Your Health Care Costs -

[Teacher Terry]

People with cancer can barely survive if too sick to work even with insurance. As a civilized society we take care of each other.

 

[Emerson11]

Insurance pools could be based on folks of similar age, weight, smoking/non-smoking etc. It wouldn't require "food insurance police." That said, I respect your right to have a different view of economics, taxes, insurance and fairness than I. The bulk of our population agrees with you.

 

[Moemg]

Insurance pools could be based on folks of similar age, weight, smoking/non-smoking etc. It wouldn't require "food insurance police." That said, I respect your right to have a different view of economics, taxes, insurance and fairness than I. The bulk of our population agrees with you.

Even people who eat right and exercise get awful diseases .No one gets out of here alive .My uncle died in the Philadelphia marathon .

 

[kimcdougc]

We pay $1,827 per month for a gold plan on the ACA for me (age 59) and DH 61. $1,000 deductible. I have an ongoing monthly check on my INR checkup. Had open heart surgery in 2013 and had my aortic valve replaced with a mechanical valve. I am on a low dose warfarin for the rest of my life. I was born with a 2 flap valve verses a 3 flap valve.

I also pay $86 per month for us both dental insurance with Metlife take along dental. It covers up to $2,000 per year each.

Vision - out of pocket.

I also include in my budget $500 per month for deductibles and my 20% co pay.

Health care is by far the most expensive bill in our early retirement. Added together I budget around $30,000 for healthcare, dental and vision.

So far in the 4 years we have been on ACA our plan has went up $500 per month since its inception and there are fewer and fewer choices each year to choose from and I live in the progressive state of Washington. It is not affordable for most. Just my two cents.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Kim, that’s awful. We couldn’t afford that.

 

[Winemaker]

Yippee! Just got letter Saturday, starting in June, premium goes from $1823/month for the both of us, to $1766/month. No changes in coverage, just different consortium of pool.

 

[6miths]

Very interesting thread to read. It gives me sympathetic anxiety reading all of the stories! Makes me thankful to live where I do.

 

[HaveEnough]

Don't think I saw anything about health cost sharing plans. There are more that are starting and may be a good choice for some. Most are religious based. We use CHM, about $330 a month for 56/51 year old including the Brother's Keeper option which pays expenses over $200K a year.

 

[NoMoreJob]

Yippee! Just got letter Saturday, starting in June, premium goes from $1823/month for the both of us, to $1766/month. No changes in coverage, just different consortium of pool.

Very interesting thread to read. It gives me sympathetic anxiety reading all of the stories! Makes me thankful to live where I do.

We have many Canadian friends and from discussing the subject with them it seems to me that Canada has its own set of healthcare problems. Canadians seem to be pretty laid back about such things though.

 

[travelover]

I just got a premium increase for my Medicare supplement F High Deductible. It is up 10% or about a dollar a week.

 

[Doribe]

I'm guessing there's a subsidy for that BCBS HI...? My Bronze HSA policy with no subsidy is similar to yours, age 59.

Yes, about 50 percent is covered by previous employer.

 

[bw5972]

I have subsidized retiree benefit from Megacorp. Basically I get the same coverage options as current employees until age 65 (I am 59 now, retired at 56 with 32 years of service)

I pay $328 a month.

 

[6miths]

We have many Canadian friends and from discussing the subject with them it seems to me that Canada has its own set of healthcare problems. Canadians seem to be pretty laid back about such things though.

No system is perfect but the majority of Canadians are very satisfied and intensely proud of their healthcare.

My best friend's 85 year-old father had a heart attack on Thursday night in a relatively small place. Vital signs absent. Was in the cath lab 50 km away within an hour and has been in a top flight cardiac intensive care unit over the weekend. Initially, paced, sedated, intubated and on a cooling protocol. We will see how he does and honestly, at that age I am not sure if I would have wanted all that done if it were me but it won't cost him or his family anything above what he has paid into the system over the years. Same as his two artificial knees. They have nothing other than the provincial health care plan that we all have.

There is comfort that comes with not having to worry about whether one (and one's family) is covered or not. It seems like a huge amount of time is spent by individuals trying to figure out this plan or that or whether this plan or that will even be in existence next week. And having healthcare tied to employment certainly seems to impact retirement planning and must impact job mobility.

 

[brett]

The overall satisfaction numbers on Canadian healthcare have been steady for years. Every poll indicated an 80 percent plus satisfaction overall with the system. There are of course challenges, as there are in any health care environment. This means that gov'ts who attempt to play politics with medicare, attempt to add user fees, or other untoward actions live in fear of retribution on the next voting day.

Every few years a media organization does a survey asking people about their most favourite, famous, or admired Canadian of all times. There are two constants about this over the years. One of the top picks is always Baptist Evangelical preacher turned politician, Tommy Douglas. He is credited as being the 'father of medicare' in Canada. Usually followed in the survey by a hockey player or two.

 

[jim584672]

Some of you are spending more on healthcare than I spend on everything for a whole year.

 

[NoMoreJob]

Some of you are spending more on healthcare than I spend on everything for a whole year.

Hopefully it remains that way for you for a long time to come.

 

[GTFan]

I have subsidized retiree benefit from Megacorp. Basically I get the same coverage options as current employees until age 65 (I am 59 now, retired at 56 with 32 years of service)

I pay $328 a month.

If I didn't have ACA my other option is unsubsidized Mega retiree coverage at $1100/mo. for two. And that's for a Bronze plan.

With ACA and keeping income below 200% FPL, it's $68/mo. with very low OOP for a CSR Silver plan.

Kind of a no-brainer for us, we don't need a lot of income in a low COL area with everything paid for.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Just had lunch with a friend of mine with both on Medicare and supplements and not even paying half what we do. Can’t wait 5 years for DH to be 65.

 

[NoMoreJob]

Just had lunch with a friend of mine with both on Medicare and supplements and not even paying half what we do. Can’t wait 5 years for DH to be 65.

Yes, and the most likely the coverage and network is MUCH better as well as the cost being considerably lower. DW is still on ACA and we're holding our breath until she goes on Medicare. I was diagnosed with cancer within a month after going on Medicare and now have a greater than 90% chance of being completely cured. Had I been on my old ACA policy my options for doctors and treatment would both have been greatly reduced. With Medicare I ended up receiving some of the best care available in the country for my type of cancer. I worry every day that my wife will be diagnosed with a serious condition while still on an ACA policy.

As an aside I chose a plan G supplement partially due to 'excess charges' being covered. I thought it would simplify billings as we age. As it turned out the cancer center where I was treated does not accept Medicare assignment so assesses 'excess charges' which have all been covered by my supplement. So the plan G paid off almost immediately. My wife is very pleased that I made that decision, as am I.