Itinerant Air-Cooled

I didn't add this to the "Obamacare" thread because I'm not looking for a political opinion on the overall system (although it's fine if you want to opine), I am interested in what you personally are currently doing. I have been giving a lot of thought to retirement, and since I'm a few years from Medicare and don't have any post-employment employer coverage, it will all be on me until I hit 65. I went to the Obamacare website, and the cheapest plan for my wife and I in Michigan would be $1000 per month, with a $15K deductible. The wife has some issues, so it's likely the out-of-pocket would be the whole $27K per year. Holy crap! Does everyone buy it? Just taking your chances? is there another option I'm missing?

Did you enter your financial info as you are now, or as you expect to be once retired? Does your employer list how much they contribute to your current plan each month?

On financials… When I worked at a non-profit last year, I made so little money that I bought insurance from the marketplace for about $22 a month for a "bronze" plan during those months. When I started my own company, a bronze plan cost me $49. I upgraded to a "silver" plan for a deductible based in reality, and now pay $127 a month. So it looks like comparable monthly payments went up at a higher rate than my income.

As far as quality of care, I have a few experiences. Growing up until about 23, I was on my parents health insurance, provided by my father's electricians union, and it was unreal how good the coverage was. So I have high standards as an adult… During my "bronze" age ;) I fell down my stairs and ended up in the local ER. (Total accident; roommate left laundry there.) I paid a $75 fee for the ER, and my plan covered the rest, including high strength ibuprofen, a leg brace, and one PT visit. I have no complaints.

Robbie

Current employer says they pay $900 per month, and I contribute $260 a month plus copay and deductible. I'm eligible to buy into my previous employer's plan for the low-low price of $2200 per month plus $5K deductible.

The price I got was for a realistic income I need in retirement, including taxable withdrawals from 401Ks. If I entered $50K, it said I could get get a $900 per month subsidy. I always seem to be just over the limit for any help, the same zero subsidy as people that make 10x what I do. I got no help putting five kids through college, each of which annually cost a huge percentage of my after-tax income. FAFSA had no line item to differentiate if this was your only child or the fifth you were paying for. Sigh.

12k a year with a 15k deductible!!!! Yikes!

TrollFromDownBelow wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 11, 2019 9:11 pm

12k a year with a 15k deductible!!!! Yikes!

I know, right? (as the kids say). I've long argued that we need to separate healthcare from employment. It would make our corporations more competitive with their peers in countries where the burden is paid for with consumption taxes. It would also free people to find the most enjoyable and productive employment options. How many people have you known that felt trapped in a job they didn't like because they need the healthcare? Those people are not as productive as they would be if they were more able to pursue something they loved that carried a bit of risk.

Now I also see the flip side. If I had free healthcare from the government, I would stop working right now. Perhaps that's a factor; they know a lot of people would drop out of the labor force and the economy would take a hit if we didn't have to pay for it.

Agree that employment linked healthcare is bad for people and companies. It stops risk taking, keeps people working in jobs they shouldn't be in and stunts social mobility. Coming from the UK I used to pay my national insurance contributions which funded healthcare and state pension. NHS is just a big group insurance policy. Sharing risk across the nation rather than across the company. And it is not free. Nothing is free.

It's never free. It is one of the great mysteries that American business tolerates paying twice as much for health care as its competition abroad and is okay with that.

hippiewannabe wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 12, 2019 9:10 pm

If I had free healthcare from the government, I would stop working right now. Perhaps that's a factor; they know a lot of people would drop out of the labor force and the economy would take a hit if we didn't have to pay for it.

If you had free healthcare, you would likely juice the economy with consumer spending. Win! Win! A lot of people would not drop out of the labor force, they would move in it without anxiety. Believe it or not, Don, people love to work at meaningful jobs and feel like they are participating in the great American way. We do, however, get dispirited with seeing a tilted playing field.

I think you are in a coverage hole of sorts. Give away your assets to your kids, let them rent your house back to you, practice destitution (it's fun!), and you qualify for Medicaid. DO IT before your wife's medical issues bury you under debt.
Colin

I'm on my wife's plan with Calpers, since she's retired from California state government. And having achieved the ripe old age of 71 last week, I've been on Medicare. So I'm actually covered by Medicare and United Health PPO, and I leave it to them to sort out who's paying for what.

My wife is going on Medicare this month, so she's been researching her options. The health industry's pricing practices are so baroque that it's impossible to really compare the available plans. We both agree that the sooner we get to single-payer health and eventually universal health care, the better off we'll all be.

Amskeptic wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 22, 2019 8:14 pm

If you had free healthcare, you would likely juice the economy with consumer spending. Win! Win! A lot of people would not drop out of the labor force, they would move in it without anxiety. Believe it or not, Don, people love to work at meaningful jobs and feel like they are participating in the great American way. We do, however, get dispirited with seeing a tilted playing field.

^ I've said this for years. Same with paying a living wage, give the average person money, they will spend it.

I'm in year two of having healthcare through my employer after not having coverage since 1999. In the between years, my employers didn't offer it and when the ACA came out, my state refused to subsidize with federal funds so coverage have been 1/4 my monthly salary plus $15k deductible. I payed the $750 "tax" which was less than 1/12 what my annual premiums would have been. My costs now, even with the company paying a significant part of it, are more than the "tax." The main reasons I chose to enroll are I'm at the age of all those preventative tests and the better half could get the ortho work she has been wanting most of her adult life for a substantial discount.

Sneaks wrote: ↑

Mon May 13, 2019 10:13 am

Same with paying a living wage, give the average person money, they will spend it.

Ayep.
Colin

Sneaks wrote: ↑

Mon May 13, 2019 10:13 am

^ I've said this for years. Same with paying a living wage, give the average person money, they will spend it.

That reminds me of something that Will Rogers said about the "trickle-down" theory.

He said that money doesn't flow downhill it flows uphill. If you give a poor man a dollar, by nightfall that dollar will be in the rich man's pocket. But at least the poor man at least had a chance to hold on to it for a little while.