Would you ever be tempted to not have health insurance

[Buckeye]

DH (60) and I (50) just signed up for individual health insurance at $300 per month with a $10,000 deductible ($5,000 per person) and a $5 million cap. Like you, we are low consumers of healthcare.

It also has an accident provision where the first 30 days of treatment are paid 100% without meeting the deductible. You would save the deductible in about 2 years through lower premiums.

You might check with a local insurance broker to see what is available in your state. I know we are in for increases every year but I was pleasantly surprised with the starting premium.

 

[ERD50]

That's a really warped way to view others, screw everyone else, I got mine, who cares about integrity. It's policy holders that pay for parasites, not "the company." YMMV

In that case, you should chastise everyone who takes advantage of the "Cash for Clunkers" provision, accepts any subsidy/rebate for "energy efficient" appliances, takes a mortgage deduction, etc, etc, etc. It is the rest of the taxpayers that pay for that, not "the govt". That does not vary, it is factual.

It is not screwing everybody else to play by the rules. The problem is the rules.

Re-read my post, and you will see that the "take advantage of them" that you bolded was directed at the govt programs.

There are points where I would say it crosses the line of "playing by the rules" and into "playing a game within the letter but not the spirit of the rules". That line will be subjective, I think it is crossed by the people who return a perfectly good TV or something just to get a refund and buy a new one. But those rules probably need to be changed. But if an insurance co says you can go in/out of the system, I'd assume that is already baked into their costs.


-ERD50

 

[MichaelB]

I would not go without health insurance and have counseled my children to do the same.

 

[W2R]

I would not go without health insurance and have counseled my children to do the same.

Me too, and she has been without health insurance anyway for the past 9 years. Kids!! This has scared me to death.

Luckily, her fiance will have her added to his health plan after they marry, this October.

 

[growing_older]

I'm not sure your "jump in, jump out" plan will really work. Some medical events have rather sudden onset (car accident, broken bones, stroke, cardiac event, etc). I cannot imagine any plan is so flexible that you will be able to retroactively sign up for it after an event and they will still cover the care. You will leave yourself exposed to many of the risks that health insurance is supposed to insure against.

 

[John Galt III]

I went for a whole year without health ins, from age 50 to 51. I was working at a job which did not have health insurance. I liked the job enough to accept the lack of health insurance. Took a risk. Luckily, I did not need any insurance.

Parenthetically, I was hearing about folks without insurance who simply refused to pay any medical bills, and got away with it, even though they had assets that could have been attached by creditors. Also heard about folks who did not get away with it, and were on the hook for years, for medical bills. Hmmmm.

 

[jambo101]

I read these topics on health care on several other forums and they are all quite similar when describing all the problems and costs involved with private insurance, but i cant figure why so many balk at the idea of universal health care, As a Canadian i've never had to worry about whether i get health care or not or what it costs its just there from birth till death .Taxes? yeah they take out about $25-$30 per paycheck,whats the problem?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_health_care

 

[unclemick]

If you are willing to fall on your sword. I went 12 years without health insurance(the SO had her union insurance). In 1993 they wanted about 720/mo for Cobra which basically would have broke my retirement budget.

Given the the choice between ER and going back to work - I took ER. I was lucky - the 90's Mr Market, getting wiped out by Katrina and moving to another state - high deduct was 158/mo at age 62 - way cheaper.

I don't recommend it for anyone else.

heh heh heh - The level of agile, mobile, and hostile varies with the individual situation - only you can decide.

 

[Martha]

For some reason people think about health ins differently than other ins.
If you were allowed to drive a car without ins; would you?

The concept of most insurance policies is asset protection.

If you do not have any assets you might be willing not to pay for health insurance and assume all the attending aspects if you do get ill.

But it is not the same at all. You are uninsured and you have an accident. It is over. What is done is done. You pay, your insurance pays, or if you can't at worst you file bankruptcy and lose your non-exempt assets.


With health care you can't just incur the care and blow off the bill. Often you are precluded from getting the care you need when you need it.
Health insurance gives you access to quality care. If you can't pay you might not get care and evidence shows the quality of your care will be worse in many circumstances and your risk of death increases.


Apples and oranges.

 

[jambo101]

Health insurance gives you access to quality care.
.

I think health care insurance just gives the insurance company lots of your money,whether you get quality health care depends on the professionals that treat you,the number of malpractice suits in the US seems to indicate that not all those insured feel they are getting quality health care.

 

[Glo]

I'd never willingly be without insurance. The key word here is WILLINGLY!

I was downsized at age 59; my company agreed to pay health insurance for me and my husband for 1 year. (Our health insurance was through blue cross blue shield; the cost was $1,500/month of which I paid 20 percent.) At age 60 I was looking for health insurance; couldn't get any because of preexisting conditions. Even though I have preexisting conditions (cholesterol and high blood pressure), these things are under control and I'm never sick. I've never been in the hospital except to give birth.

