Avoiding Obamacare: Screw You Guys, I’m Outta Here

Avoiding Obamacare - picture of lifesaver in ocean

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Every time I write about the Affordable Care Act, I get legitimate hate mailAnd, I get it.  I totally get it.  After all, people who stand to benefit from the law are passionate about it for a variety of reasons.  First, no one can be denied for pre-existing conditions…which is something that I’ve always felt strongly about.  Second of all, the law makes insurance companies stop discriminating against women through higher premiums, which is something that I’ve thought was unfair forevah.  (I mean, every baby born is some guy’s baby, right?  Why should women bear all of the healthcare costs for birth?)

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that although I get hate mail and understand your concerns, I’m not going to stop talking about Obamacare and the law’s detrimental effects on my state.  Why?  Because I think it’s interesting and because it affects my personal finances.  And since this is a personal finance site, the topic seems to fit, am I right?

Anyway, If you want to read my other posts about Obamacare, you can check them out here:

Indiana Affordable Care Act Premiums Revealed

Breaking Obamacare News: It Still Sucks

Why is Obamacare Taking Away my HSA?

In case you don’t want to endure every last detail, here is a quick summary of the shenanigans the law is imposing on my personal finances as well as on my state:

  • My old health insurance plan ($377 per month) is not ACA-compliant.  Therefore, it was cancelled and our health insurance costs will double to at least $738 per month under the law and that is for a plan with a $10,000 deductible.  Neither of us are eligible for an employer-sponsored plan through work either since I’m self-employed and Greg works for a very small business.
  • Our state did not set up its own exchange, so people are stuck using the crappy healthcare.gov site.  Furthermore, several health insurance companies are offering ACA-compliant plans off of the exchange but it’s hard to get information from them.  As of today, I have tried to get a quote from three different health insurance companies….but they say they don’t have quotes for next year yet.
  • A lot of the ACA-compliant plans in Indiana aren’t eligible for a health savings account (HSA), even though they have deductibles of 8K, 10K, or even 12K.  (Question: Who wants a plan with a $12,000 deductible and no HSA?)
  • A lot of hospitals in Indiana are not accepting Affordable Care Act plans, including some of the best hospitals in the state.  (You can read more about that in the Indianapolis Star by clicking here) This means that my children will not be able to go to Riley Hospital for Children or Peyton Manning’s Children Hospital if we chose a plan that was accepted by the local hospital in town.  (Our local hospital is only taking Anthem ACA plans and the bigger, fancier hospitals are not taking Anthem)

Avoiding Obamacare

Anyways, I started by doing my fair share of health insurance research online at ehealthinsurance.com, I discovered that we may be able to get a small business health insurance plan instead of one of the jacked-up plans in the individual market.  Apparently, the state of Indiana only requires that a business have two employees to become eligible for a small business healthcare plan.  And strangely enough, those two employees can actually be husband and wife.  I didn’t believe what I was reading, so I called Anthem to confirm.  And they did. 

After that, I called an independent agent and got the hookup for some small business quotes.  Basically, I could pay slightly less than $800 per month (similar to the cheapest plan on the exchange with a 10K deductible) for a group plan with a $6,000 deductible.  Or, if I wanted to stay with a sky high deductible, I could pay $651.82 per month for a plan with a $10,000 deductible.  If I wanted to add vision and dental and supplemental life insurance coverage for our family, the grand total for the plan with a $10,000 deductible would be $753.23 per month.  But, most importantly, group plans aren’t bound by the same wonky narrowed-networks as the Obamacare plans in my state, meaning that I don’t have to choose between access to my local hospital and the ability to go to a specialized children’s hospital if one of the kiddos got real sick.  So there’s that.

Screw You Guys, I’m Outta Here

So, after all of the complaining I’ve done about Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act, it turns out I found a way to avoid the crazy individual market aspect of Obamacare after all.  I’m still going to pay more than I was before, but at least I have more options.  And as far as I’m concerned, the more options…the better.

I have no idea why the state of Indiana allows a husband and wife to get a group health insurance plan, but I’m going to spend zero hours investigating it.  The Affordable Care Act is a slow-motion tragedy in the making, and I am thrilled that I have the option to avoid its effects on the individual market.

So, if you’re still in the path of Obamacare, sorry about ya.  I found an escape hatch and I’m getting the hell out of dodge.

