Forum Moderators: buckworks
When I was in Oklahoma I looked at the group coverage offered by the National Association for the Self Employed. They sent out a nice agent (middleman?) but the policy had more holes than a sieve and we declined. I was in the military for 9 years and found coverage for awhile through USAA at $330/mo for the family, but USAA does not offer this anymore.
I'm in Texas and had one visit to the ER last month, which cost $2300 for a 45-minute visit for chest pain that turned out to be nothing. Yes, Canada is looking awfully promising, but if there's any U.S. state that is addressing this issue at all it would make more sense to go there.
It is a sad sad fact that America is run by large corporations who grease the palms of our elected officials.
Take a look around and call a few of your local insurance companies to see if they offer individual plans in your area. Many insurance companies are starting to find that they can make a profit from offering affordable health insurance on a one on one basis.
Side note: One of the main reasons that health insurance costs continue to rise is because most employees essentially have a blank check and they act like it. Health care providers also realize that their patients don’t care what it costs since their employers / insurance companies are paying for it. Essentially there are hardly any market forces to keep costs in control. (Socialized health care only makes the problem worse btw).
I believe that eventually it will get to the point that employers refuse to pay for employee healthcare and at that point costs will start to come down as the blank check is removed and employees start to care about the actual value (benefit / cost) of the healthcare they receive.
Litigation is also out of control… but that is another topic and I have already ranted enough.
I found brokers offer pretty much the same thing. Blue Cross or Humana were the main ones - in Colorado.
Low cost equals high deductibles, but in some cases you can offset the high deductible policy with an accident policy that costs $40-50 per month.
I think Oregon was looking into health insurance coverage a while back, but they already have budget problems...
Canada seems to have its good points alright...
We are going to be switching to one shortly.
That said, we have been with the National Association of Self Employed for 3 years now.
We have been totally happy with them. We have never had them try to deny a claim or anything like that. We have the MAJOR MEDICAL policy and we added the ACCIDENT policy, which covers broken legs, etc. etc.
The Major Medical covers Cancer, and major hospital stays, stuff like that. Really in the past 3 years the only thing we have had to pay 100% for is routine doctor visits. But even those have been lower because NASE gets you a better rate. My wife sprained her ankle badly, and my daughter broke her leg. Both were covered just fine. We paid 20% of the bill, but it really comes to about 10% since they get the better rate for you than if you had no insurance at all. I wouldn't hesitate to use them.
But, the savings account is the better way to go. Unless you get unlucky and come down with cancer right away, it will easily save you money over the long run.
Granted Reader’s Digest isn’t the Wall Street Journal, but the stats that they list are probably pretty reputable. Looks like the average tax burden for a Canadian citizen is 48.2% which is 14% higher than in the US.
The "Health Savings Account" is the best deal, as mentioned above.
An HSA gets my vote too. We picked up a low cost major medical plan through Aetna for around $130 a month.
Side note: One of the main reasons that health insurance costs continue to rise is because most employees essentially have a blank check and they act like it.
--Check out Hawaii. Although times may have changed there, too, they used to be the state with the best healthcare plan.
--As has already been mentioned, if there's a trade organization you're eligible for that has a group plan (and the dues aren't too high), that can sometimes be an answer.
Looks like the average tax burden for a Canadian citizen is 48.2% which is 14% higher than in the US.
Make sure you're comparing apples to apples. To make anywhere near a fair comparison you'd need to compare Canada's taxes to US taxes PLUS the burden of health and insurance costs which are paid by the individual.
Canadian Rate 48.2%
Difference per article 14%
USA Tax Rate 42%
I would go along with that – looks right on the money to me.
Canadian healthcare costs are somewhat included in their tax payments. I say “somewhat” because honestly I can’t vouch for the quality or quantity of their healthcare.
From previous posts we see that folks are quoted $300-400 per month for family healthcare. I pay around the same – or a little more. This comes to $5000 per year.
The difference in rate above is 6%. If I make $83,000 per year, which is way above average US income, and pay $5000 in health insurance costs the 6% becomes a wash. (There are tax breaks involved - let’s keep it simple)
There are other considerations that are more important to me than the cost per month.
Have you gone through the process of buying private health care in the USA for you and your family?
I have, and because my wife has a little pin in her knee due to a (karate) injury, no healthcare company that I know of will cover that knee again. After all they are profit driven companies that provide health care here.
When my friend’s husband died of lung cancer, the company insurance ran out while he was in hospital. He was evicted from the hospital and died a few days later at home – the hospital helped because they evacuated fluid from his lungs. But when he got home things got tougher.
The old and sick and infirm are all hidden in this country. We only hear about the success, the money, and fame. One of the largest demographics for bankruptcies in the USA is the old and the sick.
It’s okay if the majority accepts that this is the way things should be and society is the way it is. But don’t anybody fool themselves into thinking that when the sh*t hits the fan that big brother is going to take care of you. If you are self employed or unemployed You are on your own.
This thread is starting to stray a long way away from the topic of ecommerce btw.
If we were not tied to our jobs due to the need for health insurance coverage we could more easily take the risks of starting businesses or staying home and raising kids etc.
Not all states allow the Health Savings Account. NY, my state, doesn't.
Better check it again as I am in NY State and have had an HSA account since they were MSA accounts. It has nothing to do with the state, it's a federally allowed program.
It requires a high deductible health insurance plan that can be individual or family.
Then you open a separate HSA savings account to deposit your "TAX FREE" money into.
If you go to hsabank dot com you can find all of the information or links to what you need.
I found a company similar to the NASE and ended up going with them. They had two different policies. One policy primarily covered the big things and left you paying more of the regular doctor visits etc. The second policy had a simple $35 copay for doctors visits and still covered most of the big things as well.
You have to pay for membership into the organization etc, but it still only costs me about $350 and comes with some nice additions (accident policy, small term life plan, etc.)
Anyway, if your interested..sticky me and I'll pass the agents name I dealt with along to you.
I was lucky to have enough to afford it during that time, but what about the average family who faces $1000+ a month premiums? How many families have $1200 or so to spare a month?
In some states, there's barely any competiton as insurance companies MUST accept everyone, meaning that a healthy 22 year old will pay for a 80 year old's daily visits to the doctor.
