Posted on 11/08/2012 9:09:59 AM PST by YankeeinOkieville
It is time to renew benefits for 2013 at my place of employment - a fortune 100 company. I've been waiting for the election to be over to see which way the winds of misfortune blow before deciding to continue with my current health care plan or just let the government take care of me. Now that it looks like Obamacare will be the tax law of the land, can anyone tell me what penalty will be imposed and who would collect it if I opt out of my company's health insurance?
Are others thinking of doing this? I know it isn't the smartest thing in the world to be without health care coverage when it is readily available and the company picks up most of that cost but what other considerations can y'all think of that might be pertinent to this decision?
Oh, and I think Oklahoma is one of the states that told the Feds to pound salt but who knows where that leaves Okies when this all shakes out.
That's what the government is there for . . . apparently
If your company has an HR benefits department, go talk to them before you make any decisions since it's possible they may be planning to host an employee seminar.
Does your company offer more than one plan? If so, do they offer a high deduct/catastrophic plan? If so, do that one. Don’t drop out if you have any assets you care about.
see post 20
I don’t have a choice at my employer.
However, this year I reached the top of my payscale - no more raises indefinitely. Even if I weren’t, salaries are frozen, indefinitely.
I’ve been considering asking my employer if they would hire me as an independent contractor at the same cost to them (perhaps less their 401(k) contribution to help sweeten the deal), and then forming a c-corp to hire myself. So far, the numbers look good, but the health insurance is the big question.
My wife and I are in our 40s and healthy with no children. We’d actually prefer to have some sort of catastrophic coverage and then pay out of pocket for routine stuff and hospital bills, especially if we could swing an HSA like we have now for our high deductible plan.
I googled self-employed health insurance and all I got was a bunch of scam/quote/useless sites though. Not sure where to find good info on what the costs would be and what options there are, plus it’s all subject to change virtually every year for the forseeable future.
I think the first step would be to find a doctor we like that will take cash, but assuming we did that, the rest of it is difficult to nail down.
I concur.
If you go with a high deductible plan make sure you open and contribute to an HSA. It’s pre-tax so it is like another 401K.
. and it isn’t “use it or lose it.”
My wife is working on some of this stuff now for her employer. It is a giant nightmare to understand. Her employer generously pays most of the health insurance costs of its employees and their families. The average employer-paid health benefit is around $1,000 per month.
Under Obamacare, that apparently gets reported as income now and either we will have to pay federal income tax on it, $280 per month, or the emplyer must absorb the additional cost. The employer cannot absorb the additional cost.
The tax penalty will be, I think, $2,500 a year or just a bit less than the taxable portion of the health insurance benefit. In other words, as designed, it is cheaper for Americans to switch to Obamacare and collapse the insurance industry (and its millions of jobs) and collapse the medical industry (which the government will have no choice but to benevolently take over).
In any event, when fully implemented, there will be riots across the land. Idiots voted for other idiots and had no clue what was about to smack them across the face. The largest tax increase in American history. And that tax increase will be on top of the other tax increases that are coming (such as letting the Bush tax cuts expire).
The Democrats successfully implemented a plan to collapse the system from within to make the Marxist ideal fully operational in America. They succeeded.
The time for voting is over. Ignorance won out at the polls. The only recourse for the ignorant masses will be violence.
I will be sitting back with a big bag of popcorn watching that event with a huge smile.
Check into carrying catastrophic care and bank what else you would have paid in so you have it if you need it to cover deductibles and co-pays.
Where I work, everyone with an HSA is scrambling to “use it” because in the past they have “lost it”
“Where I work, everyone with an HSA is scrambling to “use it” because in the past they have “lost it””
That’s an FSA not an HSA.
FSA = Flexible Spending Account. Section 125 healthcare or dependent care account is an annual election where you can pay pretax monies in to an account to be used to pay for unreimbursed healthcare or dependent care expenses. Yes its annual and use it or lose it.
HSA = Health Savings Account. Again an annual election in which you decide how much on a pre tax basis you wish to contribute to the account. It is used to pay deductibles or other expenses associated with a High Deductible medical plan. However, the difference it is is portable and never goes away. So you it doesn’t end on 12/31 and you can take it with you should you leave your employer.
If you are good at managing your expenses and reasonably healthy an HSA plan is a good idea.
What is catastrophic insurance, never heard of it?
Thanks for the clarification. So where I work, FSA is the one that is available. Do you know who takes possession of the worker’s unused income that sits in an FSA at the end of the year? Is it the employer, the insurance company, or the government? I’ve never understood why it wouldn’t go to the Joe or Jane who worked and earned it.
Will supplemental health insurance even be available?
No... you're not getting government insurance in exchange for the fine, because single payer isn't here (yet.) You'll just getting a fine.
My advice, FWIW? Don't do anything rash. Getting health insurance back will not be as easy as dropping it.
They might go Librarian; Gary Johnson got about 1% of the general vote, and he's virtually unknown outside of New Mexico.
If you do not buy health insurance, you will not have health insurance. That means that any and all medical bills you accrue, you will have to pay out of your own pocket. In addition, because you did not buy health insurance, you will owe a tax penalty. If you decide to wait until you are very ill to buy insurance, you will be on the hook for any medical expenses you incur before it kicks in. You can avoid that by delaying your care, but in a lot of cases, such a delay would be fatal.
"Obamacare" is not a health insurance plan you get by default. You do not get health insurance because you pay the tax penalty.
Obamacare does require that the federal government put a plan on the market for people with no other options. One of the options being considered is opening the Government Employees insurance company to all comers (I forget what it's called, but it's a non-profit pseudo-governmental company). Again, you don't have to buy insurance from that company unless you want to.
Bottom line: if you have access to insurance through your employer, take it.
Are those even still available? I know that specific policies for cancer, heart, etc. are still around as "supplemental" policies.
But supposedly, the reporting of health care costs paid on behalf of employees was only to verify that coverage is provided... not that it would be taxable....
I'm going to contact my Congressman and pick his brain (if there is any left after this crappy election).
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