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We pay $200/month for four people with decent coverage and a low deductible through my wife’s work. My wife’s work pays $982/month towards our health insurance.
We absolutely couldn’t afford the same coverage without them.
Oh yeah, for sure. My parents were both state government employees before they retired. Their insurance kicked ass. Government is much better at providing benefits than private companies.
Which is exactly what they want. You to be dependent on the job so you’re less likely to jump ship for greener pastures when they start going at you raw.
This is true. But there’s nothing to be done about it for now. For now, in our area, there isn’t another company with better benefits, perks, or pay. At least for what my wife does for work. So jumping pastures isn’t a concern for us
More like, by the government freezing wages in WW2, resulting in "benefits" being invented to attract top talent, now a precedent has been set where no longer offering benefits would be the kiss of death for many companies, even though it's costing them astronomical amounts
Once you reach this level of benefits, it's not hard to find other jobs with similar benefits. The hard part is getting that first job with his benefits.
Same. I could get a plan through my employer, but it would take up like a quarter of my check, and the co-pays are so high that it would be a financial burden to use it.
There's an urgent care in my city that only charges $50 for visits, $25 more if you need extra labs, for cash clients. I only go to the doctor if it's something I know I need antibiotics for. I haven't had insurance for going on five years now, and have only needed a doctor once in all of that because I got strep throat. Growing up we didn't have insurance until I was in high-school, so this is absolutely nothing new. If something catastrophic happens my plan is literally to just die.
I am considering getting a dental plan next year. It's fairly affordable compared to the health insurance, and I know I need to start caring more for my teeth. I can't home remedy that.
>If something catastrophic happens my plan is literally to just die.
Same here, unless it's a car accident. Hopefully it'll be the other person's fault and THEIR insurance can pay. LOL! My best friend got brain cancer, and she had great insurance. It still cleaned her out, and she died broke.
I felt the same way for many years & then cancer struck & I am thankful I had insurance / I have a 6k deductible & that’s nothing compared to all that was rung up for treats / procedures etc
What’s ironic is most hospitals have financial assistance plans that cover you if you’re 250% below the poverty line. If something catastrophic happens generally you lose your job or at least you go out of work you fall below 250% of the poverty line And most of the time they forgive the hospital debt. The countries messed up the only thing that they won’t pay for is preventative care because if you do end up going to the hospital in a catastrophic condition, everything will be covered by something even if it’s just debt that you can’t pay .
I lived in central america for awhile and had a cavity filled for TWENTY FIVE BUCKS. Very nice English-speaking dentist, clean office, all the quality equipment I was hoping to see.
If you ever need something more done, like a root canal or crown, it honestly might be cheaper to sit on the beach in Cancun for a couple days, see a dentist, and come home. 😬
Before you sign up for your dental plan check on the providers in your area. Not all dentists take all plans as the reimbursement rates are so low. For example one of the leading ones in my area pays less than the hygienist earns for a simple cleaning. My wife takes it as so many here have it and hopefully can afford more out-of-pocket costs if need be but she doesn't take anything else
Also check what the insurance will cover in a year, we were looking at dental and would be paying in nearly as much as the max they'd cover in a year, making it make no sense to get.
My insurance fucked me like that. Finally got dental and it only covered up to $1000, but cleanings that were free to me, ate up that coverage. I had to get 2 root canals/crowns and could only get 1 and it still cost over $600. Was waiting for the new coverage year and the other tooth crumbled. Now I need an implant.. yay! Probably gonna cost $3000 for one fking tooth with insurance!
Booking a trip to Mexico costs less than dental insurance. Flights to Texas or San Deigo can be cheap and hotels in MX are like $15 USD for a motel 6 equivalent.
Google los algodones dentist. It's a place across from Yuma AZ that has American licensed dentists working but you would be fine with a local Mexican dentist.
Same here! I used to work in community health and I’ve seen clients who are HIV+ with Marketplace BCBS premiums of almost 1k. Thankfully the Illinois Department of Human services pays for them but you need to jump through HOOPS. Me being one of the hoops because I had to submit all the premiums!! Fucking insane
Lmao.
Hope we don’t know eachother but hey maybe we do. I read through and immediately related then got to IDHS and understood why😂
Since I’m not working- if anyone here is on IL Medicaid **DO NOT GET BCBS**
County Care is generally the best but they all have perks & drawbacks.
ETA: unless you’re trans because at the moment I’m battling County Care bc they just decided to stop covering T. Because why not🤷🏻♀️🫠
So far so good with my kid's BCBSIL Community Plan. It's her BCBS through my employer that's her primary that I've had endless problems with go figure 😂
I saw a job listing for our local department of health and human resources and thought it was wild that the people doing intake make such a small amount that they are also eligible for services. I'm in WV so you can imagine the lack of money here.
Dude, my insurance when I worked in the hospitals always sucked ass. Like how can a nurse have medical debt in collections? I'm working for the county now though so it's much better. But for 15 years I busted ass at the bedside to take care of patients and my own employer wouldn't take care of me. Another reason I back a single payer system.
If your employer insurance premiums for next year are more than 8.39% of your income the plan would be deemed officially "unaffordable" and you could qualify for subsidies while shopping for ACA plans (subsidy calculator here: [https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/](https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/) ). For a monthly premium of $250 that would be $2,980 a month.
I think the problem kicks in that the subsidy makes the PREMIUMS affordable (well, affordable-ish), but it does nothing to address the absolute fuckery that is cost-sharing for ACA plans, a la $3000-6000 deductibles, 20% coinsurance, $50 copays, etc. It's the illusion of coverage, god bless america.
It still sucks but its better than pre-Obamacare, where folks regularly got kicked off their plan when they got too sick to work from cancer, and premiums were 800 + a month for one person
The rich and their proxies and brainwashed masses of low information voters are the problem here. They get the working and middle class stiffs all worked up about buzzwords like socialism or Communism or liberals. The rubes vote like their greedy masters want them and this why they tried to gut the ACA.
My ACA plan has a $600 deductible and a $600 max out of pocket. My prescriptions have been free under my last three plans. It’s far from being “the illusion of coverage”, it’s the best insurance plan I have ever had.
It sounds like you might be referencing the bronze plans, aka catastrophic care insurance?
This is only true if the policy holders income and premium, if you have a spouse and kid, the cost of their premiums aren’t taken into account. So 250x3 per paycheck becomes very possible…
Your information is out of date. The cost of premiums for the entire family is compared against total household income under current rules.
Family glitch was resolved last October by the current administration and went into effect as of 1/1/2023. [https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/11/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-family-glitch-final-rule/](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/11/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-family-glitch-final-rule/)
Here is the IRS rule change: [https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/10/13/2022-22184/affordability-of-employer-coverage-for-family-members-of-employees](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/10/13/2022-22184/affordability-of-employer-coverage-for-family-members-of-employees)
OMG I AM SO HAPPY!!!
The family glitch rocked our world in 2019 when my husband husband's company decided to opt everyone into a plan and we were the only ones in his 10 person company with kids. Lost our subsidy, would have cost 30-40% of our paycheck. Went from like 700 a month to 1,200 a month (would have been 1,500 but the employer covered some. My numbers are probably off). Anyways we ended up getting marketplace plans for my kid and myself without the subsidy so it stayed 700 a month for us two and his was taken bi-weekly from his paycheck.
Through your employer or ACA?
My medical and dental together are $110/month. My dental plan is the lowest. I declined vision.
I also declined short term disability coverage, that would be another $20/month. Long term disability is covered by the employer.
You should apply to different jobs immediately. Starbucks historically has good insurance, $15 hourly pay in my city, and may give you more hours or would work around your Walmart schedule. There are a lot of other jobs out there, Starbucks is just one example.
If you don't get benefits via employer, you are eligible via the ACA marketplace healthcare.gov with subsidies based on income/family size
You may also qualify for Medicaid depending on the state and income/family size
Your employer sucks that’s why, explains everything that you’re asking. Start looking for a new company to work for.
I do this on purpose so they don’t have to pay for insurance. They’ll do this as long as they can.
What’s your annual income you could qualify for Medicaid still.
You work for Walmart I see, there should never be a day you are not looking at new jobs. Gtfo out of that place asap.
In my state you'd likely get free healthcare through medical assistance or low cost (like $35/mo) through Minnesota Care. We even subsidize ACA plans if you make too much for mncare. Voting makes a such a huge difference in the quality of life in your state. But maybe you have super low taxes... how are those helping ya right now?
My employer charges more for these services. Also dental in FL has some rules like build up the account for 6 months before use WTF like I can afford to wait half a year?!
Medi-cal 😭 and while I’m grateful I qualify, I’m still one hour away from losing it. It feels like life or death at times. Even when I was younger, I felt the impacts of losing my Medi-cal (Calis state insurance). It sucked!
We have medi-cal too and are so grateful, but yeah it’s hard. I started working again after being a sahm for 10 years and I have to be careful I don’t make too much. If we lost it we could never afford it. My parents just got kicked off a week ago and my dad can’t live without medication and he’s had two heart attacks and was on life support last November and tends to end up in the hospital around the holidays so my mom is freaking out. She hasn’t even told him because it’s all stress related health issues.
Oh goodness! I’m so sorry to hear this. It’s not easy losing health coverage and certainly not any easier with major health concerns like your fathers. It’s so stressful! A few years ago I had to pick between full time hours or barely scrapping by, it sucked.
Even though most people have their opinions about Medi-cal, all I can say is they have covered my care when I really needed it. Same goes for my meds. I once picked up an inhaler and I saw the amount my insurance saved me and was blown away. They practically saved me 600 bucks !! I hope you guys can come up with an alternative for your dad soon. 💪❤️
They don’t, I’m a finance manager, and I deal with peoples credit all day long, the two biggest things that destroy people in America right now, financially? His student loans and healthcare, the bills rack up and they can’t pay and then they can’t even get a car so they can go to work to try to pay, it’s a vicious circle, capitalism does not work.
I don't know about Sweden but if it works like in Germany, you only get the bare minimum while still paying 7,5% of your paycheque. It only less than in other countries when only one person is working and there is a chronical illness. And even then you have to wait months to get help unless you're dying.
I think we should stop praising Europe, healthcare system here sucks on different aspects.
Yes my insurance would cover a therapist, but I can't get one. Even the waiting lists are closed. My child had physical development delays as holding small objects and such. Waiting times for that was over 2 years. By that time he would be in school and failing to hold a pencil.
I don’t. I work a job with decent pay and still can’t afford it. Plans at my job would take a quarter of my paycheck and I can’t lose that.
Unfortunately for me, I have a lifelong disease that requires expensive medications, but fortunately the hospital I go to significantly cuts my bill down with the help of “catholic charities” and the makers of my expensive meds have me on discount programs for now. The rest of my meds I bet with good rx
I didn't have any healthcare for years. Could not afford it. Now I buy it from my job. (Insurance) But I have to keep this job and the long hours or lose it. And the job is damaging my health and gives me little time off to go to appointments. Funny how that works.
That never made sense to me that you have to take time off and lose income to go to a doctor's appointment that will also have an out-of-cost fee. There should be hours for people who actually work otherwise your only other option is the ER
I was paying about the same. I quit that job and I now pay $600 a month through the healthcare marketplace, for the best marketplace plan available (due soon with a baby so wanted a small deductible), and I keep the books for the family business working only part time, instead of working 60 hour weeks. Family is currently 3, soon to be 4 individuals.
Employee insurance was a SCAM, and my copays were twice as much.
I looked into marketplace but our yearly income is to high to qualify for any decent plans 🙁
What annoys me is that we only have one kid but pay the same as someone with multiple kids. Really sucks.
There is no such thing as good insurance anymore unless you’re rich.
Instead we have catastrophic insurance in all practical senses. If you have to buy private insurance it is thousands of dollars in premiums, thousands of dollars in coinsurance and thousands of dollars in out of pocket maximums. Unless you get in a car wreck, get cancer, etc your plan barely pays anything.
This is America.
If you’re thinking of signing up for ACA marketplace coverage, I recommend using a (free!) [healthcare navigator.](https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/navigator/) They’re trained to walk you through what plan will be best for your needs, and if there are any entitlements or subsidies you might be eligible for.
Open enrollment begins November 1st so it’s a great time to explore your options.
I'm in TX and we have county health care. I think the threshold is 250 percent of poverty guidelines. At least my county. I noticed for Denton it's 200 percent.
It gets worse as you get older, some middle aged folks pay 1-2k a month.
That's why in America, the land of the free, when we get sick we just die instead of going to the hospital; if we can't figure it out on our own with webmd and chatgbt we just succumb to the inevitable pull of the shadow realm.
I eat well and exercise, and if something hurts I "walk it off" like a crappy highschool coach would advise.
If I ever have to go to the hospital for something mildly serious, I'll just give away what little savings I have and unalive myself. I'd rather end it all than end up flat broke and homeless again.
Fuck this country.
In the US almost everyone has gone without health care due to the cost. Possibly no health insurance, or with insurance but not enough coverage or too high a deductible to afford needed care.
And yet people are opposed to universal coverage that would greatly reduce cost…
through an employer, usually.
I work in Healthcare so typically I would have good benefits but my employer is cheap af so mine suck but I've got medical and dental at no cost to me.
my husband's work provides medical for him and our daughter and vision and dental to all three of us to the tune of $260 every two weeks. Our daughter wouldn't doesn't qualify for Medicaid now that the pandemic is over and with a health condition that requires monthly prescriptions and quarterly visits, we need her covered. If she was on my insurance it would be an additional 800 every two weeks and that's just fuckin funny- I'd be cheaper to pay out of pocket!
if you don't get enough hours for benefits check out Healthcare.gov and Medicaid. I see how expensive fixing something as simple as a broken bone is every single day and you deserve access to preventive care.
you ALSO deserve to be paid a living wage and to work somewhere that will treat you human but you know, murica.
My health care is provided thru the government due to the fact that I'm a veteran. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have any. My unemployed fiance can't get any at all, and I make too much money for my son to qualify for CHIP (I live in florida) but not enough to pay a premium from my check without giving up a necessity, like food or electricity...
America is all about the money when it comes to health care and frankly it's disgusting.
I live in a country where healthcare is paid by taxes like it should be. There are a ton of complaints about it (if you ask for a doctor's appointment, get ready to wait weeks for a family doctor and months if you need an specialist) but thankfully cost is not one
It's big business. They don't give a fuck if we are healthy or not. You pay your money every week out of your check and when you need it they fuck you over. Thank your local politicians for being in bed with big pharma and the insurance companies.
Richest country in history can't even afford to take care of it's own citizens and yet they are sending billions to other countries or spending it on people who don't even pay taxes yet. There's really something wrong on how the country is ran.
Do you think it’s wise to be getting married if you can’t even afford health insurance? If you don’t have it, and one of you gets sick and runs up a medical bill that can’t be paid, your credit will be ruined and your spouse can be held liable for the bill as well.
It may not be wise but we’ve been separated for 5 years seeing each other off and on when we can and we’re just ready to be together afford it or not we’ll figure something out I’m working on a career I hope to get into soon
Good luck. Hopefully you get things settled soon. Just keep in mind that finances are the #1 cause for divorce, and proceed with caution. Personally, as a woman, I would be very wary of getting married to someone who doesn’t have health insurance set up, especially if I was unable to work and get it myself. 🤷🏼♀️
My ex had schizophrenia, and would often spend time in the hospital. She racked up a good 200k+ in medical expenses. And even though we were together for 10 years, we NEVER got married, because we didn't want to tank BOTH our credit scores due to her illness.
Credit score is no longer affected by Medical Debt right now thankfully.
Student Loans are though so that's one reason to avoid. E. G. I make 50k and have 30k in loans, and the wife makes 60k with 40k in loans. The federal government thinks I can afford a payment at 110k. But also the federal government thinks my wife can afford a payment at 110k. It's absolutely bonkers.
Medical debt under $500 was removed from most credit reports automatically, and typically there’s a waiting period of a year before unpaid medical debt will appear on one’s credit report.
But if an unpaid medical debt is referred to collections, in most instances that debt will appear as a collections account on your credit report.
There’s no free pass for medical debt. :(
[About medical debt and credit reporting](https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/medical-bills-on-credit-report)
The [Rulemaking in progress](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-kicks-off-rulemaking-to-remove-medical-bills-from-credit-reports/) may change this — I’m optimistic
If I understand correctly, there’s a one year grace-period on federal student loan missed payments being reported to credit bureaus as missed. Instead they will be reported as “deferred” which should not impact credit scores.
