Ask the Readers: How Much Do You Spend on Health Insurance?
Published on - December 16th, 2011 (by J.D. Roth) Behind the scenes, the GRS elves and I have been working to streamline the process for submitting reader stories, guest posts, and financial questions. As part of this, I’ve been reading through every question submitted over the past year. I’ve noticed some patterns.
One topic I’m seeing over and over again is health insurance. We’ve explored health insurance a few times in the past, but we don’t do so often. For one, it’s complicated. For another, it’s boring. But even boring, complicated subjects deserve their day in the sun, right?
Over the next few months, I hope to explore health insurance in a little more detail. Today, though, I thought it would be useful (and informative) to do an informal survey. Today, I want to know: How much do you spend on health insurance?
More specifically:
- Where do you get your health insurance coverage? From an employer? From the government of the country where you live?
- What sort of coverage do you have? Do you wish you had more? Less? What are the pros and cons of your coverage?
- How much do you pay per month? Do you know how much your employer pays? What sorts of co-payments do you have?
I’m especially interested to hear from those who have picked up health insurance on their own. What do you do if you’re self-employed and don’t have access to an employer-sponsored plan? (This is a common question in my inbox, and I know many people are looking for an answer.)
Please note that I don’t want this to turn into a debate over socialized medicine. There’s no need. Instead, this is a chance for folks to compare their situation with others. (Previously, we’ve conducted similar surveys for spending on food, clothes, and gifts.) Now it’s time to share: How much do you spend on health insurance? What kind of coverage do you have, and where do you get it?
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This article is about Ask the Readers, Health & Fitness, Insurance
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okay question!
i was talking to my insurance guys and inquiring about disability insurance. i’m an illustrator, and if my hands got mangled i’d be pretty sol, but technically able to do like, phone service or something. so my insurance guy said they couldn’t cover my occupation specifically. i jokingly said i should just insure my hands, and the insurance guy thought it was a good idea.
is this crazytalk? the only place i could find that does such things is lloyd’s of london. most articles about it were “haha beyonce has a million dollar butt but srs it’s expensive so no butt-surance for you”. anyway, i would love to get some PF commenter’s opinion.
fyi, the painting is like black india ink on white paper with a brush, so it’s mega fine motor skills. a flare up of carpal tunnel makes my drawings awful. switching to my left hand would get me laughed out of the publisher’s office.
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An interesting exercise is trying to find maternity coverage on an individual policy. It is practically nonexistent in Texas. Some states cover it included, with no waiting period. Others charge you so much in premiums you’d be better off paying cash…
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I get mine from my employer.
I have premium coverage. I do not like that I have to pay a 500-1000 deductible to see a doctor before 100% coverage kicks in.
I believe I pay 170 a month starting in Jan.
Deductible makes me think twice about seeing any specialist. Just the annual physical is free.
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I am Canadian so I have free health care. We do not pay anything to see a doctor or to receive treatment in the hospital.
Through my husband’s employer we have supplemental health insurance which covers the things that are not covered by provincial health care, particularly dental care and prescription drugs (80% of the cost). (Also covers things like nutritionist and psychologist visits, upgrade to semi-private room in hospital, etc.) My husband gets deductions on his paycheque for this. For family coverage it’s about 40$/month.
In my province if you do not have prescription drug coverage through an employer, you must join the public drug insurance plan. You pay for this at the same time as you pay your income tax, and the fee varies depending on your income. (The maximum is $563 per adult.) If we did not have prescription drug insurance through my husband’s employer, we would have to join the plan with my employer, failing that we would have to join the public plan.
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I am thankful that my employer provides a very good medical benefits. For my individualt plan, I was paying $25 biweekly for medical and $5.45 biweekly for dental. I just got married so now I have a family plan, its $110 biweekly for medical and $16.50 biweekly for dental for the same plan to cover both my husband and I. The family plan doesn’t change based on the size of the family, so if we ever have children, our portion of the premiums won’t increase. Our copays are $25 for office visit, emergency room is $75 and hospitalization is $300 no matter the length of stay. My plan also includes prescription coverage, and its fortunate because my migraine medication is $120+ dollars for six pills, my plan gets me 18 pills for $60 which is about a 3 month supply.
