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Ask HN: Freelancers in the US: What do you do for health insurance?

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Re: Ask HN: Freelancers in the US: What do you do for health insurance?

#71

Post by Beached »

gutnor wrote: post #61
Beached wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, Since I do not have any pre-existing condition, and have never smoked, that $84 would have been mine. Because no insurer can decline someone, my cost went up to make insurance for people with per-existing conditions more affordable.

> Since I do not have any pre-existing condition, and have never smoked, that $84 I'm almost 40 and never had use of my health insurance - if you are like me you can save 124$ per month ! Think of all those years I would have been able to save. Same thing for my car (never stolen, no accident), house insurance (no theft), professional liability insurance, travel insurance (no problem so far), life insurance (still al…

I do not regret paying for health insurance, or car insurance for that matter. It would actually be cheaper for me to pay the penalty and not have coverage, however i still have it because it is what I consider a good investment, even at the increased rates. I will say I am a little bitter, since I actually worked at a health insurance company that worked to reduce health care costs instead of just upped the premiums when costs rose, I see how the health industry triad is just making it worse. The ACA on top of that has made it so that the free market will not be able to correct itself and effectively ruined capitalism from working for the health industry.

ACA had good intentions, just very poor execution.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancers in the US: What do you do for health insurance?

#72

Post by Beached »

artlogic wrote: post #41
Beached wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Certainly, 2. The individual plan is from Priority health, it is their individual High deductible HMO HSA plan with a annual deductible of $6300. The entire spectrum health network is covered in the plan, (Spectrum health pretty much owns all of west MI and the Grand Rapids area). 3. http://www.healthshareplan.org/ When I contacted them, they only paid out to UoM and Mercy Health networks, not spectrum health. Since…

The HSP looks really interesting, and I'm currently living in Ann Arbor so UofM is practically within walking distance. Thanks for the information!

no problem, i will also say that PH insurance has some of the BEST customer service. Both public facing and internal. They actually have an internal department that the public is unaware that does some amazing things that help reduce cost for both them and you as a customer. This department also help make sure the care you receive is the best available for you, as well as thoroughly completed to avoid complications and repeat visits, which also help reduce costs but improve quality of life.

I cant say much more then that because im pretty sure its what they would call a trade secret... I am only aware of it because I worked for them and was involved in supporting this from an IT perspective.

On a side note for all of you people looking for a change of pace. Health care is IMO the most fascinating place to be as far as IT is concerned, I would have never left the health care industry except that I wanted the benefit of working from home full time. When I left, I told my boss and a few other managers to let me know if a full time work from home position became available.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancers in the US: What do you do for health insurance?

#73

Post by facetube »

Beached wrote: post #68
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are required to buy prenatal care because it wasn't fair for young women to have much higher insurance costs then young men just because they get pregnant more often...you know it takes two to tango.

I am happy to pay for prenatal care IF AND WHEN my wife/partner and I decide to have a child. and in that instance, yes I would be paying for prenatal care, however I do not think it is right for the government to force me to purchase ANY SERVICE that I may not want or may not use, such as prenatal care. Those young women who made the decision to have sex not knowing if the individual they "Tangoed" with would help w…

And I'd be happy to pay for car insurance IF AND WHEN I get in to an accident in my own car. You don't get an insurance discount for naively believing that you won't make mistakes, or for believing that undesirable things won't happen to you.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancers in the US: What do you do for health insurance?

#74

Post by sehutson »

Beached wrote: post #68
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are required to buy prenatal care because it wasn't fair for young women to have much higher insurance costs then young men just because they get pregnant more often...you know it takes two to tango.

I am happy to pay for prenatal care IF AND WHEN my wife/partner and I decide to have a child. and in that instance, yes I would be paying for prenatal care, however I do not think it is right for the government to force me to purchase ANY SERVICE that I may not want or may not use, such as prenatal care. Those young women who made the decision to have sex not knowing if the individual they "Tangoed" with would help w…

As a female who will never have children, I'm even more angered by the new coverage. Being self-employed, I went from a $5k deductible for around $80/month to a $10k deductible and $230/month (and my new plan doesn't have good coverage all over the country, which sucks because I travel a lot).

I have never used my health insurance for any reason in the last 15 years, I eat well, exercise, get plenty of sleep, etc. - so the whole situation makes me mad every time I see the bill.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancers in the US: What do you do for health insurance?

#75

Post by gervase »

Jesus, I thought we had it bad, but some of these other comments are making me rethink that. We're paying ~$640/mo for a $0 deductible, 0% coinsurance ACA Gold HMO, purchased off CoveredCalifornia. That's without any subsidies - like most on HN, we're just not eligible. That's covers me, my wife, and my infant daughter, and includes maternity coverage.

It's still about double what we were paying before the ACA, but it's a far cry from the $1500+ premiums some others here are paying.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancers in the US: What do you do for health insurance?

#76

Post by eibrahim »

Don't listen to politics in the comment. Here are some real life examples:

I am married and have 2 kids. I got a gold plan through the marketplace for $1250 a month. I got no subsidies since I make more than is required. It's a pretty good plan but expensive.

My last job which was pre-obamacare they were deducting $450 a month every 2 weeks for just my wife and I. So nothing really changed for me.

On a sidenote my cousin is low income and she got a killer plan through obamacare for 75 a month. So now she can afford to go to the doctor and not "walk it off" :-)

Re: Ask HN: Freelancers in the US: What do you do for health insurance?

#77

Post by eibrahim »

eibrahim wrote: post #76

Don't listen to politics in the comment. Here are some real life examples: I am married and have 2 kids. I got a gold plan through the marketplace for $1250 a month. I got no subsidies since I make more than is required. It's a pretty good plan but expensive. My last job which was pre-obamacare they were deducting $450 a month every 2 weeks for just my wife and I. So nothing really changed for me. On a sidenote my co…

I forgot to add that one thing that benefited me from obamacare is that my wife was pregnant at the time and we didn't get penalized for a "pre existing" condition and the plan covered a lot of the pregnancy cost. Without it I would have been in the whole for $10k or more.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancers in the US: What do you do for health insurance?

#79

Post by lentil_soup »

Beached wrote: post #66
Aqueous wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that you didn't have to buy insurance until 26 is a result of Obamacare too. Think of all the money you saved being on that insurance for several extra years. You're welcome! And maybe in part because you're spending that $84 now someone else who has a pre-existing condition and no health insurance will be able to not die or go bankrupt if they get something serious. You have to buy insurance because our sys…

>The fact that you didn't have to buy insurance until 26 is a result of Obamacare too. Think of all the money you saved being on that insurance for several extra years. You're welcome! yes i am aware that the 26 rule is an obama care result. However, if I am nice, and I am, I pay my parents the extra cost per month to go from a spousal plan to a family plan, which is $85/m, shocker.... However if my parents had other…

I'm sorry dude, but not every pre-codition is because people don't exercise or don't eat well.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancers in the US: What do you do for health insurance?

#80

Post by nsxwolf »

facetube wrote: post #73
Beached wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am happy to pay for prenatal care IF AND WHEN my wife/partner and I decide to have a child. and in that instance, yes I would be paying for prenatal care, however I do not think it is right for the government to force me to purchase ANY SERVICE that I may not want or may not use, such as prenatal care. Those young women who made the decision to have sex not knowing if the individual they "Tangoed" with would help w…

And I'd be happy to pay for car insurance IF AND WHEN I get in to an accident in my own car. You don't get an insurance discount for naively believing that you won't make mistakes, or for believing that undesirable things won't happen to you.

What Beached is saying is that he's not driving a car yet. You don't have to pay for car insurance when you don't have a car.
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