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This is an important question, it's the kind of thing that needs to be on an FAQ somewhere. Here is the info that I've collected in the last couple of months (US-centric, sorry): relevant YC posts/articles: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2247560 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2851224 links from the comments, or elsewhere: https://be.freelancersunion.org/benefits/ (you probably want to look this up, since th…
There is no cut dried answer in USA. Parameters to review: * what is your (you/wife/family history) current health? * what is your current list of medications and will they even be covered by an insurance plan you like? * how much risk do you want to carry (less premium, higher deductible) vs the insurance plan (higher premium, lower deductible )? * where you live. Certain regions will have higher premiums. * family…
> If you can do it, get a high deductible insurance plan with an HSA for the years in which you are not having a baby.
this seems like a good strategy. why not just use an HSA exclusively? is it due to risk of complications/cost during pregnancy? or do pregnancy costs likely come close or exceed premiums of a traditional plan anyhow?
> Fyi, COBRA will most likely be more expensive than any plan you can get at the family level.
why is that? my wife is looking to quit soon, and is coming from a fairly large organization. and it seems like the cobra, group-negotiated rates are slightly better than the family rates i'm trying to negotiate on my own. just my own experience.
We're a small team of three (25, 28, 28) and the company pays for each person's individual plan with Anthem Blue Cross rather than a group plan which was more expensive for essentially the same coverage. It's about $200 per person per month.
I can purchase my own high deductible plan at about 300 per month. This would be for me, my wife, and three children. Family deductible would be 10000. We are all healthy and I have the cash in the bank to cover a 10000 emergency. If I wanted no deductible it would cost about 1200 per month.
When purchasing insurance yourself, you may need to purchase separate maternity coverage, and you may need to wait several months after starting maternity coverage to get pregnant. Otherwise prenatal care and delivery would not be covered, although the hospital stay and baby care would be.
Not sure if New York has this, but Maryland has a special small business insurance pool. It allows small businesses to buy employee coverage cheap. If there are a few people involved this could be the way to go. Going this route would require talking to an insurance broker.
Good luck. Wish you the best of luck with the new family if you go that route. I have three children and it was the best decision ever.
Glad to see that I get something for my high taxrate.
The Danish state. Glad to see that I get something for my high taxrate.
The Danish state. Glad to see that I get something for my high taxrate.
Can't imagine being a US citizen, working for a startup and that being an issue, especially if you have a family.
EDIT: While not an unbiased source, this article indicates that my assumption above is exactly right: http://reason.com/blog/2011/06/01/new-york-states-highly-reg...
The Danish state. Glad to see that I get something for my high taxrate.
Similarly here in British Columbia, Canada.
Yeah, it's nice to know that if I ever end up in a hospital I won't need to worry about what that costs, but don't make the mistake of thinking that our public health system means that private health insurance isn't a very good thing to have.