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Money Won’t Buy You Health Insurance

nytimes.com

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Re: Money Won’t Buy You Health Insurance

#11

Post by sammcd »

krschultz wrote: post #6

The subtle but crazy part about this is at the bottom when it details the author: "Donna Dubinsky, a co-founder of Palm Computer and Handspring, is the chief executive of a computer software company." I'm going to go out on a limb and say money is not an issue for Donna, yet she still can't even buy insurance if she wants to. I've always thought healthcare access was a bigger hurdle for entrepreneurs than tax rates.…

I think she could buy insurance if she really wanted.

I've thought about this a lot because I could easily be in this situation. If I did anything on my own I would need a group plan quickly. You only need 2 people to create a group.

So you can buy insurance its expensive, here is how you do it.

1) Start a company.

2) Hire another employee (this costs a lot)

3) Make a group health insurance policy for the company.

There you bought insurance.

I know this is stupid, but I'm just the kind of person that when someone says "You can't do XXX" I automatically have to see if I can do it.

Re: Money Won’t Buy You Health Insurance

#12

Post by detst »

acabal wrote: post #2

This really highlights how utterly insane our system is. I'm living off of my own business, which means that I don't have an employer to cover me under group insurance. But I really only make enough to live frugally and save a tiny amount each month--to me, an affordable health insurance plan would be between $50-$100 a month. Fat chance of that happening. And if it did, the deductible would be so high as to make the…

Have you looked into this (for California but there are different plans in every other state)? http://www.healthcare.gov/law/provisions/preexisting/states/...

"$499 for a 50 year old subscriber in San Francisco"

Looking at other states, there are premiums as low as $172/month.

It would surely be much cheaper for you as a 26-year-old. Not quite the $50-100 you're looking for but I'd bet you could afford it.

Things are bad but maybe not as bad for you as you think.

Re: Money Won’t Buy You Health Insurance

#15

Post by nhangen »

I left the Army where I had free healthcare for me and my family - I got spoiled. I really can't afford it now that I'm out and not with a big company. I've thought of going into the Reserves just to have the option to buy it again.

Healthcare really does suck.

Re: Money Won’t Buy You Health Insurance

#17

Post by DanielBMarkham »

krschultz wrote: post #8
[deleted] wrote: post #3

[deleted]

But it's written by someone involved in the tech world, that makes it hacker news

I find that if the article slants one way, it can be the third cousin of a long-distant relative who knew Bill Gates and suddenly it's something hackers are direly interested in. If it slants another, it can be study of small startups and the economic principles that drive success or failure using a double-blind study and suddenly it's too political for us to touch.

For me, the best metric is just looking at what kind of discussion the article brings. If the discussion is full of "me too!" and emotional rants, lots of vindictive voting up or down, it's probably a bad idea, politics or not. If folks can maintain their composure, difficult subjects are a lot more rewarding to talk about than Erlang Innards because they challenge us to be civil and reach middle ground. But somehow I doubt health insurance -- yet again -- is going to be like that today. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Re: Money Won’t Buy You Health Insurance

#18

Post by krschultz »

sammcd wrote: post #11
krschultz wrote: post #6

The subtle but crazy part about this is at the bottom when it details the author: "Donna Dubinsky, a co-founder of Palm Computer and Handspring, is the chief executive of a computer software company." I'm going to go out on a limb and say money is not an issue for Donna, yet she still can't even buy insurance if she wants to. I've always thought healthcare access was a bigger hurdle for entrepreneurs than tax rates.…

I think she could buy insurance if she really wanted. I've thought about this a lot because I could easily be in this situation. If I did anything on my own I would need a group plan quickly. You only need 2 people to create a group. So you can buy insurance its expensive, here is how you do it. 1) Start a company. 2) Hire another employee (this costs a lot) 3) Make a group health insurance policy for the company. Th…

It's not the difference between a family and a company, its the size of the group. Thus the costs for a company with 10,000 people is far different than a company with 10.

Also, if you have a group of 2,5,10 or 20, the insurance company has an easier time denying you because if you get pissed and drop them, its not a big loss for them. In contrast, if you deny the right person at a 10,000 person company, they lose a big account.

Re: Money Won’t Buy You Health Insurance

#19

Post by cookiecaper »

sammcd wrote: post #11
krschultz wrote: post #6

The subtle but crazy part about this is at the bottom when it details the author: "Donna Dubinsky, a co-founder of Palm Computer and Handspring, is the chief executive of a computer software company." I'm going to go out on a limb and say money is not an issue for Donna, yet she still can't even buy insurance if she wants to. I've always thought healthcare access was a bigger hurdle for entrepreneurs than tax rates.…

I think she could buy insurance if she really wanted. I've thought about this a lot because I could easily be in this situation. If I did anything on my own I would need a group plan quickly. You only need 2 people to create a group. So you can buy insurance its expensive, here is how you do it. 1) Start a company. 2) Hire another employee (this costs a lot) 3) Make a group health insurance policy for the company. Th…

A two-person group is not going to fare much better than an individual plan, and I'm not so sure that there are that many companies that accept two-person groups anyway.

Re: Money Won’t Buy You Health Insurance

#20

Post by acabal »

detst wrote: post #12
acabal wrote: post #2

This really highlights how utterly insane our system is. I'm living off of my own business, which means that I don't have an employer to cover me under group insurance. But I really only make enough to live frugally and save a tiny amount each month--to me, an affordable health insurance plan would be between $50-$100 a month. Fat chance of that happening. And if it did, the deductible would be so high as to make the…

Have you looked into this (for California but there are different plans in every other state)? http://www.healthcare.gov/law/provisions/preexisting/states/... "$499 for a 50 year old subscriber in San Francisco" Looking at other states, there are premiums as low as $172/month. It would surely be much cheaper for you as a 26-year-old. Not quite the $50-100 you're looking for but I'd bet you could afford it. Things are…

This looks like a good resource--thanks for that.

Right now my current location is Monterrey, Mexico, so again, doctor visits are cheaper to simply pay out of pocket. As an example, my uninsured girlfriend had to visit a doctor last week--a walk in appointment at the major Monterrey hospital plus lab test, technician, and prescription medication: 800 pesos, or about $66. And this is in a modern hospital in the most expensive city in Mexico.

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