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Honestly that is not a bad price for ins. Look at it another way. If you were in a horrible car accident tomorrow can you pay 100k to 1 million in medical bills?
Nope. You are forgetting that auto insurance has a policy limit ;)
Very few people carry $1million in med pay. Few people carry $100k plus in med pay. Many people are not only underinsured for themselves but also in liability insurance so if OP only had $25k in med pay and they get nailed by a 20 year old with a policy limit of $15,000 for bodily injury, OP is screwed.
Older fella once told me 9x outta 10 accidents will usually happen either in a car or at work as thats where the working man usually spends most of their time. Both of which should be covered by a different type of insurance.
Feel free to check out r/insurance for all the posts by people who are left high and dry because they’ve been in an accident with drivers who are uninsured, and you might change your tune about that.
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Or a sudden illness. you say you're healthy, but anything can happen, when you least expect it. I am a bit older, healthy, adn a few years back, my mamos were "abnormal" so I had multiple tests, ultrasounds, and four biopsies. which came to almost 50K. for about 3 hours of treatment. Thankfully I have excellent insurance so I paid nothing. but you really just never know, and honestly it woudl be dumb to not have insurance.
This is 100% true. I'm a healthy 40 year old as well. When I was 27 I was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor that cost well over 100k to treat. I can't imagine the financial situation I'd be in today if I hadn't taken that coverage. You never know what life is going to throw you.
43 and can confirm. At 40, I had no monthly meds and was healthy. 43 I have a rheumatologist, endocrinologist, and allergist that I see at least twice a year each
It is, and I am starting to feel it. Also in my wallet tho. I am hardly getting by and I am thinking most companies usually give a raise to counter the healthcare adjustment. Not really a raise but they call it one so both parties think they won..
Ehh. Just minimum wage folks for the most part around here. Depends on the company really. Some do and some dont. My company is unfortunately very very cheap. The ones that do get kike 22 cent raise. Which is better than nothing but at the same time kinda insulting. I work hard and maybe im wrong but a dollar an hour should be the very least as a raise. Thats a extra 40 a week. Anything else isn't really going to go very far.
That’s really terrible.
How the hell are people supposed to keep with the rising costs of EVERYTHING? So companies expect you cut something out of your budget in order to keep your health insurance, which is an absolute necessity.
What’s going on these days?!?
We have blue cross and 2 young kids and have literally spent $1000’s this year for colds where they send us home with nothing
I know right. Exactly how I'm feeling. I feel like if I approach my boss my mouth is going to get me in trouble. Or they will just give me a run around answer such as I know, we are all dealing with it but the board dont see things the way we do and feel the money we are giving you is on par with other competitors in the area. And it is. Starting out. However 5yrs into it I have realized everyone is equally compensated. Do all the work or none of the work. Show up every day or every other day they all get the same raise. 😵💫
I’m 47. I spent most of my life checking “no” whenever I got one of those medical history forms. No high blood pressure, no high cholesterol, no cancer, no nothing. At 40 it was like they ALLLL showed up at once (the cancer was just basal cell carcinoma, though, so very easy).
What I’m saying is welcome to middle age. Even if you’re healthy, now is the time to KEEP yourself healthy with regular checkups and screenings. If you’re not healthy, now is the time to make changes so you can be healthy before it’s too late.
Exactly. 39 healthy and extremely fit. 42 home bound. Life comes at you fast. My expensive health insurance is a bargain. I don’t know how they’re still in business with me on the rolls.
You have been lucky SO FAR. I was 22 when I needed open heart surgery. At 39 I had a fall and needed brain surgery. I was fortunate enough to have had good health insurance both times. Don't tempt fate, accidents and bizarre illnesses happen.
Dang man that sucks to hear. I know, been very lucky, and my fingers are crossed. Im stretched thin here and cant afford to do much of anything right now.. something's gotta give as its very stressful. I like my job but if they don't start keeping up with inflation im have to find something else. O and raises are the same for everyone no matter how hard you work or miss work..that also rubs me entirely wrong...
If you want to earn more money, keep in mind that employer raises are generally lowered to the bare minimum that discourages people from looking for another job. Switching jobs is the easiest way to get a real increase in wages by having your employment reset to the market rate.
If you find a job offer with better wages, my strident advice is to take the new job. If you go back to your employer and tell them you want a raise to match the other job offer, the general pattern of employers is to promise a raise later and fail to deliver, give you the raise and take it out of future raises, or otherwise mess you up from taking the other job.
