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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?

#81

Post by nsxwolf »

marincounty wrote: post #52
zrail wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only advantage of obamacare is that if you cannot buy insurance yourself that easily with things like pre-existing conditions etc. Medical underwriting is no longer a thing industry-wide and hasn't been since the beginning of 2014. No matter where you buy your plan, they will not ask about pre-existing conditions. It's true that the only reason why you'd actually buy through an exchange is to get the subsidies,…

"The only advantage of obamacare is that if you cannot buy insurance yourself that easily with things like pre-existing conditions etc." It has vastly improved the health care the poor receive. I'm not a huge fan of Obamacare, but it is all he could get past the Rebublicans at the time. He tried to push for a sensable solution, but Republicans fought it. I am waiting for anyone to propose a better solution to Obamaca…

I don't think what we had before could really be described as a "free market system". It was an employer-based healthcare system that shut individual buyers out of the only good deals, enacted by the government via the tax code.

The new system is the same, except now there's no pre-existing conditions and the individual is forced to buy a plan. The plans themselves are the same crappy plans with a few tweaks.

The consumer of healthcare is still completely disconnected from the price of the goods sold, completely screwing up market signals and making sure prices stay astronomically high. This is not a free market by any measure.

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

#82

Post by UnoriginalGuy »

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…

Can you clarify this:

> deducting $450 a month every 2 weeks

That is confusing/doesn't make sense.

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

#83

Post by jwolgamott »

Step 1: know your medical expenses. Your total cost per year is either a) You are healthy are it is the sum of your premiums or b) You (or a family member) is not and it becomes the sum of premium payments + deductible. In ObamaCare plans, this is basically the OutOfPocketMaximum.

I am firmly in the (b) camp, and see yearly medical expenses as the deductible plus premiums. And so, I pay $1500 a month in health insurance premiums, but have a $1500 deductible and $4000 out of pocket max. Yearly cost: $22,000.

So, depending on your health and tolerance for rick, go for a high deductible cheap premium plan OR a high premium low deductible plan.

As a freelancer, premiums CAN be tax deductible (see a CPA to make sure).

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

#84

Post by logfromblammo »

welshguy wrote: post #67
logfromblammo wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should visit your local pet store, in the aquarium fish section, and check out the products available for maintaining the health and well-being of your fish. And you should also learn the generic drug names or IUPAC chemical names for the commonly prescribed antibiotics. I'm not saying those two suggestions are in any way related, other than the possibility that doing both could save you a great deal of money, in…

I have an unhealthy fish. What brand would you recommend?

I can't recommend anything, as I am not a veterinarian. You need to do your own research. Fortunately, the web makes this rather easy. Try searching for "aquarium antibiotics" and refine your search terms as necessary.

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

#85

Post by hackuser »

Beached wrote: post #55
hackuser wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Obama care cost 2x as much as an individual plan What is an Obamacare plan? I thought the ACA created a marketplace that listed plans from insurers, and set minimums for coverage (that would apply to options #2 and #3). I haven't had to deal with it so I don't know. > this same exact coverage would have only cost me $84/m before 2014 when Obama care went into play How else has the ACA affected your insurance? For e…

> What is an Obamacare plan? I thought the ACA created a marketplace that listed plans from insurers, and set minimums for coverage (that would apply to options #2 and #3). I haven't had to deal with it so I don't know. Ironically a plan through Priority health on the market place cost 2x as much as the same plan purchase through the same insurer individually. This is for a couple reasons: On the market place, a qual…

> a plan through Priority health on the market place cost 2x as much as the same plan purchase through the same insurer individually. ... On the market place, a qualifying plan must meet ALL ACA requirement

Doesn't the ACA require all insurance plans to meet its standards? If there wasn't that requirement, why would insurance companies offer ACA-compliant plans?

> I agree that per-existing conditions should not be denied for coverage, however I do not agree that those without conditions should be required to pay higher premiums to subsidize their premiums.

That isn't really subsidy, it is almost the definition and purpose of insurance. The total cost of medical care is the same, but we spread the risk (and therefore the cost) evenly over everyone in the insurance pool. Or another way of looking at it is we all subsidize each other; you are subsidized too, for your own unique risks and costs.

That way, when something bad happens and your costs spike, you will receive the medical care you need and won't go bankrupt. If we all simply paid for our own costs (and didn't 'subsidize' each other), we wouldn't be insured.

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

#86

Post by caseysoftware »

hackuser wrote: post #85
Beached wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What is an Obamacare plan? I thought the ACA created a marketplace that listed plans from insurers, and set minimums for coverage (that would apply to options #2 and #3). I haven't had to deal with it so I don't know. Ironically a plan through Priority health on the market place cost 2x as much as the same plan purchase through the same insurer individually. This is for a couple reasons: On the market place, a qual…

> a plan through Priority health on the market place cost 2x as much as the same plan purchase through the same insurer individually. ... On the market place, a qualifying plan must meet ALL ACA requirement Doesn't the ACA require all insurance plans to meet its standards? If there wasn't that requirement, why would insurance companies offer ACA-compliant plans? > I agree that per-existing conditions should not be de…

The problem is that in order to do true risk pooling, you need to be able to charge based on risk. The ACA (Obamacare) has eliminated much of that making the cost the same for everyone at a given level. And it turns out that many healthy people have continued to opt out and many of the new enrollees are people who couldn't get coverage elsewhere.

None of this is a judgement, just the raw math of the situation.

Here's one sample but the problem is nationwide:

"“Our enrollees generated 24 percent more claims than we thought they would when we set our 2014 rates,” said Nathan T. Johns, the chief financial officer of Arches Health Plan, which covers about one-fourth of the people who bought insurance through the federal exchange in Utah. As a result, the company said, it collected premiums of $39.7 million and had claims of $56.3 million in 2014. It has requested rate increases averaging 45 percent for 2016."

Ref: http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/-Health-Insurance-Compani...

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

#87

Post by kareemm »

asciimo wrote: post #6

The Freelancers Union now offers health insurance ( https://www.freelancersunion.org/benefits/ ). NY was their pilot state.

I have a very good friend who has had terrible experiences with getting reimbursed for legit claims via FU. He pays for the most expensive plan, too.

Based on his experiences I'd rather go directly to an insurer like Oscar.

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

#88

Post by caseysoftware »

mgkimsal wrote: post #53
smrtinsert wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I know a freelancer couple whos cost when down dramatically with the OC plan. Could the federal prices be different per state?

they're all different per state, because there's no real 'federal pricing' or 'federal policies', AFAICT. The fed govt gives subsidies to insurance companies for low-income folks who sign up to the plans in their individual states/locations. There's no 'federal health plan' (more's the pity, imo).

And it's illegal for companies to sell plans across state lines. Remove that restriction and the situation would change quite a bit.

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

#89

Post by Beached »

nsxwolf wrote: post #80
facetube wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This^

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

#90

Post by HanaAuana »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #82
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…

Can you clarify this: > deducting $450 a month every 2 weeks That is confusing/doesn't make sense.

I'm guessing that means the $450 was the employee's share of the premium, deducted pre-tax by the employer
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