Thats why you get catastrophic insurance with a high deductable. It's good for younger ppl just starting out, and us older folks between 50-65, who don't see the Dr much and take a lot of epensive meds. Just get a HSA and start putting your 400.00 a month into it. in a yr or so, you'll have your deductable saved up. The most you pay for deductable is around $5,000. Also, I live by the mexican border, so dental is really cheap. cheaper then insurance :wink:

 

Actually kblickster, you're the perfect candidate for an HSA. Consider how an HSA would work for you. Here in SoCal, where rates are some of the highest in the country, a family can get a Blue Cross HSA plan for $250/month. There's a $7000 deductible after which everything is 100% covered in-network. So, worst case scenario is that you pay no more than $10,000 in any given year. That's $833/month. The standard Blue Cross Family plan with $1000 deductible runs about $900/month (I'm using the price for someone 40-44) with a $10,000 max. So, either way, the most you'll pay is $10,000/year.

Under the HSA you have to pay for everything as it comes, up to $7000, but you're paying $7100 less in premiums so you've got a lot of leeway before it even gets close. Actually at these prices, I don't think you'd ever spend less with the standard plan. The big benefit is that if your family only spends, say, $2000/year on average, you come out way ahead. Plus, you get to contribute $5600 tax-free.

So, let's look down the road. Say you have 3 average years and then in year 4 catastrophe strikes and you have $100,000 in medical bills. Under the standard plan you paid $43200 in premiums and $11,800 out-of-pocket for a total of $55,000.

With the HSA you paid $9000 in premiums and made your max contribution the first 3 years. After paying your medical bills, your balance is $11,000+ in the account figuring 4.5% interest . Now your bad year comes. You spend $3,000 in premiums but you have enough saved to cover your deductible. So, with this plan your total cost is $28,800. That's 4 years of premiums and 3 years of contributions. Plus, the tax deduction saved you another $4200 if you're in a 25% bracket. So your real cost was $24,600 for, ultimately, the same coverage that $55,000 bought you above. And for every year that nothing major happens, that account balance just keeps growing.

 

double post?

 

triple?

 

I bought health insurance last year for the first time (I'm 36), about six months later my appendix burst, then my wife needed hand surgery.

I have Alliance, and they are the worst. They covered as close to nothing as you can get. I had to pay for my Anesthesiologist for crap sake. Also had to pay for my cat scans. My wife's surgery they covered very little.
I'll be shopping for another provider soon.

Until you've been through a medical problem where you need surgery or hospitalization you don't know what's involved and it can be difficult to ask the right questions when you're shopping for it.
Now I know better.

 

Once again, NO, IT'S NOT FREE. :roll:

Someone is paying for it.

 

If I ever had to go to County because I couldn't pay for insurance, it'd be time to get a different job.

 

 

The state pays it. That's why the illegals come here.

 

Where do you think the state gets that money from? :roll: