Duggars by the Dozen 42: Managing without TLC

[HereticHick]

22 minutes ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

I’m surprised that no one’s mentioned yesterday’s post on the DFO Facebook account. There’s a photo of Jackson with a dead deer and the big rifle he used to shoot it. They like venison jerky and Jackson’s a good cook. Clearly, they’ve accepted that their audience is the blue half of the nation, and they don’t have to care what TLC might have to say about not pissing off the animal lovers anymore. Oh, and today they’re using National Prematurity Day or something to preach pro-life.

My understanding is that majority of Americans approve of legal hunting (for the record, that includes me, and I'm a registered Democrat) so I don't see why this is really an issue (unless the issue is the graphic photo). The show featured hunting before--I thought some of them went hunting in Missouri on one episode.

By the way, some of the Duggars went up to Iowa a few weeks ago to attend Liz Bontrager's homeschool graduation party: https://bontragerfamilysingers.com/a-little-of-life

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, HereticHick said:

My understanding is that majority of Americans approve of legal hunting (for the record, that includes me, and I'm a registered Democrat) so I don't see why this is really an issue (unless the issue is the graphic photo). The show featured hunting before--I thought some of them went hunting in Missouri on one episode.

By the way, some of the Duggars went up to Iowa a few weeks ago to attend Liz Bontrager's homeschool graduation party: https://bontragerfamilysingers.com/a-little-of-life

Make sense since Hannie seems to be Liz’s best friend. Jackson is probably friends with Lincoln and Hudson. 

[mpheels]

1 hour ago, HereticHick said:

My understanding is that majority of Americans approve of legal hunting (for the record, that includes me, and I'm a registered Democrat) so I don't see why this is really an issue (unless the issue is the graphic photo). The show featured hunting before--I thought some of them went hunting in Missouri on one episode.

By the way, some of the Duggars went up to Iowa a few weeks ago to attend Liz Bontrager's homeschool graduation party: https://bontragerfamilysingers.com/a-little-of-life

(Legal/regulated) hunting is a huge part of wildlife and nature conservation. I the US, it’s essential for managing deer populations and keeping them generally healthy. I’m on the far left of the political spectrum and generally very eco-conscious, and I have no problem with the Duggars or anyone else hunting for food, or even for game in certain contexts. (Game hunting can be a huge revenue stream for governments, fully offsetting the cost of conservation efforts, thus saving more animals overall. Some animals hunted for game are invasive, and their presence harms native species, threatening entire ecosystems, so there is a net benefit to hunting them.)

[QuiverFullofBooks]

4 hours ago, HereticHick said:

My understanding is that majority of Americans approve of legal hunting (for the record, that includes me, and I'm a registered Democrat) so I don't see why this is really an issue (unless the issue is the graphic photo). The show featured hunting before--I thought some of them went hunting in Missouri on one episode.

By the way, some of the Duggars went up to Iowa a few weeks ago to attend Liz Bontrager's homeschool graduation party: https://bontragerfamilysingers.com/a-little-of-life

I’m fine with deer hunting too. I think the only hunting shown on the old show was when Jinger went turkey hunting with Jim Bob. My issue with the photo was the 17-year-old with the huge gun, and my main point was that they didn’t post that sort of thing back when they had a broad international television audience. 

[PinkGreyBrown]

Digging around & I finally found some hard info about how much money Jim Bob was paying for health insurance for his family. It's from a Larry King interview in 2009 (transcript, source of image), at which point Jim Bob says he was paying for a private policy with a $475/month premium & an annual deductible of $2,500. That seems like an exceptionally good deal, even back then; this would have been four years before passage of the Affordable Care Act.

I've still not found a source for the allegation that it was winning the state congressional seat that allowed them to access the excellent insurance available to legislators. But, assuming that was a true allegation, I tend to wonder if Jim Bob is running for office again because there was maybe a time limit on their participation in that insurance program & they need to re-up to get the good deal.

Edited November 18, 2021 by PinkGreyBrown
verb tense

[Coconut Flan]

He wouldn't have been able to keep any insurance he had as a member of the legislature after he left in Arkansas.

[mpheels]

When JB describes an unbelievably cheap, pre-ACA health insurance plan for the entire family, but it doesn’t cover “several things” including maternity care, I assume that’s Samaritan’s purse or a bare minimum catastrophic plan. Around that same time, I was in my first post-college job, making $12/hour with no insurance. I couldn’t afford a real insurance plan and bought a really cheap catastrophic plan so I would at least have some coverage if something terrible happened, then I just put off going to the doctor for any non-emergencies until I finally got a better job with benefits. The catastrophic plan was $50/month for a young, healthy woman, had a $5,000 deductible, and only covered hospital admissions (and associated ER visits that resulted in admission).