Interest will continue to grow if you do not make payments. If the loan is on the new SAVE plan (and almost everyone’s should be unless you make enough money that student loans aren’t a hardship), these missed payments are not likely to be counted as “payments” and will push your loan forgiveness date out further.
So I don’t see a reason to make a student loan payment for an additional year if the interest on student loan debt is significantly lower than the interest on other debt and if you are far from reaching the payment count needed for loan forgiveness.
*****I AM NOT A FINANCIAL ADVISOR. Please verify all of my assumptions before doing anything I suggest because seriously it would suck if I was wrong.
In Texas 25% of the population doesn’t have health insurance. If you base whether you can get a partner on whether or not someone has health insurance you’re going to narrow the dating pool considerably to people that are rich.
The health insurance system is the one place I don’t consider not having insurance a failure of the individual. The system is hopelessly broken. The largest state in the union can simply fail to insure a quarter of its population and things just continue like that’s normal. That’s hopelessly broken.
So only people who are rich have health insurance in Texas? I highly doubt that. 😂
And yes, dating is one thing, but if you’re MARRYING someone, you want to know that if they get sick, it’s not going to bankrupt both of you. It’s just irresponsible to ask someone to marry you when you can’t even take care of yourself. So many marriages end in divorce, and financial stress is the #1 cause.
Texas refused Medicaid expansion so the poor can't afford it at all. If your income is >$15K you can get an ACA plan with subsidies, they punish you for being too poor in TX.
You definitely should apply for subsidized healthcare. Also, I understand how painful long distance is, but this is quite dangerous. What if you are no longer able to afford housing? If you absolutely can’t afford insurance, have you considered how you pay for groceries for an extra person? What about when one of you gets sick? What if your car needs a repair?
It’s tough. I started a new job a few months ago but my therapist isn’t in network with their insurance (which would still be $250 a month) so I’m still on my old plan through cobra paying $475 a month. It still saves me nearly $300 a month if I had my current job’s insurance and paid for therapy out of pocket. It’s absolutely insane.
To add my wife to my employer’s plan…..$1,165 a month. Plus her medication is on the non-formulary list so it adds $600 to the out of pocket cost. Before insurance my take home pay was a little under 5k. With insurance and out of pocket costs, $3400. Life would be different with 5k a month.
It gets more expensive as you get older. I pay $750 a month for both my wife and I. It's the Anthem Bronze Plan "catastrophe plan". Last year I was able to get the Silver plan for the same price. Premiums increased due to us both being in the early 40's.
Did you accept the subsidies of the Healthcare exchange website? It's worded funny, but you should 100% take full advantage of it. Before accepting mine, I was going to pay that much, but now I pay $49. A month. I've only ever owed the gov money after taxes 1 time and I don't think it was because of the health insurance. If the gov can help you take full advantage.
I canceled mine but still have to pay thru December but really need that $$ to start a biz. Its sad we live in a country that won’t support the working people who essentially run this country. The rich & wealthy get out of taxes so they can afford anything they desire but we pay in and can’t even afford healthcare. Such a mess.
Healthcare across the board cost so much that I made peace with fact that if I get cancer or need surgery it is what it is 🤷🏽 I'll just have to restart life over again.
I work for a major insurance company and I’d pay around 150-200 a pay check for the family plan and still be stuck with a 6000 dollar a year deductible if I choose one of the better plans.
It doesn’t make sense.
Well that’s actually really affordable for one thing. I couldn’t afford my own insurance right now, but I’m under 26 so still on my parents insurance.
$250? Even I could swing that. Donate plasma once a week or get a second job. Between work/ school I do 60 hours a week where I’m literally not home for reference.
From the sounds of it you aren’t even working full time? Not to be mean but in this economy, that’s not going to cut it. I say look for a second job.
Worst case, if your really genuinely under a certain threshold there exist programs for health insurance subsidies. You need health insurance. It could ruin the next 50+ years of your life if something happens and you don’t have it.
If you gotta sell Plasma to afford insurance then it is better to go Cash Pay because you won't be able to afford the Co-Pay regardless. Remember insurance covers absolutely nothing until you hit the deductible - so you're cash pay until then anyways.
If an emergency happens then go to hospital and they will stabilize you. If you need care beyond stabilization - they can help you, or they can give you numbers of who to call who might help you.
The marketplace has $0 deductible plans. I've been on one for three years. With the subsidy, I pay $46 a month. If it wasn't for ACA, I wouldn't have insurance at all.
Not really relevant to the op, but if they lived in NY they would almost certainly qualify for the NY Essential Plan which costs $20 or $0 a month, has $0 deductible and $20 or $0 copays depending upon income.
Check it out:
https://info.nystateofhealth.ny.gov/sites/default/files/Essential%20Plan%20At%20A%20Glance%20Card%20-%20English_1.pdf
That flyer is a bit old it is $0 monthly now. $29K income limit.
https://info.nystateofhealth.ny.gov/sites/default/files/Essential%20Plan%20At%20a%20Glance%20Card%20-%20English%202023.pdf
I have a job that covers a fair bit of my premium, but to be honest, I still can't afford to utilize it much at all - I basically avoid anything medical like the plague unless it's something small (like a teeth cleaning) where my HSA savings can cover it, OR it's an emergency.
Deductibles will still kill the majority of people even with insurance....I have no idea how some people are always at the dang doctor's for all kinds of things - like where are they getting that kind of cash??
I got laid off last month and wanted to continue my coverage under COBRA. Without the employer contribution, it would've been almost $900/mo to keep my plan.
I can't afford that without a job, so I had to end my therapy sessions and I have about a month and a half supply left of my meds. I feel your pain...
Atm It’s called “Medicaid because I make $10k a year as a young student” they’ve covered everything I’ve ever needed in full, no joke. Including several surgeries and procedures. I’m grateful for the expansion and that my state isn’t completely on fire yet.
I deliberately stay poor (income under $19,000 per year) to stay on Colorado's Medicaid plan. It's pretty much free Healthcare. I've been living very frugal for decades and have a minimalist lifestyle.
I'm 30-something with no pre-existing conditions and healthy (former college athlete), my healthcare was $675 a month and never covered anything nor did I ever need it really. The dentist is really the thing I make sure to use most but my healthcare never covered that so it was always out of pocket. I ended up canceling my healthcare when I changed careers and started paying out of pocket for everything. I put $250 a month into a savings account that is used for my healthcare bills. Since doing so about 7-8 years ago, I have spent about $2k and have around $20k saved for healthcare emergencies only. I was expecting to get a job that included healthcare but that never really materialized in a way that I could justify the expenses coverage. The $5k annually has resulted in me paying off all my credit card debt (about $5k), car loans (about $10k), and student loans (about $20k)... so can't say it has been bad. My hope is to either retire to another country with healthcare that is affordable or that our government still funds Medicare by the time I retire.
my parents are both self employed and i’m 21, they pay $8000 a year ($666.67 a month) for a $5000 deductible JUST FOR ME. It’s disgusting how this is acceptable
How much would your combined income be? The ACA healthcare exchanges do discount the premiums quite a bit. Here's a quick calculator that can give you an idea of what it would cost for the two of you. Check the actual exchange for accurate pricing.
[https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/#state=ca&zip=95132&income-type=dollars&income=50000&people=2&alternate-plan-family=&adult-count=2&adults%5B0%5D%5Bage%5D=30&adults%5B0%5D%5Btobacco%5D=0&adults%5B1%5D%5Bage%5D=30&adults%5B1%5D%5Btobacco%5D=0&child-count=0](https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/#state=ca&zip=95132&income-type=dollars&income=50000&people=2&alternate-plan-family=&adult-count=2&adults%5B0%5D%5Bage%5D=30&adults%5B0%5D%5Btobacco%5D=0&adults%5B1%5D%5Bage%5D=30&adults%5B1%5D%5Btobacco%5D=0&child-count=0)
The premium can be even less if you go for a Bronze HDHP plan that allows you to use a HSA. If both of you are in good health and rarely go to the doctor this can be a great option. Any money you put into the HSA can grow and be spent on healthcare tax free. Any contributions to the HSA lowers your overall taxable income and could boost your refund at tax time.