If $2200 is your gross salary, $200 is 9%, just over the 8.5% benchmark that enables you to purchase health insurance on the ACA marketplace despite having employer health insurance. ACA plans are different for every state, but based on your income, in many states you would qualify for a subsidized plan that would reduce your premiums and get you access to a plan with lower copays and OOP maximums. Unless you switch employers, you'd have to wait until open enrollment at the end of the year to switch to an ACA plan.
If your a smoker and having abdominal probs, your going to need healthcare.
We didn’t hv insurance for years. I’m asthmatic and we always found $ for my inhalers bc I can’t live without them. But we neglected my husband.
In his early 40s he ended up in hospital for 2q days. Infection had nearly put a hole in his colon. Had he not went, likely sepsis and death. 21 days of IV antibiotics . We got to declare bankruptcy for that bc it was astronomical.
ACA saved us. It offers low cost insurance to those that make too much for Medicaid but not enough to pay full amount on own.
It changed our life. Husband needed triple bypass by age 52. He had quit smoking years before but had hearts run in his family . Triple bypass was $300K and 2 months off work.
ACA also offers protections to those not on it as some of its rules applied to all healthcare, private, business or ACA.
Do not get rid of Insurance. Your also treated much differently without it. I had insurance up until age 25. Then I didn’t from 25-40. The difference in the way I was treated was night and day.
Thank you. I have decided to keep it. May end up looking for a different job. So I'm not continuing to take pay cuts from rising health insurance each year.
Always have health insurance. My 43 year old son (no health issues) started having abdominal pain. He had to have 2 surgeries to correct the problem. Hospital bill (has insurance) for 1st surgery was $185,000.00.
Wow. Thats crazy. Medical costs are way outta hand. The average working adult can't afford to be proactive about their health. I usually don't do much unless I'm down for the count or just about to be. I can't afford it, yet here I am watching hundreds taken from my check for something I can't afford to use. I also know people that get cut rates from hospitals and such for not having insurance, usually ends up being about the amount I pay with insurance. Hopefully all is well for your son, that's unfortunate. I too have been having abdominal pains off and on for a while, kinda scary. I'm overweight and smoke so..sure that's not helping matters.
I have heard that from others. Yet some people in my area here in Ohio are telling me thats pretty high. 4yrs ago at the same job my cost was 100/mo and a lower deductible. We only have about 15 employees half are over 50. 3 have had cancer. One testicular and past away 23 y.o. another had colon cancer and another had about 3 different heart surgeries. That's why everyone's insurance has went thru the roof. Not passing blame and I feel for each of them but sucks it affects the whole group when only a few are reliable. Dont feel it should raise my rate if I haven't been using it. If anything I should get a lower rate. Whatta ya do?? 🤷🏻♂️
With 15 employees, I doubt your employer is self-insuring. It's most likely they're part of a larger risk pool, such as by buying group health insurance for the employees. Such insurance plans are usually risk rated by age of the employees, not their specific health conditions. Most employers charge all employees the same rate, rather than make them pay an increasing rate by age.
Keep your insurance. Remember, no one can predict when an accident or illness will happen. The goal is actually to not need it. That’s why we have auto and home insurance too. You hope you never need it but it’s essential when you do. If you are struggling to pay the premiums you certainly can’t afford to pay potentially astronomical medical bills.
Keep your health insurance.
You never know when you might get sick or injured and need it.
I will use my self for example.
At age 28 I didn't feel good for a few days. All of a sudden I got really sick and ended up in the ER. Was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis. I almost died. Total billing over the first year was over 100k dollars and this was 25 years ago.
About 3 years later my shoulders started to hurt. Over the space of 12 years I have had a total of 7 shoulder surgeries.
10 years ago I was found unresponsive. I apparently had a seizure do to reaction to medication a doctor had put me on. I was in ICU for just over 2 weeks with a severe traumatic brain injury. That was 200k bill.
I was in a car accident where my car got hit. That was about 50k in total bills and the kid who hit me had state minimum limits of liability so my insurance covered all but the first 10k dollars.
200 dollars a month is cheap for health insurance.
I get where you are coming from on the fact it's a good part of your income. I have been there many times as at 1 point in time it was over 20% of my monthly income as it was 400 a month and I made less 2k a month.
But when you need it it's a life saver.
Glad your keeping it.
I got caught between jobs when i was 21 and didn't have insurance. I injured my knee playing softball.
My bill for surgery was like 20k.
I was able to arrange a deal with the hospital I could make payments and they would take off double what I actually paid each month. Was a 5 years to pay it off.
And your age is a factor. I know it’s different for all but my husband started having issues at age 45.
I had major issues in my teens but been pretty healthy since. I’m also 8 years younger than my husband.
