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To the government who sets tuition too high to pay out of pocket and then refuses to provide financial aid, total pricks the government is.

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They do that deliberately, don't they? We went on vacation the other week and ours decided to puke up a huge pile right by the door from the garage into the house.

That's a weird one, she's not our only chance for a female president, just the current one. I agree that demographics aren't a good reason to vote for a candidate.

Agreed.

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To paying for Health Insurance every month and then a deductible and then a co-pay and then have it reset on January 1st with worse coverage for a bigger premium....every....bloody....year....

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You do know there is a market place for health insurance and you don't have to stick with the old one. Many plans even though they are high deductible do not even touch the deductible for most routine visits.

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With you on that one CB.....

I shop mine every year at renewal time when the 20% premium increase comes in. Every year (for the last 7 or 8) I have renewed with the same plan because the market alternatives are worse. Now at 830/month for 5 of us on a 12k deductible. I'm on a grandfathered pre-ACA plan but going to lose that next (?) year and be forced on to an exchange plan, which was about 25% higher again when I looked this year.

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That'll learn you to go away.

I was just quoting what I have read. Some women feel that "in their lifetime" Hillary will be their only chance.

So Obamacare has not helped you at all?

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To be honest we have just stuck with hubby's work plan, I suppose I could look and see if there is better out there. Ours isn't as bad as others - we are $440 per month for family of 3. ($1500 individual/$3,000 family deductible) then 20% until we reach our annual out of pocket of $10,000. Most of those figures have more than doubled since we moved here in 2008.

We are very low users so normally don't even reach the deductible so the insurance never seems to kick in, other than of course providing us with the 'negotiated rates'. Just spent $870 on an MRI of my shoulder so am still in pi$$ed off mode :(

Now if I add on home insurance of around $3,000 p.a. (includes hurricane insurance) and car insurance which has just doubled by adding on The Dude (age 16) it seems like all we are paying for is insurance.

I try to look on the bright side of 'Well that means we can afford insurance for all the nice things we have and health insurance so an accident won't bankrupt us'.

Then I swing to 'OMG we don't have enough insurance, we should have umbrella insurance for our insurance and more liability insurance in case someone decides to sue us'.

Then I remember there are people out there with no insurance and wonder how they sleep at night :(

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Oh yeah, I wasn't attributing it to you.

Doesn't make it any less weird an idea though :lol:

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Unfortunately, in this day and age, that is not a bad plan for a family of 3.

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You are therefore a perfect example of a family that would benefit from switching to high deductible insurance. :nod: We're paying about $150/mth for insurance (family of three, employer policies), and have already salted away enough tax free money in a Health Savings Account to pay the maximum deductible for four or more years if we needed to.

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This is hubby's high deductible plan, the other plan is a higher monthly premium with lesser deductible/co-pay. They do stick $500 in our Health Savings Plan each year as long as we have an annual check up and we have just been letting that accumulate, plus we have our emergency medical stash 'just in case' we ever have to pay out that annual out of pocket max!

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And how is your shoulder. Hope it hasn't halted your creative talents, especially the wonderful creations in the kitchen;):thumbsup:

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That's an expensive high deductible plan. :blink: You're paying three times what we are for a family of three, for a policy with deductibles that are a fraction of ours. (I think ours are $4k/$8k.)

Are you contributing to the HSA yourselves? That is where your "emergency medical stash" should be ...... In 015 you can contribute $5,300 IIRC tax free (like 401k contributions) to an HSA.

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Have the minimum deductible limits come down? I had it in my head that way back when, it used to be about 5000 or 5500 as a minimum deductible to class as a High Deductible plan and qualify for an HSA? I looked at CB's deductibles and thought "that's not high", then I looked at Pulaskis and thought "huh - nor is that":lol: So I looked it up online, and sure enough $2600 for a Family. Did it used to be higher, or am I misrememberating?

$6650 for a Family this year

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That may be family size dependent, I am definitely capped at well below $6,000 this year.

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I don't think it is family-size dependent - this is from the IRS website:-

QUOTE
SECTION 1. PURPOSE

This revenue procedure provides the 2015 inflation adjusted amounts for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) as determined under § 223 of the Internal Revenue Code.

