Posted on 11/01/2015 5:41:13 AM PST by CA_soon_gone
My wife and I are early 60s retired, not yet on Medicare. The new Obamacare prices are out today and our monthly cost went from $1k/month to $1.9k/month. This is clearly over the 8% of income hardship limit for us so I should not have to pay any tax penalty for not buying Obamacare. I'd like to not completely be without some form of catastrophic coverage. Recently I've been researching short term health insurance. I can get a six month policy with lower deductibles than the Ocare for about $300/month. Am I missing something. Anyone else going this route?
If you’re a Christian:
Samaritans
Medishare
What some people do is beef up the medical insurance on their auto policy. Why? Because below a certain age, most people are most likely to get seriously injured in an auto accident. This is especially true in your 20s and 30s (clearly you are well beyond that).
Everyone is different and I don’t know your circumstances. Just throwing that out there for you to consider.
I do short term insurance. Never had a claim other than office visit so I don’t know the difficulty of payout. There are a wide variety of choices. You can use ehealthinsurance.com but you won’t always see all available options from a particular carrier.
My thinking is that if I end up not being able to get the next 6 month insurance because I had a claim I could always then sign up for ridiculously priced Obamacare.
I understand there is a difference.
/johnny
I'm 68, took out part D after retiring at 62 ... it cost then $38
2016 it goes up to $76
I discovered that asking questions for my friend, which, if I hadn't, I would have just let it slide (because I wasn't aware of such drastic increases ... my 38 went to 64 this year and next would be 76)
Called my company, had an agent over and re-negotiated with less risk (basically healthy, only 6 mo check-ups)
Look / ask about the frequency of usage ... THAT is how insurance seems to be calculated these days
Yeah, good luck with that.
My re-negotiation will cost $23
Same coverage, slight increase in co-pay but way less money taken from my SS check thus giving me a 40 or so dollar raise in SS
Unless you’re a trespasser(illegal/undocumented/dem voter?). Then you can get all the med care you want for free. Or homeless and destitute. If you work hard and have at least a fairly decent retirement + social security, you’re screwed. Apparently I make too much for a break but not nearly enough to pay for a med which is a “Tier 5” specialty med that is more than my mortgage per month. WTH? You can’t get to the “donut hole” break if you can’t afford to pay up to the deductible in the first place.
My recommendations: negotiate lower cash prices at your doctor, use Urgent Care clinics, look at the Surgery Center of Oklahoma (low cash posted prices - surgerycenterok.com), Take chelated mineral supplements like Solaray Mega Minerals and Vitamins, reduce sugar and refined carbs in your diet, laugh a lot and stop watching the news on TV.
DITTOS to Westbrook’s post 2 -
My wife and I are almost 62. We’ve had no insurance starting in the day Obama’s became law. It’s been so long that buying it now feels like a lack of faith. And we’ve learned, through our experience and that of acquaintances that you save 50-75% on prices when you don’t have insurance. We see it now as just a really bad investment. And few know about the 8% thing. :-)
Exactly!
I have found a group of doctors who take NO government money at all. They are here in Augusta , Maine. They offer everything except long term hospitalization ....there is a yearly fee and all prices are given prior to services being rendered. It is a win - win situation for all parties involved. As far as I am concerned the federal government is THE enemy on more than just this front , they can go f ___ themselves as far as I am concerned.
Wow, you hit everthing I would have typed, except the Christian alternative health insurance options (someone mentioned those above, though).
Bookmarking...
Health sharing ministries are turning into the cheapest alternative to Obamacare exchange health plans that still meet the requirements under the law for coverage.
Alternatives to Obamacare
http://hubpages.com/health/Alternatives-to-Obamacare
Good and excellent replies on FR, but also post your question on https://www.bogleheads.org/
If fact, I tell friends that any question that involves a dollar sign ($) is or has prob been discussed on bogleheads.
So search bogleheads first, if you don’t find a similar question to yours, then post your question. Bogleheads and Mods will link you to resources/similar questions or reply outright to your question.
Good Luck and God’s Blessings to your search.
We will be shifting insurances due to my wife’s job change, so I notified my PT folks (T-12 incomplete para) that I’d be on hiatus until it was sorted out. She immediately offered me a 50% discount for direct payment. Goes to show how much BS overhead the insurance biz ladles on to the actual cost of delivering services.
I am an agent in California, and it is a difficult issue now that prices are high and there are few alternatives. Temporary Health plans are one way to go, but there is zero coverage for pre-existing conditions. There is no coverage for preventative coverage of any sort and most temp plans are PPO plans, the buyer needs to make sure that their hospital and doctors are contracting with the PPO network your chosen temp coverage plan has.
You may sill qualify for a subsidy if you income falls within the guidelines. Open enrollment starts today and continues through the end of Feb. You still have time to sort it out.
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