Do you have health insurance?

Lenas_sl said:

I have insurance but I've never once used it.

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If you have the insurance, you should at the very least be using it for well adult exams/preventative care/etc. You are paying for it anyways and could possibly end up catching an issue before it becomes problematic.

Selix_sl said:

Hmm I need to look into private plans. A private plan for me and my family through Cobra (wife and 2 daughters under 3/yr old and me) was over $2,000 a month.

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You never want to use COBRA unless you have some pre-existing conditions that wouldn't be covered by starting up a new medical insurance policy. COBRA is basically the most expensive, worst-case scenario option for when you have no other options(like if you lose your job after being diagnosed with cancer)

AladainAF_sl said:

I cover my wife and my son on about $30 a month for amazing dental (90% coverage of everything 100% on normal cleaning/xrays, $2,500 yearly benefit), and about $160 a month for medical that covers 100% of everything until $7,500, at which time I have a 10% co-pay until $25,000, and then after $25,000, I don't pay anything.

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Okay, lets clear up some things a bit because I used to work in coverage and reimbursement for Genentech, and there's a misconception that people have that make it...all the time.

Deductible
Co-Pay
Co-Insurance
Max Out of Pocket
Annual Cap
Monthly Cap

Are all different. When you hit your Max Out of Pocket, your insurance covers you at 100%. This much is true. However, your insurance will still only cover up to the allowed amount that's contracted for that specific provider. This is why it's good to make sure your provider is in network so there are discounts. When you said you have a $2,500 yearly benefit, it sounds like an ANNUAL CAP. Meaning, after your cap has been hit, you will not be covered anymore. Is that correct?

Just for the record, that $25,000 Max OOP is really high. It almost sounds like you have a Medicare plan based on the tiers into the catastrophic limit. Who's your plan through?

Also, I can't imagine not having insurance. The people who say they don't have it because they've not been to the doctor are nuts. Wait til you have an accident and you're stuck in the ER with a 10k or more bill. Ugh.

I cover my wife, son and myself through my job's benefits. It's health, dental, and vision. It's around $150/month for that. $200 seems crazy.

I do think having insurance is very important, and even if you are completely healthy it's a good choice to have insurance. You just never know what might happen.

You say you haven't been to the dentist in 5 years. Usually if you have dental insurance you get two cleanings per year. I think this is pretty important. I've seen a lot of people who never go to the dentist and never get their routine cleanings every 6 months have some serious teeth problems.

Yes, it's called Canada.

I currently have insurance through employer and they pay everything, I have no premium, but when I got out of college for about 3 years I have no insurance and never had a problem.

Then I got a job and the insurance was not that great. I did not really look at all the fine print and I know this is incredibly stupid but I just kinda thought that you pay for insurance and if you have something wrong and you just have it fixed no charge. Well I had surgery to fix and ACL and got a nice bill for $15,000!!! I attempted to fight the charges and they knocked it down a bit but it basically ruined my life for a year while I tried to pay it back. I just want you to realize what can go wrong so someone else does not make a similar mistake.

Yes through my work/union. I pay about $180?/mo for full coverage, one person. Everything was offered since day one except dental and vision, which are available after 1 year.

Is there an income threshold for having to pay for insurance or get hit with fines? Health Insurance is like $550 a month for me and I can't afford that on min wage of $8.50 ish

Can't afford it, so I don't have it. Luckily though my employer somehow covers people when shit gets serious even though they're uninsured. One of our workers who quit, then got into a serious accident a week later got covered.. and thus drove up our companies premiums. I'd have to pay $200 a month for myself.

Had it at my last job when it was only about $100 a month, but I had a higher paycheck before getting laid off.

After reading this im quite happy to be living in Canada.

A buddy of mine who lives in Omaha asked me when I had my kids how much they cost me because it was going to cost him 3k ish out of pocket. I told him $20 for gas and $11 for parking.

I have my dad's insurance until my birthday, thanks to Obama, but then I'm gonna have to wait for the real Obamacare to come into effect so I'll be without for a while. Which sucks.

Jalynfane_sl said:

Is there an income threshold for having to pay for insurance or get hit with fines? Health Insurance is like $550 a month for me and I can't afford that on min wage of $8.50 ish

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I am not sure, but I don't think so. However, there will be subsidized options for purchasing health care if you are below a certain income threshold.

For me, I chose not to have insurance through my 20s. I'm 29 now. Hadn't been to a dentist in a long time because I wasn't having problems. Here I am 29, and I've dropped about 3k on my mouth in the last few months. Getting wisdom teeth out(had a toothe ache that started all of this) Then had a deep cleaning, some cavities filled etc.

In reality I probably would have ended up paying the same whether I was paying monthly through my 20s, or paying for it out of pocket now too. There were a few times in my 20s where I needed meds to clear up a sinus infection once, etc. So I probably saved a little bit, but at the cost of a major problem would have ruined me financially. Had I broke a bone or something etc. Would have ruined me in the last few years.

I have had insurance through the same company for 15 years now. Every year the insurance premium goes up, this year it is finally more than our mortgage . We switched from a copay-deductible plan to a high deductible HSA. At the rate it has been increasing, it would have broken 1k/month by 2015 at the latest.

We are all healthy, non smokers, in decent shape.

Not sure what will come in the next few years health insurance wise here in the US, but I cant imagine not having some form of insurance. I dont gamble cause I always lose (very unlucky), not having it would get me in trouble.

There are some decent affordable options out there, just got to do some looking.

Hey all. I work in the insurance industry, if you have any questions or issues in particular, let me know, I can probably help.

And if you have Aetna, I have access to claims systems and stuff. But ask me Aetna related things in PM please. HIPAA shit obviously