The ironic thing, my husband works in the health care industry and it was cheaper to add him to my plan than for him to continue to purchase individual health insurance from his employer and my employer provided plan provides better coverage.
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I have an employer Blue Cross plan, for which they deduct about $90 per month or $1,100 per year. When I was self-employed, I paid $3,000-$4,000 per year for Blue Cross via BeneCare.
One thing I am amazed by is how many billboards I see advertising health insurance. In my experience, the individual consumer rarely has the opportunity to choose a “brand” of insurance. The employer picks and that’s that. Individuals without insurance have even fewer option.
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Here, it’s rare to find an employer who will pay for insurance. When they do, it’s for full time employees only, and those jobs are less common as the recession wears on.
I pay for my own insurance: $650/month. Since I have a pre-existing condition, that’s the only plan I can qualify for. (Believe me, I’ve tried to get on cheaper plans.) The deductible is $1000 and while I can get drugs paid for, I use Rite-Aid’s plan instead, it’s cheaper. And unfortunately, I have a lifetime cap on covered expenses of only $1 million. Thanks to a couple of hospitalizations, I’m well on my way there.
My husband has a catastrophic plan, $160/month, $500 deductible, no prescription. No lifetime cap. It’s an awesome plan, the only drawback is that all his care has to be in-state.
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I just went through open enrollment so have these numbers handy. For my son and I, costs for medical, dental and vision are $175/month for a “middle of the road” PPO option – not an HSA, not the most expensive (no deductible, low co-pays) plan. According to my employer, they pay $805/month for my coverage.
Deductible is $750, preventive care is covered 100%; other care covered at 80%. Co-pays creep up every year, this year they are $35 for a primary care visit, $55 for specialist, $125 for the ER. We can contribute to a tax-free Flexible Spending Account so I usually put between $500-$1K/year there.
I count myself fortunate to be healthy and to have such affordable coverage. I occasionally think of going freelance but the health coverage issue always makes me pause. With a small (age 5) child I really value the stability of employer-sponsored benefits.
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We have insurance in the US through my wife’s employer. We pay about $202 every two weeks. There is a single $700 family deductible and they cover almost everything. My employer chips in $70 a month for me to not use their insurance.
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$160/month for medical & dental, through my employer. It’s a step down from my old insurance, as it only covers about 80% of regular doctor visits etc., but I am very glad to have it.
And now I’m trying to see every doctor I have before the first of the year, since I overpaid my FSA! Ha.
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My husband recently joined the National Guard, we now have Dental for $79.36 per month and Health Insurance for the three of us for $192 per month.
Previously, we were paying $300 out of pocket, and his company matched $300 for Health, no dental or vision.
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My husband and I have health insurance through my employer. It costs us $450 a month not including dental or vision. It is a good PPO plan. My employer pays 100% of my premium but pays none of my husbands. The deductible is $1000 a year and the co-pays are in the $25 range (more for specialists). All and all, I feel tremendously lucky.
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I’m self-employed in Indiana with a high-deductible policy ($2500 individual/$5000 family) from Anthem (plus an HSA). My wife and I pay about $250/month plus $120/month for a maternity rider. So far, we’ve only spent about $200 a year out of pocket, but it’s good to know that we’re covered if something disastrous happens. Preventative care is also covered, but so far that’s only meant annual physicals (not including blood work). We’ve gotten blood tests done at hospital outreach events to keep them cheap ($2-20 for cholesterol and glucose testing).
For the maternity coverage, we had to have it for 12 months, but it will cover everything after a $2000 deductible.
We’ve switched health plans every year for the last three years and probably again this year because rates keep going up (12-33%, depending on the year!).
If we keep our current plan next year, our rate will jump from $380 to $490/month, so we may switch to a higher deductible or a different plan entirely.
We’re in our mid-30s now. Health insurance was cheaper when we were in our 20s, even ignoring price increases over time.
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My health insurance is 100% paid by my employer as long as I work at least 32 hours per week. My employer’s cost is about $450 a month, plus $42 for dental. For that, we have a $10 co-pay on doctor visits, 80-100% paid hospital (depends on what’s done), $10-50 prescriptions (depends on amount and if generic) and max out of pocket of $1500 per year.
