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I would expect he has insurance of some sort. In America, that is typically tied to employment, however, he probably has individual insurance. Depending on ho
by noahc 16y ago
I would expect he has insurance of some sort. In America, that is typically tied to employment, however, he probably has individual insurance. Depending on how his business is structured would depend on who pays for it. Who pays for it in this situation is probably a function of getting the best tax deal out of it.
Now, he might have straight health insurance. In which case he pays x%. His insurance company may or may not have a deal with the hospital to negotiate a lower rate. In either case Andrew would pay x% of the finial cost up to a certain cost. There may also be a copay he would be responsible for.
If he has an HSA, then he pays everything unto a certain amount typically $3500 - $5,000 and he can put tax advantaged money into what's called an HSA account.
HSA's make sense for young people, 'regular' insurance makes sense for older people or people with lots of health problems.
EDIT: Interesting Side Note...
In America, it is typical to get "This is not a bill" bills. Basically, it is a statement from the hospital that outlines all the expenses, but it states, "This is not a bill" on it. You will then get the real bill from the insurance company, which is typically a lot less. For example, a family friend spent 3 or 4 days in the hospital before she passed away and racked up ~$300,000 in medical expenses. The family ended up paying about $2500 for the medical expenses.
- gommm 16y agoSo there aren't any insurance with 100% coverage? He would always have to pay some percent of the final costs? I'm a french expat living in China and I get 100% coverage (up to 3 million dollars) everywhere in the world except the US and canada for 3250$/year. To also have coverage in the US, it would cost me almost double price... As a side note, when I was researching insurances for expats, I found that American insurances like Allianz had a lot more exclusions than European ones...
- noahc 16y agoI am sure there are 100% coverage plans, but I would expect them to be very expensive. Many health insurance plans basically say, the most you will pay in one calendar year is $x,xxx. Since it's so early in the year and assuming his year starts on Jan 1st, I would expect that he will have some expense for the doctors visit. A personal example,I pay the first $3500 dollars of medical expenses and most things after that are covered. I pay about $2500 a year for high deductible insurance. So the most my out of pocket expenses for the year would be ~$6000. Because I'm a part of an insurance plan they've pre-negotiated rates with hospitals for me. My full medical expenses for the year tend to be around $3000 ($2500 insurance payments + $500 medical expenses).
- gommm 16y agoOk, then I actually have something similar... I can get the insurance 1100$ cheaper if I agree to a 1250$ yearly deductible.. And actually your insurance is then about the same price as it would cost me to have worldwide coverage including US and Canada as someone who is under 30 years old. Except that I can't have a deductible this high...
- pyre 16y agoWhy is Canada excluded?
- gommm 16y agoGood question, most of the expats insurances I've seen exclude both Canada and US except if you pay the higher version... I've never been to Canada so I don't know how the healthcare situation and cost is there.
- nolite 16y agogommm, can you recommend me your insurance provider? That sounds really interesting
- gommm 16y agoI've just sent you an email
- AndrewWarner 16y agoThankfully, one of the first things I did when I moved back to the US last year is get insurance. I'd hate to think what would have happened if I didn't. I expect to pay about 20% of the total costs. But with insurance companies everything is a big question mark.