How much is health insurance now? Really?

Discussion in 'Health Care' started by mak2, Jul 16, 2014.

  1. mak2

    mak2 Well-Known Member

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    My wife and I went to dinner with our old neighbors this weekend. They have a couple of kids still at home. he makes pretty good money, probably about $200,000 but gets absolutely no benefits. They were telling me they had raised their kids with no health insurance, ever. AFAIK they never had any major medical expenses but the first time they bought insurnace was because they had to. I know 200k sounds pretty good but they arent the types to have savings accts etc. They told me they have to pay $16,000 a year and have a $60k deductible. Can that be true?
     
  2. tkolter

    tkolter Well-Known Member

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    Possibly he is considered too high income for subsidies and the family as a whole affects the deductible, it depends on the plan he chose with a given insurer. But he doesn't have to get insurance he would just pay a tax penalty based on their income.

    http://www.factcheck.org/2012/06/how-much-is-the-obamacare-tax/
     
  3. mak2

    mak2 Well-Known Member

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    yea, but a 60k deductible is catastrophic coverage. Isnt that was Obamacare was getting away from? Oh and thanks for the penalty info.
     
  4. Mr_Truth

    Mr_Truth Well-Known Member

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    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/...n-Predicted-ACA-Disasters-that-Never-Happened


    So here are the seven faulty predictions, and a brief note on actual results.
    1) The website will never work.
    Eventually it did and does.

    2) Even if the website works, nobody wants to buy Obamacare.

    Charles Gaba showed us otherwise long before the official results came in.

    3) Obamacare definitely won't meet its enrollment goal.

    No. It exceeded them. See Gaba above.

    4) Only people who already had coverage are signing up.

    Forbes reports uninsured numbers are falling rapidly

    5) Obamacare would cause a net-loss of insurance.

    Decline from 18% to 13.4% in the percent uninsured.

    6) Premiums will skyrocket.

    No. Only about the same increases as pre-ACA.

    7) Obamacare just can't work.

    Early indications are that appointment times are not increasing and healthcare costs are down.
     
  5. hudson1955

    hudson1955 Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Can only reply that been in business for over 30 years. Always had a small group health policy, always paid 100% of my employees and my families premiums and never paid any where near that amount and until the passage of Obamacare, our policy had a deductible per individual(if unmarried) or family. Now it is per person, even if family coverage. The deductible went up to $900/per year, an amount that gives the Insurance company the advantage( think of them as a casino, it is more likely that given our families health, we will never each meet the $900.00 deductible so the insurance company wins.

    As far as your question as to whether I believe they have a $60k deductible, the answer is no. As to whether their premium for a family deductible for the benefits an average family without pre-existing disease needs could be $16k per year, IMO no.

    What is true is that young adults who have full-time employment but make too little to qualify for a premium subsidy and too much to qualify for Medicaid, will either pay the "penalty" or be forced to pay a premium they can't really afford. So either their Parents will pay their premium or they likely will fall into what I am calling the "ACA Exchange Donut Hole". Don't think the media is reporting much on this. Naturally that is because the majority of the media are liberals and only report what supports their liberal views. Where have the journalists gone?
     
  6. unrealist42

    unrealist42 New Member

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    The subsidy is based on income and when the subsidy level goes above 100% you are automatically qualified for Medicaid unless you live in a state that has refused to participate in Obamacare and refused Medicaid expansion funds. The ACA exchange Donut Hole is something that non-participating states have chosen to deliberately create for their hard working citizens. Besides, if the cheapest plan you can find costs more than 8.9% of your income you are exempt from the penalty anyway.

    I am self employed and always paid for my own health insurance with my own money and still do. I always bought good plans that covered a lot, about the same as Obamacare requirements. I live in Massachusetts where we have had Romneycare, which is the same as Obamacare, for 6 years now. The very first year I signed up because I could cut my premiums in half for even better coverage and my premiums have remained about the same ever since, though I have changed insurers and plans a few times. New insurers have joined the exchange since it started, making for more competition and even lower prices.

    Other states are beginning to see more insurers planning to join their exchanges for the next open enrolment and some have published insurers proposed premium schedules. The proposed premiums are between 8% higher and 24% lower depending on the area covered. The average so far is about a 1% decrease.

    Most people get their health insurance from their employer and have no idea at all about how much their employer pays for it so stories about someone paying $16,000 a year out of their own pocket for health insurance strike them as outrageous, or even criminal. As far as paying $16,000 for a family plan, that is near to the average cost of a family plan in Texas, which passed Massachusetts as the most expensive place for health insurance a few years ago. $1,200 a month per family is not that far from the national average that large employers pay to cover their married employees and their families.

    FYI, the only thing that Obamacare has to do with employer provided health insurance is that all employer provided health insurance plans must meet a minimum standard of care. Premiums and deductibles and co-pays are left to the free market. Obamacare also has a provision that creates exchanges for small employers and the republicans are suing Obama to implement it by the deadline in the legislation...whatever.

    The one great thing that Obamacare has done is to drag the entire health insurance market into the light and make health insurers compete with exactly the same product for customers in public where everyone can see. You can go on the exchange and find out exactly what the premium is for exactly the same coverage from a number of insurers. Large employers and groups of employers have deployed their own private health care exchanges, open to any insurer who will meet their standards of care and provide coverage for the area they need. Some Federal agencies have operated a similar exchange system for years.

    A $60,000 deductible??? not likely but possible in some places. $6,000 is far more likely, and more typical.
     
  7. lynnlynn

    lynnlynn New Member

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    A 60,000 deductible is most likely not a fact.
     
  8. Battle3

    Battle3 Well-Known Member

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    Wow, stumbled upon this old thread today.

    How wrong you were. All 7 of those "faulty" predictions have come true.

    Just proves the total ignorance and stupidity of the "progressives".
     
  9. Caligula

    Caligula Well-Known Member

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    I pay 166,- a month at the moment (deductible is zero) which covers everything except extra dental care, for that I can get some extra insurance if I wish which would be around 100,- to 150,- per year.
    Until last year I paid 125,- per month, but switched to a different program which turned out to be not as beneficial as I thought, so I'll probably go back to the old one.
    I don't live in the US.
     
  10. Greenbeard

    Greenbeard Well-Known Member

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  11. Battle3

    Battle3 Well-Known Member

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    Where I work, the company provides health insurance and pays 100% of the premium, but the plans are selected by an employee committee. We have had the same plan for 12 years. Its a full care private plan, there is nothing in the obamacare world that provides as good benefits as the plan we have.

    The premium for a 23 year old single man has gone from $83 a month in 2009 (the year obamacare was passed) to $659 today. Exact same plan.

    The premium for a family has gone from about $460 a month in 2009 to $1065 today. Exact same plan.

    "Thanks" to all you fools who voted for obama and support obamacare. Fortunately obamacare is failing and wont last much longer. Unless Hilary (the most corrupt and dishonest person ever) wins, then we will all wish for the good old days when we had any type of health care.
     

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