HEALTH Insurance.....Who do you use? What kind of Coverage do you have?

That's tough, not sure i could do that.. You never know when something might happen.. medical bills sure get expensive..

 

you need to check out whats available in your state. i have kaiser permanente but i am in ohio. the plan i chose covers everything and i dont have much out of pocket expense. the premuim for myself is 465.00 a month and before my boyfriend got on medicare his was 760.00 per month. it just depends how much you can spend now or later. i like having fixed costs and knowing that if something should happen i can cover it.

 

Exactly. Plus, i'm looking at adding trucks later on down the road, and i'd rather give people that work for me insurance.. I don't think it's ethical to not do that, people have families to support. I could, at the very least, give them an extra 100 bucks a week for a health insurance allowance, that they can chose to use the extra money per month to get their own plan..

But that's a long way off, yet. =) Thanks for the advice guys, keep it coming!

 

Check out a high deductible plan coupled with a health savings account. For a family nothing is covered until you meet your deductible (usually around $4000-$5500 year). The benefit is lower monthly premiums and then you are covered if something bigger occurs. If you are single, the deductible is usually around $1500. You can then couple this with a health savings account to save up for health related expenses. They act similar to a traditional IRA where you can contribute pretax dollars to save. It differs from a Flex Spending account though because there isn't a "use it or lose it" feature. Your balances carry over year to year. Again, the deductibles are really high, but it offers come coverage in the event of a major medical issue.

 

Awesome scooter, thanks. I have a daughter who needs doctors visits for different little issues, though, and i think i'd rather have each visit covered without having to worry about a deductible.. But i'll check into it.

I heard the OOIDA offers some kind of medical insurance, is it like insurance insurance or is it like an aflac type thing? Has anybody used it?

 

Ditto, but be careful here with your descriptions....

In my opinion, you are correct about HSA's. In the long run, they do save you a lot of money. (I'm a health insurance broker and I recommend HSA's to everyone who can afford it).

There are things that are covered without deductible, but those are dependent on the insurance carrier and state in which you call home, and usually those are very minor things.

Typically, HSA deductibles start around $2500. Perhaps in your state, you may have found an HSA with a lower amount for individual coverage, but again, remember that is going to be dependent on a lot of factors. I have clients (individual) with HSA deductibles ranging from $3000 to $10,000. Remember, the higher your deductible (the amount you are willing to risk), the lower the premium will be. AFTER you meet the HSA deductible, you are covered 100% in most hsa plans. This is what makes this plan superior to Copay plans. In a copay, you pay your deductible, lets say $2500, then pay 20% of all expenses up to a stop-loss amount. Do the math, you'll see that you actually pay LESS with an HSA, not including the lower premium you are paying due to your higher deductible.

And you are SPOT ON about the tax favorability with the HSA account. Use it for deductibles, RX, anything medical related until you are 65, then take it out without penalty.

Call a broker in your state, they will get you setup and give you free quotes to show you how to save a lot of money on your coverage.

BTW, AFLAC is a nice supplement, especially when you'll be losing money while you are on the road, but PLEASE dont try to depend on it to cover your medical bills.

 

Eckz, you would do good to look into a decent small group coverage for your employees. You'll get more of them covered, even with pre-ex conditions, and will likely save money in the long run. With your employees contributing, they will do well.

What you are describing with the extra $100/wk is a newer concept called an HRA (Health Reimbursement Agreement). You can give them that money each week (I believe it is pre-tax) and they find their own individual coverage. There are contracts you can get drawn for that. Real simple, tax advantages, and a lot more flexibility.

 

Call me old fashioned. But I believe if I'm paying for insurance then it should pay for something.

This is why all basic health care and preventative health care should be universal and leave the speciized care to private insurance

 

I agree. It bites me every quarter to write the check for insurance that I know covers nothing till 3,000 deductible is met and then 20% after comes out of pocket, and will not cover pre existing conditions.

 

I've got the high deductible HSA coverage and I like it.