I tried to get health insurance on my own right before I took this job and was denied because I had seen the doctor for a pulled muscle and have a prescription for migraine medicine.
I am going back to school for a second degree, and the fact that I could be eligible for the group insurance while working as little as 18 hours a week was a big factor in my taking (and staying at) this job. (Yes, I said 32 above. Between 18 and 32 the employees pay a pro rated amount of their insurance. Below 18 the insurance company kicks them off the plan.)
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I pay $215/month for me and my kid. DH pays a bit less for just himself. Our employer pays 480/month for each of us.
The coverage is not great– the deductable is relatively low, $750, and copayments are around $30 (more if out of network) but the coinsurance costs (30-50% depending on circumstances) really get you. The out of pocket max this year is $5000. There are pages upon pages of things it doesn’t cover.
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800 dollars a month for wife and I in the lowest risk, healthiest pool with an HSA 5K deductible per person plan. It’s essentially catastrophe insurance, although it does pay for one annual check up per year per person. We are self employed.
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A timely post, as my health insurance premiums just went up 47%, making them prohibitively expensive and I am shopping for insurance on my own. I have always had insurance through my employer. But because we are a small company of 45 people, some of whom have major health problems, it is very expensive. It is over $1,000 a month to insure myself and one child. That is with a $2,500 individual deductible, $4,000 family deductible, and a 20% co-pay. My daughter and I are both young and healthy, but we are paying for the health problems of my co-workers.
I’m finding that buying insurance on the open market may not be the best solution, though. Buying it through my employer means it comes out of my gross income as pre-tax dollars. If I pay out of pocket with after-tax dollars, you can only deduct health care costs that are over and above 7.5% of your gross income. Puts me in a tight spot and I’m not sure yet what I’ll do.
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My husband and I are both self-employed. Ages 42 and 45. We have the cheapest individual policy I could find:
$10,000 deductible (each)
$7,500 coinsurance maximum (each)
$3,500 deductible for brand-name drugs (each)
We pay $195 per month (total).
We’re thinking about switching to an HSA plan which would raise our premiums by $100 per month, but could save us $800 per year (through tax deductions) if we deposit the $6,250 maximum to the HSA. I’m not sure we want more tax-sheltered savings, however.
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I pay negative $150 a month. That is to say, my employer actually pays ME extra not to cover my wife as well. Otherwise it costs me $0 – solo, or full family.
Its also probably what most would consider a “cadillac plan”, covers everything, very little OOP.
I work for a hospital in NY.
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Does your wife have coverage elsewhere?
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Yes. In fact, I’m explictly prohibited from extending coverage to my wife if she has coverage elsewhere. I guess it’s a fair trade – we’ll give you and your children incredible coverage, but your wife HAS to use her employer’s healthcare if offered. They’d pay me another $200 a month or so on top of the $150 they already do not to cover my kids (if I had them), and put them under my wife’s plan.
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I pay $73.66 for individual coverage every two weeks for health insurance through my employer. I have a $35.00 copay for Dr. visits. Our plan includes prescription drug coverage and dental.
My father is on Medicare and I hear so many people talk about Medicare like it is free, but he actually pays quite a bit for his coverage. His basic premium is 99.00 per month that comes out of his monthly SS payment. Then he pays $179 per month for Supplemental Insurance and about $35 per month for his Medicare part D premium. In total he pays about $300 each month in Medicare premiums. He has no co-pay for Dr. visits.
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Employer BCBS for family coverage (state university): $70 a month with a $900 deductible and $2600 out of pocket stop loss. Generic drugs are free.
Each year since having children, we’ve hit the stop loss.
I get paid under private sector in wages, but the benefits are better.
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Where do you get your health insurance coverage?
My wife and I both have coverage through my employer.
What sort of coverage do you have?
We have a High Deductible health plan combined with an HSA. It is perfect for two young, healthy adults. I would run the numbers again when we have our first child but going over 2011 numbers we have saved over $2000 vs. what we would have paid with the typical PPO plan.
How much do you pay per month?
Our premiums are (pre-tax) $260 per month.
Do you know how much your employer pays?
My employer pays for ~90% of my premiums, but I have to pay for my wife’s completely. For just myself the premiums would be about $30 per month. The only reason I have my wife on my plan is that her employer pays her $100 per month to opt out of her health insurance, so it all comes out in a wash.