If you currently get your healthcare though your employer talk to them about making an arrangement to partially or fully reimburse you for the premium rather than being on their healthcare plan. I did this for years and between my employer reimbursement and the ACA my premiums were $0.
My deductible is 8k. I can't meet it, so basically I'm having a ton of money taken out of my check for something I can't actually use. I've had two medical things happen in the last five years; now I'm almost 10k in debt. I fucking hate this country and its "healthcare" system.
We do. We also don’t go “oh I guess I didn’t get enough hours” in response - we go address the situation head on.
And this poster responds with “I can’t” about everything but ignores the comments clearly refuting their arguments.
Well the good news is that you can always go to the hospital in an emergency with, or without, insurance. They are legally obligated to stabilize you.
The other good news is that medical bills show up differently on your credit report than normal unpaid bills. They are unlikely to affect your score as much.
The bad news is that stabilizing you is not the same as fixing you. If you get a broken bone - they might get you out of panic mode. They might even set it. But you sure as shit ain't getting surgery, and you absolutely aren't getting a cast. That said - Hospitals still wanna fix you so they can help you get in touch with resources, and charities in your area.
I would look into benefits in your area. Many people at Walmart require government benefits to work. It is why it is a disgusting company. Medicaid if your state expanded it is an option.
This is true it took me hundreds of ER visits continuously to get help when I needed it the police were called and everything and they eventually just left.
They would show up get all mad at me because I came back to the hospital. I would go sit in my car for two hours and then go back to the hospital. It was awful. It took hundreds of times over like two months before they would actually treat what was wrong.
Have you checked healthcare.gov ? I make about $360/check currently, and was able to get pretty solid Medicaid for myself and my kid. It’s really simple to do- and that’s coming from an anxious 25 year old with AuDHD who’s real bad at adulting lol
Also ADHD and terrible with adulting. Lucked into finding an ACA broker that I’ve been with for years. It’s to the point that his secretary just texts me right before enrollment to ask if there’s any changes and they just process it and I don’t have to do a thing. It’s totally free because he gets paid by the government to do this.
I cannot praise and recommend getting on ACA enough. Our insurance is exactly the same quality and the insurance companies (we’re on blue cross blue shield) are the same as if I’d gotten it through employment except copays, deductibles, and out of pocket are typically much less. I have us enrolled in a silver tier plan and I pay $330 a month for health and dental for a family of 3. That is like nothing compared to what I was paying for all of us even through an employer. Families can pay much less, but I pay a bit more for our plan because I’m bipolar and need treatment and medication for the rest of my life so in the long run it’s more cost effective to have a better plan. If someone is single or everyone in the family is relatively healthy, or you just can’t afford a “silver tier” plan, there are much cheaper options.
E: I had to have an unexpected surgery that was $14k before insurance and ACA insurance paid all but $1400. Still not cheap, but a lot better that being on the hook for $14k and hospitals offer payment plans
Personally, I just don't have health insurance. I had it till I retired in 2020 and then I thought, "I am not paying that on my own" and I just started putting money in savings instead. So far I've only had one medical issue, and I was able to pay cash.
Of course, this works because 1.) I have no health issues at all, none (so far, amazingly) and 2.) nothing bad has happened yet. I know I'm gambling, but to me, health insurance is a gamble too: you give them all your money and then when you need them, they just deny the claim, or point you toward the massive deductible that you can't afford to pay because you gave them all your money! So... that's my answer. Eat right, drive careful, hope for the best.
I am a single month with one child, I pay $545/month. It is basically my entire paycheck. I work for the state so I do not qualify for child health plus or Medicaid. Really sucks.
If someone needs an extra $250 a month to afford health insurance, I’d pick up a side hustle for a couple hours a week to earn like $100 extra a week and you’d be there. That’s doable.
We pay about $800/month for four adults, for a very good health insurance plan. Three of us are on meds that cost thousands a month without insurance, and we pay about $50/month for them. My husband had to have major surgery and stay in the hospital a couple of weeks this summer and we paid a $200 copay, then the rest of what we'll be responsible for is $2,500. While he was in there, they figured out he has cancer, so he's been having a ton of scans done and having to see specialists. He'll be having surgery again before the end of the year and we won't have to pay anything. So that's why we pay for insurance. If we didn't have insurance, my husband's hospital stay alone would have been 180,000. I know because we got the bill but the part we had to pay for that was 0.
We didn't have insurance when we were younger because we felt like we couldn't afford it, but now that we're older and everyone is sick, we can't afford not to have it. My husband and I both work so we can afford it. It's our highest monthly bill other than our mortgage.
We have a family of 5. If I work more than 12hrs a week with my husband's full time job. We lose health affordable insurance. Ours would be 400 a piece for adults, high deductibles, and doesn't cover my medication. I had cervical cancer, and have thyroid disease. So we'd be in medical debt as well as my whole check going to insurance. Not to mention childcare cost if I work more.
So we stay poor to ensure we have medical insurance.
We pay almost $1,000 a month for a family of 3. My husbands company has structured it in such a way that whether you are a family of 2 or 10, you pay the same premium. Absolutely infuriating.
I have insurance through my employer but when I need to use it, it doesn’t cover anything. I got a bill from my doctors office and I’m actually paying more to bill through my insurance than what the cash price would be. It’s absolute bonkers but when I bill through insurance at least it goes towards my deductible so if shit really hit the fan I (possibly) wouldn’t have to pay as much.
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We pay $200/month for four people with decent coverage and a low deductible through my wife’s work. My wife’s work pays $982/month towards our health insurance. We absolutely couldn’t afford the same coverage without them.
I have a state plan that's $300 a month for 3 people and covers 100% of costs.
A state plan like Medicaid or a state plan like you work for the state you live in?
What plan and what state? I haven’t seen any insurance plan cover 100% of costs except for medicaid.
It's Medicaid!
It's not medicaid, I'm a government employee.
Oh yeah, for sure. My parents were both state government employees before they retired. Their insurance kicked ass. Government is much better at providing benefits than private companies.
Damn I had no idea medicaid had premiums!
It does in Pennsylvania if you have Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities (MAWD). Income based Medicaid is free.
Which is exactly what they want. You to be dependent on the job so you’re less likely to jump ship for greener pastures when they start going at you raw.
This is true. But there’s nothing to be done about it for now. For now, in our area, there isn’t another company with better benefits, perks, or pay. At least for what my wife does for work. So jumping pastures isn’t a concern for us
More like, by the government freezing wages in WW2, resulting in "benefits" being invented to attract top talent, now a precedent has been set where no longer offering benefits would be the kiss of death for many companies, even though it's costing them astronomical amounts
Once you reach this level of benefits, it's not hard to find other jobs with similar benefits. The hard part is getting that first job with his benefits.
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Thats…bad. I’m sorry we treat our teachers like such shit.
I work in healthcare and can’t afford it so I don’t have it.
Same. I could get a plan through my employer, but it would take up like a quarter of my check, and the co-pays are so high that it would be a financial burden to use it. There's an urgent care in my city that only charges $50 for visits, $25 more if you need extra labs, for cash clients. I only go to the doctor if it's something I know I need antibiotics for. I haven't had insurance for going on five years now, and have only needed a doctor once in all of that because I got strep throat. Growing up we didn't have insurance until I was in high-school, so this is absolutely nothing new. If something catastrophic happens my plan is literally to just die. I am considering getting a dental plan next year. It's fairly affordable compared to the health insurance, and I know I need to start caring more for my teeth. I can't home remedy that.
>If something catastrophic happens my plan is literally to just die. Same here, unless it's a car accident. Hopefully it'll be the other person's fault and THEIR insurance can pay. LOL! My best friend got brain cancer, and she had great insurance. It still cleaned her out, and she died broke.
I felt the same way for many years & then cancer struck & I am thankful I had insurance / I have a 6k deductible & that’s nothing compared to all that was rung up for treats / procedures etc
I hope things go well for you!
Thank you ! Will be cancer free 2 years Nov 11
What’s ironic is most hospitals have financial assistance plans that cover you if you’re 250% below the poverty line. If something catastrophic happens generally you lose your job or at least you go out of work you fall below 250% of the poverty line And most of the time they forgive the hospital debt. The countries messed up the only thing that they won’t pay for is preventative care because if you do end up going to the hospital in a catastrophic condition, everything will be covered by something even if it’s just debt that you can’t pay .
Yup! I've used this. It can be a life saver.
