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My husband and I are in the same dilemma. Thinking about early retirement but scared of the health insurance cost. Cobra through my employer is $875 a month but has excellent coverage. I have found the healthcare.gov site helpful for looking at private pay options. It looks like a catastrophic plan would cost us $500/600 a month easily plus the out of pocket cost. There aren't many options unfortunately. The part time job with benefits sounds like one of the better options.
Thanks Escort Rider, I'm not taking a chance like that. I was interested in the cost of the arms and legs.
If I retired today (actual date is 6 years ahead), my subsidized-by-employer cost is around $750 a month for two of us. (Looks like it $1500 a month with no subsidy, they are covering half).
Any other data points out there?
$750 a month for two is pretty good these days. When I quit my job I had a month before I was eligible for Medicare so I took COBRA. For just me it cost $760.
Having an employer subsidized insurance policy after retirement is a great deal. I doubt you will find anything much cheaper for the same benefits.
We are still employed and despite one of us being pretty high up in a large mega-corporation, the company charges us $470 a month for our "share" of coverage for the employee plus spouse (the better of 2 bad deals). The company adopted a socialist contribution system, which after 30 years of experience has reduced pay even farther, after a decades-long annual loss of benefits. As insurance goes, I would rate it a D-, though I guess they're all lousy nowadays.
Obama had the chance to reform our disastrous health care system, but being corrupt, of course he negotiated away all potential improvements (an actual government takeover would have worked), kept every single problem in place (like tort lawsuits and escalating costs), and added new mandates that didn't help most people but added immensely to costs (unlimited lifetime coverage, adding young adults to their parent's coverage until 26, full mental health parity despite the fact that NO mental illnesses are curable). They would have had to abandon the super-expensive insurance Middle Man to give all Americans affordable health coverage, but with politicians paid for and owned by Big Business, that can never happen.
Like others, I think we'll probably end up moving out of the country, hopefully before the small amount of money we've saved is hyperinflated to worthlessness by the traitors in Washington.
While I do thnk they caved into speical nterest by unions on not allowig across state line of pools and not allowig emloyeee to shop other than their pool if its cheaper and to special netreswt that wanted to insured people to 26 o parents a poolwtin compniae paying much of ti;I think they knew that universal would be worse than medicaid or medicare is now. Besides whcih the medial providers would collapse and they woulod end up havig to provide hopitals they could afford.I also think they didn;t want to provide fundig for research ;medical and drug that the US now does 70% of in the world.Just the medicaid increased cost to states is goig to mean highwer taxes after 2017 when federal additonal funding runs out.I thnik as one whose compnay adopted the mandates alst October people are goig to be shocked when they see whtthe mandates does to cost.Especially what compnaies are allowed to do to cut cost to employeees that retire before medicare age or to supllements after medicare is reached.
Even the President is no match for the powerful Medical industry. As long as they hold onto the monoply they own, health care in the US will never be affordable to everyone.
Even the President is no match for the powerful Medical industry. As long as they hold onto the monoply they own, health care in the US will never be affordable to everyone.
You are speaking about one aspect of a situation which has several aspects. Here are the ones which, in my opinion, you are leaving out:
1. Tort law As long as doctors are running more tests than they deem necessary out of fear of the one in five hundred cases in which they may be sued for malpractice for failing to test for some rare something, then the costs of medical care are going to be inflated. There are additional ramifications of tort law besides over-testing.
2. High tech is expensive. MRI's show more than traditional X-rays, but they are a whole lot more expensive too. Colonoscopies use a very expensive high-tech instrument which wasn't available thirty years ago. So if we want the benefits we pay the price. Those are just two examples among many.
3. End of life care is horrendously expensive. Fifty or sixty years ago grandma and grandpa frequently died at home. Now their lives are extended a few months (or maybe even a few years in some cases) by the most intensive arrays of techniques and treatments which not only become a nightmare for the patient but which are staggeringly expensive. Have you seen the statistics on what percent of Medicare money is spent on end of life care?
4. We do it to ourselves. Not all of us as individuals, but collectively. While smoking is down compared to the 1950's and 1960's - only about 20% of adult Americans now smoke - the ones who smoke are still costing all the rest of us money. And obesity? A tremendous expense. Do you think all those bariatric surgeries are being paid for out-of-pocket? Do you know how much per person they cost? And surgeries are only part of the cost of obesity and overweight. How about lack regular exercise. Every couch potato is costing you and me plenty. I could go on and on here about poor diet, etc.
The reality is that health care is inherently expensive and by its very nature nowdays may not be affordable for everybody. And of course what you say makes things worse, namely the quasi monopoly situation.
Good points. The new healthcare law in fact address some of thsoe ponts, In allows employers to reward and thus penaltized those who refuse to particapte in healthcare clinics offered, These can include exercise classes ;stop smoking;drinking and drugs.
My wife retired at 62 and is presently 63 . We could not afford a premium and the high deductibles so we gambled (no insurance) and she had a TIA or minor stroke . We called 911 because she was confused and disoriented. To get right to the point she spent two days in the Hospital with a $7500 bill followed by $1200 for ER $600 for neurologist ,$450 for primary and $525 for paramedics. Thats two weeks ago. I have VA coverage and disability but my endodonist forthcoming bill will be $1650.00 (no coverage) for a 2 year old root canal that need further work (by the way that tooth cast $1500 originally with a crown) THEN this week I took my dog to the dog walk and as we left we noticed she had a gash 2 inches long on her hip. $450.00. Just through that in to show how medical stuff can potentiate Chapter 13 or 11. My wife is doing fine and my dog is healing quickly with 10 wire sutures.
Das
Last edited by DASULAR17; 03-17-2011 at 11:21 PM..
Reason: formating
That could be said of any industry really;pointless.Certainly government entitlements from their own reports.
Of course it could. But the medical industry is the topic of this discussion.
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There is more to it.
