What kind of health insurance coverage do you have?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Except try paying for it entirely OOP. After our experience with how expensive it is imagine paying $650/month with $6k/$13k deductible and you start to look at it differently. That's 2 kids and 2 adults. You do get what you pay for but when you are already paying a lot for the premium to cover everything else out of pocket. And all prescriptions are not covered, it's hard to not try to hedge and ask for generics. The grass seems greener until you are there.

I'm scrambling to get back on employer provided coverage which will be probably around $20 co pays and 100% coverage and no deductible for $260/month family plan.

I can honestly say that I am unsure how and if we'll give up employer provided insurance again. It will be difficult when we want to retire early.

[Outdoorsygal]

Per the online headlines, the Health Plan I signed up for is illegal for me. So Native Americans, beware!
It really just means Indians can’t have visited an IHS (Indian Health Service) Clinic or Hospital for medical care within the last 3 months of owing a HSA. https://moolenaar.house.gov/media-ce...health-savings.

MEDICAL/DENTAL

1.Kaiser plan is mostly catastrophic. Pay $3500 deductible and stuff kicks in. $60 Doc visit. No drugs.
Bronze HSA 3500/30 w/one free preventative care visit per yr. If Doc records it as a sick visit, it will cost me $60. Drugs can be sent to my Indian Health clinic for a discount.

2 Medical Helicopter /Life Flight- (CaLstar) Unlimited for $2.25 a month. The price of a cup of coffee. In 2017, it will go up to $5 a mo. merging with other Calif. Life Flights. Good for travelers and those with HSA accounts. Just don’t mention you have Health Insurance and you’ll keep your HSA funds intact.

http://www.calstar.org/%28X%281%29A%2810l3dHUn0gEkAAAANGU2MmU4ZWMtNDEzZi00YjdkLWI2MGEtNDY4ZDY2YmY1YmZmFVFgOVanmnO-22pvt-KaFyvBUpA1%29%29/membership/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

3. Dental- Ameritas Dental Plan but it is free overall for me at the Indian Clinic, no deductibles either. They bill the plan though. Ameritas Dental cost me $8.25 a mo. (Employer pays 85%). $50 deductible not paid... nor any percentages that come into play for Type 2 (cavities, root canals, fillings, wisdom tooth extractions.
Type 3- I pay. severe problems like Crowns, Bridges, Dentures… I pay the 20% of the bill + $50 deductible due to being farmed out to a specialist from the Indian Clinic

4. Chiropractor/Acupuncture. $15 a visit, to 20 visits per year. This is a Rider w/my Kaiser plan which allows me to see my private Chiropractor (what luck! ) because he contacts out with Kaiser. They have no Chiropractic Dept. I’ve never used acupuncture and since i have back issues, will keep my 20 visits allowed for the Chiro portion.

5. Medication- Discount of 30% at the Native American Clinic. After $3500 deductible, it is $15 generic/$30 brand name

6. Vision- VSP insurance. Typical insurance- free monthly exam w/glasses. Free at the Indian Clinic but the Clinic bills VSP for my services


My 51 yr old husband is on our Dental /Vision Combo Plan for $55 per month. My company won’t pay for him but allows him on the plan.
He will soon have a Kaiser HSA via the Marketplace so some catastrophic coverage will be provided.
His monthly fee will be generously off-set by the subsidy so it will not cost us anything in the end. He hardly ever gets sick and only uses Dental Care.



.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

we didnt' qualify for the subsidy this year and last.

[disneysteve]

Our new HDHP/HSA plan started 8/1. I got my first HSA deduction yesterday and sent the money off to the bank. Assuming it's in the account in time, we'll make the first use of those funds on Thursday. It will be nice essentially getting a 25% discount on out of pocket costs from now on by paying with pre-tax dollars.

[Outdoorsygal]

Our new HDHP/HSA plan started 8/1. I got my first HSA deduction yesterday and sent the money off to the bank. Assuming it's in the account in time, we'll make the first use of those funds on Thursday. It will be nice essentially getting a 25% discount on out of pocket costs from now on by paying with pre-tax dollars.

That's wonderful. Saving $$ without any effort!

