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Is Health Insurance Even Worth It Anymore?

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Re: Is Health Insurance Even Worth It Anymore?

#41

Post by anthomtb »

John23832 wrote: post #3
exabrial wrote: post #2

Repeal Obamacare, go back to HSAs. Nobody should be taxed on health expenses, which was the whole point of HSAs in the first place. We literally had a budding system that was working and affordable, and it was "fixed".

The ACA didn't do away with HSAs.

Agreed. Upon passage of the ACA my company switched insurance coverage to a High Deductible plan with an HSA. So if anything, the ACA appeared to increase the prevalence of HSA's. But that is my narrow social circle and the grandparent poster seems to have a different experience.

Re: Is Health Insurance Even Worth It Anymore?

#42

Post by sunshowers »

exabrial wrote: post #6
John23832 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ACA didn't do away with HSAs.

Correct, instead it made them unaffordable and disappeared them out of existence. Previously to ACA, I paid $280/month for a direct (non-employer sponsored) plan that had a $5k deductible. The plan was discontinued as the base fell out. There is so much wrong with ACA and the hardliners are not capable of self-reflection, and cannot admit that overregulation has done nothing but make things incredibly expensive.

do you have anything to say about the fact that before Obamacare, pre-existing conditions were generally not covered? to me that is the main purpose of Obamacare. I think not covering pre-existing conditions is a moral atrocity.

Re: Is Health Insurance Even Worth It Anymore?

#43

Post by amundskm »

lostlogin wrote: post #23
amundskm wrote: post #4

I have been struggling to find the breakeven point for me and my family. On one side, it keeps getting more and more expensive even though we are young and healthy. On the other, if one of us needs an expensive operation or months of treatment, no amount of HSA savings will be enough. I don't know if there is a 3rd option that would be more reasonable.

> I don't know if there is a 3rd option that would be more reasonable. There may be something less extreme, but leaving the US is one way out of that mess.

That unfortunately is not an option for us. We talked about it when we were younger, but both sides of our family live within a two hour drive of us and it important to us to be present in their lives and have them be present in ours.

If I had no personal ties, I would very much like to live abroad.

Re: Is Health Insurance Even Worth It Anymore?

#44

Post by fellowniusmonk »

notfried wrote: post #9

The article mentions early a "cancer diagnosis" but puts that aside and moves on, when this is pretty much the crux of the issue. Prostate and Breast cancers are a 1 in 8 chance. The risk of no insurance at 25 is very different than 50, and than 75. And everyone at all ages is paying for those expensive treatments. The system is broken, but going without insurance is you basically toying with the odds of life.

Pre-ACA my mother got cancer in a short window where the University my Dad was president of got wound down for financial reasons.

Destroyed my entire trajectory in life.

The prior system was mega fucked, our current system is still fucked.

If you had a congenital condition prior to the ACA you were a wage slave once you hit 18, no private insurance and couldn't get public. Literally founded a successful startup the minute I got ACA.

Over 40+ years I've seen nearly every profession go through a bubble and lean years, lawyers, mechanics, academics.

But never doctors, in retrospect I should have joined that protectionist racket, but my family couldn't afford to let me at the time.

Re: Is Health Insurance Even Worth It Anymore?

#45

Post by [deleted] »

sunshowers wrote: post #42
exabrial wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct, instead it made them unaffordable and disappeared them out of existence. Previously to ACA, I paid $280/month for a direct (non-employer sponsored) plan that had a $5k deductible. The plan was discontinued as the base fell out. There is so much wrong with ACA and the hardliners are not capable of self-reflection, and cannot admit that overregulation has done nothing but make things incredibly expensive.

do you have anything to say about the fact that before Obamacare, pre-existing conditions were generally not covered? to me that is the main purpose of Obamacare. I think not covering pre-existing conditions is a moral atrocity.

[deleted]

Re: Is Health Insurance Even Worth It Anymore?

#46

Post by iso1631 »

mossTechnician wrote: post #21
notfried wrote: post #9

The article mentions early a "cancer diagnosis" but puts that aside and moves on, when this is pretty much the crux of the issue. Prostate and Breast cancers are a 1 in 8 chance. The risk of no insurance at 25 is very different than 50, and than 75. And everyone at all ages is paying for those expensive treatments. The system is broken, but going without insurance is you basically toying with the odds of life.

In a perfect world, a healthcare plan should pay for cancer treatments or crucial medical procedures. In the United States, I'm not sure this is a guarantee[0][1]. Going without healthcare seems to be the riskier gamble, but it's a gamble either way. [0]: https://www.startribune.com/unitedhealthcare-part-of-95m-set... [1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/unitedhealth-healthcare-i...

It's amazing that Americans are so brow beaten that even in a "perfect world" they still require a "healthcare plan"

Re: Is Health Insurance Even Worth It Anymore?

#47

Post by aeturnum »

I think this is worth considering for younger folks, but I wanna point out how low the numbers in the "medical expense" column are. They're similar (if low) for routine care but if you have an actual emergency you'd have much higher bills. IIRC when my mom had breast cancer she was getting a weekly shot to inhibit the HER2/neu mechanism of her cancer that had a list of $10,000 a shot. As an uninsured person you won't pay list but you are rolling the dice pretty hard. Insurance costs are highway robbery - and also the part of their prices that aren't driven by greed are driven by absurd underlying costs.

Re: Is Health Insurance Even Worth It Anymore?

#49

Post by roflyear »

modeless wrote: post #19

All I want is health insurance with low premiums, freedom to choose my providers, and a $50k deductible. Like, actual insurance for catastrophic risks. What we have now should not properly be called insurance. It's more like a mandatory membership in an extremely expensive and dysfunctional club.

$50k would probably still be outrageous, like your car insurance doesn't have that generally.

Re: Is Health Insurance Even Worth It Anymore?

#50

Post by neilv »

> 1. What would happen if instead of buying health insurance, you set aside annual premiums plus your deductible every year and paid out of pocket?

What would happen if healthcare was a shared pool for the often-unpredictable risk for everyone, so that everyone was taken care of?

This is obviously a government function in the interests of everyone, so there's no need for profit-taking insurance companies with perverse incentives.

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