Screw you guys, I’m outta here. 

What are the group health insurance rules in your state?  Do you think I’m being selfish by getting the hell out of the individual market and getting a group plan?

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87 Comments

  1. You are not selfish at all – you’re just trying to make the best of a bad situation. Every time I learn more about the implementation of everything my eyes bug out a little.

  2. That is so interesting to me! My Dad had a small business and he used to make me, my brother and my mother employees on the books when really all we did was answer the phone once in a blue moon. Yet he still got legit tax credits from it. The small business plan sounds like a great middle ground – yes your premiums still go up, but you arents trapped by hospitals.

    By the way, I find that hospital thing absurd. I cannot imagine not being accepted at a hospital period… let alone because I had the wrong insurance provider.

    1. I know and I feel the same way. Things are all messed up in Indiana!

    2. Shawn Hall says:

      I am glad you advertise your father was committing tax fraud.

  3. Glad you guys were able to find something that worked. I’ve looked through the options in Massachusetts and things do seem to be a little better here. It’s still around the same monthly premium but the deductibles are only $3500-4000 and I think the networks are pretty inclusive. I guess it’s just going to vary situation to situation.

    1. There are plans with 3K-4K deductibles here but they are way more expensive, like $1,200 per month and up. Plus, I don’t think that any of the 3-4K plans on the exchange qualified for an HSA.

    2. Plus, didn’t you guys already have healthcare reform of some kind before this? That probably helps your state’s situation some.

      1. Yeah Massachusetts is definitely ahead of the game. I’m actually in the process of finding individual coverage for us (a story for another day) so I’m looking into this in detail, along with looking at options that aren’t in the exchange. So far I can find an HSA plan with a 3500 deductible (1750 per individual) and 12700 max out of pocket for about $720 per month. I don’t know if that’s the best option yet.

        I will say that the MA website is currently at least incredibly frustrating to use. It’s slow as hell and keeps “timing out” and making me go back through all the pages. At least it saves my info but I still have to click through each one at a snail’s pace.

        I’m also in touch with a couple of independent brokers and I’m hoping they’ll be helpful. Again, we’ll see. I’ll definitely be reporting on my experience as well.

  4. Hmm definitely interesting stuff. I suppose a small business plan would have to be the same price or cheaper than the individual quotes, but I’ve definitely seen that Obamacare has an influence on the entire market and not just on those shopping on the exchanges. Good for you for doing a bit of research and being able to find something that works!

    1. I was thinking that too, DC. My company’s group plan is going up substantially, both on rates and deductible, so I think the effects are far-reaching.

    2. The small group plans are a little cheaper, like maybe 10-20% across the board. The important thing to me is hospital choice, in addition to cost. The way they have the hospitals and plans divided up is so ridiculous. I want to be able to go to one of the children’s hospitals if one of my kids got sick.

  5. Glad that you found a better way! Wow, good for you, I bet very few people would go to the lengths that you did to research this and find a better option that works for their situation. The price difference that you would be paying if you had to stay with the individual market is staggering- I’m glad you posted the numbers, because it helps this hit home for those of us who have employer-sponsored plans and haven’t had to go on a hunt for insurance.

  6. Sorry you’re getting legitimate hate mail for writing about your own situation. Sometimes, you just can’t win.

    Not being able to keep your current healthcare plan seems to be the most overlooked disadvantage of the ACA. I’m happy that more Americans will be getting coverage, but forcing someone off a plan they liked doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

    1. I actually don’t mind switching plans. In a lot of ways, we’re very lucky because we aren’t sick and we aren’t currently seeing a doctor or getting ongoing care. My main concerns are cost and choice of care…in case we did get sick.

  7. After extensive research, I discovered that a frighteningly high number of insurance companies (most) built their fee structures around denying, withholding, or terminating coverage to let people die. (The “death panels” already existed, just in every insurance company meeting room)

    Now that insurance companies are legally forbidden to do such, they have to base their business models on ACTUALLY PAYING for your care. This will most certainly cost more than leaving you to die waiting for the “pending approval” to change.

    As a result, I have stayed away from investing in the health-insurance industry even though they are cash-cows for investors. (collect money, people get sick, cut off coverage, nothing to payout)

    So if your coverage now costs more you can be certain that you would have been cut off if something serious ever happened to you.

