Is ObamaCare saving you money?

[Gailete]

You know, not to sound unkind but it somewhat amuses me to hear people gripe about how they don't know what they are going to do because they can't afford insurance. People, this is but a small sampling of what those of us with significant health issues have been dealing with for decades.

Precisely! We have the same problem and my husband is going blind because currently we haven't got the $30K+ needed to replace one cornea, although he needs both done, at least one will give him usable vision.

Yes, because the thought there is that if you are spending that much on healthcare out of pocket, paying for the insurance is likely to be cheaper at that point.

Hardly! When I filled out the application the first time for hubby the cheapest policy for him was $250+/month=$3000+/year, Then there is the deductible which was around $6000-6500. Please remember that the monthly premiums don't count against the deductible. So before he gets a single solitary penny of help from the insurance we have to put out the over $6000 and be paying also for the monthly premium. So his $3-4000 a year we are already paying out of pocket for him is far less than the monthly cost plus deductible and then once they do pitch in, depending on your policy they will only cover 60% to 90% of the bill and you have to fork out the rest until you meet your total out of pocket maximum which also varies. this of course is still on top of all my medical expenses and Medicare premiums, supplemental policies, Medicare D policies and co-pays. Our out of pocket fluctuates between $6500 to $10,000 a year and that is a HUGE percentage of our income. Our medical costs have made a huge impact on our lives for our entire married life. Of course when we got married, we expected me to continue working as a nurse (with nurse wages), but I got sick and couldn't work anymore within the first month.

Anyhow, not having the money to pay for health insurance doesn't mean that if we did, things would be cheaper. It could run us thousands more yearly depending on what premium is available to him.

[ua_guy]

Hardly! When I filled out the application the first time for hubby the cheapest policy for him was $250+/month=$3000+/year, Then there is the deductible which was around $6000-6500. Please remember that the monthly premiums don't count against the deductible. So before he gets a single solitary penny of help from the insurance we have to put out the over $6000 and be paying also for the monthly premium. So his $3-4000 a year we are already paying out of pocket for him is far less than the monthly cost plus deductible and then once they do pitch in, depending on your policy they will only cover 60% to 90% of the bill and you have to fork out the rest until you meet your total out of pocket maximum which also varies. this of course is still on top of all my medical expenses and Medicare premiums, supplemental policies, Medicare D policies and co-pays. Our out of pocket fluctuates between $6500 to $10,000 a year and that is a HUGE percentage of our income. Our medical costs have made a huge impact on our lives for our entire married life. Of course when we got married, we expected me to continue working as a nurse (with nurse wages), but I got sick and couldn't work anymore within the first month.

Anyhow, not having the money to pay for health insurance doesn't mean that if we did, things would be cheaper. It could run us thousands more yearly depending on what premium is available to him.

See ACA rules on what percentage of your income makes paying health insurance premiums a financial hardship. That would opt you out of having to buy exchange plans or paying the penalty.

What happens if you or your husband racks up a $150,000 inpatient stay without insurance? What then? Will you declare BK?

[Gailete]

What happens if you or your husband racks up a $150,000 inpatient stay without insurance? What then? Will you declare BK?

If you had read all my posts, you would or should have seen that we want to get insurance for hubby, but we can't pay close to 2/3 of our income for it! We are willing to buy it if we can get an affordable plan and I intend to by tomorrow so he is covered starting in February. Him not having insurance all these years has been a huge strain on us financially as we pay for all his care out of pocket. We have no plans to file for bankruptcy neither here or in the future. If I can't find affordable insurance for him, and we ended up with a medical bill like that we would pay for a little each month until paid. As for me, I can't at this point rack up that much in hospital bills as I am covered under Medicare and a good Medicare supplement (both that we pay for, they don't come free). I walk out of each hospitalization owing nothing. We are very aware of where Medicare payments come from and so we try to be very careful with those Medicare resources, and eliminate unneeded tests and procedures after consulting with my doctor. My last surgery that I could have had 4 days in the hospital, I was doing good enough that doc said if I was feeling up to it I could go home early and I did!

One thing we have done during this time frame is I made sure that we have the highest medical policy amount for in case hubby is in a car accident so that would be covered in full or at least a good part. One of the biggest reasons a guy like him would end up in the hospital is a motor vehicle accident. One thing I learn when I worked at a hospital is that the first hour to hours in an ER for a traffic accident can chew up the minimum $5-10,000 policy in no time flat, especially if they had to Life Flight someone in to the hospital. The extra for the extended policy is less than $100 per year and in my mind well worth it.

[hamchan]

Him not having insurance all these years has been a huge strain on us financially as we pay for all his care out of pocket. We have no plans to file for bankruptcy neither here or in the future. If I can't find affordable insurance for him, and we ended up with a medical bill like that we would pay for a little each month until paid.

This only works until they sue you and start draining your bank account. Totally legal. It happened to me. The only way to.stop it is to pay it off or file bankruptcy.

DH would be dead without insurance. They don't give you your prescriptions unless you pay for them, and there is no way we could ever pay $5000+ a month on our own.

I hope you find a plan that works for you.

[Gailete]

I hope you find a plan that works for you.

I have for his basic care, but we will have to figure something else out about his cornea surgery as the Cleveland Clinic only participates with one of the insurances being offered, and it wasn't on my list of potential insurances for my state. The joys of living where three states come together, When you don't have to involve insurance, you can go to any specialist in the tri-state area, but insurance companies go by particular states when issuing policies, so there might as well be a Berlin type wall including the armed gaurds between states when it comes to being covered with insurance.