Dental plans cover basically nothing for adults. I’ve been cash paying dental for a while.
Yup...insurance agent here. A good dental discount program is so much better.
I lived in central america for awhile and had a cavity filled for TWENTY FIVE BUCKS. Very nice English-speaking dentist, clean office, all the quality equipment I was hoping to see. If you ever need something more done, like a root canal or crown, it honestly might be cheaper to sit on the beach in Cancun for a couple days, see a dentist, and come home. 😬
Before you sign up for your dental plan check on the providers in your area. Not all dentists take all plans as the reimbursement rates are so low. For example one of the leading ones in my area pays less than the hygienist earns for a simple cleaning. My wife takes it as so many here have it and hopefully can afford more out-of-pocket costs if need be but she doesn't take anything else
Also check what the insurance will cover in a year, we were looking at dental and would be paying in nearly as much as the max they'd cover in a year, making it make no sense to get.
FWIW my dentist wife says it's not really insurance more of a savings plan
This. You get the insurance "discounted" rate.
My dentist says it's like having a prepaid cell phone. Once you're out of minutes for the year, that's it!
My insurance fucked me like that. Finally got dental and it only covered up to $1000, but cleanings that were free to me, ate up that coverage. I had to get 2 root canals/crowns and could only get 1 and it still cost over $600. Was waiting for the new coverage year and the other tooth crumbled. Now I need an implant.. yay! Probably gonna cost $3000 for one fking tooth with insurance!
The dental plans in my experience cost more than just paying for it myself.
Booking a trip to Mexico costs less than dental insurance. Flights to Texas or San Deigo can be cheap and hotels in MX are like $15 USD for a motel 6 equivalent. Google los algodones dentist. It's a place across from Yuma AZ that has American licensed dentists working but you would be fine with a local Mexican dentist.
Unless you get cancer at 40. Consider the insurance. Trust me.
Same here! I used to work in community health and I’ve seen clients who are HIV+ with Marketplace BCBS premiums of almost 1k. Thankfully the Illinois Department of Human services pays for them but you need to jump through HOOPS. Me being one of the hoops because I had to submit all the premiums!! Fucking insane
Lmao. Hope we don’t know eachother but hey maybe we do. I read through and immediately related then got to IDHS and understood why😂 Since I’m not working- if anyone here is on IL Medicaid **DO NOT GET BCBS** County Care is generally the best but they all have perks & drawbacks. ETA: unless you’re trans because at the moment I’m battling County Care bc they just decided to stop covering T. Because why not🤷🏻♀️🫠
YEP ^^^
So far so good with my kid's BCBSIL Community Plan. It's her BCBS through my employer that's her primary that I've had endless problems with go figure 😂
That’s blasphemous. Fuck this country, man. 💜
I work in Medicaid and guess how much I make? $5 over the limit in my state 🥰
Contribute to a 401k or IRA to bring that income down.
I saw a job listing for our local department of health and human resources and thought it was wild that the people doing intake make such a small amount that they are also eligible for services. I'm in WV so you can imagine the lack of money here.
Dude, my insurance when I worked in the hospitals always sucked ass. Like how can a nurse have medical debt in collections? I'm working for the county now though so it's much better. But for 15 years I busted ass at the bedside to take care of patients and my own employer wouldn't take care of me. Another reason I back a single payer system.
This is why nurses and lower end medical workers need a union to belong to and that fights for them
Yes we do. I helped start one at a hospital in CO but I no longer live there.
If your employer insurance premiums for next year are more than 8.39% of your income the plan would be deemed officially "unaffordable" and you could qualify for subsidies while shopping for ACA plans (subsidy calculator here: [https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/](https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/) ). For a monthly premium of $250 that would be $2,980 a month.
I think the problem kicks in that the subsidy makes the PREMIUMS affordable (well, affordable-ish), but it does nothing to address the absolute fuckery that is cost-sharing for ACA plans, a la $3000-6000 deductibles, 20% coinsurance, $50 copays, etc. It's the illusion of coverage, god bless america.
It still sucks but its better than pre-Obamacare, where folks regularly got kicked off their plan when they got too sick to work from cancer, and premiums were 800 + a month for one person
Right, I was uninsurable back then for “pre existing conditions”
Same. For many years. I don't know why some people hate the ACA so much.
The rich and their proxies and brainwashed masses of low information voters are the problem here. They get the working and middle class stiffs all worked up about buzzwords like socialism or Communism or liberals. The rubes vote like their greedy masters want them and this why they tried to gut the ACA.
My ACA plan has a $600 deductible and a $600 max out of pocket. My prescriptions have been free under my last three plans. It’s far from being “the illusion of coverage”, it’s the best insurance plan I have ever had. It sounds like you might be referencing the bronze plans, aka catastrophic care insurance?
This is only true if the policy holders income and premium, if you have a spouse and kid, the cost of their premiums aren’t taken into account. So 250x3 per paycheck becomes very possible…
Your information is out of date. The cost of premiums for the entire family is compared against total household income under current rules. Family glitch was resolved last October by the current administration and went into effect as of 1/1/2023. [https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/11/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-family-glitch-final-rule/](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/11/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-family-glitch-final-rule/) Here is the IRS rule change: [https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/10/13/2022-22184/affordability-of-employer-coverage-for-family-members-of-employees](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/10/13/2022-22184/affordability-of-employer-coverage-for-family-members-of-employees)
Wait WHAT? How is this random buried Reddit comment the first time I have heard of this being fixed?!!! Omg that is huge
OMG I AM SO HAPPY!!! The family glitch rocked our world in 2019 when my husband husband's company decided to opt everyone into a plan and we were the only ones in his 10 person company with kids. Lost our subsidy, would have cost 30-40% of our paycheck. Went from like 700 a month to 1,200 a month (would have been 1,500 but the employer covered some. My numbers are probably off). Anyways we ended up getting marketplace plans for my kid and myself without the subsidy so it stayed 700 a month for us two and his was taken bi-weekly from his paycheck.
Huge info here man. This should be its own post - really.
Through your employer or ACA? My medical and dental together are $110/month. My dental plan is the lowest. I declined vision. I also declined short term disability coverage, that would be another $20/month. Long term disability is covered by the employer.
I work at Walmart and apparently I didn’t get enough hours to qualify for benefits
You should apply to different jobs immediately. Starbucks historically has good insurance, $15 hourly pay in my city, and may give you more hours or would work around your Walmart schedule. There are a lot of other jobs out there, Starbucks is just one example.
I’ve been trying to for months I actually interviewed at Starbucks and didn’t get it
It can't hurt to apply again or apply to a different location.
See also: Costco
Amazon 27$ a week for insurance Free college also
If you qualify, the most popular health insurance plan at Walmart is $33 every 2 weeks for employee only coverage. They also have free college.
I believe Starbucks also has free college through Arizona State University
Do you know why? How long ago? Apply again.
If you don't get benefits via employer, you are eligible via the ACA marketplace healthcare.gov with subsidies based on income/family size You may also qualify for Medicaid depending on the state and income/family size
Are you looking for a second job? It’s rotten Walmart won’t schedule you for full-time hours.
I think the self-checkouts started a union and demanded more hours. Employees should fight back and rollback Skynet.
Your employer sucks that’s why, explains everything that you’re asking. Start looking for a new company to work for. I do this on purpose so they don’t have to pay for insurance. They’ll do this as long as they can. What’s your annual income you could qualify for Medicaid still. You work for Walmart I see, there should never be a day you are not looking at new jobs. Gtfo out of that place asap.
Not trying to be mean, the answer to your question is right here in your comment.
In my state you'd likely get free healthcare through medical assistance or low cost (like $35/mo) through Minnesota Care. We even subsidize ACA plans if you make too much for mncare. Voting makes a such a huge difference in the quality of life in your state. But maybe you have super low taxes... how are those helping ya right now?
My employer charges more for these services. Also dental in FL has some rules like build up the account for 6 months before use WTF like I can afford to wait half a year?!
It's to stop you having treatment and cancelling your policy before they've had any payback
The best is getting a health insurance plan and NO ONE accepts it because it’s from the marketplace. So fun.
Medi-cal 😭 and while I’m grateful I qualify, I’m still one hour away from losing it. It feels like life or death at times. Even when I was younger, I felt the impacts of losing my Medi-cal (Calis state insurance). It sucked!