    Take solace knowing now that they can’t.

    1. The ACA does make things better (like no lifetime caps) but it also makes some things worse. Like, the hospital thing, for instance. People should be able to go to any hospital that could help their illness. Narrowing networks to save money is awful, especially when it decreases access to my state’s children’s hospitals.

      1. Holly, I think through your research you have identified a problem with our current health care system that needs to be addressed. Even though this has not been an issue in most areas, I agree that you should have greater choice of hospitals and providers, not less. However, that is not something that the ACA made worse; private insurers have always been able to limit their network of coverage. To fix the problem, we would either need to ADD to the ACA protections to require broader hospital/provider coverage, or add a public insurance option with greater provider choice to compete with the private insurers. My preference would be the second option.

        1. Actually, the ACA has made doctor/hospital choice WORSE in my state. My old Anthem plan is accepted by every major hospital and network in central Indiana.

        2. From what I’ve read, it’s not 100% the insurance companies faults. A lot of providers (doctors, hospitals, etc.) are not accepting ACA plans because of the payout schedules for provided services. The insurance companies have to limit their profits, keep their plans somewhat affordable, and pay for more services. So, they pay less to the providers for doctors visits, testing, procedures, etc. A lot of doctors are already making less for seeing more patients. So, they aren’t accepting people covered under these new, lower paying plans.

          1. But, to customers, does it really matter whose “fault” it is? Blaming the hospitals or insurers doesn’t change anything and it doesn’t increase access for the people stuck in these plans. IMO, the blame should lay on the flawed law for putting insurers and hospitals in the position of making those decisions in the first place.

          2. Exactly. I’m just responding to Caromba’s comment: “However, that is not something that the ACA made worse; private insurers have always been able to limit their network of coverage.” Insurers limit their networks according to what providers are willing to accept their prices. People are putting all the blame on the insurance companies, when it actually is the ACA that is causing the networks to become more limited.

  8. Jennifer @ Budgeting in Baby says:

    You are not being selfish at all. You have to do what is best for you and your family and right now that is the group plan. Maybe over time there will be a better plan on the individual market.

  9. I don’t think you’re being selfish, you’re just trying to find the best solution for your family. The cost of healthcare is just insane, and even with insurance you can still expect to pay out of your ear.

  10. Oh Indiana! Your laws are so random sometimes! Glad you were able to find a nice workaround!

    Also that sucks that Riley and St V (Peyton Manning’s Children’s Hospital) don’t take ACA plans. Pretty much means my little guy would no longer be able to see the wonderful pulmonologist he has seen several times (if we had to take an ACA plan). Way to go government keeping kids from the best healthcare they can get in our state.

    1. Well, they do take ACA plans from a company called MD Healthwise. Unfortunately, the local hospital in Noblesville (Riverview) isn’t taking MD Healthwise, only the Anthem ACA plans.

      So you have to choose between access to one or the other, which is crazy.

  11. “The Affordable Care Act is a slow-motion tragedy in the making” Ain’t it the truth? SO glad you found a way out, Holly. Go for it!

  12. “The Affordable Care Act is a slow-motion tragedy in the making” I could not agree more Holly. Now you have them backing up the supposed cancellation of plans by a year and the whole mess gets that much uglier. Sorry you’re getting hate mail off of this, that’s just ridiculous in my opinion. Yes, there are some good things about it, but many other things about it are messed up beyond belief.

    That said, I don’t think you’re selfish at all, you’re finding what works best for you and the family in a crappy situation. You’ve given me an idea now to check in to seeing if we can do the same thing here in Nebraska.

    1. Yes, you should definitely check the rules in your state, John! You never know.

  13. My younger sister was a “Riley baby/child”, so I could definitely see not wanting to participate in a plan that doesn’t include the great children’s hospitals that Indiana has to offer. It makes a world of difference if something were to happen!

    I’m lucky that my employer has an awesome plan that costs me next to nothing. But then, our parent company is large enough to self insure, and be backed by Anthem. It’s one of my fears about switching companies. I keep hearing so much about how ACA opens doors for people to be able to move employers more easily. And true, if I had a pre-existing condition, it would be a life saver. But it doesn’t help if you can’t afford the coverage!

