health insurance question (FL)

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Phreakwars:
To digress on what I was getting at about selling policy's over state lines... Like I said "IN THEORY" it sounds like a good idea, but in reality, it is a TERRIBLE idea... here's why..

Credit cards.

We probably all have one.. one thing many of them have in common, is they are issued from South Dakota. You might not realize this unless you look real close and read the fine print, but a large percentage of cards are issued from that state.. Why do you think this is?

South Dakota has the most LAX protections when it comes to credit cards. The laws there allow the companies to charge ridiculous interest rates. The rates can be as high as 29.99%. This is almost the same as predatory lending. They used to be able to charge even more then that till a law was passed limiting them. It's a great way to keep someone who is unaware in revolving debt.

There is no reason whatsoever to believe selling insurance policy's across state lines will be any different. What will happen, is you end up with some provider who will sell you health care real cheap, offer a ridiculous deductible that you'll probably never reach, and offer you ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- coverage...

Funny thing about that, is it is my belief, that if policy's were sold across state line's, Florida would be the new South Dakota... I'm sorry, but when it comes to health care, Florida is the worst!!

I could totally see some bastard provider in Florida offering cheap policy's that don't cover ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- to all Americans in every state. I actually feel real real bad for people in Florida... nice state to visit, but it is ruled by greed. And as an effect... the people suffer.

Phreakwars:
Oh, and just one more thing.

You know in that first post of mine where I said you probably SHOULDN'T buy healthcare at this point.. Let me give you some solid advise.. But first, YES, I am a progressive. But I'm not one of those with a stick up ---my bottom--- and blinders on to what the ACA is and has done.

I am not at all for repealing because of the reasons I have mentioned, but I am for improving it. So my suggestion in the mean time is this..

Pay the fine, it's not as bad as you might think. Then invest in an HSA.

One of the things Trump said he wanted to do, and I am gonna tell you he was straight up lying his ass off, is make a law so that everyone can invest in an HSA.

Why was he lying his ass off?

Because you already CAN invest in one, you don't need a ---gosh-darn--- law to let you do it. All you need is GOOGLE.

How much do you put in? As a rule of thumb, go with 1 Dr. Visit's worth a month for starters.

Say a typical Dr's visit runs you $100, then go $100 a month.. $1200

The MAXIMUM you can be fined in the ACA, is $2085, add in $100 a month on the HSA, you have a grand total of $3285 ($695 per adult, $347.50 per child under 18), or $273.75 a month for health care, AT MOST !!

At minimum, your talking $157.91 a month.

This is a good plan if you very seldom ever need a Dr. And since an HSA will carry over, if you only see a doc every couple of years, you'll never have to worry about the bill. Just whip out the HSA card, pay up with it on the spot, be on your merry way.

But keep in mind, this method does not give you catastrophic coverage, and will not maintain you for very long if you need an expensive medication for an extended time. I would only recommend doing this, if you are young (under 40) and healthy.

Otherwise, one is pretty much at the mercy of insurance companies, even if the ACA is repealed.

ark_ader:

--- Quote from: SNAAKE on January 21, 2017, 12:27:52 am ---
--- Quote from: ark_ader on January 20, 2017, 07:00:59 pm ---Can she get medicade

--- End quote ---

you mean medicaid?

--- End quote ---

No medicade - this is BYOAC after all. :duckhunt

In all seriousness go to a country that has socialized medicine. I know it is not ethical to be a medical tourist, but it can be cost effective.

dkersten:
The max penalty per adult for not having insurance in 2016 is $695. The max for a family is $2085.

In order to be able to use an HSA, you need a high deductible medical plan. Usually this kind of insurance is cheaper monthly but has a 100% out of pocket deductible, after which the plan starts covering you. Max you can contribute per year into an HSA is around $3350 for a single adult, $6750 for a family. I maxed my HSA deductible ($2100 100% out of pocket before it kicks in for 100% coverage) in the first 2 weeks in both 2015 and 2016, and in 2015 spent around $4500 in out of pocket medical (including dental work, glasses, contacts, and other medical stuff not covered in my regular insurance), so that limit hit me hard. On the other hand, if I don't use my HSA at all, I can earn interest on it and even use it toward retirement later. OR, I can use it for all sorts of medical related things, like laser eye surgery. Considering my Fed tax alone is 25%, and the HSA lowers my taxable income (no SS/Fica, no state taxes), it ends up saving me right around 43% on anything medical. My goal this year is to get it maxed to $6750 (added my kids this year) but my daughter's insulin pump alone will run nearly $8k, so we will see what happens, lol.

Trump already signed an executive order to end ACA, but it can't really do much by itself. Dismantling it will take time. I believe it did come with a regulatory freeze, which will mean no more increases in rates until it is all sorted out. Every single person I know who was forced into Obamacare had to pay substantially more when it started, and their rates went up by 20-80% in the last year. If you work for a company that has a health plan, no matter how bad or expensive, under ACA, you HAVE to take that health plan. You don't qualify for ACA if your employer has a plan available. And if you are below the poverty line, you can't have it either, you have to use Medicaid, which many states do not let you do unless you are a woman with kids. There are glaring holes in ACA. Not saying that some kind of government funded program isn't worthwhile, it just needs to be set up right, have the support of the states, not have holes in it, and doesn't cost more than what people could get before (or put businesses out of business or force them to cut hours).

Regardless of what happens with ACA, I would still pursue health insurance if you don't have it. One little health issue can cost you tens of thousands of dollars, and if you can't pay it off quick, bankruptcy is your only option these days, and even bankruptcy is not as simple or cheap as it used to be.

Hell yes it is expensive.. Why do you think so many kids still live at home these days, often beyond their 30's..

pbj:
Tax savings on HSAs are chicken scratch. I've argued with my HR department over their plugging that benefit. That money is better served going into a retirement account unless you have predictable and expensive medical care costs.

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