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If you don't qualify for any subsidy, you should definitely just purchase health insurance directly through the carrier. I initially purchased insurance via CoveredCA (no subsidy) and they just acted as a middleman between my family and Blue Shield without providing any benefit.
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> You have to be near poverty (equivalent in bay area) to get any government assistance. Assistance is for those who need it, not those who willingly choose to live in a high COI area. It is possible to live in CA on $50k/year. Would you pay that assistance back if you had a liquidity event? Probably not.
I'd prefer to not get into a political discussion, but once I get on a health care plan, my full premiums will be subsidizing others, so where's my money back when I don't use any of my health care benefits? Also, you think it's fair that somebody who makes $55,000 pays the same amount for health insurance as somebody that makes $500,000 a year?
I don't think you've fully grasped the concept of "insurance".
That's how I do it, but this probably puts me in the "lucky" category...
Get a spouse who works and is gracious enough to pay for your health insurance via his/her company plan :-) That's how I do it, but this probably puts me in the "lucky" category...
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That is what the high deductible insurance or health savings account is for.
i can't contribute to an HSA without subscribing to a high deductible plan. " basically a membership in a clinic where you pay a monthly fee in order to get cheap access to your doctor... The monthly fee is substantially less than typical health insurance premiums." But... I still need a high-deductible plan to contribute to an HSA to deal with catastrophic issues anyway. high deductible plans are putting colleagues…
https://directprimarycarejournal.com/2014/06/08/how-does-dir...
We just signed up for JustWorks, a PEO, primarily because their healthcare plans are much cheaper than going direct to brokers as a 3 person company. They require 2 people though so if you are solo I don't think this is an option for you.
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> My understanding is that health insurance originated in this country as a means to plump up employee compensation in a situation where paying more wages was not desirable. You could not entice good employees by offering them a pay raise because it bumped them up into another tax bracket and it just wasn't worth it to them. But the way health insurance got handled, if you offered them a benefits package, it increase…
Thanks. I am considering doing a new piece because I get a lot of flack over details like that while people generally seem to miss the point relevant to our lives today that DPC is a legal alternative under the ACA and a genuinely better solution. I am frustrated and not sure what I need to do differently to get that across effectively. Edit: Feel free to nitpick this version: http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/…
I agree that separating disaster/catastrophic coverage (ie: insurance ) from routine things like doctor visits (ie: health care ) is a good thing. I was aware of HDHP and HSA for the former but I did not know about DPC until you brought it to my attention with this comment thread.
Thank you.
Does that include subsidies? I would assume, based on your income as a founder, that you'd qualify for subsidies for plans on healthcare.gov. If you don't (>$60-70k/year income), even high deductible plans are in that monthly range you quoted (my individual high deductible marketplace plan went from ~$290/month to ~$500/month [$9000 deductible], so my wife, daughter, and I are now on a PPO plan at $1300/month).
Any income greater than $50,000 a year does not qualify for any California assistance. $50,000 a year is completely unlivable where I live in the bay area. You have to be near poverty (bay area) to get any government assistance.
What would taxes be if we compared the US to Canada?
Using the following two tools: https://simpletax.ca/calculator https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator
For 50k a year in British Colombia for Canada and California for the US I get the following:
BC: $8,372 CA: $11,112
At 100k with 18k contributed to 401k/RRSP the numbers are 17.5K and 25.8k for BC and CA.
Unless I missed typed something because it's late we Americans are getting a raw deal. I realize Canada has VAT, but CA has very high sales taxes and I did not include the cost of an exchange plan. What you are looking is the Income and FICA taxes alone.
If you don't qualify for any subsidy, you should definitely just purchase health insurance directly through the carrier. I initially purchased insurance via CoveredCA (no subsidy) and they just acted as a middleman between my family and Blue Shield without providing any benefit.
Thanks that's great advice. It seems there is absolutely zero discounts using CoveredCA when you earn more than $50,000 a year.