Question on medical insurance
Sep 6th 2015, 6:13 pm
#1
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Question on medical insurance
Hey guys,
I'll be moving to the United States in the near future - and working remotely for a UK company, so as a sort of rough estimate how much will I be looking at for medical insurance per year? I'm 23, male, no serious medical conditions (have asthma) and am active.
I know no one can give me an exact number but any sort of guidance or sites would be good?
Thanks
I'll be moving to the United States in the near future - and working remotely for a UK company, so as a sort of rough estimate how much will I be looking at for medical insurance per year? I'm 23, male, no serious medical conditions (have asthma) and am active.
I know no one can give me an exact number but any sort of guidance or sites would be good?
Thanks
Sep 6th 2015, 7:01 pm
#2
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,439
Re: Question on medical insurance
It depends how much risk you're prepared to take on (the "deductible" is how much you pay each year before the insurance kicks in. I would guess around $500/mth if the deductible is only $1,000. If you take a higher deductible ("bronze plan" in ACA terminology), say $4,000 then you might only pay $150/mth.
The numbers can be deceptive, and IMO a lot of people are suckered into buying higher cost insurance than they need. Using the numbers I gave above, if you can save $300/mth in insurance premiums, you could pay $3,599 each year out of pocket and still be better off with a $150/mth policy than buying a $450/mth policy, where you might have to pay the first $1,000 anyway.
The numbers can be deceptive, and IMO a lot of people are suckered into buying higher cost insurance than they need. Using the numbers I gave above, if you can save $300/mth in insurance premiums, you could pay $3,599 each year out of pocket and still be better off with a $150/mth policy than buying a $450/mth policy, where you might have to pay the first $1,000 anyway.
Sep 6th 2015, 9:50 pm
#3
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Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 29
Re: Question on medical insurance
Go for a cheap plan you are fit, healthy and most plans will cover you for a calamity. For small things just pay out of pocket at an urgent care centre or similar thing
Sep 6th 2015, 10:04 pm
#4
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,439
Re: Question on medical insurance
Sep 6th 2015, 11:04 pm
#5
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,157
Re: Question on medical insurance
Prices and plans will vary by state. Start here, which should redirect you as appropriate.
Last I checked, there was nowhere near that big of a saving on a bronze plan. For me, bronze was something like $380pm ($6,750 deductible) vs silver $415pm ($500); I chose the latter.
The OP's income, immigration status, and destination state will affect his eligibility for a subsidy through a marketplace. I doubt he'll get coverage for much less than $400 without one.
It depends how much risk you're prepared to take on (the "deductible" is how much you pay each year before the insurance kicks in. I would guess around $500/mth if the deductible is only $1,000. If you take a higher deductible ("bronze plan" in ACA terminology), say $4,000 then you might only pay $150/mth.
The OP's income, immigration status, and destination state will affect his eligibility for a subsidy through a marketplace. I doubt he'll get coverage for much less than $400 without one.
Sep 6th 2015, 11:41 pm
#6
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Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Hong Kong, mostly.
Posts: 5,214
Re: Question on medical insurance
Hi and welcome,
We have a WIKI on Health Insurance that answers some of the questions about the process and introduces a few terms you might need to help you shopping for insurance.
Health Insurance : British Expat Wiki
You say "working remotely" in your post, which raises a bit of a warning flag I wanted to mention. It is entirely possible to work remotely for a company overseas while in the United States, but there is a rather curious tax implication that may affect you personally in this sort of arrangement.
In a very general sense (just trying to give you a rough idea) the US government and many other governments in the world consider your location of "work" to be where you are located while doing your day-to-day kind of work, with some exceptions. The location of the "work" being performed is in the US, regardless of the location of the employer or where your paycheck is sent. This creates a requirement for certain MANDATORY obligations on the part of the EMPLOYER. They need to contribute the employer's contribution to your retirement (social security) and unemployment insurance for example, and they'll likely have to declare that they have an employee in the US and thus a 'presence' in the US, which frankly is something most companies would like to avoid.
If they don't do this, or if they decide to consider you a 'contractor', then you, personally, are responsible for this employer's contribution in what is known as the self-employment tax. This will be an added 6.2% of your income that you have to pay as a tax come the end of the year.
