Reply #19: Sounds like me before my husband became disabled. [View All]

[haele]

Now I make $50K a year with employer provided health insurance, he gets SSDI, and we still end up paying around $14K a year in deductibles, co-pays, premiums...and the premiums are reasonable; $450 a month for household comprehensive medical coverage for three, $50 a month for dental and vision.
But, we make just too much for him to go on medicare or to the VA, too much for tax credits since we don't own a house and can't "itemize". It's all pretty much out of pocket, one way or another. The FSA my company provides helps some, being $5K immediately available "pre-tax" out of payroll starting the first of every year, but that's the max I could get deducted, and that FSA ran out in the middle of June, as it usually does because of the co-pay and deductible costs on our medical plan.
Believe me, if I could put up to $10K a year pre-tax into it and have the money available up front, it would make our lives so much easier...

Look, the fact of private health-care is this: if no one on your plan has a chronic mental or physical condition, if no one gets in a nasty accident or seriously sick - if you don't stroke out because of high work stress or something as insidious as sleep apnea - if you don't see a doctor for anything other than the regular baseline checkups, you do just fine with employer based insurance so long as you have a job. Worker's comp is also usually a good coverage for the little things, but you have to remember to file all your paperwork. Just don't get a major work-related issue that might lead to a permanent disability...

It isn't until you actually need it when you find out how bad most private policies - PPO, HMO, or Co-op - are for low to middle income workers. As for COBRA - if you have made the investment in your life to be employed for anything over minimum wage, you probably can't afford it until you're making 6 figures.

I can't wait until we're eligible for TriCare for Life (retired reservist - US military). 10 more years to go, then our yearly medical outlay will be cut by more than half and not tied to the whims of an employer or insurance company. Government run health-care, bay-bee!
I worked my ass off and paid taxes for it, gave years of my life for it - and I, like everyone else in this country - deserve it.

Haele