Health Insurance?

[Detailed Josh]

For those of you who do this full scale what do you do about health insurance? Especially with the new law requirements. If it's a major company, and not local to you, please post which company you go with and what rate (and how many people that you have covered like if you're married. Thanks!

[custmsprty]

O Bama Care, the website works great

[Pureshine]

I'm under my spouses.

[Andr3wilson]

Canadian

[FUNX650]

Canadian

Canadian Wannabe

Bob

[Flash Gordon]

Put your assets in a trust fund so you can't loose them. You don't have to be a millionaire to do this

And don't get sick ...

[Gurge]

long story but I was happier a few months ago with my situation. Few months from now I may think otherwise but for the time being it is costing me a lot

[mwoolfso]

I was under a catastrophic plan in 2013 so I had no preventive coverage. I have a family of 4 and we are healthy so I had no problem shelling out cash for preventive/diagnostics... at the end of the day I was still making out like a bandit across the 12 mos. period.

With Obamacare, Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield deemed that plan non-compliant. So after doing a lot of research I chose one of the lowest silver plans from Empire; which is just under $1200/mo. The higher-end Bronze plans were almost as much so I get a bigger bang in silver for just a few more bucks.

[Billand]

I am under my wife we pay 300 and some change for a HMO plan if we took Obama care we wouldn't get near the coverage and pay 1200 a month each due to our income and state we live in

[cardaddy]

There is no real short answer to that question. You have a TON of variables involved. Things such as deductibles and co-pay amounts can make you go from one price to TWICE that price. You also have lifetime limits, cancer coverage, whether it's a PPO, HMO, POS, or a HDHP - (Linked to a HSA) all come into play. There are lots of little things that can be included in your policy along the way as well. Things like vision and dental coverage for instance. Also do you plan on something like a FSA account? (Or the above HSA account.)

My wife's coverage is around $325 and she has an employer match. But that is a family plan and we have fairly low deductibles and it's a great PPO type policy. I can't wait till my son turns 25 so we can drop him!

My daughter just turned 25 last summer and we kept her on there even after she got married, (which was the day before her birthday) up until her husband turned 25 which wasn't until October.

They just bought a REALLY basic policy that has deductibles twice what ours is along with an out of pocket cost up around $12000 annually before the company starts paying out at 100%. I'm thinking they pay around $250 a month. That policy would never work for us (and I even have Medicare as a secondary policy on me only, which seriously helps with the out of pocket costs) because I have to go to the doctor once a month for injections in my back, at least once a year for epidurals (if not more) and other procedures, tests and such. Just got a bill for a back brace that was over a GRAND! Another electrical stimulator and garment it goes with that was over $1400.

Only you can answer the question(s) as to what works best for you and most especially YOUR FAMILY. Young couples with no kids, not looking to have kids, working an inside office type job and both really healthy can likely risk minimal coverage. But what if one of you works outdoors, travels for work (drives around town as in mobile detailing) works with power tools, climbs ladders, or anything that gets your feet off the protected environment of an indoor office setting and your odds change. God forbid however you end up needing maternity coverage and the policy wasn't in effect for 6~9 months BEFORE "inception date"! They won't pay one red cent!

Medical insurance is one of the biggest gambles you'll ever make in your lifetime. Save money by buying cheap and not getting sick, not having an accident, having minimal coverage? Or pay up front and be covered for anything that may come your way? Like I said earlier, it's easy to spend twice as much per month on one policy verses another.

And while we're there. Everyone needs a Whole Life Life Insurance Policy! As big a one as you can possibly afford. The younger you buy it, the less it costs. We bought little ones for our kids when they were born that were pennies per month. Would have been neat to buy $1,000,000 policies but that wasn't in the budget. What does work is that after 20 years they are 'paid up' and you need not put another dime into them. They'll make money just sitting there and the face value never goes down. (Quite unlike any stock plans one might have.)

Having it paid up is something that is very important btw. Can't say that for a "term life" policy. They are never paid up, and they expire at a certain age, usually 65. Great if you plan on kicking the bucket before then, also they don't break the budget, (unless you try to buy one when your over 50). Again, only you can answer the questions about what works for your situation.