SECTION 2. 2015 INFLATION ADJUSTED ITEMS

Annual contribution limitation. For calendar year 2015, the annual limitation on deductions under § 223(b)(2)(A) for an individual with self-only coverage under a high deductible health plan is $3,350. For calendar year 2015, the annual limitation on deductions under § 223(b)(2)(B) for an individual with family coverage under a high deductible health plan is $6,650.

High deductible health plan. For calendar year 2015, a “high deductible health plan” is defined under § 223(c)(2)(A) as a health plan with an annual deductible that is not less than $1,300 for self-only coverage or $2,600 for family coverage, and the annual out-of-pocket expenses (deductibles, co-payments, and other amounts, but not premiums) do not exceed $6,450 for self-only coverage or $12,900 for family coverage.

SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE

This revenue procedure is effective for calendar year 2015.
UNQUOTE

I haven't got round to putting ours in yet this year, but was going to go with the 6650 unless I'm misreading it...?

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Hmmm. Interesting. I will have to look further in to that, and possibly take it up with HR. :unsure:

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Do your company make a contribution for you? Presumably that 6650 is the total from all sources?

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That might be part of the explanation, ..... :lightbulb: ..... I bet it is linked to me (head of household, with Little Miss P's insurance) plus Mrs P (who is also permitted to make a lesser contribution to her HSA), and then employer contributions to both my HSA and Mrs P's HSA. The numbers look like they add up that way. :nod:

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It's cheaper than hubby's high deductible plan at his old firm (the only plan offered). That was about $570 a month for our contribution, with deductibles of $3k/$6k.

Contributions were based on salary levels (banded at under $50k/ $50-$100k/ $100k+), so anyone earning a reasonably professional salary was paying almost the full cost of the insurance, and massively subsidizing the minimum-wagers. I occasionally point this out to Americans who drivel on too long about how they'd hate to be paying for poor people through taxation like with socialized healthcare in Europe.

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I will suffer through to bake a cake LOL

I know it should be in the HSA, but at the back of our minds we are always wondering whether we will be here forever or not, and I'd hate to take a tax hit by withdrawing it.

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Yeah, but you get a tax deduction on the way in. :nod: And once you reach retirement age it magically turns into (effectively) a 401k. :)

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Thumbs down to people who delete their messages, making threads look all weird and hard to follow.

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I am totally not impressed with the Health Insurance here. I retired here two years from the UK with my US wife. We pay $833 a month for Insurance and a deductable each of $5,500 per year .

On Christmas Day I had to go into hospital for a couple of days which resulted in two surgeries this year. Which meant I had to pay the deductibles for two years. yes $11,000 out of our savings.

The hospital where the second surgery took place sent a bill to the Insurance Company for $53,500 for one day in hospital. Yes $53,000 for one day. The Doctors bill came on a separate bill. The Insurance company agreed a price of $2,100!

If I did not have Insurance, I would be liable to pay $53,500. Not only that but one of the Doctors at the surgery was "Not in Network". which meant that that it was not included in my deductible and that bill was $2,945. I kicked up hell saying that I could not know who was In Network while being knocked out. They agreed to pay it.

The medical staff are really good, but the hospital administration needs to start being realistic in their billing. I am not surprised people go bankrupt here and have to sell everything to cover their medical costs.

PS I have been in hospital one day in my life in the UK. I wasn't even born in a hospital.

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If they could find a way to combine the relative good care the hospitals and actual system provides with an affordable way for people to access it without forking over a small fortune, would be pretty good system.

The insurance system just makes no sense when it comes to healthcare.

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The insurance system "makes no sense" because most people use it as a reimbursement system as well as an insurance system. Car insurance would be insanely expensive too if you could claim on your car insurance for an oil change, new tyres, or wiper blades.

Even high deductible health insurance covers "routine maintenance" at zero cost and the cost of an annual physical, and preventative shots have to be paid for somehow. People then expect health insurance to cover every "stone chip to the hood", every "chipped windshield", and every flat tyre. Until people recognize that from time to time they get sick, it's part of being human, and that it is not unreasonable to pay out of pocket for a basic visit to the doctor for strep throat, or a couple of stiches in a cut knee rather than claim on insurance "because it's free" then the cost of health insurance is going to remain insanely high.

