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You can buy health insurance on the marketplaces yourself, it’s not hard, and it’s much cheaper than eg housing in most places that are MCOL and up. The challen

by ericd 4y ago

You can buy health insurance on the marketplaces yourself, it’s not hard, and it’s much cheaper than eg housing in most places that are MCOL and up. The challenge is saving up enough to pay for all your living expenses while you’re choosing not to work.

misnome 4y ago
Isn't there supposed to be a problem with health providers explicitly rejecting insurance companies/packages that are possible to buy yourself? You don't really have a choice if nobody where you live will take your insurance...
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  Not in my experience. On east and west coasts, there are at least a couple widely accepted insurance plans available. A BCBS affiliate, a vertically integrated one like Kaiser or Providence, and other insurers offering PPO plans like UHC/Aetna/Cigna/Humana/etc.
- ericd 4y ago
  I’ve never had that issue, or even heard of that issue, but I’ve only bought insurance from relatively large insurance companies, maybe it’s an issue if you try to save money by going with a small one with no network.
  - danenania 4y ago
    I've had good and bad experiences. One thing I learned the hard way is that even as a young person with low healthcare costs, it's a very bad idea to just choose the cheapest plan without doing any research. Some of the low cost companies are essentially scams: most of the "providers" they list on their site will not actually accept the plan; if you do have any medical costs, they will do everything possible to avoid paying even when you are clearly covered; you'll wait for hours on hold to talk to support, then they will be rude and unhelpful; etc. etc. It's well worth paying an extra hundred or so per month for a reputable provider so that you at least have actual functional health insurance.
- georgeecollins 4y ago
  "There's supposed to be a problem.." I think that is a story you hear for political reasons because sadly healthcare became a partisan issue.
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  The plans in my state that you can buy on the open market are the same plans offered to local companies and the government for employer subsidized health care. There might be some states where the marketplace has nothing good in it, often because that state's governor was so ideologically driven they refused free money from the feds to expand medicare style systems. American health care is HUGELY state to state, largely depending on how willing a governor is to actually help their constituents instead of virtue signalling.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  Last I checked there were two companies offering insurance to individuals in my state—yes, two, yes, I'm serious, no, not just on the marketplace, there were no other providers who will take individual customers period, yes, I checked a lot and was repeatedly told, explicitly, by people who ought to know, that those were the only two options and other insurers had pulled out entirely from offering individual plans in this state. Both would only cover one of the four nearest major hospitals to me (though they did differ in which one it was) and only one of the two covered the huge local children's hospital that's also bought up nearly all the independent pediatrician's offices and pediatric urgent cares in the entire city, so if you have kids you actually only have one "option". So much for the bounty of choice we preserved by not just going single-payer.
johnebgd 4y ago
It is definitely not "cheaper" in my experience but the marketplace is definitely easy to buy good insurance through. That said, you need income to support the massive monthly payments. Family plans in the most desirable places to live can easily be $40k/year for the insurance policy before you have to cover any out of pocket expenses. Health insurance is the "golden handcuffs" for most people staying in a job.
- toast0 4y ago
  GP was saying health insurance is cheaper than housing in MCOL areas. Implying if you can pay to live somewhere nice with no job, you can pay for health insurance too. Regardless, there's subsidies if you don't have income, and it's just based on income; there's no requirement to seek income. I'm near seattle, and my marketplace place for 2 adults around 40 and 1 child was around $1,200; unsubsidized.

by ericd 4y ago

misnome 4y ago

Isn't there supposed to be a problem with health providers explicitly rejecting insurance companies/packages that are possible to buy yourself? You don't really have a choice if nobody where you live will take your insurance...

lotsofpulp 4y ago
Not in my experience. On east and west coasts, there are at least a couple widely accepted insurance plans available. A BCBS affiliate, a vertically integrated one like Kaiser or Providence, and other insurers offering PPO plans like UHC/Aetna/Cigna/Humana/etc.
ericd 4y ago
I’ve never had that issue, or even heard of that issue, but I’ve only bought insurance from relatively large insurance companies, maybe it’s an issue if you try to save money by going with a small one with no network.
- danenania 4y ago
  I've had good and bad experiences. One thing I learned the hard way is that even as a young person with low healthcare costs, it's a very bad idea to just choose the cheapest plan without doing any research. Some of the low cost companies are essentially scams: most of the "providers" they list on their site will not actually accept the plan; if you do have any medical costs, they will do everything possible to avoid paying even when you are clearly covered; you'll wait for hours on hold to talk to support, then they will be rude and unhelpful; etc. etc. It's well worth paying an extra hundred or so per month for a reputable provider so that you at least have actual functional health insurance.
georgeecollins 4y ago
"There's supposed to be a problem.." I think that is a story you hear for political reasons because sadly healthcare became a partisan issue.
mrguyorama 4y ago
The plans in my state that you can buy on the open market are the same plans offered to local companies and the government for employer subsidized health care. There might be some states where the marketplace has nothing good in it, often because that state's governor was so ideologically driven they refused free money from the feds to expand medicare style systems. American health care is HUGELY state to state, largely depending on how willing a governor is to actually help their constituents instead of virtue signalling.
yamtaddle 4y ago
Last I checked there were two companies offering insurance to individuals in my state—yes, two, yes, I'm serious, no, not just on the marketplace, there were no other providers who will take individual customers period, yes, I checked a lot and was repeatedly told, explicitly, by people who ought to know, that those were the only two options and other insurers had pulled out entirely from offering individual plans in this state. Both would only cover one of the four nearest major hospitals to me (though they did differ in which one it was) and only one of the two covered the huge local children's hospital that's also bought up nearly all the independent pediatrician's offices and pediatric urgent cares in the entire city, so if you have kids you actually only have one "option". So much for the bounty of choice we preserved by not just going single-payer.

johnebgd 4y ago

It is definitely not "cheaper" in my experience but the marketplace is definitely easy to buy good insurance through. That said, you need income to support the massive monthly payments. Family plans in the most desirable places to live can easily be $40k/year for the insurance policy before you have to cover any out of pocket expenses. Health insurance is the "golden handcuffs" for most people staying in a job.

toast0 4y ago
GP was saying health insurance is cheaper than housing in MCOL areas. Implying if you can pay to live somewhere nice with no job, you can pay for health insurance too. Regardless, there's subsidies if you don't have income, and it's just based on income; there's no requirement to seek income. I'm near seattle, and my marketplace place for 2 adults around 40 and 1 child was around $1,200; unsubsidized.