What sorts of co-payments do you have?
With the HDHP we pay 100% of pretty much everything (minus preventative care and select other categories) until we hit the $5000 maximum for both of us. Then everything is covered up to…well, infinity I guess?
It’s tough at first to throw down $150 for doctor’s office visits, but there are still bargains for “in-network” services and if you buy generic medications there is no noticeable difference. If you realize you’re saving $100+ per paycheck and paying those doctor’s bills pretax the savings add up fast.
It’s also nice to know that everything is covered at 100% if stuff hits the fan, no 80% co-insurance or anything to worry about.
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We pay $90/pay period (so $2,340/year) for health only (Dental is extra) through my job. That leaves us with copays/coinsurance, that, for my DH alone, would have been over $10,000 so far in 2011 (but he also has Medicare, so that’s another $90/month in premiums).
Next year we may switch to a high deductible plan with an HSA. It has a max family out of pocket of $4,000, and the premiums are cheaper (well, not cheaper than this year, but cheaper than what the other plan will be) and my employer will contribute to the HSA.
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I’m self-employed and pay $721.74 every 2 months for an HSA (Blue Cross)with a $1750 deductible. Also, if anyone’s interested, I did a recent blog post on ways to benefit by using an HSA for its tax and retirement advantages as well as health care. http://havenfinancialsolutions.com/2011/08/using-health-savings-accounts-strategically
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Wow! I am feeling seriously ripped off! I work for a small public school system and pay $754 a month for a BCBS PPO family plan which includes a little bit of vision coverage. We have a $20 copay for primary doctors, $40 for specialists, 3 tiered drug coverage, 80% coverage for hospital services after a $100 copay. We are a family of 4 with 2 of us on daily medications. There is a huge deductible if you go out of network. Our total costs for medical care are about $15000/year. I am approximately 5 years from retirement and I wonder all the time if insurance costs will derail my carefully-made plans….
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I hear you Annie, but here’s mine
Maine Anthem
500 per month
2 adults, 1 child, pefect health
15k deductible PER PERSON
30k max out of pocket
(no co pays, or any other discounts or benefits, we pay 100% of our medical bills PLUS the 500 per month for insurance which is really just a catastrophic policy in effect)
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Annie, my heart goes out to you. As a teacher here in Irelans(and i’m sure you couldn’t be earning much more than I) I couldn’t possibly afford such a premium. I’m amazed your employer does’nt contribute more. I am so relived and thankful that I live in a country with a public health system. I wonder if Obama Care will bring a solution for you?
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Health insurance is not provided by my employer (but of course make too much to qualify for any assistance) and I have a pre-existing condition so the only health insurance I can get is a “high-risk pool” offered by the state. I pay $260/month, with a $1,000 deductible, and co-pays are a percentage. I also pay $38/month for dental, and out of pocket for vision.
I’m really afraid of what happens in July because that’s the time of year the monthly payments always go up and I’ll be turning 30, which will skyrocket the monthly payment.
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We pay $416/month with Anthem for a HDHP/HSA plan. $5k deductible for the family. It is awesome considering we used to pay $800/month for a very similar plan through my work. It actually had a $6k out of pocket max and drug coverage. But we are healthy and not on any drugs. I’m 36, wife 30 and 2 kids – 4 and 1. This includes maternity which was about $100/month.
I really believe the HSA is the way to go for most people – you still get the insurance carriers lower rates for everything. The only big change is paying $50-60 for office visits instead of a $20 co-pay, but that is peanuts compared to saving $400/month. Within a year, the lower premiums “paid” for our deductible – not to mention HSA contributions are tax deductions.
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This is REALLY interesting to me. I’m a state worker and have heard ever since the recession started that state workers’ benefits are well-beyond the benefits given to other workers so they should be cut drastically, but from the posts here so far, it doesn’t look like it at all.
I pay about $300 for medical insurance (dental and vision not included), and pay co-pays of $25-40 for each dr. visit, depending on whether the dr. is a “specialist”
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My husband is a recently retired schoolteacher, and we did have our health insurance paid thru the district (we kicked in a bit..maybe $200 a month? He retired with a perk of $750/month to put towards health insurance for 2 years, then we are on our own. Based on the type of insurance we have now, we will be paying near $900/month for the same in two years. Ouch! I am self employed, so no benefits there. Crazy health care situation if you ask me!
