how much do u pay for health insurance?

[jonas33h]

Pay for the surgery that I needed?

lol yeah, you could if you can afford it. I think that brings up a really good point though. . . OP should not be going off of what everyone else does in this forum.

If you can afford something like that sure, it's a solution. But on the other hand what other people pay doesn't mean that what OP will pay. People have different problems, kids, wives on their plans and also are trying to cover other things.


Remember when you go without it you should keep in the back of your mind you are willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars potentially in costs. . . slim but still possible I'd hate to have that happen to me or worse me die and my wife and kids now have that burden.

 

[JakeStratham]

I would most likely go to a different country for cancer treatment if needed.

Yup. This has been a popular option for awhile. Folks have realized that hospitals, surgeons, and general care in other countries are on par with, or have exceeded, that which is available in the U.S. We (or, some of us) just pay a lot more.

From here (written a few years ago):

The top regional destination for medical tourists is Asia, with Singapore, Thailand and India leading the way. Those countries are home to private health care chains that target international patients and are building modern, high-tech hospitals with a reputation for quality care.

...

Surgery in Thailand and Latin America can cost a quarter of its U.S. price, and JCI-accredited Wockhardt Hospitals offer open heart surgery in India for $8,500, compared to around $100,000 in the U.S. and $28,000 in the UK.

 

[invisible777]

$0 with some $20 copays here and there.

Wife works for a major hospital system and gets red carpet treatment.


Before I was married $800 /month.

 

[headiez247]

Why pay 5k a year for something I rarely use? I go to the doc when needed. It cost a few hundred bucks to get checked out. I pay for my own dental which is about $200 a year (6 month cleaning), I don't eat sugar so I don't get cavities. So about 300 bucks a year in medical. Why would I pay 5k a year? So I can pay for unhealthy people or needy people to use it?

lol. so clueless its hilarious. If you also have a wife/kid who also don't have insurance you get 10 extra "dumb bitch" points from me.

350/month for all of the shit with mine. Includes dental/vision/script/etc.

Though, I am a fat fuck so I'm sure that goes into it.

You'd be shocked at what they consider "not fat fuck". Some companies in Cali will give normal rate to a 6 foot 240 pound person.

Does anyone have ANY resources/suggestions pointing out decent companies for those of us that are self-employed?

I have been getting some ridiculous quotes and questions/requirements from companies here in California. Am I going to have to go out and marry someone with good employer-provided insurance to not get screwed basically?

I'm a pretty healthy 27 yr old male, nonsmoker, but these companies are essentially telling me to screw off with their endless letters and questioning random medical shit over the last few years. Example, the idiots couldn't get over the fact that I was prescribed hydrocodone a year ago for minor plastic surgery (that procedure was not covered by insurance anyways lol)

Any fellow self-employed Californians wanna chime in with suggestions for the self-employed?

For now I'd suggest something simple like Anthem Tonik 5k. $140/month with $5k deductible so its mainly for if something serious and unexpected goes down. I'm self employed in Cali and until all my biz formation paperwork goes thru, that's what I'm doing.

 

[pdxdvr]

I was looking at a catastrophic coverage plan that was <$100/month. Then they found out I was diagnosed ADD (pre existing condition!) even though I haven't been medicated for a few years (can never find my meds at local pharmacies & am too lazy/ADD to try online) and operate just fine. Coverage was suddenly over $300/month. Such BS. So I have nothing.

 

[headiez247]

I was looking at a catastrophic coverage plan that was <$100/month. Then they found out I was diagnosed ADD (pre existing condition!) even though I haven't been medicated for a few years (can never find my meds at local pharmacies & am too lazy/ADD to try online) and operate just fine. Coverage was suddenly over $300/month. Such BS. So I have nothing.

It's such a fucked up industry. Very frustrating. I had to deal with similar shit, took a while but I got the normal rate.

Situations like yours suck, where they are upcharging you based on a old, no longer relivant, diagnosis for which you haven't received treatment or medication for years. In your case I'd still say you should apply to the other companies, or at least talk to a agent about it. feel free to pm me i can forward u the email address/webpage of the guy that got me mine.

 

[loyolabenson]

0 My wife is a teacher

 

[antony04]

thank you

 

[joshman1204]

with my wife and daughter I pay 4k/yr and it doesn't seem like it ever covers shit!

 

[jsherloc]

@headiez, thanks for the tip. what kind of business formation paperwork are you looking at doing in terms of what would change your insurance needs? just curious, as i do have an LLC filed here...but doubt that would matter as no employees etc...just wondering

 

[headiez247]

@headiez, thanks for the tip. what kind of business formation paperwork are you looking at doing in terms of what would change your insurance needs? just curious, as i do have an LLC filed here...but doubt that would matter as no employees etc...just wondering

I haven't gotten that far yet research wise lol. I'm doing multiple LLC's (but could file as scorp thru the llc if necessary). My guess would be that I'm just going to keep what I have now for a while because its a great deal. That being said, its basically 'oh shit' insurance because while its only $140/month, it's a $5k deductible. 0% coverage before, 100% coverage after. As time goes on and the LLC's make money, maybe I'll look into other options.

