Health Insurance - I have questions

[eliquid]

Wanted to ask about health insurance here.

I truly want some insight from other entrepreneurs for now before I talk to another agent which gets really confusing and irritating.

Being self employed and in a state that did away with their state ran program ( Kentucky ) a few years ago, I'm pretty much ( I feel like ) left to healthcare.gov for my options, which are basically limited to nothing.

For the past decade, I've pretty much defaulted to a high monthly premium on Anthem for the low co-pay and Rx. The only doctors in town take Anthem and none of the dentists here take any of the plans offered. My kids wear glasses so I typically just pay out of pocket full price on vision too.

I'm kinda sick of it so I am looking for options.

Right now, I pay $1500 a month for me and wife and 2 kids and we almost never go to the doctor. My wife did have a precancerous polyp removed last year, but I paid the majority of the deductible for that so that was out of pocket as well.

As far as everything else.. we are never sick. Dental and vision exams are cheap so I don't mind paying for those as much. But the health insurance just seems wasteful for the PPO plan we are on.

I've looked into:

1. HSA - but I don't get it or understand it. No matter how many times I read about it or ask an agent, I can't seem to really understand it or how it will benefit me.

2. Religious insurance plans - The ones where you pay in and everyone pays everyone else's bills. I might have this wrong.


So here are my questions:

1. Is there anything else available than the above I pointed out on the 2 other options? Am I missing anything I should be looking into other than HSA or some religious group plan? I want to make sure I know all the options.

2. Anyone here just have catastrophic plans? If so what does it cover? I almost feel I could bank the $1500 a month and pay out of pocket for normal stuff instead.

3. Anyone on a HSA? Maybe you can explain a bit how it works for you in comparison to normal PPO.

4. Anyone on one of the religious insurance plans? Has it worked out OK for you and how does it really work?

5. If I am missing any other option, can you explain it and let me know where I can check into it?

I am interested in people who are single, married with no kids, and those married or unmarried with kids. I want to start searching now before the end of the year when I typically have to renew and feel like I am uneducated and have to default pick the PPO plans on Healthcare.gov again which I feel like I need to get off of.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[coredev]

empower3cfh.com

They say it's not health insurance but you pay a monthly fee and get access to a variety of healthcare services.

I think Empower3 is just local to me but maybe you can look for something similar in your area.

You pay them a monthly plan ($59 or $159)

 

[bernard]

$1500 sounds rather cheap considering. Where I live we pay almost 10% of net income in healthcare taxes (pr. person!), so you can calculate what you and your wife would pay.

 

[GNews]

I roll the dice on it and getting a small med issue handled in a foreign countries

Cuba has great doctors and Colombia too for some things

Beyond that, American Health Insurance is just another 'rape' of the wallet..... The "#MeToo" movement before MeToo

 

[bash]

How good healthcare.gov is really depends on what state your in. In AZ my monthly is 1800$ for gold plan with no subsidy. Deductible is low at 1400$. Max out of pocket is on the lower end also. I think it really comes down to how much of an ideologue your Gov is. Mine in AZ has gone out of his way to leave the exchange to its own devices and support medicaid expansion when possible.

 

[Poplanu]

$1500 sounds rather cheap considering. Where I live we pay almost 10% of net income in healthcare taxes (pr. person!), so you can calculate what you and your wife would pay.

As a LLC owner in my country I can pay myself a minimum salary and that covers the state health insurance & minimum pension. And then take the rest out as dividends taxed at ~20%. That minimizes the tax burden. Europe, obviously.

 

[BCN]

I have private health insurance. I pay around 70 a month. Covers everything.

No deductible, dental included (but if you need stuff like root canals/fillings it's 50% deductibles... But just have to brush my teeth..)

Why is it so expensive in the US?

Do you even need it? Insurance companies make a ton of money, and usually put up a fight when you make claims (ie. auto insurance).