Earlier this year those on our small group plan had the choice of A $2,500 deductible and premiums doubling to $800 a month on average for an individual, or a $10,000 deductible with premium only increasing to $400 a month. Most took the bizarrely high premium because there was just no way to make it work for $800 a month no matter what you cut. The only ones who went with the lower deductible had preexisting conditions or dependents who did.
If it gets much worse I’m going to be going in the hole every month just to live, no debt other than a mortgage, live pretty frugally. Forget savings of any kind with that sort of hit. Raise? What raise? Haven’t seen one of those in five years.
I’m better off than many of whom I’m aware, at least I have savings to dip into. Them, they’re looking at their own personal fiscal cliff. It’s not going to be pretty.
That premium is not “bizarrely high”—rather, it’s the typical deductible for an HSA-qualified account. These are the best thing since sliced bread, once tax consequences are figured in.
Of course, the F***stick in Chief and his band of merry thieves have killed off the HSA as part of Obamacare...
Paying $800 a month for premiums? Wouldn’t the money be better spent by banking it and paying cash when a medical issue arises? Sometimes if one pays cash - they get a discount. Actually, they are having to pay the first $2,500 or $10,000 out of their own pocket anyway, so where is the benefit of health insurance in this?