Health insurance... what the hell???

motion · 03-04-2003, 09:19 AM

I have a PPO2500 Blue Cross plan for my son and I (no wife, I'm self employed). Since the deductible is $2,500 per year, its basically a catastrophic health plan, since there's no way we would ever eat up 2,500 in expenses a year normally. We don't ever even go to to the doctor. My monthly premium has increased from $125 to $215 in the last year, and will probably just keep going higher. Why the hell should I keep this thing? Wouldn't I be better off just being uninsured and paying cash for office visits when needed? I feel like I'm spending $2500 per year on basically nothing, but I don't want to feel like an uninsured smuck. What would you guys do?

esther · 03-04-2003, 10:59 AM

I would keep it.... let's say you're riding your duck and a car pulls out in front of you and you break your arm and leg..... how much will it cost without insurance?? your son needs major surgery... how much will it cost without insurance?? The $2500 is well spent for the peace of mind ... you never know what's to happen...

Also, as a self-employed person, you may deduct from goss income 70% of amounts paid during the year for health insurance for themselves, spouses and dependents (IRC 162(1)(1)(B))
Consult tax advisor because deduction is limited to net earned income derived from your business etc etc
(For 2003, deduction amount is 100%...)

personal story: paid for dental insurance for 4 years... the year I decided paying premium wasn't worth the cost, I had an abscessed
wisdom tooth that had to be extracted.... spent lots of $$$ I wouldn't
have had to had I had insurance (is that grammatically correct??)

you bet I have dental insurance now...

anyway, just my opinion... good luck

island911 · 03-04-2003, 12:29 PM

I think Esther make a great point to consider the cost after taxes.
I also throw in the hassle cost of my time to decipher the insurace policy and the likelyhood that they will pay claims w/o causing even more headache. Prepaying for anything is risky. Insurance companies have hords of people focused on why they don't have to pay a claim.

After you've considered all the costs, it becomes a gamble; very much like going to Vegas. The "house" is the insurance company . . and the odds are always in their favor.

Then ask yourself if the gamble justifies the "peace of mind."

motion · 03-04-2003, 01:11 PM

I've never been one to give a damn about piece of mind... I'm a "you only live once" kind of guy. The question is really.... if I have an accident that is relatively serious, say, once every 5 years... am I better to deal with it at the time, or to have spent $12,500 on insurance, and THEN have to pay a riduculous deductible for the accident? ($2,500). Seems like a waste to me. I wouldn't even let this bother me if it was only $125 a month like it was a year ago, but this crap is getting out of control. I think I'm leaning towards cancelling it. Sometimes ya just have to take a stand and flip em the bird.

Rot 911 · 03-04-2003, 01:31 PM

Say you had a serious accident, $12K wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket for the medical expenses. Even a one week hospital stay you would be looking in the $40-$50K range in expenses. Hello bankruptcy.

motion · 03-04-2003, 01:41 PM

Yeah, but I believe my auto/mc insurance covers that stuff.

Dantilla · 03-04-2003, 08:28 PM

Check out NASE. The National Assosiation of the Self Employed. Their insurance is designed for a guy like you. That's who I'm insured with.

Neilk · 03-05-2003, 05:48 PM

Richard,

Insurance premiums SUCK. Now that that is out of the way, what sucks even worse is paying Hospital bills. I won't even mention how badly "self pays" get scr*wed at the hospital.

wckrause · wckrause's Garage

Can you find something with a higher deductable?

I wouldn't go without medical insurance.

ronb · 03-14-2003, 08:39 PM

If you are sick and require a hospital stay of over 3 days - you can be out as much as 25,000.00. It's worth the very little that you pay. Catastrophic coverage is BETTER (I think) than HMO / PPO coverage for the reasons you say...your out of pocket with the coverage you have is much much less than HMO coverage. Insurance companies are not offering too much coverage like that in most of the US anymore, because they WANT you to have to pay higher premiums for HMOs. You've got a great deal. Don't drop it, esp having a kid. And if you have a 2 week stay in a hospital...could be in the 6 figures.

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

In the past 4 years, my premium has gone from $133 to $425. I have BlueCross' "California Plan"