      1. Well, so long as I stick with my employer, I’ll definitely stick with the plan. But one of the sales points of ACA was supposed to be that people would have more freedom to switch jobs; You wouldn’t be stuck making employment decisions based on insurance coverage. With such high costs though, insurance is still going to be a major employment consideration for many of us.

  14. I’m all for any way you can avoid Obamacare. This entire legislation was designed from the beginning to bring as many people under government control as possible. They wrote the law specifically to drive private insurance out of business so the government could then step in and say “see those greedy insurance companies were evil so we need to have a single government payer system.” And do you really want the government deciding your health care? Not me. At any rate, good for you for finding something better and “affordable” because the Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable.

    1. My costs will be going up regardless but I appreciate the fact that I’ll have more options this way. Unfortunately, not everyone has their own small business so they won’t be able to take advantage of this option.

  15. Hello again! This is a topic I also have strong feelings about, as a self-employed soon-to-be mom. I’m glad we can engage here constructively, and I’m sorry to hear you have been receiving hate mail. I feel there is one big clarification to make about your post: You are not opting out of Obamacare. Obamacare is not just the exchanges. Obamacare = the Affordable Care Act = getting everyone covered through a web of private insurance and offering consumer protections (like the ones you highlight in your post) to the people that are covered. Your new small business plan does that for you. Others will be covered by their employer. Those who are eligible for subsidies are best off using the exchanges. Relying on private insurance for our new system gives us more choice of different plans, but it also makes us more vulnerable to the whims of private insurance companies (like which hospitals they work with). Obamacare is the new system, and I’m glad you found a plan within the new system that works for you, despite Indiana’s opting out of establishing an exchange and the hospital coverage issue which clearly still needs to be sorted out in your state.

    1. Yes, I realize that I’m not opting out of the whole thing, just the individual market where most of the craziness is going on right now. I think I made that clear in my post.

      1. I get that you need a catchy title, but I thought some of your readers who haven’t done as much research as you might be easily confused by the “Avoiding Obamacare” title of the post. The post also says you “found a way to avoid Obamacare,” so I thought it was worth making the clarification.

        1. I get what you’re saying. I updated it to reflect that!

  16. No not selfish at all, you have to do what is best for your family. Sorry to hear about the hate mail…luckily I think you have pretty thick skin! I think people are passionate but often ignorant. Sure, I support the overall concept of covering more people, but the ACA in its implementation has hit many snags and needs some fixes. I think a lot of the hate mail is probably political…people see these issues as black and white with no gray in between.

    1. Yeah, this totally isn’t political. I am an independent…I hate politics anyways! This is about a law that defies common sense and puts many family’s finances in peril.

  17. I still have so much more research to do to see if I can squeeze every benefit out of obama care since my insurance premium is going up $30 Jan 1st. Not a significant amount, but I also know health insurance companies can raise the rates whenever they want and I have a feeling it’s only the beginning. I think it’s going to be a bumpy road, but I really, really do hope they get things worked out for everyone’s benefit.

  18. It just goes to show that it pays to have a business! Good to hear that you were able to do it with a husband and wife team. I don’t know if NC allows that, but I am not in that boat yet.

    1. We haven’t signed up yet….just exploring our options. But it is still good to know!

  19. You’re doing what’s best for your family, and as long as it’s legal (which seems to be a resounding yes in your case), go for it.

    1. I agree! It’s definitely legal, just a weird requirement. I am happy about it though.

  20. Miles Howard says:

    I’ve supported health reform since I was old enough to vote and yet I can relate to many of the frustrations that Holly shares here. I’ve yet to see my own coverage options (finally made it through the website last week) but I’m worried that my deductible will skyrocket and my member benefits will be reduced significantly. I mean, the notion of gaming a private insurance sector to cover everyone is absurd.

    I should clarify that I do NOT support the efforts of Republicans pull our healthcare system back to the status quo, which is unequivocally awful. But Obamacare is not a smart, sustainable solution and it frustrates me that so many people on the political left – where I stand as well – refuse to entertain any of the legitimate critiques the new law has garnered. If anything, Obamacare serves to remind us how much simpler, cheaper, and fairer a single payer system would be. The problem here isn’t government running healthcare inefficiently – it’s government trying to assert itself over something that we’re still leaving in the hands of the private sector.

