4 ms·

As someone from South America, I'm amazed that in the U.S. you're out of health coverage if you're not employed. You're not. The tax structure encourages this

As someone from South America, I'm amazed that in the U.S. you're out of health coverage if you're not employed. You're not. The tax structure encourages this kind of behavior, but the day I quit my job 5 years ago I started cutting a check for my own health insurance. If people actually looked into the cost of catastrophic coverage with a high deductible (the point of "insurance" in the first place), they'd see that it's not as expensive as they think. It's getting more expensive thanks to government interference, but all insurance is affected similarly. Pay cash for regular visits. Save money instead of buying toys, and magically you don't fall into the trap of "I have to choose between food and health coverage."

illumin8 15y ago
Cutting a check is pretty difficult when you stop receiving a salary. The logic of the US system is incredible: Pay a few hundred dollars a month while employed for coverage from your employer, or if they lay you off, you have the opportunity of picking up COBRA coverage by paying both the employee and employer portion for over a thousand dollars a month. In what other first world country do the newly unemployed pay 3x the price for healthcare that the gainfully employed do? Once your COBRA benefits expire in 18 months, you can expect to pay even more as now you have to shop on the open market and a lot of insurance carriers just flat out refuse to sell insurance to a single family.
- jdludlow 15y ago
  I was talking about private insurance, not COBRA (which is crazy expensive). This was the single largest factor keeping me from quitting the corporate world for my own business, but only due to my own ignorance. Once I looked for a high deductible catastrophic plan for my family, I discovered how easy and affordable it was. HR departments do a good job of brainwashing us into thinking that they are the gatekeepers to the doctor's office, when that's not even close to the truth. Anecdote time. Last month I called up a dentist's office who I had never visited before. The conversation went as such. Me: Hi, I'm a new patient. I'd like to make an appointment. She: What insurance company are you with? If it's backed by, or affiliated with, the state we aren't accepting any new patients at this time. Me: I'll be paying cash. She: How does tomorrow at noon sound? They happily gave me breakdowns of all costs, made decisions based on price (oh, we could give you this other xray but you don't really need it), and pretty much bent over backwards to make me happy. This isn't abnormal. The same thing happens at the doctor. I pay through an HSA for tax purposes, keep the insurance for major issues, save money in the process, and generally get better service.
  - nknight 15y ago
    It's "easy and affordable" until you get seriously ill and they drop you for failing to disclose your childhood acne, or just refuse to approve the treatment you need. Private insurance is cheaper than group coverage for a reason. The insurance company has no intention of paying benefits for e.g. cancer patients, and they'll drag out the process in the hope that you'll just die first. Assuming you live long enough, you'll probably have to sue them to get anything out of them.
ArtB 15y ago
I think there is something wrong with a society where you need above average intelligence, responsibility, and impulse control to avoid that pit-trap.

illumin8 15y ago

Cutting a check is pretty difficult when you stop receiving a salary. The logic of the US system is incredible: Pay a few hundred dollars a month while employed for coverage from your employer, or if they lay you off, you have the opportunity of picking up COBRA coverage by paying both the employee and employer portion for over a thousand dollars a month. In what other first world country do the newly unemployed pay 3x the price for healthcare that the gainfully employed do? Once your COBRA benefits expire in 18 months, you can expect to pay even more as now you have to shop on the open market and a lot of insurance carriers just flat out refuse to sell insurance to a single family.

jdludlow 15y ago
I was talking about private insurance, not COBRA (which is crazy expensive). This was the single largest factor keeping me from quitting the corporate world for my own business, but only due to my own ignorance. Once I looked for a high deductible catastrophic plan for my family, I discovered how easy and affordable it was. HR departments do a good job of brainwashing us into thinking that they are the gatekeepers to the doctor's office, when that's not even close to the truth. Anecdote time. Last month I called up a dentist's office who I had never visited before. The conversation went as such. Me: Hi, I'm a new patient. I'd like to make an appointment. She: What insurance company are you with? If it's backed by, or affiliated with, the state we aren't accepting any new patients at this time. Me: I'll be paying cash. She: How does tomorrow at noon sound? They happily gave me breakdowns of all costs, made decisions based on price (oh, we could give you this other xray but you don't really need it), and pretty much bent over backwards to make me happy. This isn't abnormal. The same thing happens at the doctor. I pay through an HSA for tax purposes, keep the insurance for major issues, save money in the process, and generally get better service.
- nknight 15y ago
  It's "easy and affordable" until you get seriously ill and they drop you for failing to disclose your childhood acne, or just refuse to approve the treatment you need. Private insurance is cheaper than group coverage for a reason. The insurance company has no intention of paying benefits for e.g. cancer patients, and they'll drag out the process in the hope that you'll just die first. Assuming you live long enough, you'll probably have to sue them to get anything out of them.

ArtB 15y ago

I think there is something wrong with a society where you need above average intelligence, responsibility, and impulse control to avoid that pit-trap.