 

[geomark]

-0- , because I live in one of those popular medical tourism countries and just pay out of pocket.

I had foot surgery last year by a top notch foot doc who practiced in the U.S. for years then returned to his home country. Total cost less than US$700 included two nights in private hospital room.

That doesn't work for people who don't live here since they need catasrophic coverage in case they have a brain hemmorage while arguing on the internet. For things you can plan in advance, however, medical tourism FTW - dental, elective surgery, detox/rehab - total cost will be less than your insurance premiums, never mind the deductible, and the treatment will be way better. Protip: The nurses are hot.

 

[jsherloc]

Our healthcare/insurance system here in the U.S. is the best for everyone though, and I'm personally glad we will never see the day of a complete "socialist" overhaul or anything like that. "It just won't work"

 

[advive]

I was looking at a catastrophic coverage plan that was <$100/month. Then they found out I was diagnosed ADD (pre existing condition!) even though I haven't been medicated for a few years (can never find my meds at local pharmacies & am too lazy/ADD to try online) and operate just fine. Coverage was suddenly over $300/month. Such BS. So I have nothing.

This is why public health works.

 

[charlesmartel]

I pay $120/month. I have a Health Savings Account (HSA) with a high-deductible policy. I believe the deductible is about $2500. Get a HSA. You can put a couple thousand in there a year and it's tax deductible. The money is yours to invest or just keep in as savings. You get a debit card to use the money at the dentist, doctor, etc. You can also pay your health deductible if you want with the money in your HSA.

Check out Navigate to a Health Savings Account - Accountholders - HSA Bank

 

[JohnCJackson]

If you are young, healthy, and single- there might not be much reason for it.

If you have a family/dependents- at least have some catastrophic/high deductible plan.

The real deal on "health insurance" besides the whole subsidization/taxation issues, is that what most people with employer provided low/no-deductible, low co-pay "insurance" consider a necessary insurance isn't really insurance. It's more like a payment management program. You pay so much a month and then don't pay much out of pocket when you see your doctor or buy medicine. I'm talking about most healthy people here who don't use services for terminal illness and rarely have accidents not covered by other insurance. You are just paying a 3rd party/middleman to handle the bills. Financially, if you don't use it you are losing money ( Does merely having this "insurance" ENCOURAGE overuse of healthcare services.resources? Hmm. what do you think?). It shouldn't be so unheard of/strange, for an individual to, you know, just actually pay the doctor transparent fees out of pocket when the services are needed.

True insurance is a service that is bought to protect against financial devastation due to UNPREDICTABLE events. So in reality, any shit that doves routine doctor visits and checkups and known/seasonal/expected short-term illnesses isn't really insurance at all, and this is just one reason that what has become misclassified and taken for granted as health insurance is so fucking expensive.. and the attempt to rebrand comprehensive health insurance payment plans as "healthcare" is such fucking bullshit ( Note: A LOT of people without insurance DO have access to "healthcare"- they just choose how to spend their money and what individual risks to take).

SO on that note, since I have a wife and kids I do have private health insurance but I get the type through BCBS that is low premium, high-deductible with co-insurance but has a very coverage limit and a manageable per-person and per-policy out of pocket maximum. That way, I can plan for how much I might spend out of pocket and assume less risk for more expensive unpredictable things. If I run the numbers I find very few policies that make sense spending more per month for lower deductibles and shit. If it makes sense for you to spend more per month without getting any real economic benefit, chances are you are the type of person to want more taxes deducted so you can get a bigger refund and you get your furniture from Rent-a-Center because you can't budget and save money. Of course this applies to private insurance, employer-provided BS insurance is a completely different thing subsidized by taxpayers and individuals who like getting a transparent price and paying for shit instead of paying a 3rd party to cut checks for them. So the considerations are different.

 

[JohnCJackson]

Our healthcare/insurance system here in the U.S. is the best for everyone though, and I'm personally glad we will never see the day of a complete "socialist" overhaul or anything like that. "It just won't work"

We've had government-run quasi-socialist healthcare for a long time already.

I'm a hardcore individualist free market libertarian, but sometimes I'd rather have socialism that the bullshit that we try to pass off as somehow resembling capitalism or free-market when it isn't. Government has controlled health insurance and the healthcare economy in this country to a great degree since right after WWII and more so since the '60s. I hate hate hate the Big government/Big biz co-op system more than anything else because it's like we get the worst of statism and the the worst of corporatism without getting any of the supposed benefits of either.

 

[geomark]

Our healthcare/insurance system here in the U.S. is the best for everyone though, and I'm personally glad we will never see the day of a complete "socialist" overhaul or anything like that. "It just won't work"

lol, just lol. The U.S. spends the most on healthcare of any developed country but ranks 37th in quality of care. They keep doing those studies hoping for a better answer and it just keep getting worse.

 

[cheshire]

About $1400/mo for 3 people.

 

[wayn3]

900 a year. Expatmedical.net

Will be more expensive for US citizens tho