10 ms·

Yeah, and cost of health insurance in Austria is just 7,65% of your income, and it covers your children. When I've worked in the US, I've paid just as much for

Yeah, and cost of health insurance in Austria is just 7,65% of your income, and it covers your children. When I've worked in the US, I've paid just as much for health insurance and still had high out-of-pockets and deductibles on top of that.

billions 8y ago
Based on US household income, 7.65% of 56,516 = $4,323/yr
- lsc 8y ago
  Yup, and that's about what you pay for a single person health insurance in the US that isn't very high deductible. I think my employer pays about $6K/yr for me and another $6K/yr for my partner, (I know this 'cause I've gotta pay taxes on hers, as we're not married) but it's a reasonably good plan. Same provider, but more expensive/better coverage when I was buying through my own company. When I see the doctor, they charge me a symbolic fee, but it's usually around what the ride share to get there costs me. (the parking there, ugh.) Personally, I avoid the very high deductible plans, mostly because I have the option, but also because I don't want to deal with hospital billing. I've got an HMO (kaiser) and they charge me almost nothing at point of service, and I get to consume all the medical care my doctor thinks I need. Unfortunately, my employer has a really juicy high deductible plan that a lot of my co-workers use. Like they actually give you money to put in your HSA that covers most of your high deductible. It's a good plan. But I don't like it because it means my co-workers get to keep extra money for not going to the doctor when they are sick, and instead they come into the open plan office and cough all over the place. I mean, I do okay, and I'd be happy to kick in a little extra money if it meant my co-workers were more likely to go to the doctor when they are sick rather than sharing the love with the office.
  - pnutjam 8y ago
    Just because they don't go to the doctor doesn't mean the have to come into the office, unless you have a terrible employer... I hate policies that require a doctors note. Yeah, I have the flu, going to the doctor is just going to spread it, unless I have some sort of complication.
    - lsc 8y ago
      True, but I think they are both symptoms of skimping on medical care, which I don't think people should have to do in general. (I would be happy to pay more taxes to make that happen.) I especially think people shouldn't ration medical care where I work; I suspect the median annual income here is closer to $200k than to $100k. When you are sick, don't go to work. If there is any question of if the doctor can help, talk to the doctor. (Via phone or video chat, if necessary)
morsma 8y ago
For me it's the opposite. I moved from Denmark to the US, and I pay around $400 in health insurance premiums (health, eye, and dental) for a whole family. In Denmark, only health is covered, so for eye and dental many go out-of-country to get it cheap. The US is much cheaper for all health insurances, except if your poor. Obama tried to fix that, but made it worse and more expensive for everyone (socialism).
- kradroy 8y ago
  If you're employed and your employer is generous, then your insurance premiums can be inexpensive (low double digits per month if you're single, low triple digits if you have dependents) . My wild speculation is that most employers aren't as generous as they could be. If you're "poor", insurance is actually cheap, because that's when you get public insurance. However, if you're just middle income, health care is a non-trivial portion of your income. One major health incident will bankrupt you and you're likely to become poor. But once you're poor, hey, you can get cheap health insurance. The critical problem is that obtaining reasonable health insurance requires you to be employed full time at a large company. This must stop. Obamacare was a first step toward cutting the employer out of the picture.
  - mjevans 8y ago
    The last step is a full-coverage default public option, paid for out of taxes. Enough to eliminate the billing departments outside of actual luxury medicine. As far as cost controls/etc, set by something like a dutch auction within a given metro area, and then some bean counter will get to figure out if it's cost effective to ship people that are outside of metro areas in to them to provide non-urgent care.
  - rxhernandez 8y ago
    When I made less than $30k/year in Los Angeles and had Obamacare, I was paying $144/month to see a nurse associated with a second rate doctor (I also went to a couple urgent care facilities with nearly the same level of quality). The wait times were an average of two hours and I paid at least $75 /visit without any real resolution to my allergy problems. I probably had 10 visits without that needed resolution. When I became a salaried employee in the Bay area I went to an urgent care recommended by Cigna and my allergy problems were resolved inside of 15 minutes with a $20 copay. Obamacare is anything but cheap when you are poor.
chrisgd 8y ago
I will pay $4,800 to cover a family of 4. If I need to use it, I have a $6,000 deductible (company pays first $4k and I pay last $2k). All doctor visits are 100% deductible until it is fully paid, then $50 / visit. The HSA can be used to pay the deductible and pharmacy costs.
- philjohn 8y ago
  Yes - so you're worse off.

