[Getmeouttacali]

Question for any Michiganders- I’m so close to finally getting my husband to leave California I can almost taste it😍🎉. His final objection is that, according to him, there are no jobs anywhere in the whole country except California that provide health insurance. He says that if we have to purchase insurance for our family of 4 on the private market, that it will cost thousands and thousands of dollars per month. I am certain that this is not true. Any Michigan residents that don’t have insurance through a job, how much do you pay? We currently pay $1300 a month through his work, I can’t imagine it being much higher. We are a family of 4, hubby has preexisting conditions (overweight, diabetes) the rest of us don’t. I plan to go back to school and finish my degree once we move, and should be able to have a job with insurance within two years, so it would only need to be for a short time, but he believes that we will spend our entire savings if we move. Help me show Mr. Pessimist the truth from real people who actually live there.

[craig11152]

Are you moving without a job lined up?

What field of work is he in?
It's a gross exaggeration to say only California jobs come with health insurance.

[snoopygirlmi]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

We've had BCBS, Aetna, United Healthcare through different employers over the years. Never lived in California. (Weird.)

I think that there are deeper reasons why he doesn't want to move and is using health insurance as an excuse. (Just a guess, I could be totally off base).

I get that Michigan isn't California, but geez....that's just a sad argument against moving out of state.

[Getmeouttacali]

He’s had two potential jobs, but both were as independent contractors, so he’d have to get his own insurance. This is pretty common in his industry. The potential job actually pays a little more than his current job (combined with a 50% reduction in cost of living), but he believes the massive cost of insurance will eliminate. He just really, really can’t deal well with change. He was upset when Costco quit carrying his favorite socks, when his dentist retired, when the dry cleaner went out of business, etc. Once he gets used to a new thing, he’s fine, he even finds that he likes it better, but getting him to make a change is really hard.

[craig11152]

There are websites that can help you find insurance and quote rates.
I think your best bet would be to do your own direct research based on your family particulars.
Pick a city in Michigan as a base address and then start inserting information that applies to you and your family. Prices will show up and that will be more accurate than anyone here can quote because their details are not your details.

[JoePO]

Check out https://www.healthcare.gov/see-plans/ or


https://www.michigan.gov/difs/0,5269...3356--,00.html



Based on a family of 4, with a low 6 figure income, monthly cost is $1300-$1500.

[leroythelion]

Originally Posted by Getmeouttacali

We currently pay $1300 a month through his work,

Wow. Through work? That sounds like a ripoff. That is almost my yearly premium.

[Getmeouttacali]

That’s including vision and dental, which we’re all blessed with good teeth, so we only do a yearly check up and cleaning, which we could just pay for out of pocket, and only my husband has glasses, so only a yearly check for him, every couple years for the rest of us. We also have to have a ppo because his work isn’t based out of California (it’s based in Michigan) and we chose the slightly more expensive plan because we knew my husband would need hip replacement, so we wanted the lower out of pocket. We probably could get away with around $1000 here. $900 if hubby would quit tobacco. What I found online was about what you said, $13-1500. The difference is there is a higher max out of pocket, which normally isn’t too big a deal, as all of us are pretty healthy so far (knock on wood) He insists that it can’t be right, private insurance is thousands per month. Just was curious what people are actually paying. In two years I expect to be able to find a job that offered benefits (dental hygiene), so hopefully we wouldn’t need private insurance for long.

[canudigit]

Our family had to purchase private healthcare through the Healthcare Marketplace during the past year. Our situation is that we can have insurance through my employer but not his and we found that we saved money by having just me on my company benefits and my husband and young adult daughter on Blue Cross/Blue Shield through the Marketplace.

For my husband and daughter, both non-tobacco users, it costs just over $700/month for a pretty good HMO along with dental and vision. The main key is tobacco use, that is the first thing they will ask if you enroll through the Marketplace and it will make a large difference in how much you have to pay. They also take into account your yearly income relative to how many people are in your family. If you will not be working while you attend school and just have your husband's income that will help your premium amount as well although if he makes pretty good money it may not help much.

What we found was that when you go from partial family coverage to a family plan the rate jumps exorbitantly. For me to be on the same coverage with the two of them would have put us at around $1400-$1600/month, as compared to the $700 that we're paying now. I currently pay $250/month for so-so coverage for myself through my employer but if they were on my policy it would jump to $1600/month. So we pay just under $1000/month now but it would be hundreds more per month for us all to be on the same coverage together. It feels like a rip off no matter how you look at it but you have to have it.

You can tell your husband that he may have reasons for not wanting to move to Michigan but not being able to have healthcare coverage, either purchased independently or through an employer is not one of them, he should know that but I tend to agree with snoopygirlmi, it sounds like he may be trying to come up with reasons not to move. Personally, I wouldn't trade Michigan for CA and I'm not originally from here, but I also understand the fear of change, it is hard sometimes.

If you husband would quit tobacco that would make a big difference but I know that is also easier said than done. As far as obesity and diabetes, insurance companies are no longer allowed to ask about things like that, only offer great discounts on things like gym memberships, etc., which is a large part of why premiums are so ridiculously high.

[DaniellaG]

Even if health insurance was more the overall cost of living in MI is so much cheaper. I have lived in CA and MI.