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So, right. I am American, but my mom could never afford health insurance when I was growing up so I've really never used it or been told what to look for when shopping for plans. I get the general ideas of copay and deductibles and annual costs, but I have no idea above and beyond that (hsa's and all).

My husband 's immigrating with me in October from the UK and he has Cerebral palsy (and 3 other ongoing diagnoses). He doesn't usually need much when it comes to healthcare as he's quite stable with his conditions (all except one which he will need imaging/surgery for soon). He requires a good number of dressings and pills (though his pills are mostly all on the $4 list). I'm not really sure what to look for on the marketplace. We are going to have to go with that at first because I've been living over here with him for two years and therefore will be job hunting once we get there.

Any suggestions??

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Honestly? ..... Don't come to America, the medical costs are just too high.

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I was going to say something else, but I won't. Thanks anyway for the help!

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I grew-up in America and was fortunate to have decent medical insurance because my Mom worked in healthcare admin while I was growing-up. This was back in the 1960s and 1970s. Years later, I realized how lucky my family was to have medical insurance. Most people we knew didn't have and/or couldn't afford any insurance.

When I started work at age 18, I received comprehensive medical insurance through my employers in the education sector. Everything was fine from age 18 to 24, due to the fact I was healthy and didn't sweat the various $10 co-payments for an occasional doctor's visit and any short-term meds prescribed.

Then in 1986 I had a brief gap in coverage when I changed jobs. And lo and behold, I got a major kidney infection which had me bedridden for weeks during this gap. And the doctors bills and cost of meds used up ALL of my savings. It was a nightmare!

Fast forward to 2015: I now have two ongoing medical conditions which could possibly cause me serious health insurance woes when I return to the USA.

I strongly recommend that people seek advice if they have a 'pre-existing condition', as they may find these are excluded from health insurance for the first 12 months, even though they are paying the premium for them. In other words, you'll get the coverage eventually, but you have to contribute to the scheme for up to 12 months before one's pre-existing condition(s) is covered.

Before "Obamacare", a pre-existing condition could be completely excluded -- so things have improved somewhat.

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Well, you did ask for "any suggestions" :-)

In all seriousness, it's a tough situation and most solutions are going to be expensive.

You might have to sit down with a bit of paper and look at what your annual usage is. Will he need to visit his dr once a month? Supplies, Rx, specialist visits, inpatient or outpatient, physiotherapy... Then go to healthcare.gov and look at each of the plans available for your state one by one reading each one down to the finest fine print to see what each one covers and doesn't cover and try to work out which is best.

My personal recommendation would be to look at bronze plans first. They have higher deductibles but many will cover a lot of stuff without touching the deductible (see the fine print). Lots of sums to do, e.g. one plan may cover physio as a simple copay, another might have to use the deductible first, and another might be a percentage coinsurance.

Your monthly budget will then be premium + 1/12 out of pocket maximum. (there may be tax advantages to putting that 1/12 into an hsa if available)

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Thank you! It's a place to start, anyway. We aren't so daft to not actually be coming with some savings on our own because, yes, I KNOW it is expensive. It is also MUCH BETTER than what you get here in the UK. It's a trade off. If you're scared to death about being in debt, then it would make sense to not come. I have a graduate degree, lol, I am very familiar with unrelenting debt. I'd just rather my husband be able to go into a clean, updated hospital where I can stay with him in the same room that we don't have to share with 5, 7 other people, with surgeons who's jobs and livelihoods are on the line if they screw up. He's had 5 surgeries here, and 4 have gone wrong. Enough's enough. Aside from that, America is my home--as screwed up as it is, it will always be my home.

Once we get there, I plan to go see an insurance agent who will hopefully work through it with me. I was just hoping to get a head's up on what all I need to pay attention to when shopping for a plan. Thank you for your input.

Sarah

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There is no guarantee it won't be any different in the US.

An agent might help but being able to walk in and say, we need to go to Dr X once a month buy these supplies and Rx etc will help.

Talking of Drs and specialists, it might be worth looking around to find the Dr first and see what insurance they accept.

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I've already looked into the various doctors in our area for his anticipated needs (because we wanted someone who had a background/specialization compatible with his illnesses) and have all that ready for when we meet. You're right, nothing is guaranteed, but I've had first hand experience working in the hospital where I would take him back home, and I know their standards are better than what I've witnessed (and been a part of through district nursing) here.