13 ms·

My first thought: you forgot medical insurance. But I guess if you are making under $10K a year you get it for free. I know I pay $11,500 for medical insurance

My first thought: you forgot medical insurance. But I guess if you are making under $10K a year you get it for free. I know I pay $11,500 for medical insurance with a $18K deductible, so could have as much as $30K a year in medical costs. Meaning you have to earn $50K just to cover medical (married 57 yrs old, self employed).

refurb 10y ago
There are some exceptions, but the ACA lays out the maximum out of pocket for individuals and families. It's currently ~$6,500 for an individual and ~$13,000 for a family. The gov't has made it clear that even under a family plan, an individual shouldn't have an out of pocket greater than $6,500 in a given year (medical and pharmacy combined).
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  Does that include copays or just coinsurance?
Jtsummers 10y ago
Medical insurance (pre-ACA, get it through my employer so I haven't researched it) was very inexpensive for pretty good policies as a mostly healthy twenty-something. In NC I had BCBS, a policy equivalent to my current one through work, with a $2k or so deductible that cost me around $1500/year. OTOH, pre-ACA you could go without and not pay any penalties if you were feeling lucky (I wasn't, and glad I didn't because two surgeries in that time would've cost me around $50k I didn't have).
- morgante 10y ago
  The very cheapest medical plan I can find (as a healthy young person) post-ACA is $200. ACA definitely made health insurance more expensive for some categories of people and is a real burden on freelancers.
lucb1e 10y ago
Wow, that is a lot for insurance. My parents pay this for me so I don't know what it is, but from a random Dutch comparison site I see prices around 100eur/month (1200/year). I assume "a $18k deductible" means "you pay the first $18k of costs yourself". It almost doesn't seem worth having insurance anymore at all at those rates. Is this normal for the country where you live or are there any particularities?
- Jtsummers 10y ago
  You pay a percentage of most costs until you hit the deductible. After that you're covered 100% until some much higher limit. Or copays. I pay $20 to see my general practitioner, $30 for specialists, insurance covers whatever else is left to cover. If I have a surgery (happened two years ago) then I hit my deductible and my medical is mostly free the rest of the year (some things I still had to pay a portion of).

refurb 10y ago

There are some exceptions, but the ACA lays out the maximum out of pocket for individuals and families. It's currently ~$6,500 for an individual and ~$13,000 for a family. The gov't has made it clear that even under a family plan, an individual shouldn't have an out of pocket greater than $6,500 in a given year (medical and pharmacy combined).

nommm-nommm 10y ago
Does that include copays or just coinsurance?

Jtsummers 10y ago

Medical insurance (pre-ACA, get it through my employer so I haven't researched it) was very inexpensive for pretty good policies as a mostly healthy twenty-something. In NC I had BCBS, a policy equivalent to my current one through work, with a $2k or so deductible that cost me around $1500/year. OTOH, pre-ACA you could go without and not pay any penalties if you were feeling lucky (I wasn't, and glad I didn't because two surgeries in that time would've cost me around $50k I didn't have).

morgante 10y ago
The very cheapest medical plan I can find (as a healthy young person) post-ACA is $200. ACA definitely made health insurance more expensive for some categories of people and is a real burden on freelancers.

lucb1e 10y ago

Wow, that is a lot for insurance. My parents pay this for me so I don't know what it is, but from a random Dutch comparison site I see prices around 100eur/month (1200/year). I assume "a $18k deductible" means "you pay the first $18k of costs yourself". It almost doesn't seem worth having insurance anymore at all at those rates. Is this normal for the country where you live or are there any particularities?

Jtsummers 10y ago
You pay a percentage of most costs until you hit the deductible. After that you're covered 100% until some much higher limit. Or copays. I pay $20 to see my general practitioner, $30 for specialists, insurance covers whatever else is left to cover. If I have a surgery (happened two years ago) then I hit my deductible and my medical is mostly free the rest of the year (some things I still had to pay a portion of).