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I hope everything works out. Sounds like companies are coming up with innovative solutions to benefits. Having worked for an insurance company, I know that insurance companies are hesistant to even quote companies that have an open retiree pool, meaning new retirees are being added on an annual basis. Insurance companies are concerned about adverse selection – where the only people that are opting for the insurance are the ones that need it most. With the two year benefit, at least the two you have time to prepare to the extent that that’s possible.
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My health insurance is a simple story: I pay about $60/paycheck (twice a month) for Blue Shield of California PPO. I have Delta dental for free through work and pay some tiny sum every paycheck to cover my husband because he has so many dental issues that he needs double coverage. Vision is VSP and free through work as well.
My parents’ insurance is more interesting: my dad just turned 60, my mom is almost 58. They’ve both been retired since their early 50s and are on private insurance through Aetna. They pay $1800/month because my dad has a previous condition. They wanted to move to Florida, but their plan is California only and they couldn’t find any provider to cover them in Florida. So they’re very much looking forward to Obamacare kicking in in 2014.
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My husband and I have private HDHP with no drug or maternity coverage and a deductible of $6000 before we receive any benefits at all. For this we pay $200 a month, with premium increases of 20% the past two years. My husband is looking for a new job primarily so we can get group coverage and afford to have kids without paying $10000 out of pocket.
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I work for a state university and pay $180/month for family coverage (employer pays $1060/month), including my spouse, child and child-to-be. It is an HMO plan with no deductible that covers all preventative care (including maternity and well-child) with no co-pay, $25 co-pay for other office visits, $50 for emergency room visits and $250 fee for hospital stay. I feel very fortunate to have such good maternity coverage and it’s nice to know that when this baby comes, all I have to pay is the $250 hospital bill, which will come out of my flex spending account. We had considered switching to a HSA this year, but found out I was pregnant right before open enrollment, so are staying with the HMO. I am also fortunate to live in an area where there are many providers that accept my insurance, so I’m not “stuck” with one particular office or hospital.
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I’m lucky enough to have nearly full coverage provided by my employer — I work for a public university in a large state. I pay $35 per month for my family of three, with $15 co-pays for doctor’s visits outside of our “well baby” visits (my son is less than a year old) and $5 co-pays for generic prescriptions. We didn’t pay anything for my prenatal care or delivery either. Our HMO is a non-profit health-care provider focused on preventative care, which my husband and I both like especially since we’re healthy and in our 30s. It also keeps costs down since fewer people in our HMO have “catastrophic events.”
My employer pays about $1,300 per month on my family’s behalf. It’s a lot of money, but it’s also why I work in the public sector as opposed to the private sector — I would easily make a few thousand more per month if I did.
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Public vs. private sector – there are so many ways to truly evaluate a job offer. It is not just about the annual salary.
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I pay $5 a month for individual HDHP coverage through my employer, and my employer contributes $500 a year toward my HSA.
I just got married, so starting next month, my husband will be on my medical plan, too. Unfortunately, my employer is instituting a “Working Spouse Surcharge” for the first time – if my husband was unemployed, he would be an additional $5 a month. Because he has a full-time job, he will cost $105 a month instead. It’s still better than the plan his employer offers, but it stinks to be paying that much for a HDHP, when I’m used to much, much lower rates. (although, the numbers I’m reading in the comments are making me feel better about it)
Oh, and because it’s high deductible, I pay no copays – “preventative” care is completely free, and anything else (including prescriptions), I pay a negotiated rate for.
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I am a single mom in Texas. My son qualifies for state children’s coverage for $35 per year, medical and dental.
I pay $121 for medical, dental and vision. I pay $30 copay for an office visit. My policy is with Golden Rule. Last year I had insurance through my employer (small nonprofit organization) and paid almost double for half the coverage.
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I get the health insurance (no vision or dental) from my employer with 100% coverage, no out-of-pocket premium cost posted on my paycheck. I pay $45 co-pay for doctor office, and $15 co-pay on prescription. I think the co-pay is quite expensive, but if I don’t get sick, I don’t have to pay anything. I am thinking of buying my own policy- high deductible plan, so I can contribute money to a HSA plan for later medical cost with tax benefit.
