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Even after you are fully insured, say with an 80-20 policy, healthcare costs in the US can be high enough to bankrupt someone, as many people in this recent thr

Even after you are fully insured, say with an 80-20 policy, healthcare costs in the US can be high enough to bankrupt someone, as many people in this recent thread reported (http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1tugnm/i_never_truly_understood_how_much_healthcare_in/ http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1tugnm/i_never_truly_u...) This scared me like anything when I first saw it. Any steps that the HN crowd can suggest to pre-empt such costs (I know that there might be very little you can do, but figured every little helps.)

humanrebar 13y ago
There have always been disasters, disease, and death. No financial instrument will 100% protect everyone from those things. Any scheme (market- or bureaucracy-based) that guarantees to cover everybody from healthcare costs is a fool's errand because people will spend themselves poor, lie, cheat, and steal to stay alive. That being said, the best things to do are the obvious things. Take care of yourself (no smoking habits, no binge drinking). Tell your doctor about your family medical history so you can keep an eye out for hereditary diseases. Live below your means. Have an emergency fund -- a huge one if you're especially concerned. But besides all that, bankruptcy exists for this sort of situation. Sometimes life sucks and there should be a way to hit a reset button and move on.
- pravda 13y ago
  >Any scheme (market- or bureaucracy-based) that guarantees to cover everybody from healthcare costs is a fool's errand because people will spend themselves poor, lie, cheat, and steal to stay alive. I hear talk of far-off countries, where no one goes bankrupt from medical expenses.
  - jkrems 13y ago
    Nah, that's just fairytales.
  - humanrebar 13y ago
    To rephrase, giving everyone a blank check to pay for healthcare will never work. Many countries that provide universal healthcare either have budget problems or financial situations not true of the U.S. (small size, proportionally large oil reserves). Even then, at the end of the day, someone still says no to some costs.
    - lmm 13y ago
      Sure. Some procedures are uneconomic, and it would be awkward to make them illegal, so there will probably always be private options. But the US approach is just grossly inefficient (I've heard it spends twice as much per capita on healthcare as comparable nations, for indistinguishable outcomes). Driving people into bankruptcy for health problems they have no control over doesn't make anyone more productive. Tying healthcare to employment makes the labour market illiquid and disadvantages everyone. And I shudder to think what life must be like for e.g. someone who wants to leave an abusive marriage but is dependent on their partner for health coverage.
pbreit 13y ago
Bankruptcy was specifically created to handle such situations.
- warmwaffles 13y ago
  Except odds of said ill person recovering financially are still crappy.
- swalkergibson 13y ago
  Ya, because I should go bankrupt due to a drunk driver slamming into me some random afternoon.
  - pbreit 13y ago
    That's extremely rare (in fact, I couldn't find a single instance) and what drivers insurance is intended to alleviate. It would take a lack of insurance by the driver (and you, if you were driving), lack of medical insurance, a particularly expensive-to-treat injury, lack of savings and lack of community support before we get to bankruptcy.
    - swalkergibson 13y ago
      How could you possibly know what the status of any given motor vehicle accident victim's insurance or financial state is at the point of impact? I suppose I can break it down further. What if I were walking across the street and hit by an uninsured motorist (an illegal immigrant, perhaps)? That is a catastrophic injury that could certainly result in a long-term hospital stay with potentially multiple life-saving surgeries required (head, neck, spine), plus physical therapy and likely long-term care needed to manage the aftermath. Tell me again, why is it that the act of crossing the street should ruin me physically and financially?
      - pbreit 13y ago
        It (probably) shouldn't. But like I said, it's extremely rare (to the point where I'm not even sure it actually happens). And such an extreme edge case that it shouldn't debilitate the whole rest of the system.
DennisP 13y ago
That should be mostly fixed now. ACA plans have a reasonable max out-of-pocket and don't have lifetime maximums.

humanrebar 13y ago

There have always been disasters, disease, and death. No financial instrument will 100% protect everyone from those things. Any scheme (market- or bureaucracy-based) that guarantees to cover everybody from healthcare costs is a fool's errand because people will spend themselves poor, lie, cheat, and steal to stay alive. That being said, the best things to do are the obvious things. Take care of yourself (no smoking habits, no binge drinking). Tell your doctor about your family medical history so you can keep an eye out for hereditary diseases. Live below your means. Have an emergency fund -- a huge one if you're especially concerned. But besides all that, bankruptcy exists for this sort of situation. Sometimes life sucks and there should be a way to hit a reset button and move on.

pravda 13y ago
>Any scheme (market- or bureaucracy-based) that guarantees to cover everybody from healthcare costs is a fool's errand because people will spend themselves poor, lie, cheat, and steal to stay alive. I hear talk of far-off countries, where no one goes bankrupt from medical expenses.
- jkrems 13y ago
  Nah, that's just fairytales.
- humanrebar 13y ago
  To rephrase, giving everyone a blank check to pay for healthcare will never work. Many countries that provide universal healthcare either have budget problems or financial situations not true of the U.S. (small size, proportionally large oil reserves). Even then, at the end of the day, someone still says no to some costs.
  - lmm 13y ago
    Sure. Some procedures are uneconomic, and it would be awkward to make them illegal, so there will probably always be private options. But the US approach is just grossly inefficient (I've heard it spends twice as much per capita on healthcare as comparable nations, for indistinguishable outcomes). Driving people into bankruptcy for health problems they have no control over doesn't make anyone more productive. Tying healthcare to employment makes the labour market illiquid and disadvantages everyone. And I shudder to think what life must be like for e.g. someone who wants to leave an abusive marriage but is dependent on their partner for health coverage.

pbreit 13y ago

Bankruptcy was specifically created to handle such situations.

warmwaffles 13y ago
Except odds of said ill person recovering financially are still crappy.
swalkergibson 13y ago
Ya, because I should go bankrupt due to a drunk driver slamming into me some random afternoon.
- pbreit 13y ago
  That's extremely rare (in fact, I couldn't find a single instance) and what drivers insurance is intended to alleviate. It would take a lack of insurance by the driver (and you, if you were driving), lack of medical insurance, a particularly expensive-to-treat injury, lack of savings and lack of community support before we get to bankruptcy.
  - swalkergibson 13y ago
    How could you possibly know what the status of any given motor vehicle accident victim's insurance or financial state is at the point of impact? I suppose I can break it down further. What if I were walking across the street and hit by an uninsured motorist (an illegal immigrant, perhaps)? That is a catastrophic injury that could certainly result in a long-term hospital stay with potentially multiple life-saving surgeries required (head, neck, spine), plus physical therapy and likely long-term care needed to manage the aftermath. Tell me again, why is it that the act of crossing the street should ruin me physically and financially?
    - pbreit 13y ago
      It (probably) shouldn't. But like I said, it's extremely rare (to the point where I'm not even sure it actually happens). And such an extreme edge case that it shouldn't debilitate the whole rest of the system.

DennisP 13y ago

That should be mostly fixed now. ACA plans have a reasonable max out-of-pocket and don't have lifetime maximums.