

Ask YC: What do you spend on health insurance? - rrival

I'm on Aetna's individual plan. They seem to increase premiums around $50/month every 6mos. I don't think I should be spending $300/month on health insurance (I haven't been to see a doc in over a year, no other issues, etc).<p>Q: Is this high/low? 
Q: Who do you use and what do you pay?
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jdavid
i recently stopped paying for health insurance, for me, it was $1800 a year.
$5k deductible, and I got the healthy living discount.

In one of my first jobs out of college I worked for a medical billing company,
here is what we learned, while writing the software.

I am not sure on the math, but I think you are more likely to come out ahead
when you buy blackjack insurance, than you are in the US when you buy health
insurance. HSA's are great and on average most Americans would come out ahead
over their life expectancy. And I am almost positive, that if more than 50% of
the US paid for healthcare without going through an insurance company, health
care would become much more affordable.

The health insurance industry is broken in this country, more than 50% of
claims do not get paid, so doctors jack up the rates 50% to cover the failed
claims process. Not to mention the frivolous law suits, and hospitals adding
crazy crap to the bill of better insurance companies to pay for care. The
whole system is more corrupt than the Mob.

HSA's offer the advantage to save and invest that money tax free, so that you
can put the buying power back in your hands. Since its your money and you want
to save it for old age, you will have the option to opt out of care that is
extra. If you feel fine, you go home. Hospitals will need to get better at
explaining your risks, and the decision are put in your hands.

Did you know that if you talk to a doc, most will give you a discount on the
procedure if you pay for it out of pocket and up front? We saw bills go
through that were at 25% of a docs normal billing rate when people paid out of
pocket and up front. An example, might be if you had a broken arm, instead of
your insurance company paying $1200 for casting, and x-rays, you could walk in
and pay $300-600 if you payed up front. The down side to this, for people who
do this and have insurance, come in that it does not go against their
deductible, so a future incident that year would need to be covered again out
of pocket.

In a previous company I started, I set up a $5k HSA for each of my employees,
and then they only had a $5k deductible. It was up to them to control costs,
and health insurance with a $5k is pretty cheap, if you know how to shop for
it.

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mixmax
I pay nothing, and never have.

Of course I don't live in the US. And btw. I think you should get your health
system fixed over there, it's broken.

~~~
alaskamiller
So you don't pay taxes?

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mixmax
Per capita health expenditure in the US is $5711, in Denmark (where I'm from)
it's $2743. And the healthcare here is excellent.

Source: OECD

~~~
mechanical_fish
Interestingly, in a different post here I compute our (Massachusetts, USA)
family's per-capita expenditure for health insurance as $5142. That's
exclusive of the percentage of our income that goes toward health care via
taxes: 6.6% of every dollar of income, for Massachusetts families in the 25%
federal bracket.

Sometimes it's almost eerie how well statistics work.

Moral: Believe the OECD -- Our health care is _incredibly expensive._

~~~
vlad
Massachusetts now has student, employee, employer, self-employed, and low
income earner insurance for free or at large subsidy, between the Commonwealth
Connector and the Insurance Partnership programs.

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thaumaturgy
I joke that I have "American Health Insurance": don't get sick, and damn-sure
don't get hurt.

No health insurance, can't afford it now. Tend to be pretty healthy and heal
well, so so far the gamble is working out.

That said, the financial issues surrounding health care in the U.S. are
disgraceful, and I don't understand how anyone in an industrialized first-
world country could look at it and say, "Yep, looks fine to me."

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davidw
"Nothing": I live in Austria.

Well, clearly it's paid for somehow, but I don't pay for it directly. It is
important to understand that it's not "free". All told though, I'm happier
than with the system in the US.

Indeed, I went to the doctor today, had to wait 15 minutes, and got some
antibiotics and other stuff to clear up my cold, all for 18 Euro.

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goofygrin
We pay about $270/mo for the three of us on an HSA plan (in Texas). $5k
deductible, 100% coinsurance after that, HSA approved.