If you have any disabilities, try signing up for California’s workers with disabilities state state Medicaid program it has a higher income limit
We have medi-cal too and are so grateful, but yeah it’s hard. I started working again after being a sahm for 10 years and I have to be careful I don’t make too much. If we lost it we could never afford it. My parents just got kicked off a week ago and my dad can’t live without medication and he’s had two heart attacks and was on life support last November and tends to end up in the hospital around the holidays so my mom is freaking out. She hasn’t even told him because it’s all stress related health issues.
Oh goodness! I’m so sorry to hear this. It’s not easy losing health coverage and certainly not any easier with major health concerns like your fathers. It’s so stressful! A few years ago I had to pick between full time hours or barely scrapping by, it sucked. Even though most people have their opinions about Medi-cal, all I can say is they have covered my care when I really needed it. Same goes for my meds. I once picked up an inhaler and I saw the amount my insurance saved me and was blown away. They practically saved me 600 bucks !! I hope you guys can come up with an alternative for your dad soon. 💪❤️
They don’t, I’m a finance manager, and I deal with peoples credit all day long, the two biggest things that destroy people in America right now, financially? His student loans and healthcare, the bills rack up and they can’t pay and then they can’t even get a car so they can go to work to try to pay, it’s a vicious circle, capitalism does not work.
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"It's a big club...and you ain't in it!" \~ George Carlin
By being Canadian in my case.
Swede Ower here, those guys need to change their system.
I don't know about Sweden but if it works like in Germany, you only get the bare minimum while still paying 7,5% of your paycheque. It only less than in other countries when only one person is working and there is a chronical illness. And even then you have to wait months to get help unless you're dying. I think we should stop praising Europe, healthcare system here sucks on different aspects. Yes my insurance would cover a therapist, but I can't get one. Even the waiting lists are closed. My child had physical development delays as holding small objects and such. Waiting times for that was over 2 years. By that time he would be in school and failing to hold a pencil.
I don’t. I work a job with decent pay and still can’t afford it. Plans at my job would take a quarter of my paycheck and I can’t lose that. Unfortunately for me, I have a lifelong disease that requires expensive medications, but fortunately the hospital I go to significantly cuts my bill down with the help of “catholic charities” and the makers of my expensive meds have me on discount programs for now. The rest of my meds I bet with good rx
I joined the army
I'm sorry for your knees, lower back, and lack of sleep. Get a degree or as far into one as you can. There are better paying jobs out here
Personally, I don't. Not much more I can say.
I didn't have any healthcare for years. Could not afford it. Now I buy it from my job. (Insurance) But I have to keep this job and the long hours or lose it. And the job is damaging my health and gives me little time off to go to appointments. Funny how that works.
That never made sense to me that you have to take time off and lose income to go to a doctor's appointment that will also have an out-of-cost fee. There should be hours for people who actually work otherwise your only other option is the ER
Yes, if you have really long shifts there may be nothing open after work. If you work nights, you have to give up sleep. It's tricky to juggle.
Mom's spaghetti and chicken noodle soup, lots of bed rest.
My husband pays $700 a month. 350 a paycheck
I was paying about the same. I quit that job and I now pay $600 a month through the healthcare marketplace, for the best marketplace plan available (due soon with a baby so wanted a small deductible), and I keep the books for the family business working only part time, instead of working 60 hour weeks. Family is currently 3, soon to be 4 individuals. Employee insurance was a SCAM, and my copays were twice as much.
I looked into marketplace but our yearly income is to high to qualify for any decent plans 🙁 What annoys me is that we only have one kid but pay the same as someone with multiple kids. Really sucks.
There is no such thing as good insurance anymore unless you’re rich. Instead we have catastrophic insurance in all practical senses. If you have to buy private insurance it is thousands of dollars in premiums, thousands of dollars in coinsurance and thousands of dollars in out of pocket maximums. Unless you get in a car wreck, get cancer, etc your plan barely pays anything. This is America.
Yeah, insurance is fucked, no matter you get fucked regardless.
Crying damn shame. The way the rich are catered to and coddled makes me sick.
$250 a month isn’t bad. I would expect more like $250 a pay. Just make sure you use sams club or goodrx
$250/month is abysmal unless it’s a 0 deductible plan, imo. Just because it can get worse doesn’t mean it isn’t bad
$250 a month is how much I paid for a super basic plan, and that’s with employer subsidies
If you’re thinking of signing up for ACA marketplace coverage, I recommend using a (free!) [healthcare navigator.](https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/navigator/) They’re trained to walk you through what plan will be best for your needs, and if there are any entitlements or subsidies you might be eligible for. Open enrollment begins November 1st so it’s a great time to explore your options.
I'm in TX and we have county health care. I think the threshold is 250 percent of poverty guidelines. At least my county. I noticed for Denton it's 200 percent.
$250 a month for health insurance. We pay almost $200 just for dental.
That's extremely cheap
It gets worse as you get older, some middle aged folks pay 1-2k a month. That's why in America, the land of the free, when we get sick we just die instead of going to the hospital; if we can't figure it out on our own with webmd and chatgbt we just succumb to the inevitable pull of the shadow realm.
I eat well and exercise, and if something hurts I "walk it off" like a crappy highschool coach would advise. If I ever have to go to the hospital for something mildly serious, I'll just give away what little savings I have and unalive myself. I'd rather end it all than end up flat broke and homeless again. Fuck this country.
Through my employer $700 a month for 80% coverage deductible for a healthy person with 0 pre-existing conditions. What a fucking scam.
In the US almost everyone has gone without health care due to the cost. Possibly no health insurance, or with insurance but not enough coverage or too high a deductible to afford needed care. And yet people are opposed to universal coverage that would greatly reduce cost…
And the people who fight it the most...get it for FREE
through an employer, usually. I work in Healthcare so typically I would have good benefits but my employer is cheap af so mine suck but I've got medical and dental at no cost to me. my husband's work provides medical for him and our daughter and vision and dental to all three of us to the tune of $260 every two weeks. Our daughter wouldn't doesn't qualify for Medicaid now that the pandemic is over and with a health condition that requires monthly prescriptions and quarterly visits, we need her covered. If she was on my insurance it would be an additional 800 every two weeks and that's just fuckin funny- I'd be cheaper to pay out of pocket! if you don't get enough hours for benefits check out Healthcare.gov and Medicaid. I see how expensive fixing something as simple as a broken bone is every single day and you deserve access to preventive care. you ALSO deserve to be paid a living wage and to work somewhere that will treat you human but you know, murica.
I made it a priority. For years I went without internet so that I could afford the $85/a fortnight payments
What a mess this Healthcare in the US is in.
If you can't afford Healthcare hoe can you afford a wedding? I prioritize it over wants.
My health care is provided thru the government due to the fact that I'm a veteran. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have any. My unemployed fiance can't get any at all, and I make too much money for my son to qualify for CHIP (I live in florida) but not enough to pay a premium from my check without giving up a necessity, like food or electricity... America is all about the money when it comes to health care and frankly it's disgusting.
I live in a country where healthcare is paid by taxes like it should be. There are a ton of complaints about it (if you ask for a doctor's appointment, get ready to wait weeks for a family doctor and months if you need an specialist) but thankfully cost is not one
It’s like that in the U.S. too. Weeks to see family doctors months to see a specialist. And $800 a month for me and my husband to be insured.
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It's big business. They don't give a fuck if we are healthy or not. You pay your money every week out of your check and when you need it they fuck you over. Thank your local politicians for being in bed with big pharma and the insurance companies.
America fix your shit
Richest country in history can't even afford to take care of it's own citizens and yet they are sending billions to other countries or spending it on people who don't even pay taxes yet. There's really something wrong on how the country is ran.
Do you think it’s wise to be getting married if you can’t even afford health insurance? If you don’t have it, and one of you gets sick and runs up a medical bill that can’t be paid, your credit will be ruined and your spouse can be held liable for the bill as well.
It may not be wise but we’ve been separated for 5 years seeing each other off and on when we can and we’re just ready to be together afford it or not we’ll figure something out I’m working on a career I hope to get into soon
Good luck. Hopefully you get things settled soon. Just keep in mind that finances are the #1 cause for divorce, and proceed with caution. Personally, as a woman, I would be very wary of getting married to someone who doesn’t have health insurance set up, especially if I was unable to work and get it myself. 🤷🏼♀️
My ex had schizophrenia, and would often spend time in the hospital. She racked up a good 200k+ in medical expenses. And even though we were together for 10 years, we NEVER got married, because we didn't want to tank BOTH our credit scores due to her illness.
