FIRE, How much do you pay for Health Insurance

[zcung]

IM sure this Q been asked but an update may be good. Thanx in advance.

Z

 

[zcung]

IM paying $738 for family coverage, I wonder if that will increase after ER.

Z

 

[Dawg52]

$165/mo for a 10K ded individual plan.  - BCBS

 

[ladelfina]

2 years ago: $700+/month for a 'family' HMO plan - (just me and DH; if we had kids we'dve paid the same).
Now: $0 - (but we pay 20% sales tax on all goods and services we buy in Italy).

 

[KB]

$505 a month for myself and 2 young adults with an HMO in CA.

 

[Martha]

Currently still working.  Family plan through work is $225 a month with a small $250 deductible.  It is a 90/10 plan with a $1500 maximum out of pocket so the coverage is great.  However, their are drug copays, $10 for generic, $30 for most others, and $60 for a few.

It helps if people post their deductibles too because that effects the cost dramatically.

Our family COBRA premium currently would be $1086.

After Cobra, we would go on the Minnesota risk pool.  There is only individual coverage, not family.  A $500 deductible, 80/20 plan is $503.88 a month for a person 50 to 54.  Maximum out of pocket is $3000.  For an HSA plan with a $2700 individual deductible, the premium is $278.42 a month.   If you want to go cheap, a $10,000 deductible plan is $149.93 a month.

 

[KB]

For my $505 a month, my 20 year old son has a $1500 CAY deductible, then a $50 copay. For the 18 year old and me, we pay a $50 copay for visits. He will be cut lose in September as he will be 19; he'll get the same plan as his brother for about $88 a month.

Eventually they will have jobs with health insurance thus reducing my payment to an unknown amount.

 

[astromeria]

$350/month for husband & me through his employer, plus $120/month medical savings account. $250 deductible pp, $15 dr copays, $30/month for most prescriptions.

My husband found some interesting info online about his employer's retirement health insurance. If he can qualify as a retiree*, we may be able to participate via COBRA-like scheme from early retirement to age 65. What a relief that would be, as (a) we turn 57 this year, and (b) I expect to have difficulty getting individual insurance (not him, though, just me). COBRA for our current plan is now $840/month for 2. I have budgeted $1500/month for health care in retirement, so that would be a sanfrantastic savings. However, our health insruance premium has gone up ~15%/year in the 3 years we've had this coverage (increase was 16.5% this year).

* qualifying as a retiree depends on whether his semester as an adjunct instructor and years as a visiting professor count (we've used this insurance coverage since he became a visiting), or just his 2 years (so far) as a staff instructor. It could be that one or two more years on staff will be enough.

 

[zcung]

Yike! May be IM paying to much for BCBS! $738/month, $1500 Deductible and $30 copay for Dr visits and each prescription.

Z

 

[bosco]

I have rather expensive health insurance provided (mostly) by my employer.

However, since I am a seasonal employee, I had to purchase my own for 5 months over the winter. I found a Blue Cross Premera plan that was $5,000 deductable for $100 per month.

The catch was that you had to specify in advance how many months you wanted to purchase and pay it up front. Then, if you were lying in the hospital and your term expired, they would come and unplug you. I knew I was going back to work, and if I wasn't physically capable of reporting for duty I could claim retirement and get my coverage that way. So a temporary fixed period worked for me.

 

[astromeria]

Yike! May be IM paying to much for BCBS! $738/month, $1500 Deductible and $30 copay for Dr visits and each prescription.

Z

mebbe--you might try getting competitive quotes. You have an individual plan as a software consultant, right? At least you already have an individual plan so that if you develop problems they won't become insurance exclusions.

My 54-yr-old brother owns a small business and pays ~$900/month just for himself with no drug coverage, dental or vision; significant exclusions; fights to get claims paid. At age 49 he was paying half as much for the same coverage.

 

[razztazz]

Zero for the insurance Some hundreds of dollars per yr for deductables and co-pays. Mandatory acceptance not based on health, age, or pre-existing conditions. Illegal to drop me no matter how sick I get.

