5 ms·

He did mention in the middle of the article, he's buying private insurance: "My living expenses were rapidly eating away at my personal savings. Between my $3.

by godot 8y ago

He did mention in the middle of the article, he's buying private insurance: "My living expenses were rapidly eating away at my personal savings. Between my $3.3k/month Manhattan apartment, private health insurance, food, and utilities, it cost $6-7k per month just to sustain myself." If my experience (in California) is anything close, it costs somewhere around $500/mo for a single person his age. (If you have a spouse it gets up to around $1000/mo, and with kid(s) it goes up to about $1500/mo) This was 2013-2016 numbers, and was also with Covered California, not sure if that makes it any cheaper.

codeisawesome 8y ago
five HUNDRED dollars?? Per month?! I’m definitely amazed.
- philsnow 8y ago
  Did you expect it to be higher or lower? A lot of salaried people have never read their paystub carefully and seen that their employer pays 80-90% of their health insurance premiums for them. Further, a lot of people don't realize that employers get a discount on providing health insurance because they have a pool of people over which to distribute a bunch of uncertainty. When you buy individual insurance, the "pool" is you (and maybe any of your dependents), and the insurance companies charge you "full" price.
  - ahnick 8y ago
    My understanding is the "pool" is not you, but the general population who also bought the plan, which is probably a less healthier group of people than say your normal technology startup or enterprise company. Also, the state is probably doing worse on negotiating with the insurance companies for rates than compared to big fortune 500 companies.
miketuritzin 8y ago
I can confirm, I am living in NYC (and am mid-30s). I'm paying for the "bronze plan" of one of the cheapest insurance companies, and it is $470/mo this year.
mtlynch 8y ago
Yep, it was $500/mo in NYC. In MA it's only $250. Well, "only." Still a big expense, obviously.

by godot 8y ago

codeisawesome 8y ago

five HUNDRED dollars?? Per month?! I’m definitely amazed.

philsnow 8y ago
Did you expect it to be higher or lower? A lot of salaried people have never read their paystub carefully and seen that their employer pays 80-90% of their health insurance premiums for them. Further, a lot of people don't realize that employers get a discount on providing health insurance because they have a pool of people over which to distribute a bunch of uncertainty. When you buy individual insurance, the "pool" is you (and maybe any of your dependents), and the insurance companies charge you "full" price.
- ahnick 8y ago
  My understanding is the "pool" is not you, but the general population who also bought the plan, which is probably a less healthier group of people than say your normal technology startup or enterprise company. Also, the state is probably doing worse on negotiating with the insurance companies for rates than compared to big fortune 500 companies.

miketuritzin 8y ago

I can confirm, I am living in NYC (and am mid-30s). I'm paying for the "bronze plan" of one of the cheapest insurance companies, and it is $470/mo this year.

mtlynch 8y ago

Yep, it was $500/mo in NYC. In MA it's only $250. Well, "only." Still a big expense, obviously.