Contributors to this thread:
Just received an email at work informing us that as of Jan 1, my health insurance is now going up about $40 more per week. I will now be at about $480 a month. I'm guessing it doesn't compare to small business owners but what about the rest of you?
Tell your reps and senators to get off their but and repeal the dam thing.
JTV, no prostate issues then? I took from another of your posts that it was you that had to run with a cath and bag strapped to your leg.
Maybe I misunderstood.
I think ours is going down. It's through my wife's employment. They changed it this year and took away the health testing that they made us do before. They used to base our rates on whether we passed their health screening, but apparently they've gone with a different company, and we don't have to do it anymore.
Good to hear. Stay healthy.
I work for an outfit that has over 100,000 employees worldwide. For myself and family I paid 740 a month this year and 2018 would have been around 900 a month but wife got job that offers insurance and now it will only be around 500 a month for all of us.
When I had to get a prostrate biopsy 2012 it was $1100 out of pocket co pay. My prostrate robotic surgery was $19k in 2012. It's a good idea to have insurance if possible.
Mine went up. Yes, cheaper to not have until you need it...
That's the crux to it all.
With 70% of the country either overweight or obese health insurance will only get more expensive. I believe I read that the avg. American takes 3 prescription drugs a day. That won’t end well.
The average person spends $10K on health care in the US per year. Obviously, certain demographic groups spend more, or less. If you're a statistics and odds kinda guy, you can establish what group you fall into, and what your probable risk is. Then, you can save accordingly to self-insure.
Or, you can let the insurance companies manage that risk, and charge you accordingly, with their mark-up, of course.
Matt
KPC in my liberal state MANY get it for FREE!
I always thought the more employees a company had, the lower the premium cost would be for it's employees. My previous employer had less than 10,000 employees worldwide and the family plan was 256 dollars a month. It was the same provider as the company I now work for that I posted above about. Both were 80/20 plans. Gotta have it I guess. My wife had a 20 minute out patient procedure a couple weeks ago and it was a bit over 13,000 dollars. Hurts my head to think about it.
"KPC in my liberal state MANY get it for FREE!"
Free? Really? The doctors, nurses, administrators and clerical people work for nothing?
Most employer plans take you at face value without proof of insurability. Because of this, you have to pay the highest premium based on the mortality rates, or risk of highest claim, of a general population.
I had a colonoscopy done 7 years ago, it was around $4000. I just had the another one done earlier this month , and don't know if all the bills are in yet, but it is now up to $16,500. Granted there were extra lab charges this time around, but an increase of $12,500 in 7 years? That's ridiculous.
The doctors, lab techs, nurses, on-and-on will still get paid. Lowering the price for one group means raising it for another group. The more overhead of gov't oversight raises it even more.
No such thing as free health care, it's just a question of who foots the bill.
"No such thing as free health care, it's just a question of who foots the bill."
DING DING DING! We have a winner here folks!
The uninsured take their kids to the ER every time they get sick like it's a regular doctors office... The ER will not refuse to treat them...and bingo bango... free health care...... I for one am glad to be in a union job where we still have decent insurance and I still get retiree health care.... Our newly hired guys do not get retiree health care...
Because it's not sustainable, right? I've been in the ER with a broken/dislocated shoulder looking around at people basically holding wounds together, chainsaw cuts, fish hooks in their face, "in line" with somebody's kid who has a runny nose.
Guess who gets a free visit, and who ends up paying?
WW yes it obviously is not free but some lazy non workers do not pay out of pocket so therefore for them it is FREE. I obviously help pay for it from my hard work.
I think I pay $80/month for great insurance for a family of 4. I pay the highest rate as my wife's employer offers her insurance but she turns it down for an FSA.
Historically my employer, a city of about 25,000 people, paid in benefits. Low wage and excellent benefits. Now the pay is way better and the benefits are less. I believe it is the perfect blend for us.
I pay 135/month for family of 5. Not too bad, but employee co-pay is ridiculous, 5k per person, 10K total annually...
The company I work for pays 1/2 of the $1,600 monthly premium for myself and my wife for the oxford Liberty HMO plan which is the cheapest they have. The co-pay is $30 for my Doctor, $75 for walk in clinic and $150 for emergency room. Also have a $2,000 hospital deduction per person.
The company I work for pays 100% of my premium. My copay is 20$. Deductible per individual is 500$, max out of pocket for my family of 5 is 1300$. One of the main reasons I haven't left the company I work for.
Link,
We had almost the exact deal a few years ago. Our Max out if pocket and deductibles went up but my employer covers the deductible increase through an HRA. It was much cheaper to raise deductibles and then pay the difference of the deductible raise with an HRA than to just leave it as is.
Wow Link, that is a Cadillac plan these days. Your company must pay a fortune for that.
My wife and I set ours up separately, she works in education so she stayed on her plan by herself with a $2k out of pocket max deductible at no cost per month, I stayed on my HMO with $2400 out of pocket max and pay $42 week and included her on my Dental and Vision plan. Plus I get $1k put in an HSA account for prescriptions each year, and co pay for Dr. visits.
They made my wife Opt out ... we work together..... so she is under my health care.... They give her $61 a check (bi-weekly) for the opt out....
The district pays 100% of my premium and none of my wife's. I have $3,500 deductible and $5,000 max out of pocket. Co-pays of $40 and $60 not included in either so max out of pocket is a mythical concept.
My wife pays pays about $300/month premium. She pays 100% of the first $2500 then a co-pay of 20% until she meets her max out of pocket of $5,000.
I have a high deductible medical policy with HSA. I plan to retire in a few years, so I max out my HSA contributions to build up a kitty. Plan to use that kitty to help pay for long term health ins premiums (tax free). When 65, you can also draw on HSA for none medical related things, but you then need to pay taxes on those withdrawals. So then, it is essentially like an IRA at that point. That was one of the best parts of the proposed (failed) repeal and replace. It allowed for doubling the HSA contribution limits. My opinion high deductible policies with HSA is a good way to keep medical expenses low. You are for the most part spending your own money. Would make folks think twice about getting non-essential care.
""Do either of your employers compensate you at all for the spouse opting out of your respective plans?""
No they don't. Over the last 7-8 yrs our health insurance has been changing yr to yr with take backs here and there to help the Company with cost. Re-imbursement has never been a benefit for the wife or myself. We decided in 2013 to pay the insurance the method we are using now, it does help keep our cost down. I'm 58 now if I retire when I'm 62 we will have to come up with another formula to pay for Health insurance. Retiree insurance now is approx. $500 monthly just for me. I'm certain it will increase in significantly in the next 3 1/2 yrs. I will also have the option to get included with my wife's plan. Whichever is cheaper will probably be the plan we go with.