[Outdoorsygal]

we didnt' qualify for the subsidy this year and last.

That's too bad, I'm sorry
I was wrong. We ended up paying $128 a month for him to have a bronze 4500 deductible Anthem Blue Cross Plan. Next time we might go with a Christian Care Healthcare Ministry instead. It's cheaper with a lower deductible

[disneysteve]

That's wonderful. Saving $$ without any effort!

Yep. I'll max the HSA with $6,750 this year so I'll avoid paying taxes on that money. 25% of $6,750 is $1,687.50 that I won't pay in taxes that I otherwise would have.

[Outdoorsygal]

Yep. I'll max the HSA with $6,750 this year so I'll avoid paying taxes on that money. 25% of $6,750 is $1,687.50 that I won't pay in taxes that I otherwise would have.

Good for you! $1,687.50 is ALOT.
Last month my company offered it to me. But after doing much re-search, choosing a Credit union that pays 1% (good for this area and offers up to 2% CD"s) my company backed out. They announced they would not be funding any of the Supervisors HSA accounts. Oh well...It makes it especially inspiring to hear about others being able to do it thru their employers. I guess you know you cannot access it until age 65 freely without a hefty penalty but it's still a great deal!

[disneysteve]

I guess you know you cannot access it until age 65 freely without a hefty penalty but it's still a great deal!

At least at the moment, we'll be spending every penny of it. Our annual out of pocket medical expenses last year exceeded the max we can put into the HSA and will again this year and next year most likely.

[Outdoorsygal]

Yep. I'll max the HSA with $6,750 this year so I'll avoid paying taxes on that money. 25% of $6,750 is $1,687.50 that I won't pay in taxes that I otherwise would have.

http://www.chpa.org/HSAHouseBill070616.aspx This bill passed the house so it might be prudent to keep all of your over the counter medication receipts for tax purposes.
Maybe even gather extra receipts if you are ever just standing there doing nothing. When waiting in line at rite aid pharmacy, there is an open small trash can adjacent the water fountain & blood pressure machine so I gathered almost $100 in receipts just while waiting in line for a prescription.

[disneysteve]

http://www.chpa.org/HSAHouseBill070616.aspx This bill passed the house so it might be prudent to keep all of your over the counter medication receipts for tax purposes.

I hope that passes. Especially as more and more common meds go OTC, this becomes a bigger issue. For example, my wife and daughter both take a formerly Rx allergy med that is now OTC so no longer covered by our prescription plan.

[Outdoorsygal]

I hope that passes. Especially as more and more common meds go OTC, this becomes a bigger issue. For example, my wife and daughter both take a formerly Rx allergy med that is now OTC so no longer covered by our prescription plan.

Yes that stuff like Claritin D is pretty expensive. Almost $1 a pill in our area

I take one 12 hr Claritin D every few days to not wake up gasping for air. We are looking to buy a home at a higher elevation for better air quality then ween off Claritin. Hopefully your wife is on allergy meds only seasonally, they say that stuff is nasty for your body. But you know that. So many folks here have breathing issues and are ending up on BPAP's. We have the 12th worst air quality in the nation. I've been grilling and eating alot of ginger and garlic hoping that will help.

[frugal saver]

My medical is $662 a month ($440 before ACA started)--100% employer paid.

I feel bad about it because nothing ever happens to me--maybe an injury every so often. I counted it up one time and I could have gone to the nearby Med7 and paid cash and the last ten years would have come to $200 or so.

To the poster that gets wonderful medical insurance from his $62 a month union dues--I pay $58 for mandatory union dues. We get a $10 discount for tickets to the fair and to Disneyland for that. It's nice you're in a union that actually does something for you.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

We just got back on employer provided coverage and it's a relief I'll admit. I have to admit to sort of delaying stuff because paying out of pocket is painful. It also is painful to pay OOP and have a premium that's very expensive. Right now for a family it's $130/biweekly pay period which works out to $180/month for family epo Aetna. Pretty much everything covered just copays. I think our deductible is $250 or $500. Slightly worse coverage than we had with our last employer provided coverage but still. VERY good coverage and one I am not complaining about.

We also now have dental and vision. So we'll start back up again.