Exploding health care premium

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone has to pay for the millions of elderly, demented people to be hospitalized repeatedly to cure them from pneumonia and other illnesses despite the patients having no quality of life. Someone has to pay for the 31% of the nation on government subsidized healthcare (Medicaid, Tricare, Medicare, VA care).

Congress has great socialized healthcare but MAGA will not let the rest of us have it.

[Anonymous]

Have any of you tools looked up the profitability of the health insurance industry in this country before spouting off with your inane “but SOMEONE has to PAY for it” nonsense?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are retired and pay about $5350/mo for the 4. Up from $4900 last year but down from a few years ago when it was $5500. PPO and it sucks

Seriously? Well I think it’s completely crazy not to have health care… but there is an inflection point, and you are certainly at it.

Yeah, that's about 65K a year in premiums. Do you think your family will rack up medical bills worth of 65K every year? Even if you go out of pocket for specialists and scans/tests it would be a few grand if you start having issues. After the years you paid into it, like 10 years of being relatively healthy you are out of 650k. The only thing that can justify it is some catastrophic situation where your medical bills are in 7 figures. Otherwise, it's not even deserving to be called "insurance".

If you do not have e insurance, you get charged the full rate which can be 5-10 what is charged to insurance companies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are retired and pay about $5350/mo for the 4. Up from $4900 last year but down from a few years ago when it was $5500. PPO and it sucks

Seriously? Well I think it’s completely crazy not to have health care… but there is an inflection point, and you are certainly at it.

Yeah, that's about 65K a year in premiums. Do you think your family will rack up medical bills worth of 65K every year? Even if you go out of pocket for specialists and scans/tests it would be a few grand if you start having issues. After the years you paid into it, like 10 years of being relatively healthy you are out of 650k. The only thing that can justify it is some catastrophic situation where your medical bills are in 7 figures. Otherwise, it's not even deserving to be called "insurance".

If you do not have e insurance, you get charged the full rate which can be 5-10 what is charged to insurance companies.

I imagine it depends on what you elect to do. We're a high deductible with HSA so I've shopped around and so far the difference between cash and insurance hasn't been much.

You definitely want insurance for the major crises but for a lot of everyday visits and consultations I don't think it is as much of a difference as you might think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are retired and pay about $5350/mo for the 4. Up from $4900 last year but down from a few years ago when it was $5500. PPO and it sucks

Seriously? Well I think it’s completely crazy not to have health care… but there is an inflection point, and you are certainly at it.

Yeah, that's about 65K a year in premiums. Do you think your family will rack up medical bills worth of 65K every year? Even if you go out of pocket for specialists and scans/tests it would be a few grand if you start having issues. After the years you paid into it, like 10 years of being relatively healthy you are out of 650k. The only thing that can justify it is some catastrophic situation where your medical bills are in 7 figures. Otherwise, it's not even deserving to be called "insurance".

If you do not have e insurance, you get charged the full rate which can be 5-10 what is charged to insurance companies.

I imagine it depends on what you elect to do. We're a high deductible with HSA so I've shopped around and so far the difference between cash and insurance hasn't been much.

You definitely want insurance for the major crises but for a lot of everyday visits and consultations I don't think it is as much of a difference as you might think.

Have you ever looked at what the doctors charge, before the insurance company’s reduced fees?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are retired and pay about $5350/mo for the 4. Up from $4900 last year but down from a few years ago when it was $5500. PPO and it sucks

Wow. What percentage of your income is it as a retiree?

Now I understand why people are saying $1 million retirement is nothing.

How do people will less than a million in retirement live? Wow

That's not even the worst of it. Wait til these retirees need to pay for home health care. My parents are only able to do it because they have millions saved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone has to pay for the millions of elderly, demented people to be hospitalized repeatedly to cure them from pneumonia and other illnesses despite the patients having no quality of life. Someone has to pay for the 31% of the nation on government subsidized healthcare (Medicaid, Tricare, Medicare, VA care).

Congress has great socialized healthcare but MAGA will not let the rest of us have it.

Congress has to use the ACA marketplace!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We left the PPO a few years ago for Kaiser HMO. It's cheaper and no worse quality, if anything, I'm impressed by the efficiency.

We also have a high deductible plan and a HSA that we max out. We cash flow our health expenses as we will never hit the deductible, although if something does happen we can easily pay the deductible, which with Kaiser, isn't that high, about 4k per family member. This allows us to treat our HSA as a secret investment account and it's done very well. When we retire it will be worth quite a bit and we don't have to use it for health expenses. It becomes basically another Roth.

Just learn to be smart with your healthcare planning. Use it as a tool to work for you.

