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As a fairly young US citizen I'm curious, I thought that most health care plans have an out of pocket maximum that is usually in the low to mid thousands per ye
by Cerium 10y ago
As a fairly young US citizen I'm curious, I thought that most health care plans have an out of pocket maximum that is usually in the low to mid thousands per year. Would this situation not be one that limits the yearly cost that way?
- arcticbull 10y agoUS median individual wage is $39K/yr for males and $26.5K/yr for females [1]. That amounts to an after-total-tax (for a California resident) of $28K/yr for males and $19K/yr for females. Average rent ranges from $500-$3600/mth though for illustrative purposes (taking into account people in expensive places share) let's use $1K/mth for our hypothetical person. [3] That leaves you with $16K/yr (male) and $7K/yr (female) for food, transportation and incidental expenses. Obamacare backed health plans have a maximum out-of-pocket of $7K/yr for individuals. Yeah, I'd say the median American is pretty much SOL if they get sick even if they have insurance. And those figures don't take into account the price of the insurance itself if your employer elects not to provide it to you. In the UK your NHS annual out-of-pocket maximum is $0. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_... [2] https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator [3] http://mentalfloss.com/article/81296/average-cost-one-bedroom-apartments-50-major-us-cities http://mentalfloss.com/article/81296/average-cost-one-bedroo... [4] https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/out-of-pocket-maximum-limit/ https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/out-of-pocket-maximum-li...
- usaphp 10y agoBut with such a low income you will receive either a Medi-Cal which is almost free or a substantial government subsidy to pay for your health plan.
- brianwawok 10y agoYes under 40k or so income insurance is free with no copay. Varies state by state etc.
- dragonwriter 10y ago> website crashes on election n... US median individual wage is $39K/yr for males and $26.5K/yr for females [1]. That amounts to an after-total-tax (for a California resident) of $28K/yr for males and $19K/yr for females. The tax calculator you reference includes estimates of sales, property, and fuel taxes (which make up much of the tax total at the incomes here), which are actually rolled into rent, transportation, and general purchases, so you are double counting some expenses.
- arcticbull 10y agoAh good catch. Probably still not wildly off for illustrative purposes.
- ceejayoz 10y agoObamacare required all plans to have an out-of-pocket maximum. That may well go away now.
- mattkrause 10y agoI think the ACA also introduced the out-of-pocket limits.
- hiram112 10y agoNo the older plans mostly had out-of-pocket limits, too. At least the standard employment sponsored plans.
- mattkrause 10y agoHmmm...perhaps the ACA changed the limits or something. I thought my first (awful) plan had a benefit limit, as in you're getting a maximum of $1.25M from us, regardless of what happens.