No health insurance?

[Bigprairie1]

Re: No health insurance?

Out of curiousity what is the average cost of health insurance for say: a family of 4 and then say,... I male adult? (40yrs old).
300-500/mth or 500-1000 or? Does it vary a lot from state to state?
How does it work with respect to illness/treatment? Do you sort of choose which parts of it that you want to buy or invest towards? (sort of like some dental plans?).
Just curious, Thanks
BP

 

[jkust]

Re: No health insurance?

If you guys only knew how ineficient and just plain stupid the government actually is. I am close to actuaries who have to work with various state government insurance officials. I have worked in the industry my entire career at a high wholesale level. The way government haphazardly oversees their states' programs is truly egregous. You all have some good points and to some extent I agree with many of your differing points. One part agrees with silvertip. Personal choice is a big part here. You need to have the insurance in force with creditable coverage so when you do get layed off or whatever you are assured not to be pre-exed. Simplisticaly I am annoyed when I see folks driving nicer cars or have better cable packages or whatever than me. Not because I wished I had their vehicle but for their stupid choices. Generally speaking I am in a top income bracket and my wife and I make more money than most of society but chose to live way below our means so we am set when the rainy day comes. Part of this came from us both being brought up just above the poverty line. We never had it so never missed it. If you have a nicer car than my 1997 or my 2000 but don't have health insurance there is a problem there. Stop buying stuff and make better choices. That rant aside, it is easy to judge people until you have walked in their shoes. I give a big pass for folks around 50ish or older for not having saved enough for a lot of good reasons. I do understand that things just happen. The younger crowd however, I am much harsher on when it comes to the health insurance issue.

 

[strokeoluck]

Re: No health insurance?

Out of curiousity what is the average cost of health insurance for say: a family of 4 and then say,... I male adult? (40yrs old).
300-500/mth or 500-1000 or? Does it vary a lot from state to state?
How does it work with respect to illness/treatment? Do you sort of choose which parts of it that you want to buy or invest towards? (sort of like some dental plans?).
Just curious, Thanks
BP

About 6-7 years ago I had to purchase health insurance for myself (about 33-34 at the time), my wife and our two young kids. I forget all the coverage details but I think it was a higher deductible plan. We were paying about $1,200/month for it back then; in Michigan; I think it was Blue Cross. I had a pre-existing condition and of course all the insurance guys said no plan would touch that coverage.

That's the part that really fries my *ss. The one thing that is LIKELY to land me in a bit of medical hot water, so to speak, is the one thing that they say they WON'T cover. So the only way to get coverage is to go to work for the man. Now I work for the man. I think this one little issue keeps probably 20% to 30% of the potential small business entrepreneurs on the sidelines. They'd rather play it safe w/their family's medical interests, than roll the dice and venture out on their own and pay the high deductibles or have no insurance at all.

I used to buy into the "universal health care sucks" line (an American dog gets seen faster than a Canadian with a heart problem, so they say) but after taking a number of trips to Toronto last year I'm not so sure I believe it any longer. Every person I talked to up there raved about their health care program. They completely understand they're paying hefty taxes, but the people I talked with really enjoyed the peace of mind that came from having the universal coverage.

 

[SuzukiChopper]

Re: No health insurance?

I used to buy into the "universal health care sucks" line (an American dog gets seen faster than a Canadian with a heart problem, so they say) but after taking a number of trips to Toronto last year I'm not so sure I believe it any longer. Every person I talked to up there raved about their health care program. They completely understand they're paying hefty taxes, but the people I talked with really enjoyed the peace of mind that came from having the universal coverage.

The universal coverage is nice but the option to be able to pay to get a surgery you need would be a nice added bonus. Or even be able to pay for a private doctor if you're so inclined to do so.

 

[jonesg]

Re: No health insurance?

I grew up with socialized medical care, its a rather cruel joke.
It will not fix the problem, it IS a problem itself.

The american system is broken throughout , its not just the non insured who load the system, its the legal system and people who think they have hit the lottery because some doctor made a human mistake.
I've also been to some very bad hospitals who deserve to be sued back to the stone age.

In 1973 I stayed in the hospital for 4 days, pneumonia, bill was $600.
3 yrs ago I was in for kidney stone surgery, 2 days $40K.

I think the reason is hefty insurance doctors have to protect themselves, plus all the extra tests performed to cover their assets, it all goes on the bill.
Doctors and hospitals don't pay insurance, they collect it from the public.

 

[jkust]

Re: No health insurance?

If you have a nicer car than my 1997 or my 2000 but don't have health insurance there is a problem there.

I just talked to someone in my own family yesterday who bought a $10k boat (mostly in cash) this past Saturday but has no health insurance. I will not even mention their 2008 SUV or the fact that they got ripped off on the boat. I can only imagine the complaining when something actually happens and they don't have coverage. She is in the "uniunsured" population.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: No health insurance?

Are the health insurance fees tax deductible?
BP

 

[amendegw]

Re: No health insurance?

Are the health insurance fees tax deductible?
BP

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson16/

"Ordinarily medical expenses, including insurance premiums, are not tax deductible until they exceed 7.5% of your income. However, if you're self-employed or your employer offers a flexible spending account, you can get a tax break without meeting the threshold."

 

[scoutabout]

Re: No health insurance?

...after taking a number of trips to Toronto last year I'm not so sure I believe it any longer. Every person I talked to up there raved about their health care program. They completely understand they're paying hefty taxes, but the people I talked with really enjoyed the peace of mind that came from having the universal coverage.

Certainly the stories I hear and read of the potential for financial ruin over health care in the States are mind boggling for the average Canadian. However the tax burden in this country is truly crushing and you can easily die waiting for some treatments...or for just the diagnostics to get you on the road to treatment. One of our dirty little secrets is that, if you can pay, there are clinics that will jump you to the front of the line and fix you up.

That all said, there is some comfort knowing you can drop in the street from a vast variety of ailments, get carted off to the hospital and stay just as long as you need to recover for not much more than the $45 charge for the ambulance.

Pay me now or pay me later but you will pay me...