Klubbie
Recycles dryer sheets
I just recently got married in September, and now my wife and I are trying to figure out how to handle our health insurance. This is one area that I know very little about. I can put together a passively managed index portfolio, pay down debt and get the savings rate up. But I don't know how to decide who's health insurance to use.
A little about what I do know: My plan with my employer is a high deductible plan that costs $38.50 per paycheck. Currently my deductible is $2000 for an individual, and $4000 for employee/spouse/family. I have an HSA with the plan that I max out. Coinsurance is 30%. Preventive care is covered 100%. It would appear that other coverage kicks in after the deductible is met. I personally don't get sick a ton or have many health issues so I have been using this as an opportunity to max the HSA, really to serve more as a "rainy day fund" for health issues that come up as I get older (I am 33 now). Healthcare expenses I do have, I pay out of pocket, but they have been very minimal.
My wife is a bit of a different story. Her plan is a higher premium out of each each check (not sure the amount), but I suspect better coverage. Her company has her in what they call a Health Reimbursement Account. I have no idea what that is and only recently discovered she was in it. She suffers from bad migraines and takes two medications for those migraines that are covered 100% by her insurance. She is generally healthy other than her migraines.
If she did not have these medications I would probably just have her come onto my plan as otherwise were are health overall. But her medications, and the fact that they are covered by her insurance, have caused me to really reassess how we should go about approaching health insurance. Knowing that we are both generally healthy people, aside from the migraines, what should we be looking for when deciding which health insurance to use? I genuinely feel lost when it comes to figuring this out and am not even really sure what things to look at in making an assessment for the two of us. I know this isn't a ton of information to work off of, but even just knowing what to look at and assess would be incredibly helpful. I appreciate any insight anyone has.
A little about what I do know: My plan with my employer is a high deductible plan that costs $38.50 per paycheck. Currently my deductible is $2000 for an individual, and $4000 for employee/spouse/family. I have an HSA with the plan that I max out. Coinsurance is 30%. Preventive care is covered 100%. It would appear that other coverage kicks in after the deductible is met. I personally don't get sick a ton or have many health issues so I have been using this as an opportunity to max the HSA, really to serve more as a "rainy day fund" for health issues that come up as I get older (I am 33 now). Healthcare expenses I do have, I pay out of pocket, but they have been very minimal.
My wife is a bit of a different story. Her plan is a higher premium out of each each check (not sure the amount), but I suspect better coverage. Her company has her in what they call a Health Reimbursement Account. I have no idea what that is and only recently discovered she was in it. She suffers from bad migraines and takes two medications for those migraines that are covered 100% by her insurance. She is generally healthy other than her migraines.
If she did not have these medications I would probably just have her come onto my plan as otherwise were are health overall. But her medications, and the fact that they are covered by her insurance, have caused me to really reassess how we should go about approaching health insurance. Knowing that we are both generally healthy people, aside from the migraines, what should we be looking for when deciding which health insurance to use? I genuinely feel lost when it comes to figuring this out and am not even really sure what things to look at in making an assessment for the two of us. I know this isn't a ton of information to work off of, but even just knowing what to look at and assess would be incredibly helpful. I appreciate any insight anyone has.