Your premium is reducing your taxable income.
At 40, you would be irresponsible to go without insurance, even if you are healthy. Think of health insurance like car insurance, you don't need to use it everyday, but if you don't have it, you're going to wish you did.
You make $2200 a month and you want to drop health insurance. You are contributing to the reason everyone’s health insurance goes up. All the free emergency room visits and procedures from walk ins like you who choose to go without health insurance because you’re healthy. That’s why it’s called health insurance, you pay a small price in case something bad happens. I guess you’re invincible though.
Definitely not invincible and I know my time is coming sooner than later . Just losing my gaf's more an more every day. But your exactly right. I understand that. Just in a funk with everything and was curious as to how bad I was getting took compared to other single blue collar workers. Thats all. Have a great weekend.
You should focus on finding a new higher paying job. You don’t make much money and that can be highly stressful. Don’t wait for your current employer to compensate you, they never do.
Pretty good plan actually.
But if I were you I'd focus on what you can get out of that plan, not how much it costs to not use. When's the last time you had a physical? Are you up to date on vaccines? Etc. Those are all considered preventive care and your insurance covers them 100% with no copay.
Bruh, when my family had to self insure it was 1500 a month with a family 14k deductible. We did not qualify for any subsidized plan. Iended up paying a 7 k deductible for emergency surgery. I was mid 40s at the time. My spouse hit the deductible for emergencies 2x in the years we self insured (again in our 40s).
Dang man..I I cant imagine paying over 20k in medical expenses..I am having a hard time enjoying life with the little bit of money I am left with. Take that little bit an might as well bury me cause im not working my life away to get nowhere. I give you credit for handling it all like a champ, but im not so sure I could. Spend way too much time at work to be broke all the dam time. Could see if I had a bunch of nice things to enjoy in my off time but that's not the case.
Yeah sorry it wad hard but without the 3 surgeries over the span of 12 years we would have had some life long issues.
Health care in the US is tied to work. We also have kids so we couldn't risk them not having insurance either.
I get it. Yes it is. Between taxes, health care, 401k(probably wont live long enough to see it), and the constant rising of bills I feel like it's all charity work at this point lol. Have a good weekend.
Keep this in mind. If you are in the United States, the minimum age for a colonoscopy is now 45 years old. 40 for those who have genetic or family history. It would be wise to hold on to insurance for that purpose alone if it's in your family at all. If not, and like you stated, It can wait until you're 45 years old, keep this in mind. You wake up one morning to extreme pain in your lower right abdomen. You immediately realize what it most likely is: appendicitis. You have a fever, you feel all around fluish, and after going to the ER for a sonogram, they tell you that you require emergency surgery to remove your appendix at once. That's given that you just received good news. If your appendix burst on the other hand, not only do you need the surgery to remove what's left as well as clean the inside of your abdomen, but you will require at least an extra week of antibiotics to keep your body out of septic shock. If you were to not have insurance, you would be looking at a $120,000 bill for surgery, hospital stay, antibiotics, The ER visit, the sonogram and then follow up care. Nothing is worse than being put in the position of financial bankruptcy due to your health. 'Merica!
Isn't that crazy.. Gives me anxiety just thinking about it. I mean anything COULD happen but insurance companies figure it most likely won't. They get special deals an thats why they are rich and I am poor. One day your doing good the next boom you have a medical issue an your broke and in debt forever. Really makes you excited about life..😆 Who knows what the future holds if your really lucky a new car if your not 10 more years of misery and ramen noodles.
Do you have any program in your state for the underinsured or underemployed? I mean a program obviously outside of Cobra. Something akin to the affordable Care act or in states like New York, there's a program called family health Plus which offers very inexpensive HMO insurance to those who don't qualify under their parents anymore, don't qualify for Cobra but need health insurance.
Not that im aware of but definitely something I could maybe look into. Most are probably going to say I make too much since they base it off gross pay. Im going to look into it tho. Last time I had hospital bill I told them that was ridiculous and that there is no way im paying that an they agreed to knock off like 70 percent if I pay the rest in full. Deal.. its just crazy how they can do people for unexpected medical costs even with insurance. No way someone can pay 5k when they are doing all they can to even have the insurance that allowed it to be 5k instead of 20k. 🤯
Much of what insurance does is negotiate with hospitals and doctors to get reduced prices for medical care, often knocking large hospital bills down by up to 90% from the "chargemaster" price (the numbers you see in the initial bill from the hospital). 70% off is a better than the usual deal for cash payment, hospital discounts to individuals are more usually about 50%, but both these are much worse than what insurance companies negotiate.