[tanba]

51 minutes ago, mpheels said:

When JB describes an unbelievably cheap, pre-ACA health insurance plan for the entire family, but it doesn’t cover “several things” including maternity care, I assume that’s Samaritan’s purse or a bare minimum catastrophic plan. Around that same time, I was in my first post-college job, making $12/hour with no insurance. I couldn’t afford a real insurance plan and bought a really cheap catastrophic plan so I would at least have some coverage if something terrible happened, then I just put off going to the doctor for any non-emergencies until I finally got a better job with benefits. The catastrophic plan was $50/month for a young, healthy woman, had a $5,000 deductible, and only covered hospital admissions (and associated ER visits that resulted in admission).

Wouldn’t scamaritan “cover” maternity, though? 

[Coconut Flan]

3 hours ago, mpheels said:

When JB describes an unbelievably cheap, pre-ACA health insurance plan for the entire family, but it doesn’t cover “several things” including maternity care, I assume that’s Samaritan’s purse or a bare minimum catastrophic plan.

He said it was Blue Cross/Blue Shield IIRC.  I don't recall JB ever saying or hinting that they had Samaritan.

[Mama Mia]

17 hours ago, PinkGreyBrown said:

Digging around & I finally found some hard info about how much money Jim Bob was paying for health insurance for his family. It's from a Larry King interview in 2009 (transcript, source of image), at which point Jim Bob says he was paying for a private policy with a $475/month premium & an annual deductible of $2,500. That seems like an exceptionally good deal, even back then; this would have been four years before passage of the Affordable Care Act.

I've still not found a source for the allegation that it was winning the state congressional seat that allowed them to access the excellent insurance available to legislators. But, assuming that was a true allegation, I tend to wonder if Jim Bob is running for office again because there was maybe a time limit on their participation in that insurance program & they need to re-up to get the good deal.

A lot of health insurance pricing is tiered based on a single individual, a couple, a couple with a child or a couple or individual  with two or more children. So whether it was 3 kids or 18 kids it’s going to be the same amount.  Or at least that’s how it was pre- ACA.

[PinkGreyBrown]

3 hours ago, Mama Mia said:

A lot of health insurance pricing is tiered based on a single individual, a couple, a couple with a child or a couple or individual  with two or more children. So whether it was 3 kids or 18 kids it’s going to be the same amount.  Or at least that’s how it was pre- ACA.

Wow, seriously? I had no idea. It's often raised as a reason having large families is expensive, the healthcare costs, but if they were able to buy health insurance on some kind of cheaper-by-the-dozen basis, kinda explains some financial motivations that led to all these giant families.

Is this still true on ACA? Are all the people not having children or having smaller families still subsidizing super-sized families' health insurance costs?

[mpheels]

6 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

He said it was Blue Cross/Blue Shield IIRC.  I don't recall JB ever saying or hinting that they had Samaritan.

In that case, it was almost certainly at catastrophic coverage plan, which means they were only covered for bare minimum life saving care in an emergency. With the ACA, that type of plan doesn’t exist anymore.

[Mama Mia]

1 hour ago, mpheels said:

In that case, it was almost certainly at catastrophic coverage plan, which means they were only covered for bare minimum life saving care in an emergency. With the ACA, that type of plan doesn’t exist anymore.

It sure as hell seems to, based on the huge amounts most people I know have to shell out before the outrageous deductibles are met. And are still paying tons of $$ for the plan.

Even with insurance, unless it’s medicaid, health care costs with a ton of kids is going to be higher. Dental is usually barely covered. An ER co-pay might be $150 - After the deductible is met. Each Dr visit has a co-pay. Prescriptions and on and on. 
 

[Whydon'ttheyspeakintongues]

I decided to read the election website.  He says he "wants the best for NWA families". I know he means North West Arkansas but my mind immediately went to the rap group!  It's been 20mins and I'm still laughing.

[Sullie06]

20 hours ago, PinkGreyBrown said:

Wow, seriously? I had no idea. It's often raised as a reason having large families is expensive, the healthcare costs, but if they were able to buy health insurance on some kind of cheaper-by-the-dozen basis, kinda explains some financial motivations that led to all these giant families.

Is this still true on ACA? Are all the people not having children or having smaller families still subsidizing super-sized families' health insurance costs?

Both my health insurance plan, and that provided by my husband's employer does not have a higher premium based on number of children. So the family plan, is the same cost, no matter if you have one child or 10. So I pay the same amount for my family of 4 as my co-worker does for his family of 8, as he has 6 kids.