    1. Yes, Miles. I couldn’t have said it better. I’ve always supported healthcare reform but this is an awful way to do it. And people who aren’t being affected don’t really understand how serious it is. It’s easy to say, “well, things are going fine in my state” and just dismiss all of the problems. But, when you’re the one taking a paycut and choosing between several terrible options, the situation is dire.

      I’m kind’ve sick of people acting like the ACA is the best we could’ve done. It’s not. It still leaves so many people uncovered and it leave people who make a decent living footing the bill. There were winners and losers before the ACA and all the law has done is redefine who those winners and losers are.

  21. You are a personal finance superstar. This Obamacare coverage should get it’s own Plutus Award category next year.

    All your research has seriously paid off by uncovering this loophole. I wonder how many people could be eligible for this but are going to stick with ACA just because they don’t want to take the time to figure out how to make their situation better.

    Major props, Holly.

  22. I’m back after just now reading an article about a woman who went to the government website to see if she qualified for subsidies. She wanted to spend her own money for insurance because she had assets that she could draw upon to pay the premium. However, because her income was low, the website AUTOMATICALLY signed her up for Medicaid. She had no choice to say no, back out of the screen or anything. It was all done without her being able to say no. It was mandatory. And she cannot discontinue even if her income increases. What she has to do is submit an asset report each year and the government is then enabled to seize her assets upon her death. All this because they forced her onto Medicaid against her will and wouldn’t allow her to drop it after the fact. This is a real backdoor way for the government to seize your estate even if it is under the estate tax exemption. Who knows what else is in this law? It is soooo scary.

  23. So awesome to hear that you found an option that’s more palatable and fits your needs more! The premium still seems so high, but at least you have a lot more options like you stated.

  24. Ben @ The Wealth Gospel says:

    Selfish? Heck no! I’d argue that the majority of the politicians who signed this law were selfish because all they care about is their next term–not the American people in general (see the broken promises that we can keep our plans).

  25. Heck, no. You have to do what’s best for your family. It’s great that found a better solution and having access to good healthcare, especially for my kids is important to me too. We’re fortunate as my husband works for a large employer so he has a company sponsored plan.

  26. I’m so happy you were able to find a less terrible option. Still not ideal, but manageable. I think your coverage of this whole issue has been great, it’s so interesting to hear about how people are actually going to be affected, not just what politicians say is going to happen.

    Good luck.

  27. So glad you found another option! Not selfish at all, just looking out for your family, don’t blame you a bit. We have insurance through my husbands employer and the rates went up, but the coverage went way down. It also limits what doctors we can see and I just found out I’ll have to find a new pediatrician and OB/GYN – that infuriates me. It’s hard to find a good doctor!! 🙁

  28. First of all, I am sorry that you received hate mail. I personally think that it is very informative and interesting to see both how the Obamacare mandates have affected the markets for “real” people and I applaud your creativity in finding a way to make things work for your family. I am a grad student in a US Medical School (PhD track, not MD), so thankfully although our stipends are not super high, we do get great health care coverage through the school, so I have not personally had to sort through this mess.
    Just to insert a different point of view though- I realize that you are frustrated by all the rate increases on the personal side, but I am also wondering on the long term effect on hospitals and recruiting new physicians. Part of why I chose a PhD track rather than an MD track was because of the crappy state of healthcare payouts/reimbursements/etc here and wading through all of this health insurance crap from the Doctor’s side. I’m wondering if those new ACA plans you were looking at were excluded from your local Children’s/Specialty hospitals due to low reimbursement rates, or whether once things stabilize in a few years they will be included and hospitals are shrinking networks since they are not sure what to expect with the influx of new patients/plans on the market.

    1. I can’t imagine how the whole thing looks from a doctor’s perspective. I also wonder about the long-term effects on the entire system, including doctors and hospitals.

  29. We won’t be affected because I’m covered by my corporate insurance plan, but my parents are affected. I’m sad the healthcare system here is in such shambles.

  30. Your policy that you deemed sufficient is illegal because politicians know what you need. That’s the dangers where other people determine whats best for you and your family.

  31. … I’m not seeing how this is a problem. Group health insurance plans are part of the overall ACA as well. Ideally everybody would get group coverage and there would be no need for artificial group markets through the exchanges. And yes, it sucks that Indiana is trying to make it difficult for the ACA to work and is succeeding at that. And yes it sucks that there’s short-term (1 year) complications because they were too ambitious with the federal website and there are too many temporary loopholes for insurance companies etc. to play moral hazard with.