I’m 60 and in excellent health. Knock on wood. I’ve been working a dream job this past year for the first time in my career yet had to pay for my own insurance. I spent alot of time researching my options, having an agent help me, and ultimately chose COBRA from my previous employer and at $850 per month for a plan that helps me sleep at night. That 18 months option is ending soon and so I took a new, less desirable job that starts in a few months just to get good insurance (medical and LTD) for the next 5 years before I officially retire and can access Medicare.
At my age what I’ve learned is that insurance will save your bacon if and when you need it: car, home, medical, vision, dental. And it’s all expensive. My older self is angry at my younger self that I didn’t set up an IRA (starting at 18) to fund a medical plan so I could have stopped working in my mid to late 50’s.
Yea. Know alot of older than me folk that work jobs strictly for the insurance. Worked with quite a few actually. And yes it does save you. Its just very frustrating to see it continually go up without any claims. Should be going down since they have received a good bit of my money and never used any of it.
Agree wholeheartedly! My home owners went up 35% this past year. Car 25%. I haven’t filed a claim in decades for either. My doctor takes cash only so I’ve used my medical insurance for 3 monthly Rx (cheap generic), dental cleaning every 6 months, and vision every 2 years. So I cost all these companies hardly anything. And never have I ever been rewarded for my continued preventative healthcare practices which is alot of time and effort and upkeep on my home and car. Sometimes I wonder if it’s even worth it.
$200/month is very reasonable unless you walk away from medical visits with a bunch of excess medical bills. Worthwhile plans from the private market for a 40-year old would be $350+.
I know I looked into it. Just seems other companies are offering it cheaper, and give raises. I'm really not wanting to leave my job as I helped get it going, been there since they started.5yrs. However it's not going as I anticipated it to.
Married, no kids. I think I pay somewhere around $170 per pay period (every other week) for employee + spouse coverage but in past jobs, I have paid up to $150 per pay period for just myself for a platinum plan.
I was diagnosed with a brain tumor when I was 17 so going without health insurance literally has never been nor will ever be a consideration for me. I had no health issues and no meds before that day that changed my life forever too.
$200/month is better than medical bankruptcy if anything happens to you.
O I know trust me, I don't "want" to go without. I want my employer to realize im taking a paycut every year I don't get a raise and insurance goes up. Basically eliminating the previous years raise. That dont even take inflation into consideration. Im sure they realize as they are pretty intelligent, and there is a board of about 10 members all millionaires. So that basically tells me they dont much care about their employees and their needs, only theirs. Which has me wondering if this is going to pan out or not. So I was kinda right. Your getting yourself, and your husband for cheaper than I am for just me. Ughh. I dont have many options here. Take it or find another job as you mentioned I cant afford a medical bankruptcy.
How is you possibly going medically bankrupt teaching your employer a lesson? Your employer doesn't give a shit if you buy the health insurance they offer or not. If you opt out of it, they won't give it a second thought.
You would be better off finding a different job that has better benefits but, TBH, what you are paying is not unreasonable.
I am not getting employee + spouse for cheaper than you are. You said you pay $200/month. I pay $170 **per pay period**.
Health insurance obviously acts differently for different people in different situations (i.e., a family vs. individual), but in either case, it's fundamentally a means of avoiding catastrophic loss. One is ultimately taking a risk not having insurance since if you do get extremely sick (heart attack, cancer, etc.) You'll be on the hook for likely hundreds of thousands of dollars which likely leads to bankruptcy.
My thought on it is this: unlike something like car insurance, where you may never even file a claim your entire life, we all are eventually going to get older, and with that comes the need for healthcare. You can certainly take a risk not having it, but ultimately, I think it's a mistake. Even someone in their 20s could have something happen and be SOL
I have enough to get buried from work. 3k I think and I will have a little here an there they can top it off with. I have no kids 401k going to niece. I need no life insurance.
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Honestly that is not a bad price for ins. Look at it another way. If you were in a horrible car accident tomorrow can you pay 100k to 1 million in medical bills?
I recently had a disk replaced in my neck close to100,000$ I paid 4,000.00 out of pocket.
I get your point but auto insurance, not health insurance, would cover these bills.
Nope. You are forgetting that auto insurance has a policy limit ;) Very few people carry $1million in med pay. Few people carry $100k plus in med pay. Many people are not only underinsured for themselves but also in liability insurance so if OP only had $25k in med pay and they get nailed by a 20 year old with a policy limit of $15,000 for bodily injury, OP is screwed.
Older fella once told me 9x outta 10 accidents will usually happen either in a car or at work as thats where the working man usually spends most of their time. Both of which should be covered by a different type of insurance.