So, I couldn't find health insurance. But, there's some rule that since I'd been with BC BS for years, they had to give me a policy. So I bought a catastrophic policy, which has a $5,000 deductible; it pays for nothing until I reach the 5K. The premium for the policy was $458/month. (This is for me only; husband is on Medicare.) After 6 months, the premium increased to $610/mo; 6 months later I'm paying $732. My bottom line is: if they increase me again, I will be unable to afford it. So then what?

 

[ERD50]

As a Canadian i've never had to worry about whether i get health care or not or what it costs its just there from birth till death .Taxes? yeah they take out about $25-$30 per paycheck,whats the problem?
Universal health care - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Health care in Canada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canada's healthcare spending is expected to reach $171.9 billion, or $5,170 per person, in 2008.

Jambo - how many paychecks do you get a year? 172?

Who pays the remainder of the $5,170 per person? Did Canada actually develop perpetual motion and the free lunch, and are keeping it a state secret?

-ERD50

 

[REWahoo]

My bottom line is: if they increase me again, I will be unable to afford it. So then what?

If you haven't seen this information, take a look. Be sure to check Health Insurance and Coverage Help for Consumers Everywhere regarding available health insurance options in your state.

Hope it helps.

 

[jambo101]

Health care in Canada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Jambo - how many paychecks do you get a year? 172?

Who pays the remainder of the $5,170 per person? Did Canada actually develop perpetual motion and the free lunch, and are keeping it a state secret?

-ERD50

I think that $5k figure is a guesstimate as to what the cost breaks down to per person, It usually is just an across the board figure,in reality the more you make the more you pay so bringing home $40k per year works out to about $200 a month,my kid who makes half that pays about $100 per month,the company i worked for probably pays $10,000 a month.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I would never go without health insurance at my age. In my younger days, I never gave a fig.

 

[Mike1968]

Well, I didn't have health insurance though my employer offers it at a resonable cost. Being at age 47, I was going to get on it last year but they flew the papers buy so quick I didn't have time to review them. Will get insurance when it comes up later year.

I went to the ER this past Sat am because my chest has been in somewhat of a pain and I was hoping it would subside. Well, it didn't and was tired of the pain, though not excruciating, more of the location of the pain. I thought it was my heart having problems. They couldn't find anything and had me stay overnight. Still nothing. Cardiologist want to put me on a stress test in a couple of days, outpatient. I will see how much the bill is in a couple of days. I will pay regardless, but insurance would of been alot cheaper for me....

 

[jambo101]

I went to the ER this past Sat am because my chest has been in somewhat of a pain and I was hoping it would subside. Well, it didn't and was tired of the pain, though not excruciating, more of the location of the pain. I thought it was my heart having problems. They couldn't find anything and had me stay overnight. Still nothing. Cardiologist want to put me on a stress test in a couple of days, outpatient. I will see how much the bill is in a couple of days. I will pay regardless, but insurance would of been alot cheaper for me....

We can start a "guess the cost of Mikes hospital bill" game i'll say around $10,000-$11,000
Seriously i hope its nothing serious Mike and i'd get on that insurance as fast as you can,hope they dont label this little incident as a pre existing condition because when you are filling out the insurance application you will have to mention it.

 

[ERD50]

I will see how much the bill is in a couple of days. I will pay regardless, but insurance would of been alot cheaper for me....

Maybe someone with experience can chime in, but would it help to make sure that everyone along the way knows you are paying out-of-pocket? Of course you need to get the care you need, but it *might* trigger them to think a little bit more about the costs and options along the way.

Tell them a big bill might be bad for your heart

Hope things work out for you, both physically and financially.


-ERD50

 

[W2R]

Frank went to the ER a couple of years ago for chest pain, and back then he was uninsured. They did a lot of tests and kept him overnight for observation. It turned out to be nothing but indigestion due to eating too much good New Orleans food, too quickly.

When he got out, he was facing over $10,000 in hospital bills. He called the hospital and told them that he didn't have insurance and asked if they could work with him. They came down to $6K right away on the condition that he agreed to pay it on the spot, which he did. The reason I remember the cost is that he always calls it "the $6,000 crab cake incident".

 

[ziggy29]

There is ONE and ONLY one situation under which I'd be willing to be without health insurance: If I was between jobs for a period of less than 60 days and I knew I'd have health insurance within 60 days. In that case you could elect COBRA retroactively if something catastrophic hit you before your new coverage was activated, and if nothing did, you'd have new coverage in time to be considered as having continuous coverage under HIPAA -- and pocket the money you would have otherwise spent on premiums.

Note that this is playing with fire (not FIRE) if you mess something up -- like if you wait more than 60 days (your period to elect COBRA is over) or more than 63 days (no longer continuously insured under HIPAA) -- so anyone doing this should be very aware of all the details and proceed with extreme caution.