Health Insurance, Do most o/o's depend on their spouses for health insurance?

There is truth to that, but one doesn't have to be in that kind of bind. If they just bank away a few bucks each pay check into a health savings account, they would easily have the money to do it this way. They are only on the hook up to the deductible limit on their insurance coverage anyway. After that, even under the way I mentioned, the insurance picks up the entire tab with no copay's or out of pocket. And the nice thing, the money one puts in an HSA grows, tax free! Just like a 401K. And it is not taxed when you withdraw it for medical purposes. And you have few limits on what you can spend it on medically. You can even get many over the counter pharmacy stuff using the HSA, something that few, if any, traditional insurance policies cover. And you get total deductibility on taxes for all the money to stash in that savings account. it is the ultimate killer way to keep health insurance and costs as low as possible and keep from paying taxes on it.

It is not like that cateteria plan nonsense that many companies have, where you bank aside money for health costs and it is a use it or lose it deal by the end of the specified period. The HSA just rolls over and continues to grow, just like any savings account, 401K, etc. Stash a few bucks in there each payday and it will grow quite nicely. Then when a person has that $150 doctor visit, just pull out the HSA checkbook or debit card and pay it right up front. Nice thing is, in many cases, one can negotiate the final cost down a little doing this. Doctor's want paid. They have staff and clinics to run and it costs money. Just as in trucking or any other business, a customer that pays right away can usually get some percentage knocked off the final cost. When I had my two hospital events (one an ER visit, the other a overnight stay in the hospital), I just called the business office and told them I would pay cash. One of the bills, I got almost 75% discount! That time I about had another medical event from the shock! The other, I got a 50% discount. The fascinating thing is, the 75% discount was the hospital stay. That event used two doctors, ER, oxygen, respritory therapy every two hours, x ray, EKG, blood work, medication, private room 1 day and evening, and meal. Figure out how much that would have cost. I only had to pay $895 by paying cash up front, 1/4 of the cost if health insurance was involved. Hadn't reached full deductible, so insurance did not pay a dime. That total cost was less than most folk's family monthly health insurance premium.

In reality, medical costs are not all that high. It is the insurance and government buearocrasy that has it all screwed up, and a lot of money gets into everyone's pockets besides medical. When it is done the "old fashioned way" and cash exchanges hands, the costs come back down to something normal. Not trivial, for sure, but a lot more reasonable.

 

I'd like to see the apples to apples comparison on the plans. Sounds like old plan didn't include certain required coverage that he may have been paying for and is now covered, or someone was a smoker, who previously may not have paid more for insurance (my father smoked. Even though he never had been hospitalized in his life up until his heart valve op, I wouldn't wish that kind of death later from the effects on anyone). Not sure what the plans are like, but the Farm Bureau offers health plans.

For 2 of us, my health care premiums where over 55% LESS in 2014 with ACA. After the credit which I won't get in 2015, it was OVER 68% LESS. Apples to apples? Maybe. While the deductible was $500 more and OOP was higher, at the same time the new plan paid more for a lot of other things (ex. old plan had no coverage for preventative (like physical and annual tests)). If I ignore the extra benefit under the new plan and just look up the premium under the old plan for the same deductible, it is still over 50% LESS (over 60% LESS with tax credit). If I want to lower my premium costs even more (with same ded but higher co-amounts, preventative is the same), I could opt for a lower tier plan.

Still agree that the cost of HEALTHCARE is high and climbing, especially compared to other countries around the world (why does the before insurance cost of a Rx pill cost double or more here compared to another country?)

It would be nice if the trucking industry, as a whole, would combine and form a group large enough to have some negotiating power with insurance companies for nationwide coverage at a fair rate. Or does that exist already?