billions 8y ago

Based on US household income, 7.65% of 56,516 = $4,323/yr

lsc 8y ago
Yup, and that's about what you pay for a single person health insurance in the US that isn't very high deductible. I think my employer pays about $6K/yr for me and another $6K/yr for my partner, (I know this 'cause I've gotta pay taxes on hers, as we're not married) but it's a reasonably good plan. Same provider, but more expensive/better coverage when I was buying through my own company. When I see the doctor, they charge me a symbolic fee, but it's usually around what the ride share to get there costs me. (the parking there, ugh.) Personally, I avoid the very high deductible plans, mostly because I have the option, but also because I don't want to deal with hospital billing. I've got an HMO (kaiser) and they charge me almost nothing at point of service, and I get to consume all the medical care my doctor thinks I need. Unfortunately, my employer has a really juicy high deductible plan that a lot of my co-workers use. Like they actually give you money to put in your HSA that covers most of your high deductible. It's a good plan. But I don't like it because it means my co-workers get to keep extra money for not going to the doctor when they are sick, and instead they come into the open plan office and cough all over the place. I mean, I do okay, and I'd be happy to kick in a little extra money if it meant my co-workers were more likely to go to the doctor when they are sick rather than sharing the love with the office.
- pnutjam 8y ago
  Just because they don't go to the doctor doesn't mean the have to come into the office, unless you have a terrible employer... I hate policies that require a doctors note. Yeah, I have the flu, going to the doctor is just going to spread it, unless I have some sort of complication.
  - lsc 8y ago
    True, but I think they are both symptoms of skimping on medical care, which I don't think people should have to do in general. (I would be happy to pay more taxes to make that happen.) I especially think people shouldn't ration medical care where I work; I suspect the median annual income here is closer to $200k than to $100k. When you are sick, don't go to work. If there is any question of if the doctor can help, talk to the doctor. (Via phone or video chat, if necessary)

morsma 8y ago

For me it's the opposite. I moved from Denmark to the US, and I pay around $400 in health insurance premiums (health, eye, and dental) for a whole family. In Denmark, only health is covered, so for eye and dental many go out-of-country to get it cheap. The US is much cheaper for all health insurances, except if your poor. Obama tried to fix that, but made it worse and more expensive for everyone (socialism).

kradroy 8y ago
If you're employed and your employer is generous, then your insurance premiums can be inexpensive (low double digits per month if you're single, low triple digits if you have dependents) . My wild speculation is that most employers aren't as generous as they could be. If you're "poor", insurance is actually cheap, because that's when you get public insurance. However, if you're just middle income, health care is a non-trivial portion of your income. One major health incident will bankrupt you and you're likely to become poor. But once you're poor, hey, you can get cheap health insurance. The critical problem is that obtaining reasonable health insurance requires you to be employed full time at a large company. This must stop. Obamacare was a first step toward cutting the employer out of the picture.
- mjevans 8y ago
  The last step is a full-coverage default public option, paid for out of taxes. Enough to eliminate the billing departments outside of actual luxury medicine. As far as cost controls/etc, set by something like a dutch auction within a given metro area, and then some bean counter will get to figure out if it's cost effective to ship people that are outside of metro areas in to them to provide non-urgent care.
- rxhernandez 8y ago
  When I made less than $30k/year in Los Angeles and had Obamacare, I was paying $144/month to see a nurse associated with a second rate doctor (I also went to a couple urgent care facilities with nearly the same level of quality). The wait times were an average of two hours and I paid at least $75 /visit without any real resolution to my allergy problems. I probably had 10 visits without that needed resolution. When I became a salaried employee in the Bay area I went to an urgent care recommended by Cigna and my allergy problems were resolved inside of 15 minutes with a $20 copay. Obamacare is anything but cheap when you are poor.

chrisgd 8y ago

I will pay $4,800 to cover a family of 4. If I need to use it, I have a $6,000 deductible (company pays first $4k and I pay last $2k). All doctor visits are 100% deductible until it is fully paid, then $50 / visit. The HSA can be used to pay the deductible and pharmacy costs.

philjohn 8y ago
Yes - so you're worse off.