Health care options

[earthdome]

On 9/9/2020 at 8:29 AM, earthdome said:

That is a huge factor. Since the (Un)Affordable Care Act was implemented health insurance has increased at 10%, 15% and even 20% per year. The cost can vary a great deal between states. Here in the US Midwest I am paying almost $600 for my wife and 2 year old for the highest deductible lowest cost marketplace plan. You can wing it on your own now since President has removed the penalty for not having insurance and there are some options for non ACA marketplace coverage but I haven't explored that option much and then again that varies from state to state. Other than your home health insurance likely would be your largest expense.

I ended up switching from a standard Affordable Care Act health insurance policy for my wife and daughter to a health cost sharing membership and a direct primary care giver which charges a flat monthly fee for routine things like what you would use urgent care for. This cost us $200/month less than the cheapest ACA policy. Shortly after we made the switch my wife had a health problem which was diagnosed and treated over a 6 month period which cost (with cash timely pay discounts) about $50k USD total. She is fine now and glad to have it in the past. All I had to pay was the $500 deductible per health need incident. A great deal less than what we would have paid using an ACA policy. On the downside you do have to do more work to get those savings and be able to manage the cash flow issues that arise because you are paying the bills and may have to wait up to 2 months to get reimbursed. So far the switch has worked out well for us and we will continue to use their services rather than an ACA policy.

Edited July 25, 2021 by Old55
Started as a new thread in the correct topic.