SanDiegogirl

..... for 6 people ?

Kaiser Foundation came up with the following figures for Nov 2018Employers Pay 82 Percent of Health Insurance for Single Coverage

In 2018, the average company-provided health insurance policy totaled $6,896 a year for single coverage. On average, employers paid 82 percent of the premium, or $5,655 a year. Employees paid the remaining 18 percent, or $1,241 a year.

For family coverage, the average policy totaled $19,616 a year with employers contributing, on average, 71 percent, or $13,927. Employees paid the remaining 29 percent or $5,689 a year.

Sorry, but if you are budgeting 500 per month to cover 6 people I think you are going to have a nasty surprise.

tom169

In British speak, deductible = excess.

Scottish_Lad

scrubbedexpat099

Some qualify for subsidies certainly a family of 6 earning $2k would be on Medicaid anyway.

Owen778

I figure a couple of your points need comment.
Is this based on your experience in Kentucky? I've never heard of such a thing, and it looks like there aren't separate county and state DMV offices in South Carolina. For info, this seems to be the page for new immigrants in SC: International Customers

Probably worth pointing out that some banks are better than others for being willing to open even non-interest-bearing accounts for new immigrants. In addition, many US banks are regional only, and Huntington are an example that do not have branches in South Carolina. This is the JDPower survey I usually give to people who ask about which bank to use, SC is in the Southeast region: https://www.jdpower.com/business/pre...sfaction-study

Scottish_Lad

SarahG

Not much to add in response to some of your questions, however, I just wanted to say hello. I am a fellow Scot. I am from Edinburgh originally and have been in Mount Pleasant (next to Charleston) since 2012. My kids are 14 and 16.
One thing to mention, which you may already know due to your parents living here, is you will only have 2 DMVs to go to for drivers license as they are not all capable of dealing with foreigners. Leeds Avenue is the one I usually go to, but I believe a new one has opened in West Ashley recently and they will have staff trained to deal with people on visas and green cards. Charleston County School District is one of the better ones in the state, but some schools are a LOT better than others. (This is why we chose Mount Pleasant to move to rather than some other places)

SanDiegogirl

No I'm sure that not all families pay up to 2k per month on premiums..... however, based on what your prospective company's health insurance package is like, I think that $500 per month for premiums for a family of 6 could be on the very low side. Even if not, unless your family is super healthy and fit and never visit the doctor, you should be budgeting for additional deductibles and co-pays etc

What online plans are you looking at?

steph0scope

Scottish_Lad

Scottish_Lad

civilservant

That statement by itself shows you don't have a clue.

Let's say you are all in the car, and a deer runs out. You swerve to avoid it and hit a tree. 5 of you are fine, minor whiplash and cuts and bruises, but the 1 is seriously injured and requires a LifeFlight to an ICU and are then in the ICU for a week, requiring several surgeries.

That treatment could easily cost a million $$$ if you are uninsured.

In the US, you NEVER have enough savings to cover all eventualities when it comes to healthcare I'm afraid.

Scottish_Lad

civilservant

Nice. You don't get to determine how someone responds to you on a public forum. Nor does your statement 'closing the thread' have any merit in actuality.

You will when you're forced into medical bankruptcy the way that thousands of people every year are in the US.

This is the difference between living in the US and being a tourist in the US. You don't know what you're getting into, you asked, and didn't like the answer. However if you choose to stick your head in the sand and not listen to the advice you have been given, that's your look out.

Good luck.

zzrmark

My health insurance is about $800 a month, does not cover regular eyecare or dental heath and has a hefty deductible, so much so that I consciously avoid the doctor whenever I can (eg self dressed a nail gun wound, as in framing nail in the joint of an index finger!) - a recent trip to the ER for a nasty bout of cramp would have set me back $24K without insurance, my insurers ended up stumping up less than $600 and I copped $2,400 in bills that came in dribs and drabs over the next six months, so don't assume that it's only major surgery that comes with a financial sting. The doctor was surprised that I didn't call for an ambulance, they seem to be oblivious to the fact that it would probably have cost me the equivalent of a large down payment on a house for a 20 mile ride.
The only thing that you can guarantee about health insurance is that the insurers are making money.
The best bet is to make sure that you end up with an employer that offers health insurance, the larger the firm the better their health plans are likely to be (I'm on my wife's insurance plan through the county education board as my employer does not have a plan).