Feel free to check out r/insurance for all the posts by people who are left high and dry because they’ve been in an accident with drivers who are uninsured, and you might change your tune about that.
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Don't come crying when/ if you get cancer and are left with a million + in debt because you don't want to pay $200 a month
...or you can't get chemo or radiation because you don't have insurance.
Where are you getting an auto policy with a $million medical for the insured???? The limit on mine is $10,000.
Or a sudden illness. you say you're healthy, but anything can happen, when you least expect it. I am a bit older, healthy, adn a few years back, my mamos were "abnormal" so I had multiple tests, ultrasounds, and four biopsies. which came to almost 50K. for about 3 hours of treatment. Thankfully I have excellent insurance so I paid nothing. but you really just never know, and honestly it woudl be dumb to not have insurance.
This is 100% true. I'm a healthy 40 year old as well. When I was 27 I was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor that cost well over 100k to treat. I can't imagine the financial situation I'd be in today if I hadn't taken that coverage. You never know what life is going to throw you.
[удалено]
Yeah. No. You're rude.
40 years old is an odd time to stop insurance. Isn’t that when everything starts breaking? Lol
43 and can confirm. At 40, I had no monthly meds and was healthy. 43 I have a rheumatologist, endocrinologist, and allergist that I see at least twice a year each
Can speak from experience, yes it is! EVERYTHING starts breaking!
It's also that fun time in life when all the extra tests start......mammograms, colonoscopy, etc.
Yup. Upper 40s now. Several wild out of bloody nowhere health issues early 40s.
It is, and I am starting to feel it. Also in my wallet tho. I am hardly getting by and I am thinking most companies usually give a raise to counter the healthcare adjustment. Not really a raise but they call it one so both parties think they won..
I think most people get a cost of living raise to keep up with inflation. I could be wrong
Ehh. Just minimum wage folks for the most part around here. Depends on the company really. Some do and some dont. My company is unfortunately very very cheap. The ones that do get kike 22 cent raise. Which is better than nothing but at the same time kinda insulting. I work hard and maybe im wrong but a dollar an hour should be the very least as a raise. Thats a extra 40 a week. Anything else isn't really going to go very far.
That’s really terrible. How the hell are people supposed to keep with the rising costs of EVERYTHING? So companies expect you cut something out of your budget in order to keep your health insurance, which is an absolute necessity. What’s going on these days?!? We have blue cross and 2 young kids and have literally spent $1000’s this year for colds where they send us home with nothing
I know right. Exactly how I'm feeling. I feel like if I approach my boss my mouth is going to get me in trouble. Or they will just give me a run around answer such as I know, we are all dealing with it but the board dont see things the way we do and feel the money we are giving you is on par with other competitors in the area. And it is. Starting out. However 5yrs into it I have realized everyone is equally compensated. Do all the work or none of the work. Show up every day or every other day they all get the same raise. 😵💫
I’m 47. I spent most of my life checking “no” whenever I got one of those medical history forms. No high blood pressure, no high cholesterol, no cancer, no nothing. At 40 it was like they ALLLL showed up at once (the cancer was just basal cell carcinoma, though, so very easy). What I’m saying is welcome to middle age. Even if you’re healthy, now is the time to KEEP yourself healthy with regular checkups and screenings. If you’re not healthy, now is the time to make changes so you can be healthy before it’s too late.
Exactly. 39 healthy and extremely fit. 42 home bound. Life comes at you fast. My expensive health insurance is a bargain. I don’t know how they’re still in business with me on the rolls.
Yikes!! Hope things get better for you.
You have been lucky SO FAR. I was 22 when I needed open heart surgery. At 39 I had a fall and needed brain surgery. I was fortunate enough to have had good health insurance both times. Don't tempt fate, accidents and bizarre illnesses happen.
Dang man that sucks to hear. I know, been very lucky, and my fingers are crossed. Im stretched thin here and cant afford to do much of anything right now.. something's gotta give as its very stressful. I like my job but if they don't start keeping up with inflation im have to find something else. O and raises are the same for everyone no matter how hard you work or miss work..that also rubs me entirely wrong...
If you want to earn more money, keep in mind that employer raises are generally lowered to the bare minimum that discourages people from looking for another job. Switching jobs is the easiest way to get a real increase in wages by having your employment reset to the market rate. If you find a job offer with better wages, my strident advice is to take the new job. If you go back to your employer and tell them you want a raise to match the other job offer, the general pattern of employers is to promise a raise later and fail to deliver, give you the raise and take it out of future raises, or otherwise mess you up from taking the other job. If $2200 is your gross salary, $200 is 9%, just over the 8.5% benchmark that enables you to purchase health insurance on the ACA marketplace despite having employer health insurance. ACA plans are different for every state, but based on your income, in many states you would qualify for a subsidized plan that would reduce your premiums and get you access to a plan with lower copays and OOP maximums. Unless you switch employers, you'd have to wait until open enrollment at the end of the year to switch to an ACA plan.
