
What about health insurance? - ryantmulligan

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inklesspen
This was asked a while back, and had some interesting responses, so here's a
link to the last discussion: <http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=8676>

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SwellJoe
I've got Unicare's cheapest plan and pay about $80/month. It'll cover anything
terrible, and otherwise I'm an active healthy vegetarian non-smoking
30-something male. Women pay more in this age range, but not a huge amount
more.

If you can't handle paying $30 co-pay for doctors visits, and similar on
prescriptions, and having no dental or vision, then you're probably not quite
ready to dive into business--unless you raise money. You do need health
insurance. A single illness can wipe out your company in very short order--and
not just because you're not on the job while recovering. The corporate veil is
thin very early on, and if you've got corporate money in the bank, your
debtors will want it.

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cwilbur
Seconded. In the past year I've wound up visiting the hospital twice for
things that were, in the words of my doctor, "total random flukes" -- not
lifestyle related, could have happened to anyone. Fortunately, they were
fairly easy to fix. Total cost, $75 per visit. If I had had no health
insurance and went to the hospital anyway, I'd have been looking at a five
figure bill, and probably bankruptcy, for either of them; if I had no health
insurance and did not go to the hospital for either, I'd probably be dead now.
Or the ambulance would have taken me to the hospital, and I'd be that much
more in debt.

You need health insurance. Bad things happen. Flukes happen. It's not about
having the balls to face the risk of no health insurance and stare it in the
face; it's about careful planning - the same kind of planning that means you
incorporate instead of trusting the chance that nobody will sue you.

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jdwyah
Can be very state dependent.

If you're non-smoking 22, you should be able to get catastrophic coverage
($5,000+ deductible) starting around $80/month (but more like $110 if you want
it from a company you've heard of)

Vermont on the other hand, $5,000 deductible HSA's are $191, so it definitely
depends.

None of these plans will have much (any) in the way of preventative care, etc.
And a broken arm will come right out of your pocket for a couple k. You're max
should be 5k if you get something terrible.

For a full featured plan I'd budget $400+. When I quit, my CORBA rate was
going to be $542/month. (That's what my employer was paying for me)

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lupin_sansei
Here's a thought: In most Western countries health is supplied for "free" by
the government (which deducts a premium from people's taxes). Such a person
has no option to temporarily stop paying for health services, but an American
can take that gamble. I wonder if this option amounts to another slight
advantage that American startups can have over other Western countries? Namely
the option to increase your wages slightly for a while in exchange for a
reduced health service.

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cwilbur
What the lack of socialized health care in the United States means is that
instead of the government paying a little bit for preventative and maintenance
care, the government pays a lot as elderly and poor people who have lived a
life with no preventative or maintenance care need expensive prescriptions and
expensive treatments.

This might be a slight advantage in the short run for those whose startups are
successful.

~~~
lupin_sansei
"What the lack of socialized health care in the United States means is that
instead of the government paying a little bit for preventative and maintenance
care, the government pays a lot as elderly and poor people who have lived a
life with no preventative or maintenance care need expensive prescriptions and
expensive treatments."

What preventative and maintenance care exactly? I've lived in countries with
(mostly) socialized health care all my life and I'm not noticing any
government run preventative and maintenance care really.

Did you make the above up or do you have some links to it?

~~~
cwilbur
I'm talking about the ability to go to the doctor routinely, to get things
like vaccinations and annual checkups. The government doesn't _make_ you do
sensible things elsewhere, but the cost of doing sensible things if you're in
the US and don't have health insurance is prohibitive.

To take an example from dentistry: getting a biennial checkup, finding an
early-stage developing cavity, and getting it fixed will most likely cost you
under $200. Not getting the checkup and waiting until the tooth is abscessed
and requires extraction, a root canal, or oral surgery can cost you $2000 or
more. But if you don't have the $50 for the initial checkup, what are you
supposed to do?

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lupin_sansei
As a technology startup why would I want "heath" insurance? I'm not likely to
need extensive tracts of uncultivated open land covered with herbage and low
shrubs.

[http://www.answers.com/heath&r;=67](http://www.answers.com/heath&r=67)

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ryantmulligan
Soon I will be out of school and won't be able to get health insurance from
sources like parents or school. Does anyone have a suggestions for how they
got health insurance, or what is a good method for finding a good provider?
Also, how much did it cost?

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gyro_robo
In Calfornia at least, HealthNet is less expensive than some others. Assuming
you rarely go in, get a PPO, and you won't go bankrupt if you ever have large
medical bills. For little things you pay out of pocket.

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kingnothing
Check out www.ehealthinsurance.com

I bought mine there.

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joshwa
Do folks build this into their business plans?

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mikesabat
First of all, you're 23+ and ante-ing up in the big game so stop f-cking
around. This means no fights, no drinking & driving and quit doing the stupid
shit that impressed girls when you were 15.

This will seriously reduce your need for insurance.

If you don't have the stones to live with bad insurance (unless you have
serious prescription needs) you probably can't handle the risk associated with
starting a company anyway.

There are cheap policies that keep my parents from flipping out. I pay $37 a
month through anthem.

~~~
lupin_sansei
What geeks fight/drink to impress girls?

~~~
mikesabat
I'd say that between the ages of 18-23 your chances of doing something stupid
(fighting, drinking) and needing to file a claim should be much greater than
your chances of filing a claim for legitimate and unavoidable reasons
(tuberculosis).

If you eliminate the stupid reasons, do you really need to worry about
insurance?