[EmCatlyn]

21 hours ago, PinkGreyBrown said:

Wow, seriously? I had no idea. It's often raised as a reason having large families is expensive, the healthcare costs, but if they were able to buy health insurance on some kind of cheaper-by-the-dozen basis, kinda explains some financial motivations that led to all these giant families.

Is this still true on ACA? Are all the people not having children or having smaller families still subsidizing super-sized families' health insurance costs?

You need to remember that the “deductible” is per person and the co-payments are per person.  So each person can cost up to the deductible before the insurance kicks in.  

[Coconut Flan]

1 hour ago, EmCatlyn said:

You need to remember that the “deductible” is per person and the co-payments are per person.  So each person can cost up to the deductible before the insurance kicks in.  

My plan not only doesn't care how many children you have, there is a family cap on co-pays and deductibles so even if there were 10 people, it still has the same family cap.  Once any one person meets the deductible, their bills are figured based on having done so.

[sableduck]

33 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

My plan not only doesn't care how many children you have, there is a family cap on co-pays and deductibles so even if there were 10 people, it still has the same family cap.  Once any one person meets the deductible, their bills are figured based on having done so.

This is how our BC/BS plan is. We’d pay the same for the family plan with three kids or 23.  And it’s the same cap on co-pays and deductibles.  Once we’ve hit the family deductible it’s done. We might reach it quicker with 23 kids though.

Edited November 19, 2021 by sableduck

[EmCatlyn]

2 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

My plan not only doesn't care how many children you have, there is a family cap on co-pays and deductibles so even if there were 10 people, it still has the same family cap.  Once any one person meets the deductible, their bills are figured based on having done so.

Cool.  It’s been a while since I needed a family plan, but the plan my family was on before didn’t have a family cap.  I remember a family with 5 kids on the same plan complaining about that. (We had only 2.)

[Manda]

19 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

My plan not only doesn't care how many children you have, there is a family cap on co-pays and deductibles so even if there were 10 people, it still has the same family cap.  Once any one person meets the deductible, their bills are figured based on having done so.

Ours is BC/BS and is the same way.  

[3KidsAndStopped]

I am wondering if there will be subtle changes in approaches from Boobchelle with some of the younger children. I don't think they will ever be "live and let live" kind of parents, but the eldest Duggars have not really gone to plan have they?

Josh-utter car crash. Not enough words available to describe how badly wrong this went.

Jana-still at home (really feel for this girl)

JD-distancing himself I think and I cannot see him and Abbie having a large brood tbh. Interestingly, no statement on Josh. I think JD would happily wash his hands of the family. He married later than perhaps favoured by the ideology.

Jill-Exited the building

Jinger-completely different church and approach I think? She and Jer released quite a strong statement over the latest disgusting things Josh is accused of. If he is found guilty, I think they will distance themselves from everyone more.

Josiah-also distancing himself from an online presence

So Jessa/Ben, Joy/Austin and Joe/Kendra who are still "on the Duggar track".

But, Ben is no patriarch is he? Jessa is in charge, I think. I don't really see Joe as a patriarch either, he seems very sensitive and gentle.  Austin seems quite reserved to me, well what I have seen of him. 

I think if they reflect on all this, Boobchelle might soften their approach a little. Which can only be a good thing for the younger Duggars.

[Italiangirl]

I hope you are right @3KidsAndStoppedKidsAndStopped since boobchelle aren't going to be any younger, but I fear they could decide to be more strict in some aspects like "look what being nice/relaxed has brought to us with the older ones, we will set stricter rules from now on" kinda like what they did after the girls told them about Josh, no more boys buddy, no more sitting on older brothers laps, etc 

[3KidsAndStopped]

Yes that is the worry as well 😳 I am kind of hoping that Boob running for office may mean he needs to soften the image a bit to appeal to more voters (involuntary shudder). 

I have read this morning Boob is being called as a witness for the prosecution

Edited November 22, 2021 by 3KidsAndStopped

[Smee]

Any time FJ thread drift ends up with Americans comparing healthcare plans I cry a little inside and resolve never to move to the US. I mean, there are other reasons too, but as a single mum with next to no income, the ability to just… go see a doctor when someone gets sick or  injured is something I often take for granted.

I know the Covid vax was made free, do you have to pay for childhood vaccines? Or the health checkup appointment where they’re given?

[JermajestyDuggar]

9 minutes ago, Smee said:

Any time FJ thread drift ends up with Americans comparing healthcare plans I cry a little inside and resolve never to move to the US. I mean, there are other reasons too, but as a single mum with next to no income, the ability to just… go see a doctor when someone gets sick or  injured is something I often take for granted.

I know the Covid vax was made free, do you have to pay for childhood vaccines? Or the health checkup appointment where they’re given?

Vaccines are covered by Medicaid and insurance. Thankfully.