~~~
rrival
ah, HSA = Health Savings Account
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_savings_account>)

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goodkarma
We got our health insurance through the National Association of Self-Employed
<http://nase.org/> \- paying approx $300/month for my wife and myself.

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utnick
150 for aetna in texas

whats your deductable.. I think mine is 1k

I think rates also vary depending on location / age

~~~
icey
Quick Disclaimer, I work tangentially in the health insurance industry. That
being said, I know what variables factor in to a rate:

1\. Deductible

2\. Age

3\. Whether or not you use tobacco - This includes chew.

4\. Your gender makes a difference.

5\. Occasionally, your BMI makes a difference. But most often, it's age +
tobacco use that makes the largest difference.

Insurance rates will also change by your location. Say you had a twin who
lived 1 city over; you may get different rates depending on your location.

Occasionally, a rate quote will be different due to the time of year that
you're asking for your effective date. That seems to differ between carriers,
and not a lot of carriers do this type of discounting or loading.

Hope that helps.

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pistoriusp
In South Africa I'm paying R850, which is roughly $100. This is only for what
is called a "hospital plan," which means that if I'm in an accident that
requires hospitalisation that I'll be taken to a private hospital and not
exposed to the national health care system. Which is rather scary.

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anamax
About half of the US population is currently getting govt healthcare at a per-
capita cost that is basically the same as the per-capita cost of the folks
getting private healthcare.

If govt healthcare in the US will be cheaper than private, why isn't it now?

Note to single-payer advocates. Nothing is stopping you from fixing the
existing US govt healthcare system to provide the promised benefits. When you
do, then all you have to do to kill the private system is open up the fixed
public system at cost. Of course, that assumes that you can actually make govt
healthcare work as you've asserted, but surely that's no big deal....

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fortes
When I was living in Seattle and self-employed, I was paying $155 / mo for
Regence Blue Shield's best plan ($500 deductible & 80% coverage) [this was Jan
2007]

After a year, it increased $50. I left the insurance a few months ago, so no
clue what will happen next year.

Before Regence, I was paying for COBRA, which was incredibly expensive ($430 /
mo) -- this was because I was traveling abroad in places with weird diseases,
and I didn't feel like taking a chance. I only did this for 6 months or so.

EDIT: Forgot to mention. I am/was 28, healthy, non-smoker. No kids.

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kynikos
I pay $486/mo for myself to be covered under the most comprehensive plan
available from BC/BS. Is it worth it? Not really, but co-pays are cheap and
prescriptions are almost free.

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johns
$120/month with an HSA and a $1800 max out of pocket every year. found it
through <http://www.ehealthinsurance.com>

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mk
I pay around $700-800/month for health/vision/dental. My employer takes care
of around $400 of it, so out of pocket I pay around $300-400. BTW this is for
me and my wife.

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pk
$172 per month (single person coverage) with a $2000 deductible (routine
physicals, dental, eye care covered with small co-pay).

I'm in Massachusetts and use FCHP. The premiums for me have been going down a
few dollars every year, which, come to think of it, is pretty remarkable. :-)

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izak30
Healthy 20yr Old M.

115/mo + 1500 deductible. It's an HSA plan, with 100% covered after the
deductible.

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shermans
Between the employer and my own contributions (about 50/50) costs are 5k
USD/year for health and dental. I have a 1200 deductible that is paid by my
employer 100%. I see a couple of specialists and can see anyone at any time.
That embodies my appreciation for the US system.

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mutex
Just get high deductible health care with an HSA, I pay about $80/mo and then
however much I want to put in my account(which I keep!). Plus this does not
keep me chained to a particular employer and I am free to change jobs without
fear of losing health care coverage

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markdionne
I pay $1232 per month, which includes wife and 2 kids, for pretty top end Blue
Cross insurance in Massachusetts. No dental. I'm self-employed and this is
through COBRA from a previous job. I suspect I could save by shopping around
and going for a high deductible.

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mkull
I spend $125 a month on aetna's individual plan, low copays / deductibles

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kogus
I live in the USA. My employer provides my health insurance free of charge. I
pay $12 / week for my spouse though.