    I see that caromba has made the same point above. I see she’s also a bit more cynical about your need for link-bait titles than I was, but I see her point there too. You must get a lot of traffic from these posts.

    (And it still sucks that you pay much less for your health insurance than I do for my sucky university-provided family coverage, once you include the employer contribution).

    1. Do I feel bad for coming up with catchy and searchable titles? No way. Of course, I could title this post something like “my health insurance plans,” but what fun would that be? I do think that your university should pony up more money for your health insurance. I hope they are making up for it in other ways!!

    2. And the difference is that group health insurance plans (in my state) aren’t subject to the same narrowed-networks that the individual group plans are. So, if I get a group plan, I can go to whatever hospital I want. I’ve come to grips with the fact that I’ll be paying more than I was…but for $800 or so per month I feel like I should have ample choice of hospitals and doctors.

  32. I remember you mentioning that you hated private healthcare because you couldn’t get coverage due to a preexisting condition and that the whole experience was horrible. Now that you don’t seem to have that issue, you are choosing to opt out of Obamacare, when its success depends on healthy people like you to purchase healthcare so that people with preexisting conditions (like you used to be) can afford healthcare. If this were ten years ago, wouldn’t you have wanted healthy people to purchase insurance in the system so that you could have gotten insurance too?
    I honestly don’t care if you purchase obamacare or not, I’m just trying to understand your thinking. Since you seem to be hurting the same people that you used to align with.

    1. I’m sorry, but what? Did you even read the post?

      I’m just going to buy a group plan instead of a plan on the individual market. I would never go without health insurance.

      I think if you really want to “understand my thinking” you should read the post before commenting. Try again.

        1. Glad you understand now. The problem with the individual market in Indiana is that they’ve got the hospitals divided up so that you can go to one or two but not others. Buying a group plan with let me avoid that mess. But, I’ll still be paying way more than my share. The cheapest I can get away with is around $650 per month…and that’s with a $10,000 deductible!

  33. So glad you found a better option, Holly! I honestly haven’t done much research on the ACA as I am getting back on my dad’s plan through work (only $75 a month for me!) and my husband is covered through work for just over $100 a month. I’m really happy to get coverage for so cheap, I know so many people who are going to end up paying crazy high prices.

    1. $75 per month is sweet! Glad your husband has cheap insurance too. You guys should stay on that as long as you can!

  34. Wow, I have to say that is pretty freakin’ awesome. Although you didn’t answer the million dollar question. Does this new group plan allow you to keep your HSA’s or will those still go the way of the magestic dodo? I wonder if that setup applies to farmers as well. Growing up, my mom always had to work outside the home so we had access to health insurance. With a rule set up like that though, a small family farm could easily qualify for a group plan. Although payment would be a different issue.

    1. The plans that he sent me all qualified for an HSA but I didn’t investigate other plans. I also didn’t investigate group plans outside of Anthem since the insurance guy said that Anthem has the lowest group rates across the board.

  35. Holly, were you able to keep your old plan for another year? I though even the expiring ones could be kept until Dec 2014 if you renew before the end of the year. If you can’t do that, then this certainly sounds like a better option.

    1. Yes, my plan does go to the end of next year….but that is really just a short-term option. It really only buys time until September or October of next year. After that, everyone will be in the same position we’re in now. I’m planning ahead…not sure if we’ll switch now or wait until sometime next year.

  36. I’m glad you found an option that works better for you. I stand to benefit from the law and though the implementation has been FAR from ideal, I think the principles it’s built on are fantastic. I hope some work goes into figuring out how to make the law work better rather than all this ridiculous fighting that’s been getting us nowhere.

    1. I dunno. When you only stand to benefit from something, I think it’s easy to look around and say, “What the hell is everyone’s problem?” But, when you’re holding the bill it’s an entirely different experience. I personally know one couple whose health insurance is going up $1,000 per month at minimum, so $12,000 per year…..almost 50K over the next four years. When something like that happens to you, it really is a crisis and it’s frustrating when everyone around you just shuffles their feet and acts like everything is going great.

  37. Group health insurance is good especially if you don’t plan to leave the group soon or move to another State. Honestly, I pay $800 with my wife every month and it’s something we’ve gotten used to. But if the group thing works out well then kudos!