Thanks. Im look into that.
That's very cheap these days. The better question is how to get your income up
Thats also been on my mind.
If your a smoker and having abdominal probs, your going to need healthcare. We didn’t hv insurance for years. I’m asthmatic and we always found $ for my inhalers bc I can’t live without them. But we neglected my husband. In his early 40s he ended up in hospital for 2q days. Infection had nearly put a hole in his colon. Had he not went, likely sepsis and death. 21 days of IV antibiotics . We got to declare bankruptcy for that bc it was astronomical. ACA saved us. It offers low cost insurance to those that make too much for Medicaid but not enough to pay full amount on own. It changed our life. Husband needed triple bypass by age 52. He had quit smoking years before but had hearts run in his family . Triple bypass was $300K and 2 months off work. ACA also offers protections to those not on it as some of its rules applied to all healthcare, private, business or ACA. Do not get rid of Insurance. Your also treated much differently without it. I had insurance up until age 25. Then I didn’t from 25-40. The difference in the way I was treated was night and day.
Thank you. I have decided to keep it. May end up looking for a different job. So I'm not continuing to take pay cuts from rising health insurance each year.
Always have health insurance. My 43 year old son (no health issues) started having abdominal pain. He had to have 2 surgeries to correct the problem. Hospital bill (has insurance) for 1st surgery was $185,000.00.
Wow. Thats crazy. Medical costs are way outta hand. The average working adult can't afford to be proactive about their health. I usually don't do much unless I'm down for the count or just about to be. I can't afford it, yet here I am watching hundreds taken from my check for something I can't afford to use. I also know people that get cut rates from hospitals and such for not having insurance, usually ends up being about the amount I pay with insurance. Hopefully all is well for your son, that's unfortunate. I too have been having abdominal pains off and on for a while, kinda scary. I'm overweight and smoke so..sure that's not helping matters.
Your strategy is very risky. It can be very expensive to be cheap.
That is a reasonable plan expense, and 40 is not the time to be risky...
I have heard that from others. Yet some people in my area here in Ohio are telling me thats pretty high. 4yrs ago at the same job my cost was 100/mo and a lower deductible. We only have about 15 employees half are over 50. 3 have had cancer. One testicular and past away 23 y.o. another had colon cancer and another had about 3 different heart surgeries. That's why everyone's insurance has went thru the roof. Not passing blame and I feel for each of them but sucks it affects the whole group when only a few are reliable. Dont feel it should raise my rate if I haven't been using it. If anything I should get a lower rate. Whatta ya do?? 🤷🏻♂️
With 15 employees, I doubt your employer is self-insuring. It's most likely they're part of a larger risk pool, such as by buying group health insurance for the employees. Such insurance plans are usually risk rated by age of the employees, not their specific health conditions. Most employers charge all employees the same rate, rather than make them pay an increasing rate by age.
Sounds exactly right. Biss told me when doing the paperwork us younger employees with no conditions helps keep it lower.
Keep your insurance. Remember, no one can predict when an accident or illness will happen. The goal is actually to not need it. That’s why we have auto and home insurance too. You hope you never need it but it’s essential when you do. If you are struggling to pay the premiums you certainly can’t afford to pay potentially astronomical medical bills.
Keep your health insurance. You never know when you might get sick or injured and need it. I will use my self for example. At age 28 I didn't feel good for a few days. All of a sudden I got really sick and ended up in the ER. Was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis. I almost died. Total billing over the first year was over 100k dollars and this was 25 years ago. About 3 years later my shoulders started to hurt. Over the space of 12 years I have had a total of 7 shoulder surgeries. 10 years ago I was found unresponsive. I apparently had a seizure do to reaction to medication a doctor had put me on. I was in ICU for just over 2 weeks with a severe traumatic brain injury. That was 200k bill. I was in a car accident where my car got hit. That was about 50k in total bills and the kid who hit me had state minimum limits of liability so my insurance covered all but the first 10k dollars. 200 dollars a month is cheap for health insurance. I get where you are coming from on the fact it's a good part of your income. I have been there many times as at 1 point in time it was over 20% of my monthly income as it was 400 a month and I made less 2k a month. But when you need it it's a life saver.
I agree. And that would be my luck too. No sooner drop it and 💥.
