He is leaving, so we may have something better soon.
Ask HN: Bootstrapped US founders, who do you use for health insurance?
51–60 of 125 posts
Re: Ask HN: Bootstrapped US founders, who do you use for health insurance?
#52A little background: The health plan market roughly divides into individual health plans, small group (2-50 FTEs), and group. You fall into the individual market, at least for now, it seems.
A small group health plan isn't likely to be much less expensive, if any, and the small business health exchange SHOP (CoveredCA, Healthcare.gov, etc), the plans are pretty much the same individual plans.
The Affordable Care Act defined Essential Health Benefits (EHBs) which are basically a way to ensure that common and critical types of health care are guaranteed to be covered, along with a variety of other market making aspects (individual mandate, pre-existing conditions, etc). Prior to this, people could sell "health insurance" which covered few services, had strict amount limits, and could deny claims for various unclear reasons.
If you're going to earn less than $50k in 2017, then you'll qualify for a subsidy on your plan. If not, your options are going uninsured (potentially getting a tax fine at the end of the year), or enrolling in an individual market plan.
Stride Health, https://www.stridehealth.com helps consumers enroll in plans through CoveredCA and Healthcare.gov, as well as directly through the health plans. * Prices are the same you'll find anywhere else (they're set by law). I'd encourage you to try it, and hopefully it will take some of the headache out of it. * There's a support line with a very knowledgable staff if you have more questions about the impact of your income earning for the next year, or any more questions about your health care needs. * We'll also be there to help you throughout the year, and make sure to close the loop with your taxes the following year.
Re: Ask HN: Bootstrapped US founders, who do you use for health insurance?
#53A little off topic but I decided to look this up. 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 an…
That particular simpletax calculator is weirdly broken -- it seems to ignore payroll taxes. (I say weirdly, because simpletax usually doesn't bungle things like that.) Once you include CPP (Canada's version of Social Security) and Employment Insurance (benefits for unemployed people, but not remotely resembling insurance despite the name), someone earning $50k in BC pays just over $10k... plus another $900/month (mor…
> That particular simpletax calculator is weirdly broken -- it seems to ignore payroll taxes. ... Once you include CPP (Canada's version of Social Security) and Employment Insurance
That is disappointing. I̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶a̶m̶e̶n̶d̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶m̶e̶n̶t̶.̶ (Can't amend, the above post is too old.)
> someone earning $50k in BC pays just over $10k... plus another $900/month (more if you're not single) of mandatory tax-but-not-called-a-tax government medical premiums.
$900 a month? Are you certain of that? That seems very high, unless it is paid by the employer. Is that a fixed amount or is it dependent on income?
> 1. Depending on your income, BC is the lowest-tax or very close to the lowest-tax jurisdiction in Canada. Someone earning $50k in Quebec would pay around $13k of income taxes instead of $10k.
I chose BC because it seemed to be having it's own tech boom in Vancouver and has very mild weather in that area. I felt that would be relevant to alot of people here.
Re: Ask HN: Bootstrapped US founders, who do you use for health insurance?
#54A little off topic but I decided to look this up. 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 an…
That particular simpletax calculator is weirdly broken -- it seems to ignore payroll taxes. (I say weirdly, because simpletax usually doesn't bungle things like that.) Once you include CPP (Canada's version of Social Security) and Employment Insurance (benefits for unemployed people, but not remotely resembling insurance despite the name), someone earning $50k in BC pays just over $10k... plus another $900/month (mor…
>>2. Salaries in Canada are vastly lower than San Francisco / Silicon Valley salaries.
This, so much this. As a Canadian (living in Edmonton, AB moving to CA in a few days) the difference in pay is simply staggering. Since a lot of our prices are CAD/USD exchange adjusted (essentially buying, for example, a GTX 1080 is the same in USD, but costs "300" dollars more in here) the difference is compounded even further. Its not unheard of making 2-3x in the Valley compared to what you make up North. So then the tax situation becomes moot, because we're talking about the amount of cash that you take home which after all the taxes, and even the living expenses, is still significantly higher.
Re: Ask HN: Bootstrapped US founders, who do you use for health insurance?
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I use my company credit card, how does that help? Both scenarios would be tax write offs correct?
You said that you need to be making < $50,000 to be considered for a discount from coveredCa. If you're using your company to pay for your expenses, and you draw less than 50G in personal income. You should be eligible for a discount.
Also known as tax fraud.
Re: Ask HN: Bootstrapped US founders, who do you use for health insurance?
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
And yet many people somehow manage to live in the Bay Area on $50K per year. It's not comfortable but it's certainly possible. Most of us don't get to live exactly where we want to.
Typically this happens on food stamps and subsidized housing. Which is a route -- but it's a little harder for a tech worker though than someone working retail, because the income documentation is less and higher variance.
Re: Ask HN: Bootstrapped US founders, who do you use for health insurance?
#57He is leaving, so we may have something better soon.
[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Bootstrapped US founders, who do you use for health insurance?
#58try Kaiser permanente cheaper and the model is more efficient. yes you give up some choice but there's a reason it is cheaper before you poo poo it I would give it a try with an open mind
Kaiser is good, but it isn't cheaper. Silver Blue Cross $462, Silver Kaiser $465. Bronze Blue Cross $319. Bronze Kaiser $337. Might be better value to go with Kaiser, but you won't save on your premiums.
Re: Ask HN: Bootstrapped US founders, who do you use for health insurance?
#59On basis do you assert that $5,520 is ridiculously expensive? What price would not be ridiculous? What makes the cited plan decent and the other lower-premium options not decent?
How about on the basis that comparable plans cost about 1/3rd that before the ACA?
Re: Ask HN: Bootstrapped US founders, who do you use for health insurance?
#60Get 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...
This is actually a pretty significant incentive issue with health insurance. Companies are encouraged to not choose the most comprehensive plan, so that their dual-income married employees choose to use the other company's insurance.