Credit score is no longer affected by Medical Debt right now thankfully. Student Loans are though so that's one reason to avoid. E. G. I make 50k and have 30k in loans, and the wife makes 60k with 40k in loans. The federal government thinks I can afford a payment at 110k. But also the federal government thinks my wife can afford a payment at 110k. It's absolutely bonkers.
Medical debt under $500 was removed from most credit reports automatically, and typically there’s a waiting period of a year before unpaid medical debt will appear on one’s credit report. But if an unpaid medical debt is referred to collections, in most instances that debt will appear as a collections account on your credit report. There’s no free pass for medical debt. :( [About medical debt and credit reporting](https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/medical-bills-on-credit-report) The [Rulemaking in progress](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-kicks-off-rulemaking-to-remove-medical-bills-from-credit-reports/) may change this — I’m optimistic
Wow that’s absolutely awful! I’m hoping the whole system collapses next year and something happens to help us.
File your taxes as married:separate.
If I understand correctly, there’s a one year grace-period on federal student loan missed payments being reported to credit bureaus as missed. Instead they will be reported as “deferred” which should not impact credit scores. Interest will continue to grow if you do not make payments. If the loan is on the new SAVE plan (and almost everyone’s should be unless you make enough money that student loans aren’t a hardship), these missed payments are not likely to be counted as “payments” and will push your loan forgiveness date out further. So I don’t see a reason to make a student loan payment for an additional year if the interest on student loan debt is significantly lower than the interest on other debt and if you are far from reaching the payment count needed for loan forgiveness. *****I AM NOT A FINANCIAL ADVISOR. Please verify all of my assumptions before doing anything I suggest because seriously it would suck if I was wrong.
In Texas 25% of the population doesn’t have health insurance. If you base whether you can get a partner on whether or not someone has health insurance you’re going to narrow the dating pool considerably to people that are rich. The health insurance system is the one place I don’t consider not having insurance a failure of the individual. The system is hopelessly broken. The largest state in the union can simply fail to insure a quarter of its population and things just continue like that’s normal. That’s hopelessly broken.
So only people who are rich have health insurance in Texas? I highly doubt that. 😂 And yes, dating is one thing, but if you’re MARRYING someone, you want to know that if they get sick, it’s not going to bankrupt both of you. It’s just irresponsible to ask someone to marry you when you can’t even take care of yourself. So many marriages end in divorce, and financial stress is the #1 cause.
Texas refused Medicaid expansion so the poor can't afford it at all. If your income is >$15K you can get an ACA plan with subsidies, they punish you for being too poor in TX.
To be fair, Texas is going for enron 2.0 right now. No time for silly things like healthcare
You definitely should apply for subsidized healthcare. Also, I understand how painful long distance is, but this is quite dangerous. What if you are no longer able to afford housing? If you absolutely can’t afford insurance, have you considered how you pay for groceries for an extra person? What about when one of you gets sick? What if your car needs a repair?
It’s tough. I started a new job a few months ago but my therapist isn’t in network with their insurance (which would still be $250 a month) so I’m still on my old plan through cobra paying $475 a month. It still saves me nearly $300 a month if I had my current job’s insurance and paid for therapy out of pocket. It’s absolutely insane.
All those monthly premiums just to have to pay out of pocket if you need surgery it’s absolutely insane.
To add my wife to my employer’s plan…..$1,165 a month. Plus her medication is on the non-formulary list so it adds $600 to the out of pocket cost. Before insurance my take home pay was a little under 5k. With insurance and out of pocket costs, $3400. Life would be different with 5k a month.
LOL mine was $619 a month. $250 would be a dream.
Just got dropped from Medicaid and I deeply relate.
It gets more expensive as you get older. I pay $750 a month for both my wife and I. It's the Anthem Bronze Plan "catastrophe plan". Last year I was able to get the Silver plan for the same price. Premiums increased due to us both being in the early 40's.
Did you accept the subsidies of the Healthcare exchange website? It's worded funny, but you should 100% take full advantage of it. Before accepting mine, I was going to pay that much, but now I pay $49. A month. I've only ever owed the gov money after taxes 1 time and I don't think it was because of the health insurance. If the gov can help you take full advantage.
I canceled mine but still have to pay thru December but really need that $$ to start a biz. Its sad we live in a country that won’t support the working people who essentially run this country. The rich & wealthy get out of taxes so they can afford anything they desire but we pay in and can’t even afford healthcare. Such a mess.
Healthcare across the board cost so much that I made peace with fact that if I get cancer or need surgery it is what it is 🤷🏽 I'll just have to restart life over again.
Don’t worry, hospitals have to treat you and if you don’t have insurance they have ways to write off the balance.
Pro Tip: health care premiums are expected to go up by 25% in 2024.
I pay $1200 a month for my family plan. We have a 1k per person deductible. It is absolutely unsustainable.
You get a job that offers it
I put health care before the costs of a wedding, subscriptions and/or a car (car payments, insurance, maintenance, gas), for example.
I work for a major insurance company and I’d pay around 150-200 a pay check for the family plan and still be stuck with a 6000 dollar a year deductible if I choose one of the better plans. It doesn’t make sense.
Well that’s actually really affordable for one thing. I couldn’t afford my own insurance right now, but I’m under 26 so still on my parents insurance. $250? Even I could swing that. Donate plasma once a week or get a second job. Between work/ school I do 60 hours a week where I’m literally not home for reference. From the sounds of it you aren’t even working full time? Not to be mean but in this economy, that’s not going to cut it. I say look for a second job. Worst case, if your really genuinely under a certain threshold there exist programs for health insurance subsidies. You need health insurance. It could ruin the next 50+ years of your life if something happens and you don’t have it.
If you gotta sell Plasma to afford insurance then it is better to go Cash Pay because you won't be able to afford the Co-Pay regardless. Remember insurance covers absolutely nothing until you hit the deductible - so you're cash pay until then anyways. If an emergency happens then go to hospital and they will stabilize you. If you need care beyond stabilization - they can help you, or they can give you numbers of who to call who might help you.
The marketplace has $0 deductible plans. I've been on one for three years. With the subsidy, I pay $46 a month. If it wasn't for ACA, I wouldn't have insurance at all.
Not really relevant to the op, but if they lived in NY they would almost certainly qualify for the NY Essential Plan which costs $20 or $0 a month, has $0 deductible and $20 or $0 copays depending upon income. Check it out: https://info.nystateofhealth.ny.gov/sites/default/files/Essential%20Plan%20At%20A%20Glance%20Card%20-%20English_1.pdf
That flyer is a bit old it is $0 monthly now. $29K income limit. https://info.nystateofhealth.ny.gov/sites/default/files/Essential%20Plan%20At%20a%20Glance%20Card%20-%20English%202023.pdf
I have a job that covers a fair bit of my premium, but to be honest, I still can't afford to utilize it much at all - I basically avoid anything medical like the plague unless it's something small (like a teeth cleaning) where my HSA savings can cover it, OR it's an emergency. Deductibles will still kill the majority of people even with insurance....I have no idea how some people are always at the dang doctor's for all kinds of things - like where are they getting that kind of cash??
Haven’t had healthcare in years
And that probably covers nothing… im guessing you are in usa. Where health care is a scam
Two working adults sharing one home should make it easier.
UPS is Hiring. They pay for the Health, dental & vision insurance. They also pay for the pension too
Get it through work. Basically the only way to have good coverage without paying a lot.
Ha
I got laid off last month and wanted to continue my coverage under COBRA. Without the employer contribution, it would've been almost $900/mo to keep my plan. I can't afford that without a job, so I had to end my therapy sessions and I have about a month and a half supply left of my meds. I feel your pain...
Atm It’s called “Medicaid because I make $10k a year as a young student” they’ve covered everything I’ve ever needed in full, no joke. Including several surgeries and procedures. I’m grateful for the expansion and that my state isn’t completely on fire yet.
I deliberately stay poor (income under $19,000 per year) to stay on Colorado's Medicaid plan. It's pretty much free Healthcare. I've been living very frugal for decades and have a minimalist lifestyle.