 

I have always wondered if the Hospital "phantom" rates are set so they can generate large tax deductions from the write-down forced by the insurance company allowed charges. Why else are they so far from reality. Hospital says it costs $1,000. BCBS says $400 allowed or usual and customary for the area, and then pays based on that. Hospital gets tax break for $600 write-down?? The poor sap who would get burned in the past would be the guy without insurance who the hospital gladly charged the full $1,000 fake accounting cost. He would go on a perpetual payment plan or go bankrupt. Most of the time, the provider will knock it down a significant chunk, just for asking. Got caught when I forgot my last insurance didn't cover preventative care. Got doc to knock half off just like that. Had I not seen my dad's first ever hospital visit get knocked down from something like $100,000 to just over approx $15,000 allowed charges (Hospital writes down, adjusts $85,000. It's not charged to insured), I would never have suspected there may be something phony about the "rates" providers list as charges.

 

The only difference was what Mr. Obama added. Its not affordable insurance, its a rip off, any time the government gets involved in any thing the cost go up. For they have to add taxes to pay for those who will overlook it, and of this they added much taxes to many medical items.

I can't remember what President Ronald Reagan said yet it was true, anytime the government comes saying they are going to help you, you get ripped off.

 

It's a sad fact that the USA is the only country in the world that relies heavily on "for profit" healthcare, driven by insurance companies and drug companies, combined with their heavy influences on politicians. And it's far from a "free" market. Who knows who actually wrote the ACA but I think we can concede that its not very affordable when rates are going up as well as deductibles.
On top of that you have a very strong and powerful Insurance lobby who pulls the strings on what comes and goes. Its a very inefficient system and the healthcare costs have gone thru the roof. Price gouging is rife and will continue. You're almost better off avoiding Obamacare altogether and seek alternative medical attention. Insurance companies and Big Pharma are not going to give up their stranglehold on the business. They are greedy and nothing will change anytime soon. As usual the Govt aka Obama have made a complete mess of the system and if anything, have made it worse. But should we be surprised.
I did a little research and it seems that Uruguay France and Malaysia provide the best and most affordable healthcare in the world. But the USA spends more on healthcare per capita than almost every other country in the world except Switzerland. Hong Kong spends the least so it's a shame that the US system is broken. Despite all the claims of the country's "wealth"
Good luck.

 

You hit it right! The hospitals and clinics inflate the cost to the insurance carrier because they know it will be cut down and a lower amount will be paid to them. And they inflate the cost somewhat to cover the manpower and time they have to play this game with the insurance carrier. This is why I got DEEP discounts because I paid cash with my HSA, and did so right when I got the bill. I got a cost that more reflected the real cost, and that they did not have to waste time playing gotcha with the insurance carrier. It is a variation on the billing thing that business folks are used to..... if you pay the invoice within 10 days, you get xx discount off the invoice price.

A good example of this kind if pricing thing is with self payment only surgical procedures. For instance, it is very well likely that a woman with breast cancer that has to have mastectomy procedure done, the cost will be in the $100,000 range for the full procedure and hospitalization. Yet, a person who is paying it themselves outside of insurance, the total cost is easily below $10,000. 1/10th the normal cost. Surgical Centers of Oklahoma is one of those places where you get up front pricing for procedures that you will be paying for. The costs are dramatically lower than normal health care channels. Check it out and see for yourself. Great if you have a high deductible health insurance policy tied to an HSA like I do. My premiums for the health insurance, which is for catastrophic medical problems, is much lower. I do have a higher deductable out of pocket, through my HSA, but I get several times as much value for my dollar.

http://www.surgerycenterok.com

 

I've been looking at an alternative to Obamacare called medi-share. Maybe not the cheapest option but it is a way to opt out of Obamacare, not participate in that mess, and also not suffer outrageous tax penalties. It's pretty clear what the was all about from the get go, guaranteed profits for the insurance industry from forced participation at the threat of jail or a gun by our own government. Land of the free - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness- without some out of control burdensome central authority in my life. And of course they will make sure to get their pound of flesh the Internal Revenue Service will be keeping tabs on your healthcare. What a great idea.

 

The tax penalty for not having insurance goes right to the government. The insurance company still has to cover you even you got sick before you got insured. Why couldn't we read the bill before it got passed?