Retired miltary with evil socialist Big Government underwritten insurance policy.

 

[grumpy]

As a retired fed the stanard option BCBS Federal costs $294/mo. for coverage for DW and me. There is $250 deductible per person and $15 copay for most services. Rx coverage is excellent - 90 day supply costs $35 for brand name, $10 for generic. With the health issues I have already faced, this coverage is worth its weight in gold to me. Even with this insurance, my out of pocket medical costs last year were over $6K.

Grumpy

 

[razztazz]

As a retired fed the stanard option BCBS Federal costs $294/mo. for coverage for DW and me. There is $250 deductible per person and $15 copay for most services. Rx coverage is excellent - 90 day supply costs $35 for brand name, $10 for generic. With the health issues I have already faced, this coverage is worth its weight in gold to me. Even with this insurance, my out of pocket medical costs last year were over $6K. Grumpy

Yes, but grumpy.. we just can't afford it. If the gov wasnt providing your coverage you'd be able to buy all the medical care you need at quite affordable unfrettered free market rates and save save save!!! Plus, we could lower taxes

 

[larry]

$236/mo HSA, $5250 deductible (family plan) and 50% to $10k. 100% after $10k. Trying to build up large enough position (currently paying medical bills out of cash flow) to let growth and needed withdrawals carry us into medicare.

 

[Indexter]

Age 52, $188/month.
DW, age 50, $232/month.

Zcung, run the numbers in a spreadsheet.  You may find that the annual amount you save on premiums by going to a 5K deductible is more than 3,500 (5K - 1.5 K).

 

[MonarchDon]

$413/month with 2k ded. $45.00 co-pay for both of us.

 

[GTBuzz]

$0 for health insurance and $0 deductible. $10 copay for doctor visits and prescriptions. $50 copay for emergency room visits.

 

[grumpy]

Yes, but grumpy.. we just can't afford it. If the gov wasnt providing your coverage you'd be able to buy all the medical care you need at quite affordable unfrettered free market rates and save save save!!! Plus, we could lower taxes

Razztazz,

Who is the "we" who just can't afford it? How do you figure that the gov's provision of health insurance coverage to federal retirees somehow negates the workings of the market? I seem to have completely missed your point.

Grumpy

 

[donheff]

I'm paying $255.79/mth for a standard BC/BS family plan under the Federal program. The Feds pick up around 70% of the total cost. So it looks like something in the neighborhood of $850/mth for a good family plan under a national insurance program. Quite a bit lower for an individual plan. And, of course, progressive employers would pop for a portion of the costs - just like the government does for me.

My nephew ran for Congress in Maryland in 1992 and proposed extending the Federal health benefits program to the rest of the country. He lost

 

[donheff]

As a retired fed the stanard option BCBS Federal costs $294/mo. for coverage for DW and me.

Darn. I quoted $255.79 but I haven't looked recently. If Grumpy is at $294 so am I. We pay the same as employees - no breaks for retirees.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

currently $435/month cobra for health, dental & eyes for single person, no deductible. kept company insurance (united healthcare) so i could complete my weekly multi-year allergy shot routine which would cost by itself more than the insurance does.

after cobra i'll be done with allergy shots and will get a lower cost, high deductible catastrophic insurance policy and self-insure up to that.

 

[razztazz]

Razztazz,

Who is the "we" who just can't afford it?  How do you figure that the gov's provision of health insurance coverage to federal retirees somehow negates the workings of the market?  I seem to have completely missed your point.

  Grumpy

Yes, you completely missed my point.

 

[wabmester]

We pay $299/mo for a family of 3. HSA with $2600/year deductible, pays 80% / 100% after $10K, $1M lifetime cap.

 

[zcung]

So unless you w*rked for the Government, $700-800/month for family coverage is the norm.  And it sounds like a plan with a high deductible is the way to go, and 10-12K/year should be included in the ER annually.

Z