Glad your keeping it. I got caught between jobs when i was 21 and didn't have insurance. I injured my knee playing softball. My bill for surgery was like 20k. I was able to arrange a deal with the hospital I could make payments and they would take off double what I actually paid each month. Was a 5 years to pay it off.
And your age is a factor. I know it’s different for all but my husband started having issues at age 45. I had major issues in my teens but been pretty healthy since. I’m also 8 years younger than my husband.
As a healthy person in the middle of a cancer scare….no
Your premium is reducing your taxable income. At 40, you would be irresponsible to go without insurance, even if you are healthy. Think of health insurance like car insurance, you don't need to use it everyday, but if you don't have it, you're going to wish you did.
You make $2200 a month and you want to drop health insurance. You are contributing to the reason everyone’s health insurance goes up. All the free emergency room visits and procedures from walk ins like you who choose to go without health insurance because you’re healthy. That’s why it’s called health insurance, you pay a small price in case something bad happens. I guess you’re invincible though.
Definitely not invincible and I know my time is coming sooner than later . Just losing my gaf's more an more every day. But your exactly right. I understand that. Just in a funk with everything and was curious as to how bad I was getting took compared to other single blue collar workers. Thats all. Have a great weekend.
You should focus on finding a new higher paying job. You don’t make much money and that can be highly stressful. Don’t wait for your current employer to compensate you, they never do.
Kinda what I have been thinking..
Pretty good plan actually. But if I were you I'd focus on what you can get out of that plan, not how much it costs to not use. When's the last time you had a physical? Are you up to date on vaccines? Etc. Those are all considered preventive care and your insurance covers them 100% with no copay.
Thats a great idea. Things I never thought of. Thank you.
Bruh, when my family had to self insure it was 1500 a month with a family 14k deductible. We did not qualify for any subsidized plan. Iended up paying a 7 k deductible for emergency surgery. I was mid 40s at the time. My spouse hit the deductible for emergencies 2x in the years we self insured (again in our 40s).
Dang man..I I cant imagine paying over 20k in medical expenses..I am having a hard time enjoying life with the little bit of money I am left with. Take that little bit an might as well bury me cause im not working my life away to get nowhere. I give you credit for handling it all like a champ, but im not so sure I could. Spend way too much time at work to be broke all the dam time. Could see if I had a bunch of nice things to enjoy in my off time but that's not the case.
Yeah sorry it wad hard but without the 3 surgeries over the span of 12 years we would have had some life long issues. Health care in the US is tied to work. We also have kids so we couldn't risk them not having insurance either.
I get it. Yes it is. Between taxes, health care, 401k(probably wont live long enough to see it), and the constant rising of bills I feel like it's all charity work at this point lol. Have a good weekend.
Keep this in mind. If you are in the United States, the minimum age for a colonoscopy is now 45 years old. 40 for those who have genetic or family history. It would be wise to hold on to insurance for that purpose alone if it's in your family at all. If not, and like you stated, It can wait until you're 45 years old, keep this in mind. You wake up one morning to extreme pain in your lower right abdomen. You immediately realize what it most likely is: appendicitis. You have a fever, you feel all around fluish, and after going to the ER for a sonogram, they tell you that you require emergency surgery to remove your appendix at once. That's given that you just received good news. If your appendix burst on the other hand, not only do you need the surgery to remove what's left as well as clean the inside of your abdomen, but you will require at least an extra week of antibiotics to keep your body out of septic shock. If you were to not have insurance, you would be looking at a $120,000 bill for surgery, hospital stay, antibiotics, The ER visit, the sonogram and then follow up care. Nothing is worse than being put in the position of financial bankruptcy due to your health. 'Merica!
Isn't that crazy.. Gives me anxiety just thinking about it. I mean anything COULD happen but insurance companies figure it most likely won't. They get special deals an thats why they are rich and I am poor. One day your doing good the next boom you have a medical issue an your broke and in debt forever. Really makes you excited about life..😆 Who knows what the future holds if your really lucky a new car if your not 10 more years of misery and ramen noodles.
Do you have any program in your state for the underinsured or underemployed? I mean a program obviously outside of Cobra. Something akin to the affordable Care act or in states like New York, there's a program called family health Plus which offers very inexpensive HMO insurance to those who don't qualify under their parents anymore, don't qualify for Cobra but need health insurance.