  38. Holy moles! That is madness! I can’t believe the deductible is so high. You’d think if you are paying $600+ each month that you could walk in anywhere for health care and maybe pay a $10 co-pay. Definitely not 6k or 10k deductible! Wow. Just wow. I’m sorry you’re in this sucky situation.

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  40. Wow, so you are paying what, nearly $4K per year to have your health needs covered?! What is the difference between that, and paying higher taxes to a government which provides you with health services? It seems to me insane to have a gazillion health-care insurers competing to provide the public with service while making sure their bottom line is looking good. Wouldn’t it be more efficient for one provider (ie the government) to look after your needs in exchange for a higher rate of taxation?
    What do you think about having the government taking the place of for-profit insurance companies? I would welcome your thoughts.

    1. Right now we pay $377 per month ($4,524 per year) and next year we’ll have to pay $650 per month ($7800 per year) at minimum. But, it isn’t to “have our healthcare needs covered” as you stated. We have to pay that much just for the privilege of having insurance. Under my current plan I have an $11,000 deductible and under next year’s plan I’ll have a $10,000 deductible. So I actually won’t have any healthcare coverage until I hit my deductible.

      I have always been a proponent of single payer health insurance. In the U.S., health insurance companies are now required to pay at least 80% of what they take in out in claims. The other 20% can go to profits, advertising, admin, etc. So the way I see it, we are adding 20% on top of our already ridiculous healthcare costs just by having for-profit health insurance companies administer all the plans. After all, the government doesn’t have to advertise or turn a profit.

      Not only that, but health insurance companies in the U.S. make every part of the system overly complicated by including/not including certain doctors and networks, complex billing systems, etc.

      I would love to cut them out of the process and pay for actual healthcare (not health insurance!!!) for the citizens of this country through progressive taxation. I think that’s part of my disdain for the affordable care act….I wouldn’t mind paying more for people (my self included) to get actual healthcare. But the ACA just forces me to pay for other people’s health insurance….which is NOT the same thing as healthcare.

      Does that make sense?

  41. It’s good you did your shopping to explore other options. But you didn’t really avoid Obamacare. The plan you looked at still has to comply with the Obamacare law. That’s why it’s expensive. Second, this is the first year for that plan. You can count on it going up upon renewal. The reason is that Obamacare is falling apart because of lack of participation. Soon enough your plan will be too much for you to afford. Your insurance provider will be hit with adverse results due to poor participation levels and not enough healthy people in the pool, since everyone gets in regardless. Human nature being what it is, people will not buy expensive insurance until they need it. Then they buy it with their new pre-existing condition and immediately start using the benefits. That can’t possibly work set up that way. You MUST separate that crowd from the rest in their own program. If the president and the Dems really wanted to provide insurance for the uninsurable, they would have created a program just for them and instituted reasonable private sector reforms for the rest of us. As it is now, trying to insure the minority is causing the whole system to fail for the majority. That’s just stupid.

    Health insurance is not sustainable under Obamacare. Obama and the Dems knew that from the beginning. Top Democrat leadership have wanted single payor from the start and many are calling on it now to replace Obamacare. So unless we can repeal Obamacare soon and replace it with a better system truly based on the private sector, we will end up in single payor.

    By the way, anyone who thinks states not instituting their own exchanges is hurting Obamacare, you’re wrong. You will see that the states who did create their own exchanges will suffer financially for it. The smart states opted out.

  42. Hah! Good for you, for speaking your mind! I’ve always argued that money is politics, politics money. Tippy-toeing around political issues causes a blogger to ignore about half of the issues related to personal finance.

    Yes, the rule about getting insurance through your business has been in place for a while. Lucky you guys are young enough to qualify. When my assistant editor and I were laid off our jobs at the Great Desert University, I formed an S-corp and made her a director. She soon landed another job at GDU that covered her insurance, and her little girl was covered on the ex’s plan. But more recently her job converted to a contract arrangement, and because she earns too much to qualify for our state’s version of Medicaid, we thought we might be able to set up a plan through the S-corp. Unfortunately, though, because I (the business’s owner) am on Medicare, our business ain’t eligible.

    Y’know, in some circumstances you can hire your kids as employees. Make them vacuum the office floor — voila! Janitors! This may allow you to carry them on your business plan… I’m talking in the dark here, but it could be something to check into.

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