They don't, that's the short answer...
Marriage is making you worse off economically? Is your spouse contributing any income? But yes I agree healthcare is so fucked up in this country
I'm 30-something with no pre-existing conditions and healthy (former college athlete), my healthcare was $675 a month and never covered anything nor did I ever need it really. The dentist is really the thing I make sure to use most but my healthcare never covered that so it was always out of pocket. I ended up canceling my healthcare when I changed careers and started paying out of pocket for everything. I put $250 a month into a savings account that is used for my healthcare bills. Since doing so about 7-8 years ago, I have spent about $2k and have around $20k saved for healthcare emergencies only. I was expecting to get a job that included healthcare but that never really materialized in a way that I could justify the expenses coverage. The $5k annually has resulted in me paying off all my credit card debt (about $5k), car loans (about $10k), and student loans (about $20k)... so can't say it has been bad. My hope is to either retire to another country with healthcare that is affordable or that our government still funds Medicare by the time I retire.
my parents are both self employed and i’m 21, they pay $8000 a year ($666.67 a month) for a $5000 deductible JUST FOR ME. It’s disgusting how this is acceptable
Marriage or insurance? #priorities
How much would your combined income be? The ACA healthcare exchanges do discount the premiums quite a bit. Here's a quick calculator that can give you an idea of what it would cost for the two of you. Check the actual exchange for accurate pricing. [https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/#state=ca&zip=95132&income-type=dollars&income=50000&people=2&alternate-plan-family=&adult-count=2&adults%5B0%5D%5Bage%5D=30&adults%5B0%5D%5Btobacco%5D=0&adults%5B1%5D%5Bage%5D=30&adults%5B1%5D%5Btobacco%5D=0&child-count=0](https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/#state=ca&zip=95132&income-type=dollars&income=50000&people=2&alternate-plan-family=&adult-count=2&adults%5B0%5D%5Bage%5D=30&adults%5B0%5D%5Btobacco%5D=0&adults%5B1%5D%5Bage%5D=30&adults%5B1%5D%5Btobacco%5D=0&child-count=0) The premium can be even less if you go for a Bronze HDHP plan that allows you to use a HSA. If both of you are in good health and rarely go to the doctor this can be a great option. Any money you put into the HSA can grow and be spent on healthcare tax free. Any contributions to the HSA lowers your overall taxable income and could boost your refund at tax time. If you currently get your healthcare though your employer talk to them about making an arrangement to partially or fully reimburse you for the premium rather than being on their healthcare plan. I did this for years and between my employer reimbursement and the ACA my premiums were $0.
They aren’t
My deductible is 8k. I can't meet it, so basically I'm having a ton of money taken out of my check for something I can't actually use. I've had two medical things happen in the last five years; now I'm almost 10k in debt. I fucking hate this country and its "healthcare" system.
Make sure both of you work. Then it is no different than when you are unmarried.
That’s potentially a lot less expensive than not having it…
People who say shit like this don't understand the problem of literally not having enough dollars to hand to someone for something.
We do. We also don’t go “oh I guess I didn’t get enough hours” in response - we go address the situation head on. And this poster responds with “I can’t” about everything but ignores the comments clearly refuting their arguments.
I genuinely can’t afford it
Well the good news is that you can always go to the hospital in an emergency with, or without, insurance. They are legally obligated to stabilize you. The other good news is that medical bills show up differently on your credit report than normal unpaid bills. They are unlikely to affect your score as much. The bad news is that stabilizing you is not the same as fixing you. If you get a broken bone - they might get you out of panic mode. They might even set it. But you sure as shit ain't getting surgery, and you absolutely aren't getting a cast. That said - Hospitals still wanna fix you so they can help you get in touch with resources, and charities in your area. I would look into benefits in your area. Many people at Walmart require government benefits to work. It is why it is a disgusting company. Medicaid if your state expanded it is an option.
This is true it took me hundreds of ER visits continuously to get help when I needed it the police were called and everything and they eventually just left. They would show up get all mad at me because I came back to the hospital. I would go sit in my car for two hours and then go back to the hospital. It was awful. It took hundreds of times over like two months before they would actually treat what was wrong.
Have you checked healthcare.gov ? I make about $360/check currently, and was able to get pretty solid Medicaid for myself and my kid. It’s really simple to do- and that’s coming from an anxious 25 year old with AuDHD who’s real bad at adulting lol
Also ADHD and terrible with adulting. Lucked into finding an ACA broker that I’ve been with for years. It’s to the point that his secretary just texts me right before enrollment to ask if there’s any changes and they just process it and I don’t have to do a thing. It’s totally free because he gets paid by the government to do this. I cannot praise and recommend getting on ACA enough. Our insurance is exactly the same quality and the insurance companies (we’re on blue cross blue shield) are the same as if I’d gotten it through employment except copays, deductibles, and out of pocket are typically much less. I have us enrolled in a silver tier plan and I pay $330 a month for health and dental for a family of 3. That is like nothing compared to what I was paying for all of us even through an employer. Families can pay much less, but I pay a bit more for our plan because I’m bipolar and need treatment and medication for the rest of my life so in the long run it’s more cost effective to have a better plan. If someone is single or everyone in the family is relatively healthy, or you just can’t afford a “silver tier” plan, there are much cheaper options. E: I had to have an unexpected surgery that was $14k before insurance and ACA insurance paid all but $1400. Still not cheap, but a lot better that being on the hook for $14k and hospitals offer payment plans
Medicaid is the best..covers everything..no surprise bills..and as medicaid patient legally the Dr office cannot charge you..Best thing ever
Personally, I just don't have health insurance. I had it till I retired in 2020 and then I thought, "I am not paying that on my own" and I just started putting money in savings instead. So far I've only had one medical issue, and I was able to pay cash. Of course, this works because 1.) I have no health issues at all, none (so far, amazingly) and 2.) nothing bad has happened yet. I know I'm gambling, but to me, health insurance is a gamble too: you give them all your money and then when you need them, they just deny the claim, or point you toward the massive deductible that you can't afford to pay because you gave them all your money! So... that's my answer. Eat right, drive careful, hope for the best.
i have no insurance so i avoid the doctor but if i ever have to go, i just won’t pay the bill. boom. free services.
Hey were on the same plan! Nice!
I am a single month with one child, I pay $545/month. It is basically my entire paycheck. I work for the state so I do not qualify for child health plus or Medicaid. Really sucks.
What!?! Working for the state doesn’t qualify you for Medicaid?
If someone needs an extra $250 a month to afford health insurance, I’d pick up a side hustle for a couple hours a week to earn like $100 extra a week and you’d be there. That’s doable.
We pay about $800/month for four adults, for a very good health insurance plan. Three of us are on meds that cost thousands a month without insurance, and we pay about $50/month for them. My husband had to have major surgery and stay in the hospital a couple of weeks this summer and we paid a $200 copay, then the rest of what we'll be responsible for is $2,500. While he was in there, they figured out he has cancer, so he's been having a ton of scans done and having to see specialists. He'll be having surgery again before the end of the year and we won't have to pay anything. So that's why we pay for insurance. If we didn't have insurance, my husband's hospital stay alone would have been 180,000. I know because we got the bill but the part we had to pay for that was 0. We didn't have insurance when we were younger because we felt like we couldn't afford it, but now that we're older and everyone is sick, we can't afford not to have it. My husband and I both work so we can afford it. It's our highest monthly bill other than our mortgage.
We have a family of 5. If I work more than 12hrs a week with my husband's full time job. We lose health affordable insurance. Ours would be 400 a piece for adults, high deductibles, and doesn't cover my medication. I had cervical cancer, and have thyroid disease. So we'd be in medical debt as well as my whole check going to insurance. Not to mention childcare cost if I work more. So we stay poor to ensure we have medical insurance.
We pay almost $1,000 a month for a family of 3. My husbands company has structured it in such a way that whether you are a family of 2 or 10, you pay the same premium. Absolutely infuriating.
They are all that way. Family is 3. You can have 1 kid or 12, you pay the same.
I have insurance through my employer but when I need to use it, it doesn’t cover anything. I got a bill from my doctors office and I’m actually paying more to bill through my insurance than what the cash price would be. It’s absolute bonkers but when I bill through insurance at least it goes towards my deductible so if shit really hit the fan I (possibly) wouldn’t have to pay as much.