How to Choose Health Insurance – Startup Edition • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Choose Health Insurance – Startup Edition

#61

Post by Kroem3r » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 10:05 AM UTC

green_dye_00 wrote: post #43

As a part-time member of the National Guard, I pay $54 (fifty-four) a month for private health insurance. The family rate is $192. It's subsidized by the taxpayer (thank you). The Guard is not for everyone, but it has been great for me, on so many different levels. It has never substantially interfered with the three start-ups I've been in. The inexpensive health insurance is a huge comfort for the periods where I wo…

It must get tedious listening to Canadians go on about it, but this is about what we pay in British Columbia for people with full incomes. The coverage is pretty good, including 'out there' stuff like acupuncture. We top it up with private coverage for full dental; that costs the company about $100 to $200 per month per family. The service levels are good to excellent. This is all pretty consistent across the country, so talk to your travel agent.

Re: How to Choose Health Insurance – Startup Edition

#62

Post by wavesounds » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 11:06 AM UTC

Thank you so much for posting this, I have been overpaying for my cobra health insurance for months now just because changing seemed so daunting and confusing.

Re: How to Choose Health Insurance – Startup Edition

#63

Post by tptacek » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 2:41 PM UTC

astrodust wrote: post #60

twoodfin wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where's "here"?

Here meaning Ontario: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Health_Insurance_Plan There are private insurance plans for exceptional circumstances, but these often over-lap with other policies to such a degree they're basically a luxury offered by companies to entice workers. The only real perk to them is the dental and optical coverage that isn't covered by the standard health-care system.

Are you comparing out-of-pocket costs for a single-payer health care system in Canada with the premiums for private health insurance in the US? Canada does spend less than the US on health care, but not ten times less; your taxes are making up a good chunk of that gap.

Re: How to Choose Health Insurance – Startup Edition

#64

Post by astrodust » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 3:13 AM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #63

astrodust wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here meaning Ontario: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Health_Insurance_Plan There are private insurance plans for exceptional circumstances, but these often over-lap with other policies to such a degree they're basically a luxury offered by companies to entice workers. The only real perk to them is the dental and optical coverage that isn't covered by the standard health-care system.

Are you comparing out-of-pocket costs for a single-payer health care system in Canada with the premiums for private health insurance in the US? Canada does spend less than the US on health care, but not ten times less ; your taxes are making up a good chunk of that gap.

You're presuming 100% of what you pay to the insurance company gets passed through, which it does not.

There's also regulated costs, which makes it cheaper across the board. Per-capita spending is actually only about 50% what it is in the USA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_heal...).

Factoring in that, the net cost might be subsidized by other taxes by at most ~$2000 more a year. Part of this is paid by the employer on behalf of the employee and isn't listed as a deduction. The rest is subsidies from the federal level of government.

The thing that makes this more affordable for people on limited incomes is how it's tiered, not a fixed price for everyone. If you're an entrepreneur barely making an income, you don't pay much.