.
I would not recommend them either sm
I was there for 1 year 5 months, and I was jerked around the whole time.
I started off at a low pay, then I was bumped up to a higher pay, then my pay was cut, then they stopped paying for spaces.
I couldn't take it and quit.
same here, would not recommend them
same here, they start you at 6.5 cpl, I was moved up to 7.5, then bumped back down and the insurance after they changed it has a 250 dollar emergency room deductible. What is great about that I don't know. Several part-timers left last year because the few benefits they had were taken away, so no I wouldn't recommend Spheris either
Could anyone out there recommend...
a recruiter that they have worked with? I have never gone through a recruiter, but I think I might just sign up with one. Anyone have any recommendations.
Would not recommend
If you don't mind not having any benefits or any hopes of receiving a raise then thehy would be okay.
Is there anybody else you would recommend instead?
My main two concerns are a decent platform to work in and a decent medical insurance plan. But, you're right--there's obviously some other things that I need to consider too.
I know that every company will have it's advantages and disadvantages, but does anyone know of any companies where the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
I recommend MDI, too
Very honest, decent people to work for. Great pay. Competence in all departments from payroll to tech. Superb liaison. MDI is very picky about whom they select and about work quality, which is fine with me. I have been in this biz a good long time and have never liked any company so much.
Would not recommend
I currently work on Cornerstone doing mostly letters and the occasional op and ER notes. By far, I spend more time looking up addresses, time I am not paid for. I would not mind it if the pay was fair but it is not. So, I plan to look at other companies because I can no longer afford working for them.
In the beginning I had a somewhat decent account where I could meet the line count but on my new account with more than half my work being letters I waste a lot of time having to look up information and then inserting it into the document.
Another thing is the number of upgrades, and I use that term loosely, have caused my computer to crash. So I end up wasting more time.
Also, raises are as rare as hens teeth. And, if you do get a raise they end up putting you on an account where you cannot make any lines, so you cannot really call it a raise.
This week I plan to dust off my resume and start sending it out. If nothing else I can get something PT and then work into FT and then get away from Spheris.
Sorry for rambling, but I would not recommend Spheris even to newbies and especially not to the seasoned MT.
To put it bluntly, their platform SUCKS ASS. 
I would recommend against it (sm)
I've been in this field since 1966. I'm just holding on by my fingernails waiting for retirement age. It's way too late for me to start a NEW career. I was single mom for most of the years my girls wer growing up. I supported them and supported them well in this profession. Now I make less than I did in 1996. When people asking me what I do, and express an interest in going into the field, I actively discourage them. It's definitely NOT what it used to be.
Yes, I recommend it.
I just tell people that expect to make absolutely nothing for the first 10 years. LOL
My pay has doubled since I left my hourly job; or should I say I was pushed out of my hourly job with outsourcing hanging over my head. I was to train my replacement as so-called just for back-up but I saw the writing on the wall, so I left. I was only making 13 dollars an hour and that was 3 years ago. I started at 7 dollars an hour 17 years ago. I'm making a lot more now and have a lot less stress for sure than working on-site and having to do everyone else's job with no one to do mine.
I'm happy MT'ing. I do not recommend it to others though as I tell them it takes years to get acquainted with the terminology.
As far as telling people to come to this board, they have no clue what all of these abbreviates mean especially the company names. It's too confusing for someone who doesn't know our world to come in this message board and make anything out of it.
No, no, no - used to recommend MT but no more..
,
Cannot recommend this office at all!
I have been there for a long time, and it just gets worse. They have lost so many accounts that I seem to constantly be learning something new, and I do acute care, any specialty. No money to be made this way. In addition, the office personnel have changed so much that I don't even know who to call with certain matters. It is beyond frustrating!
The only high point has been the excellent computer room staff, but I figure they will probably all be let go in favor of calling 1-800-DICTATE or whatever.
If you have other options, I suggest exercising them! I can E-mail you if you need more info.
I would recommend staying away from
That is all they do, lie and run out of work! Have you tried Keystrokes? I think they might be hiring. I do not know much about them but it might be something to consider.
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