My apologies if you've already considered this as part of your budgeting, but I just wanted to mention it in case as it can be a rather substantial amount, rivaling the cost of health insurance in some cases. There are exceptions for some types of workers (temporary visitors, journalists, athletes, etc). If your company has a US office they may end up putting you on the payroll there which would be nice as then you could get access to their health insurance plan they offer their US employees. If it is more of a contractor arrangement you'll have to source insurance on your own through the exchanges or on the private market like ehealthinsurance.com.
You might want to talk to the HR team about 'topping up' your payroll to include this self-employment tax responsibility or see if they have another solution. If you have more details of your work we might be able to give you some more guidance, but the professionals might have it sorted a bit better.
Good luck with the move.
We have a WIKI on Health Insurance that answers some of the questions about the process and introduces a few terms you might need to help you shopping for insurance.
Health Insurance : British Expat Wiki
You say "working remotely" in your post, which raises a bit of a warning flag I wanted to mention. It is entirely possible to work remotely for a company overseas while in the United States, but there is a rather curious tax implication that may affect you personally in this sort of arrangement.
In a very general sense (just trying to give you a rough idea) the US government and many other governments in the world consider your location of "work" to be where you are located while doing your day-to-day kind of work, with some exceptions. The location of the "work" being performed is in the US, regardless of the location of the employer or where your paycheck is sent. This creates a requirement for certain MANDATORY obligations on the part of the EMPLOYER. They need to contribute the employer's contribution to your retirement (social security) and unemployment insurance for example, and they'll likely have to declare that they have an employee in the US and thus a 'presence' in the US, which frankly is something most companies would like to avoid.
If they don't do this, or if they decide to consider you a 'contractor', then you, personally, are responsible for this employer's contribution in what is known as the self-employment tax. This will be an added 6.2% of your income that you have to pay as a tax come the end of the year.
My apologies if you've already considered this as part of your budgeting, but I just wanted to mention it in case as it can be a rather substantial amount, rivaling the cost of health insurance in some cases. There are exceptions for some types of workers (temporary visitors, journalists, athletes, etc). If your company has a US office they may end up putting you on the payroll there which would be nice as then you could get access to their health insurance plan they offer their US employees. If it is more of a contractor arrangement you'll have to source insurance on your own through the exchanges or on the private market like ehealthinsurance.com.
You might want to talk to the HR team about 'topping up' your payroll to include this self-employment tax responsibility or see if they have another solution. If you have more details of your work we might be able to give you some more guidance, but the professionals might have it sorted a bit better.
Good luck with the move.
Last edited by penguinsix; Sep 6th 2015 at 11:44 pm.
Sep 7th 2015, 1:11 am
#7
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Joined: Aug 2007
Location: Maine
Posts: 2,043
Re: Question on medical insurance
Does this link work?
https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ehi...e=best-sellers
Shows plans available for a 23 year old non-smoker in Maine...
https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ehi...e=best-sellers
Shows plans available for a 23 year old non-smoker in Maine...
Sep 7th 2015, 3:25 am
#9
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 4,754
Re: Question on medical insurance
Assuming you have all the visa stuff worked out it's good that you are thinking about health insurance. The practicalities of getting insurance will depend on the state where you live, but you are basically looking at buying an Obamacare (ACA) health insurance plan and that might costs $5k in premiums and another $5k in deductibles. Those are very rough estimates as there are hundreds of plans and costs vary greatly across the US.
You will also have to make sure you have your taxes sorted out. As a US resident you must pay US and state income tax and payroll taxes. You must get the people that pay you in the UK to realize that you are not liable to UK tax on work you perform in the US while US resident. Also get your NI contributions sorted
You will also have to make sure you have your taxes sorted out. As a US resident you must pay US and state income tax and payroll taxes. You must get the people that pay you in the UK to realize that you are not liable to UK tax on work you perform in the US while US resident. Also get your NI contributions sorted
Sep 7th 2015, 6:54 am
#10
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Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 398
Re: Question on medical insurance
Hi and welcome,
We have a WIKI on Health Insurance that answers some of the questions about the process and introduces a few terms you might need to help you shopping for insurance.
Health Insurance : British Expat Wiki
You say "working remotely" in your post, which raises a bit of a warning flag I wanted to mention. It is entirely possible to work remotely for a company overseas while in the United States, but there is a rather curious tax implication that may affect you personally in this sort of arrangement.
In a very general sense (just trying to give you a rough idea) the US government and many other governments in the world consider your location of "work" to be where you are located while doing your day-to-day kind of work, with some exceptions. The location of the "work" being performed is in the US, regardless of the location of the employer or where your paycheck is sent. This creates a requirement for certain MANDATORY obligations on the part of the EMPLOYER. They need to contribute the employer's contribution to your retirement (social security) and unemployment insurance for example, and they'll likely have to declare that they have an employee in the US and thus a 'presence' in the US, which frankly is something most companies would like to avoid.