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My husband and I are both self-employed living in a major Northeast metro area. We’re in our 30s with one child and with thoughts of a second on the way, must have a plan with pregnancy coverage. We pay for a family HMO with no-deductible. It costs us about $800/month. Our co-payments are $25 primary care, $35 specialist, $100 emergency room, with hospital stays at $200/night, max five nights out of pocket. Prescriptions are $15 generic. We have vision coverage in this plan ($150 max annual) and pay separately for a family dental plan (about $1100/year). We’ve definitely come out ahead with the dental. All told, we spend close to $11,000/year out of pocket, and are probably paying for more risk than we need. There are high-deductible plans, but I’d rather have a predictable regular bill, than unpredictable and potentially major swings. It was important for us to follow that mantra, “better safe than sorry!,” should we find ourselves pregnant again.
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I got an individual policy for my son and I for $200 a month when my employer closed down their plan, and a conversion policy for my wife that took over when she was laid off for $370 a month. We also have a supplemental policy for $40 a month from Aflac. About $600 every month in total.
The nice thing about my policy is an HSA feature, which I can use for my wife’s expenses as well. The deductible is $3K. The nice thing about hers is that it covers pregnancy, while we’re still planning to have more kids, and the deductible is only $1K.
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I have been self employed since 1988 and purchased my own health insurance beginning at that time. This month, I will pay $588 for one month’s coverage, $7056 per year, through Kaiser Permanente just for me (I am 60). Additionally, my expenses average about $100 per month additional for co-pays ($25 per visit), drugs, eye doctor visits, glasses, and dental visits. I have no vision or dental insurance. I have considered going to a plan with a deductible and lower monthly payment to save money.
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$52/MO for individual HSA PPO w/ $2,500 deductible.
Late 20s, male, no health issues.
Only possible with adequate HSA savings. IMHO.
My employer sponsored plan, last time I looked, was in the neighborhood of $300+/MO.
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I am self-employed, 30 years old, single, no children, no major health issues. I have a PPO with BCBS of California.
-$200/month for medical and dental.
-$5000 max annual out of pocket.
-4 free doctor visits a year, after those 4, co pay is ~$35.
-Annual gynecological appointment is always free.
-Prescription meds (generic) are $10
-The majority of dental work is covered, but there is a 3 month waiting period to have cavities filled and a 1 year waiting period for major dental work like root canals.
-I know this may seem silly to some people, but I live in Los Angeles so it’s more normal for us: my dog has full medical insurance (with VPI) for $35/month. She is my baby and I would be shattered if something happened to her.
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I live in Portland, OR. My employer covers my health insurance 100%, so I don’t pay anything. After 2 years of employment, they also our dependents 100%, but I don’t have kids yet. The owners view health insurance as a necessity and is a benefit that they vow to never cut. We’re a company of about 40 employees.
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I live in NH, am 51 and have a 15 year old son. Both of us have preexisting medical conditions. When I became self employed, I maxed out my works cobra and then I purchased insurance from our states “high risk insurance pool” I was not insurable under the regular private health plans. I pay $1100 a month (yes a month) and it has a $1000 deductible per person. Drugs and doctor visits get a copay and aren’t subject to the deductible. (My son’s medication he needs is very expensive, so this is good) So we pay about $14,000 a year in health care costs. (But its still worth it to me because the income I earn being self employed is so much more than when I worked for someone else) I guess I should check to see if we have new options since the Affordable Health Care was passed
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NH does appear to have pre-existing condition plans under the new health law, but according to the website I found the premiums can be as much as $1023 per month, depending on the region you’re in. Still, it’s worth checking into. Google “New Hampshire” and “pre-existing condition.” Good luck.
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Self-employed young family (2 small kids). We pay $800/month for coverage with a $5000 deductible – no vision, dental or preventative care – with a 70/30 split after that.
All maternity costs for our recent addition had to be paid out of pocket – we used a local non-profit to keep the costs somewhat reasonable ($18k).
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As others may have already commented, it’s only a boring subject until you DON’T have it. Just contemplating the financial implications of not having it at a critical time turns into a pretty interesting subject to me.
