3 ms·

Okay fair enough, but from what I gather from my relatives over there is that this is quite expensive? At least compared to EU

lotsofpulp 7y ago
Yes, this pdf shows how much health insurance costs per month for a person in the state of New Jersey (a higher cost of living state, but not far off New York/California): https://www.state.nj.us/dobi/division_insurance/ihcseh/ihcrates_2020.pdf https://www.state.nj.us/dobi/division_insurance/ihcseh/ihcra... The metal levels indicate what portion of your expected healthcare costs the insurance is expected to pay. Bronze is 60%, Silver is 70%, Gold is 80%. At the bottom you will see age rating, so you have to multiply that factor with the premium to get the premium at your age. For example, if you purchase bronze coverage (lets say $250) as a 50 year old in NJ, the factor is 1.78 times $250 = $445 per month divided by 0.6 due to it being bronze = $742 per month is your expected healthcare expenses. Obviously this is not per month, but becomes more accurate amortized over ones' lifetime, as you might go with zero healthcare expenses for years and then get hit with $10,000 easily. Bottom line is eat right, exercise, and either be poor enough to get taxpayer paid healthcare or be rich enough to not care about spending ~$20k per year per couple in their 50s on health insurance premiums plus have ~$30k or so ready for out of pocket costs in case of emergency. If something happens to you at the end of December, the out of pocket will reset Jan 1, so you need to have two years worth of out of pocket costs, and at around $13k or so, I ballpark it at $30k. If I'm in the middle 30% to 80% wealth band of the US, I would plan on killing myself if my prognosis was poor to avoid draining the family's wealth.
- Insanity 7y ago
  that's just depressing to be honest. :/ EDIT: Follow-up question, the table ends at 64+, how do senior citizens pay for this without having a job?
  - lotsofpulp 7y ago
    65+ enter the magical land of Medicare, where the taxpayers start taking care of you and paying for your medical care. But over the years, even that has been chipped down and is extremely confusing, with a combination of means testing and supplementary insurance programs that you need to buy to get "full coverage". But basically, 65+ means if you go to the hospital, and get a $300k bill, it won't ruin your finances as the government picks up the hospital bills. I'm pretty sure. But there's Part A/B/C/D/etc, which cover different things like prescription medicines, non hospital healthcare, etc that are not paid for or partially paid for, and you have to buy supplementary insurance for those. Also, health insurance in the US is not just insurance, it's also buying access to a set of healthcare providers that the insurance has negotiated pricing with, so that you don't get taken advantage of by the healthcare providers who can otherwise charge you whatever they want. As you can see, the US spends a decent portion of its time trying to figure out how to take advantage of the system (i.e. each other) and wring out as much as possible while putting in as little as possible.
    - Insanity 7y ago
      Thanks for clarifying, it does sound like a bit of a mess to be honest. Hopefully things change for the better given in light of the current crisis.

lotsofpulp 7y ago

Yes, this pdf shows how much health insurance costs per month for a person in the state of New Jersey (a higher cost of living state, but not far off New York/California): https://www.state.nj.us/dobi/division_insurance/ihcseh/ihcrates_2020.pdf https://www.state.nj.us/dobi/division_insurance/ihcseh/ihcra... The metal levels indicate what portion of your expected healthcare costs the insurance is expected to pay. Bronze is 60%, Silver is 70%, Gold is 80%. At the bottom you will see age rating, so you have to multiply that factor with the premium to get the premium at your age. For example, if you purchase bronze coverage (lets say $250) as a 50 year old in NJ, the factor is 1.78 times $250 = $445 per month divided by 0.6 due to it being bronze = $742 per month is your expected healthcare expenses. Obviously this is not per month, but becomes more accurate amortized over ones' lifetime, as you might go with zero healthcare expenses for years and then get hit with $10,000 easily. Bottom line is eat right, exercise, and either be poor enough to get taxpayer paid healthcare or be rich enough to not care about spending ~$20k per year per couple in their 50s on health insurance premiums plus have ~$30k or so ready for out of pocket costs in case of emergency. If something happens to you at the end of December, the out of pocket will reset Jan 1, so you need to have two years worth of out of pocket costs, and at around $13k or so, I ballpark it at $30k. If I'm in the middle 30% to 80% wealth band of the US, I would plan on killing myself if my prognosis was poor to avoid draining the family's wealth.

Insanity 7y ago
that's just depressing to be honest. :/ EDIT: Follow-up question, the table ends at 64+, how do senior citizens pay for this without having a job?
- lotsofpulp 7y ago
  65+ enter the magical land of Medicare, where the taxpayers start taking care of you and paying for your medical care. But over the years, even that has been chipped down and is extremely confusing, with a combination of means testing and supplementary insurance programs that you need to buy to get "full coverage". But basically, 65+ means if you go to the hospital, and get a $300k bill, it won't ruin your finances as the government picks up the hospital bills. I'm pretty sure. But there's Part A/B/C/D/etc, which cover different things like prescription medicines, non hospital healthcare, etc that are not paid for or partially paid for, and you have to buy supplementary insurance for those. Also, health insurance in the US is not just insurance, it's also buying access to a set of healthcare providers that the insurance has negotiated pricing with, so that you don't get taken advantage of by the healthcare providers who can otherwise charge you whatever they want. As you can see, the US spends a decent portion of its time trying to figure out how to take advantage of the system (i.e. each other) and wring out as much as possible while putting in as little as possible.
  - Insanity 7y ago
    Thanks for clarifying, it does sound like a bit of a mess to be honest. Hopefully things change for the better given in light of the current crisis.