If they don't do this, or if they decide to consider you a 'contractor', then you, personally, are responsible for this employer's contribution in what is known as the self-employment tax. This will be an added 6.2% of your income that you have to pay as a tax come the end of the year.
My apologies if you've already considered this as part of your budgeting, but I just wanted to mention it in case as it can be a rather substantial amount, rivaling the cost of health insurance in some cases. There are exceptions for some types of workers (temporary visitors, journalists, athletes, etc). If your company has a US office they may end up putting you on the payroll there which would be nice as then you could get access to their health insurance plan they offer their US employees. If it is more of a contractor arrangement you'll have to source insurance on your own through the exchanges or on the private market like ehealthinsurance.com.
You might want to talk to the HR team about 'topping up' your payroll to include this self-employment tax responsibility or see if they have another solution. If you have more details of your work we might be able to give you some more guidance, but the professionals might have it sorted a bit better.
Good luck with the move.
We have a WIKI on Health Insurance that answers some of the questions about the process and introduces a few terms you might need to help you shopping for insurance.
Health Insurance : British Expat Wiki
You say "working remotely" in your post, which raises a bit of a warning flag I wanted to mention. It is entirely possible to work remotely for a company overseas while in the United States, but there is a rather curious tax implication that may affect you personally in this sort of arrangement.
In a very general sense (just trying to give you a rough idea) the US government and many other governments in the world consider your location of "work" to be where you are located while doing your day-to-day kind of work, with some exceptions. The location of the "work" being performed is in the US, regardless of the location of the employer or where your paycheck is sent. This creates a requirement for certain MANDATORY obligations on the part of the EMPLOYER. They need to contribute the employer's contribution to your retirement (social security) and unemployment insurance for example, and they'll likely have to declare that they have an employee in the US and thus a 'presence' in the US, which frankly is something most companies would like to avoid.
If they don't do this, or if they decide to consider you a 'contractor', then you, personally, are responsible for this employer's contribution in what is known as the self-employment tax. This will be an added 6.2% of your income that you have to pay as a tax come the end of the year.
My apologies if you've already considered this as part of your budgeting, but I just wanted to mention it in case as it can be a rather substantial amount, rivaling the cost of health insurance in some cases. There are exceptions for some types of workers (temporary visitors, journalists, athletes, etc). If your company has a US office they may end up putting you on the payroll there which would be nice as then you could get access to their health insurance plan they offer their US employees. If it is more of a contractor arrangement you'll have to source insurance on your own through the exchanges or on the private market like ehealthinsurance.com.
You might want to talk to the HR team about 'topping up' your payroll to include this self-employment tax responsibility or see if they have another solution. If you have more details of your work we might be able to give you some more guidance, but the professionals might have it sorted a bit better.
Good luck with the move.
Sep 7th 2015, 7:50 am
#11
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Joined: May 2006
Location: ex ex-pat, in Taunton
Posts: 27,192
Re: Question on medical insurance
What visa are you getting? I know it's been asked, but so far no answer from you. might make a difference.
Sep 7th 2015, 7:56 am
#12
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Re: Question on medical insurance
Sorry man - my apologies, I'm applying for a K-1 Fiance visa - with the intention of marrying upon arrival pretty much right away after I get into the USA
Sep 7th 2015, 9:20 am
#13
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Re: Question on medical insurance
Also - I checked the wiki and looked at the two temporary insurance providers, as we won't be in the USA permanently (not yet anyways) - and we plan to move back to the UK, and was quoted as $930 for a years coverage under Inbound Immigrant Insurance...does that sound right?
Sep 7th 2015, 1:15 pm
#14
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 4,754
Re: Question on medical insurance
Also - I checked the wiki and looked at the two temporary insurance providers, as we won't be in the USA permanently (not yet anyways) - and we plan to move back to the UK, and was quoted as $930 for a years coverage under Inbound Immigrant Insurance...does that sound right?
Sep 7th 2015, 1:17 pm
#15
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Re: Question on medical insurance
Hey, nah we're moving there, getting married - staying for 12-18 months until my fiance has finished her degree, then we'll be moving back to the UK for a few years - before ultimately ending up in the U.S again!
Thanks
Thanks