The HSA isn't a "secret" investment account. It is set up to be used this way so that you pay for most of your expenses out of pocket instead of tapping into insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are retired and pay about $5350/mo for the 4. Up from $4900 last year but down from a few years ago when it was $5500. PPO and it sucks

Wow. What percentage of your income is it as a retiree?

Now I understand why people are saying $1 million retirement is nothing.

How do people will less than a million in retirement live? Wow

They are very wealthy if they have minor kids and retired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the GLP haters. I was at a public event tonight and saw two morbidly obese people. Like sooooooo seriously obese they are one step away from being gilbert grape's mom stuck at home. One had a cane. Then below that some super obese people. Of course all these people should get GLPs. I think it would be miraculous.

Just like there are people that don't want the whole world to be fed because it's not profitable (thus we have hunger even though we can feed everyone on earth) there are people who don't want to help the sick and obese because it's not profitable. It's disgusting.

I don’t think anyone begrudges actual obese people for using GLP-1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have tricare and it no better. Our premiums, co-pays and deductibles go up, no doctor choice, and they will not pay for expensive medical equiptment I need.

I have Tricare and have no idea what you're talking about. Tricare Select is fantastic and dirt cheap.

+1, in this area you can always find providers who accept it

Not if you need very specialized specialty care and its not dirt cheap if you have multiple appointments within a clinic and they bill for each one with co-pays, which are about $40-60 per person so its easily a few hundred. Only one clinic will take tricare which is over two hours away. The equiptment I need is $15K, which 80/20 share (but its not actually that) and a few hundred a month. We average $1K a month in out of pocket, more when I need nebulizer and other supplies as its not covered by tricare even though it should be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have tricare and it no better. Our premiums, co-pays and deductibles go up, no doctor choice, and they will not pay for expensive medical equiptment I need.

I have Tricare and have no idea what you're talking about. Tricare Select is fantastic and dirt cheap.

+1, in this area you can always find providers who accept it

Not if you need very specialized specialty care and its not dirt cheap if you have multiple appointments within a clinic and they bill for each one with co-pays, which are about $40-60 per person so its easily a few hundred. Only one clinic will take tricare which is over two hours away. The equiptment I need is $15K, which 80/20 share (but its not actually that) and a few hundred a month. We average $1K a month in out of pocket, more when I need nebulizer and other supplies as its not covered by tricare even though it should be.

And, that's not including equiptment I need (I had it then returned it due to cost as the company lied to me about the cost).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are retired and pay about $5350/mo for the 4. Up from $4900 last year but down from a few years ago when it was $5500. PPO and it sucks

Wow. What percentage of your income is it as a retiree?

Now I understand why people are saying $1 million retirement is nothing.

How do people will less than a million in retirement live? Wow

Because some of us have health issues and will need care. I will probably be fully disabled in a few years, long before I am 60 and our health insurance doesn't provide home health aides. My spouse will have to retire early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are retired and pay about $5350/mo for the 4. Up from $4900 last year but down from a few years ago when it was $5500. PPO and it sucks

Seriously? Well I think it’s completely crazy not to have health care… but there is an inflection point, and you are certainly at it.

Yeah, that's about 65K a year in premiums. Do you think your family will rack up medical bills worth of 65K every year? Even if you go out of pocket for specialists and scans/tests it would be a few grand if you start having issues. After the years you paid into it, like 10 years of being relatively healthy you are out of 650k. The only thing that can justify it is some catastrophic situation where your medical bills are in 7 figures. Otherwise, it's not even deserving to be called "insurance".

If you do not have e insurance, you get charged the full rate which can be 5-10 what is charged to insurance companies.

I imagine it depends on what you elect to do. We're a high deductible with HSA so I've shopped around and so far the difference between cash and insurance hasn't been much.

You definitely want insurance for the major crises but for a lot of everyday visits and consultations I don't think it is as much of a difference as you might think.

Have you ever looked at what the doctors charge, before the insurance company’s reduced fees?

Doctors don’t actually charge that. It’s the number they claim in order to get the number they want from the insurance “reduced” fees.

The lack of knowledge on what a f—king scam the entire healthcare industry is in this country is actually frightening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are retired and pay about $5350/mo for the 4. Up from $4900 last year but down from a few years ago when it was $5500. PPO and it sucks

Wow. What percentage of your income is it as a retiree?

Now I understand why people are saying $1 million retirement is nothing.

How do people will less than a million in retirement live? Wow

They are very wealthy if they have minor kids and retired.

Another retired poster here. They are either that or had their kids too damned late. Or both.

I retired in my early 50s. The kids had already launched and had their own employer-subsidized health insurance. My spouse and I have been paying well under $2000 a month, and when we hit Medicare age the cost will drop by more than half.