3 ms·

$1000/month is probably a heck of a plan or in a really expensive market if it's for a single person, and it's probably still decent for family coverage. If it

$1000/month is probably a heck of a plan or in a really expensive market if it's for a single person, and it's probably still decent for family coverage. If it was through the ACA Exchange it's probably also a Gold plan that when you look at maximum out of pocket costs simply loads up the premium rather than the OOP payments.

bluGill 8y ago
I have a family, obviously for single people the numbers are different.
prewett 8y ago
In California the cheapest plan is about $450/month from the Obamacare marketplace, so I'm not sure $1000/month is going to be that outstanding. And as I understand it, $450/month is about the minimum a plan can cost, since Obamacare outlawed the old high-deductible catastrophic insurance. Also, I doubt that the average family has $12,0000 of medical bills a year, and would be better off paying out of pocket except for that fact that bills can be randomly expensive.
- mikekchar 8y ago
  Obvious typo aside ($12K not $120K), this is entirely the point of insurance. If the average person would save money by buying insurance, then the insurance company would be losing money. In general, if you can afford to pay for the worst case scenario, you are always better off without insurance (BTW, this includes "extended warrantee plans" hint, hint). Insurance is for things where your can't afford the worst case scenario.
- goobynight 8y ago
  Yep. You get a choice to be gouged on premiums or essentially gamble, hoping that life doesn't reset your savings to $0 (or lower) by getting in a car accident or something.
  - fencepost 8y ago
    It's actually not quite as bad as that. My personal preference is for things with copays instead of coinsurance, but beyond that if you look at the maximum out of pocket for most of the plans there's not that much difference between Bronze, Silver and Gold. The big difference between a lot of them is whether it's frontloaded (high premium, lower deductible, higher percentage coverage, lower copay) or backloaded (lower premium, lower percentage coverage, higher deductible, higher copay). There are also big differences in the size of the provider network, so it makes sense to check your preferred physicians (if any) and hospitals. The thing I'd be very wary of is things like "50% coinsurance after deductible" which I think translates to "this is catastrophic coverage, you're responsible for all 'regular' medical expenses and we'll cover things like hospitalization." None of the selection is easy, even for professionals (https://armandalegshow.com/4-why-you-and-i-will-likely-pick-the-wrong-health-insurance-plan/ https://armandalegshow.com/4-why-you-and-i-will-likely-pick-... but all of the shows are interesting). Still, if you're in one of the states that allows a little longer to get on an Exchange plan and you need one, do so. Edit: another worthwhile read about the decision tree for selecting a plan if you're in a state that runs its own Exchange (like California where you have until mid-January): https://www.balloon-juice.com/2018/10/18/going-through-my-choice-structure/ https://www.balloon-juice.com/2018/10/18/going-through-my-ch...

bluGill 8y ago

I have a family, obviously for single people the numbers are different.

prewett 8y ago

In California the cheapest plan is about $450/month from the Obamacare marketplace, so I'm not sure $1000/month is going to be that outstanding. And as I understand it, $450/month is about the minimum a plan can cost, since Obamacare outlawed the old high-deductible catastrophic insurance. Also, I doubt that the average family has $12,0000 of medical bills a year, and would be better off paying out of pocket except for that fact that bills can be randomly expensive.

mikekchar 8y ago
Obvious typo aside ($12K not $120K), this is entirely the point of insurance. If the average person would save money by buying insurance, then the insurance company would be losing money. In general, if you can afford to pay for the worst case scenario, you are always better off without insurance (BTW, this includes "extended warrantee plans" hint, hint). Insurance is for things where your can't afford the worst case scenario.
goobynight 8y ago
Yep. You get a choice to be gouged on premiums or essentially gamble, hoping that life doesn't reset your savings to $0 (or lower) by getting in a car accident or something.
- fencepost 8y ago
  It's actually not quite as bad as that. My personal preference is for things with copays instead of coinsurance, but beyond that if you look at the maximum out of pocket for most of the plans there's not that much difference between Bronze, Silver and Gold. The big difference between a lot of them is whether it's frontloaded (high premium, lower deductible, higher percentage coverage, lower copay) or backloaded (lower premium, lower percentage coverage, higher deductible, higher copay). There are also big differences in the size of the provider network, so it makes sense to check your preferred physicians (if any) and hospitals. The thing I'd be very wary of is things like "50% coinsurance after deductible" which I think translates to "this is catastrophic coverage, you're responsible for all 'regular' medical expenses and we'll cover things like hospitalization." None of the selection is easy, even for professionals (https://armandalegshow.com/4-why-you-and-i-will-likely-pick-the-wrong-health-insurance-plan/ https://armandalegshow.com/4-why-you-and-i-will-likely-pick-... but all of the shows are interesting). Still, if you're in one of the states that allows a little longer to get on an Exchange plan and you need one, do so. Edit: another worthwhile read about the decision tree for selecting a plan if you're in a state that runs its own Exchange (like California where you have until mid-January): https://www.balloon-juice.com/2018/10/18/going-through-my-choice-structure/ https://www.balloon-juice.com/2018/10/18/going-through-my-ch...