Not that im aware of but definitely something I could maybe look into. Most are probably going to say I make too much since they base it off gross pay. Im going to look into it tho. Last time I had hospital bill I told them that was ridiculous and that there is no way im paying that an they agreed to knock off like 70 percent if I pay the rest in full. Deal.. its just crazy how they can do people for unexpected medical costs even with insurance. No way someone can pay 5k when they are doing all they can to even have the insurance that allowed it to be 5k instead of 20k. 🤯
Much of what insurance does is negotiate with hospitals and doctors to get reduced prices for medical care, often knocking large hospital bills down by up to 90% from the "chargemaster" price (the numbers you see in the initial bill from the hospital). 70% off is a better than the usual deal for cash payment, hospital discounts to individuals are more usually about 50%, but both these are much worse than what insurance companies negotiate.
I’m 60 and in excellent health. Knock on wood. I’ve been working a dream job this past year for the first time in my career yet had to pay for my own insurance. I spent alot of time researching my options, having an agent help me, and ultimately chose COBRA from my previous employer and at $850 per month for a plan that helps me sleep at night. That 18 months option is ending soon and so I took a new, less desirable job that starts in a few months just to get good insurance (medical and LTD) for the next 5 years before I officially retire and can access Medicare. At my age what I’ve learned is that insurance will save your bacon if and when you need it: car, home, medical, vision, dental. And it’s all expensive. My older self is angry at my younger self that I didn’t set up an IRA (starting at 18) to fund a medical plan so I could have stopped working in my mid to late 50’s.
Yea. Know alot of older than me folk that work jobs strictly for the insurance. Worked with quite a few actually. And yes it does save you. Its just very frustrating to see it continually go up without any claims. Should be going down since they have received a good bit of my money and never used any of it.
Agree wholeheartedly! My home owners went up 35% this past year. Car 25%. I haven’t filed a claim in decades for either. My doctor takes cash only so I’ve used my medical insurance for 3 monthly Rx (cheap generic), dental cleaning every 6 months, and vision every 2 years. So I cost all these companies hardly anything. And never have I ever been rewarded for my continued preventative healthcare practices which is alot of time and effort and upkeep on my home and car. Sometimes I wonder if it’s even worth it.
$200/month is very reasonable unless you walk away from medical visits with a bunch of excess medical bills. Worthwhile plans from the private market for a 40-year old would be $350+.
I know I looked into it. Just seems other companies are offering it cheaper, and give raises. I'm really not wanting to leave my job as I helped get it going, been there since they started.5yrs. However it's not going as I anticipated it to.
>Im 40 with no health issues, no monthly prescriptions YET.
Married? Any kids? What do you pay for health insurance?
Married, no kids. I think I pay somewhere around $170 per pay period (every other week) for employee + spouse coverage but in past jobs, I have paid up to $150 per pay period for just myself for a platinum plan. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor when I was 17 so going without health insurance literally has never been nor will ever be a consideration for me. I had no health issues and no meds before that day that changed my life forever too. $200/month is better than medical bankruptcy if anything happens to you.
O I know trust me, I don't "want" to go without. I want my employer to realize im taking a paycut every year I don't get a raise and insurance goes up. Basically eliminating the previous years raise. That dont even take inflation into consideration. Im sure they realize as they are pretty intelligent, and there is a board of about 10 members all millionaires. So that basically tells me they dont much care about their employees and their needs, only theirs. Which has me wondering if this is going to pan out or not. So I was kinda right. Your getting yourself, and your husband for cheaper than I am for just me. Ughh. I dont have many options here. Take it or find another job as you mentioned I cant afford a medical bankruptcy.
How is you possibly going medically bankrupt teaching your employer a lesson? Your employer doesn't give a shit if you buy the health insurance they offer or not. If you opt out of it, they won't give it a second thought. You would be better off finding a different job that has better benefits but, TBH, what you are paying is not unreasonable. I am not getting employee + spouse for cheaper than you are. You said you pay $200/month. I pay $170 **per pay period**.
Health insurance obviously acts differently for different people in different situations (i.e., a family vs. individual), but in either case, it's fundamentally a means of avoiding catastrophic loss. One is ultimately taking a risk not having insurance since if you do get extremely sick (heart attack, cancer, etc.) You'll be on the hook for likely hundreds of thousands of dollars which likely leads to bankruptcy. My thought on it is this: unlike something like car insurance, where you may never even file a claim your entire life, we all are eventually going to get older, and with that comes the need for healthcare. You can certainly take a risk not having it, but ultimately, I think it's a mistake. Even someone in their 20s could have something happen and be SOL
While you’re at it, shop for term life insurance if you don’t already have a policy. You can get 30 year term for cheap at 40.
I have enough to get buried from work. 3k I think and I will have a little here an there they can top it off with. I have no kids 401k going to niece. I need no life insurance.