I can't think of another expense that was either covered or subsidized heavily, considered critically needed by most, and with unpredictable increases soundly trouncing inflation in many, many cases. Add to that the uncertainty of coverage at all if everything returns to pre-ACA days. I don't think you can pass healthcare off as just one of many expenses. It's pretty unique, and huge.Everyone has expenses that they have to find a way to get covered before they can afford to retire (early or otherwise). Healthcare is just one of them.
I'm in Ohio and our Obamacare stinks, so I'm working simply for the paid healthcare. I have two years until Medicare, so it's not terrible, but I wish I had other options. My supplied healthcare is simply excellent and I can't touch it with a marketplace policy. I wish our government would simply stay out of healthcare insurance so we can plan with some actual hard data from year to year.
I wish our government would simply stay out of healthcare insurance so we can plan with some actual hard data from year to year.
I wish our government would simply stay out of healthcare insurance so we can plan with some actual hard data from year to year.
I can't think of another expense that was either covered or subsidized heavily, considered critically needed by most, and with unpredictable increases soundly trouncing inflation in many, many cases. Add to that the uncertainty of coverage at all if everything returns to pre-ACA days. I don't think you can pass healthcare off as just one of many expenses. It's pretty unique, and huge.
A few things to consider.
Finally, remember that health insurance is not to pay every little bill.. but to protect your wealth from an expensive medical illness and get you access to negotiated rates for healthcare services.
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;I guess it's all a matter of perspective and also the plans available in your geography..
The cheapest PPO I can find for me and DW is $14K/yr premiums with $6,500 PER PERSON deductibles. That's like not even having insurance as you'll need to have a major HC issue to even have the first annual bill paid.
How anyone can call that "Affordable" (as in the 'A' in ACA) is beyond me. It's more per month than our mortgage used to be. Thank God we now have that paid off and can shift our $$s to HC premium payments, but still..
(And, yes, I realize we could choose to limit our AGI to < 4X FPL and get subsidies..that really isn't the best choice given our other expenses - I've run the numbers both ways..income < 4X FPL for subsidies and income > 4X FPL and paying through the nose. In the long run, it's better to be > 4X FPL, but the yearly cost is INSANE, IMHO and I totally understand OP and others wanting to continue working for the HC).
ETA: because of the crazy deductibles, we're actually going to do COBRA for the first 18 months. That's roughly the same premium cost but at least we actually get "some" coverage as the deductibles are normal - $500 for me, $1,500 for DW. Beats the heck out of $6,500 per person on the ACA plans.
BTW, I DO realize this is "the price of freedom" and have budgeted accordingly for it - but it still tweaks me off no end that I have to shovel out roughly $75 - $100K over the next 5 years till DW gets to Medicare and another $50K+ for the 5 years after that until I do. That's significant and definitely NOT "affordable".
I guess it's all a matter of perspective and also the plans available in your geography..
The cheapest PPO I can find for me and DW is $14K/yr premiums with $6,500 PER PERSON deductibles. That's like not even having insurance as you'll need to have a major HC issue to even have the first annual bill paid.
How anyone can call that "Affordable" (as in the 'A' in ACA) is beyond me. It's more per month than our mortgage used to be. Thank God we now have that paid off and can shift our $$s to HC premium payments, but still..
(And, yes, I realize we could choose to limit our AGI to < 4X FPL and get subsidies..that really isn't the best choice given our other expenses - I've run the numbers both ways..income < 4X FPL for subsidies and income > 4X FPL and paying through the nose. In the long run, it's better to be > 4X FPL, but the yearly cost is INSANE, IMHO and I totally understand OP and others wanting to continue working for the HC).
ETA: because of the crazy deductibles, we're actually going to do COBRA for the first 18 months. That's roughly the same premium cost but at least we actually get "some" coverage as the deductibles are normal - $500 for me, $1,500 for DW. Beats the heck out of $6,500 per person on the ACA plans.
BTW, I DO realize this is "the price of freedom" and have budgeted accordingly for it - but it still tweaks me off no end that I have to shovel out roughly $75 - $100K over the next 5 years till DW gets to Medicare and another $50K+ for the 5 years after that until I do. That's significant and definitely NOT "affordable".
I am 60 and happy with ACA plans available to me in Central MN.
If you're curious about ACA options and costs, here's a useful calculator:
https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/
Why is it folk LOVE to blame the ACA for all THEIR healthcare woes? It is the Insurance companies that are gauging the folk, and NOT providing adequate coverage. ACA just says you need to cover some BASIC items (Quite reasonable really). Insurance companies are the ones that set the prices. If we had a proper system then Insurance and Basic healthcare would not even be used in the same sentence. It should be NOT FOR PROFIT!
I guess it's all a matter of perspective and also the plans available in your geography..
The cheapest PPO I can find for me and DW is $14K/yr premiums with $6,500 PER PERSON deductibles. That's like not even having insurance as you'll need to have a major HC issue to even have the first annual bill paid.
How anyone can call that "Affordable" (as in the 'A' in ACA) is beyond me. It's more per month than our mortgage used to be.
Because the ACA caused premiums and deductibles to SKYROCKET. I used to be able to buy a decent policy for < $10K for both of us, with reasonable deductibles ($1K or so IIRC).
While health insurance premiums have increased since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the law actually reduced the rate of increases. Between 2002 and 2008, average family premium costs increased by 58%. Since the passage of Obamacare, in 2010, average premium costs have only increased by around 33%. That’s still an enormous amount of money to spend on health care, but it shows the Affordable Care Act is making progress.
You have to work with the current law and control your income for the highest subsidies and cost sharing. You can get a 150 ded and 2450 Out of pocket max on most exchanges if you can control your MAGI(Modified adjusted gross income) to under 32,000. Taxable accounts, Roth accounts, and savings accounts make this possible. It takes some extra effort and planning, but the 2 years of extra time may be worth it.
Good luck with your decision,
VW
+1
How do you efficiently prevent your dividends from violating the MAGI numbers? I’m in a position where most of my investable assets are non-qualified, so I can’t put my dividend stocks in an IRA, and growth stocks outside of the IRA.
Because the ACA caused premiums and deductibles to SKYROCKET. I used to be able to buy a decent policy for < $10K for both of us, with reasonable deductibles ($1K or so IIRC).
Now, because the ACA mandates that plans must cover a variety of things that were not in the 'old' plans for EVERYONE - eg: pregnancy (even if you're a man, or outside of child bearing years either of which is obviously ridiculous) and a number of other ill conceived requirements, the costs have increased significantly. The individual mandate, believe it or not, also caused costs to increase - because it forced people to have insurance. (Easy to do - you have a product people HAVE to buy, so cost becomes immaterial). When the mandate was eliminated, many have found that costs are actually starting to stabilize.
Anyway, I don't think skyrocketing premiums and deductibles are anyone's individual issue (ie: "their" problem). I think the problem is much bigger than that, and there needs to be a way for costs to come back down to what is truly "affordable" for people - and $14K with $6,500 pp deductibles is not what most people would call affordable.
Back to the OP's original point - all this is definitely a very fair reason to consider continuing to work - unless you run the math and are comfortable not only with what you know today you will have to spend (wheelbarrows full of money unless you play the AGI game), but what you could also risk having to pay going forward IF you can even continue to get insurance..I know this was the #1 thing holding me on OMY for a long time and I'm still not entirely comfortable with the risk or the cost of what I'm going to need to pay as a result of deciding to ER..
ETA - a simple solution would be to allow insurance companies to once again offer 'catastrophic' plans. Really makes one wonder why the ACA prohibited them from doing so..