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I work for the federal gov’t (U.S.):
My health insurance (for a single person) per month is:
Vision $9
Dental $27
Health $188
Re: the uninsured, my parents are on COBRA right now and it’s $1,250 per month total for the two of them.
@JD I know you mentioned you did not want discussion on socialized versus private healthcare, but if you ever do, please contact me! I’ve lived and worked in the UK and US and my family is Canadian, so I’ve got a pretty good perspective on both.
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My health insurance is provided by my employer without cost. The hidden cost of healthinsurance is how you use it. I have a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) to use pretax dollars to pay for my health costs. If I did not take advantage of that, I would use aftertax dollars which is much more expensive.
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I work full time with no health benefits. I pay $308.55 for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois that covers medical and dental. It has a $2,500 deductible and $3,000 out of pocket expenses. Oh, and $30 copays for doctor visits.
My insurance doesn’t cover pregnancies, the premium to include it to expensive. Since I’m not dating anyone right now, it is not issue.
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I have an s-corp in which I’m the sole employee, and have set up health insurance through my s-corp. Technically, it’s a group plan for the employees of the s-corp, but I’m the only employee; if I hired additional employees (which I have no plans to do, since it’s easier to hire subcontractors), I’d have to provide them the same health insurance benefits.
Anywho, I’ve set things up so that my s-corp pays 100% of the employee health insurance premiums. Currently, for my family of 4, that runs just a smidge over $1,200 per month. However, having the s-corp pay those premiums is essentially like paying with pre-tax dollars.
Several years ago when I started my consulting business, our family had health insurance through my wife’s job; when she was laid off, we continued our coverage through COBRA until that expired (18 months is the limit). Before COBRA expired, we explored other ways to obtain health insurance, but knew we’d be denied, since my wife has a pre-existing condition (2 hip replacements). Fortunately, our state (New Mexico) legislature had created a program for small businesses to obtain health insurance, so we signed up with that, and that’s what we’ve stayed with over the past couple of years. Essentially, it allows small businesses to purchase group plans. Our insurance is through Blue Cross Blue Shield, and is adequate though not stellar. It does NOT cover vision or dental, so we pay those costs out-of-pocket, and plan accordingly.
So, although the premiums are expensive, it’s pretty much the only option, since we’d never consider going without health insurance–given our family situation and the knowledge that health-related costs are the #1 cause of personal bankruptcies in the U.S.
BTW, if you feel stuck in your day job because of the “great” benefits, think again; there are plenty of options for getting the same or better benefits while self-employed. Besides the health insurance benefit, I’ve set up a retirement plan through my s-corp (a SEP-IRA), where my s-corp contributes up to 25% of (my) employee salary to the SEP-IRA, and I have unlimited investment options. The SEP-IRA is an even better option than a 401(k), since there are none of the administrative fees of a 401(k) and I’m not limited to a dozen or so investment choices.
Besides, being self-employed, you can make a LOT more (I QUADRUPLED my former salary) and have MORE financial security, since you’re not dependent on a single employer for your income.
Greg Miliates
http://www.StartMyConsultingBusiness.com
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State employee here, that’s the only way I could ever get any health insurance given all my preexisting condition issues.
Single, female, no dependents, mid 40′s.
Less than $10/mo for a really good HMO (consistently one of the top 5 in the country, well it’s a not-for-profit, more than 94% of premiums go for care, not profits or overhead). $25 copay for non-specialist visits, $40 for specialists. Drugs: $7/$25/$40 depending on generics or not. $50 for ER visit, max $250 for hospital stay. I had outpatient surgery this summer, major stuff, and paid nothing, nada, zilch. Two years ago I had inpatient surgery, major complications, ICU, one week stay etc. and paid a grand total of $250.
This is changing, of course, as a state employee I am told I have to “share the pain” in this race to the bottom, never mind that I make over 5X less than most of the people who graduated when I did (law school) now, no raises in 5 years, in fact I’m making less than I did 5 years ago.
Also, no vision or dental coverage — they offer plans you can pay for but they’re worthless. So I’m getting two (cracked — DON’T CHEW ICE EVER) teeth crowned in Jan. at a cost of $2400 or so out of pocket, at least that’s coming from flexmed pre-tax dollars.
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