Author Topic: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?  (Read 26088 times)

OzzieandHarriet

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Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« on: June 29, 2018, 01:24:45 PM »
My husband and I have great insurance through his job (largest employer in our state). He wants to retire in October of this year. They have an option for retirees to buy subsidized health insurance for themselves and dependents, which we are going to use. It's expensive, but probably comparable in price to what the ACA would have offered in its pre-broken state -- around $1400/month for both of us. This covers everything except copays and dental.

But with the latest machinations from the Trump camp -- premiums for over-60 could be 5 times higher! Pre-existing conditions excluded! -- who knows what will happen? How much more of our nest egg will we end up spending because of this crap? Will we even be able to get insurance?

We have everything else covered, but this is out of our control. It's maddening.

SugarMountain

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2018, 02:13:38 PM »
Yes, I'm somewhat freaked out.  Really wondering what 51-65 will look like over the next 14 years. (And probably more like 66 or 67 since I suspect the Medicare age is going to move up.)

Lan Mandragoran

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2018, 02:21:47 PM »
Yeah... my only hope is it seems like its unsustainable. It's already at the point where i'd very painfully consider just self insuring if I were ready. If it doubles again or something ... no one will be afford health insurance it would seem to me.

Maybe amazon will lower costs who knows :P.


HPstache

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #3 on: June 29, 2018, 02:24:43 PM »
Health Share Ministry?

bacchi

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2018, 02:31:00 PM »
Yeah... my only hope is it seems like its unsustainable. It's already at the point where i'd very painfully consider just self insuring if I were ready. If it doubles again or something ... no one will be afford health insurance it would seem to me.

Yep. Going naked or going expat might be the best way to deal with it.

Quote
Maybe amazon will lower costs who knows :P.

I'm not hopeful. They'll probably find out that it's expensive because quality health care just costs more (in the US).


bluebelle

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2018, 02:35:14 PM »
wow....that's expensive healthcare.   I bitch about my taxes in Canada, but we could buy deluxe medical (dental, para-medical, prescriptions etc) for a couple for under $500 a month....but that's because the governement (aka joe taxpayer) picks up the tab for the big ticket things like hospital and doctor's visits)....

protostache

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #6 on: June 29, 2018, 04:29:14 PM »
I’ve been worried to various degrees about healthcare for the past eight years. I went back to full time employment from consulting this year specifically because my biggest client offered to pay for my family’s health insurance. The ACA options in my part of the country shot up considerably for 2018. They’re not going to go up much for 2019, but who knows after that.

TSpacagna

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2018, 04:36:27 PM »
I'm turning 26 next month so I am losing coverage from my parents insurance plan. My current employer doesn't offer benefits. For a god awful plan w/ 10k+ deductible, 50/50 coverage and the like, I was looking over 200/month, including gov discounts for my income bracket. Might as well not have insurance with that kind of coverage. I was going in to panic mode

Luckily we just found out my girlfriends work will allow her to add me as her partner since we've lived together over 6 months. 15 times better coverage for 10 times less the cost. Feel like I dodged a bullet there.. 

genesismachine

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2018, 05:15:11 PM »
I recently came to the conclusion that if I retire outside the US, I can do it with half the amount saved simply because of health care. I wasn't about to have health care be a larger expense than everything else combined. It's one thing if you got what you paid for...

The good news is that literally any other country in this world doesn't have this problem, so you have lots of options. In poor countries, you can get rich person care for a tiny cost, and in rich countries, they all have socialized healthcare, so again tiny cost.

Laserjet3051

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #9 on: June 29, 2018, 05:15:29 PM »
I pay >$1600 per month for ACA insurance, so I have already been conditioned to their regular ripoffs. I'm not happy about the state of healthcare in our country, far from it, but continuation along this road is a price that I have already accounted for. I really dont think excluding pre-existing conditions is a place we are going to go back to; if anything, companies may begin charging more for such things. After all, insurance companies are in the business of pricing risk. Not agreeing with it in the context for health insurance, but thats how the modeling works, so we should all be prepared for it.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2018, 06:59:39 PM by FrugalToque »

Sibley

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #10 on: June 29, 2018, 06:00:01 PM »
Chill a bit. Realistically, LOTS of people are hurting because of the state of health care and insurance. Something's gotta give, and while I don't know what or when, we can be pretty sure that something, sometime, will give. I doubt it'll take 15 years either, but we'll see.

And call your elected officials.

tipster350

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #11 on: June 29, 2018, 07:55:49 PM »
Yes, freaked out. I'm 3-4 years from FIRE. My company offers a pre-Medicare plan for about $1k per month for single coverage. Not what I want to pay, but it meets the ACA standards, meaning the right services are covered and my total exposure will be contained. So there is Plan B if I remain employed with them until FIRE.

At this point I have no faith whatsoever in the future of the ACA. There has already been so much done to sabotage it and drive up costs; the pres and the republicans have made it clear they will stop at nothing to completely dismantle it. Do not be optimistic about this; be pleasantly surprised if it doesn't happen.

I also have no faith in what Amazon can come up with. If it were so easy to offer reasonably products that cover what people need within our current infrastructure someone would have done it already. The aca in the form it was meant to be was the best that could be done within our current healthcare infrastructure and system. Amazon doesn't know what it doesn't know and thinks tech will save the day.

Also would steer clear of the ministry programs. Very risky as there is no guarantee the plan will pay. You have to present a case for paying for your care and it gets voted on. Also there isn't enough money available in most of the ministry plans to be able to come through on a very expensive situation, which can happen at any time. Most are please when it's just birth of a child or broken bones, but the scheme can fall apart at some point when you get something the members might object to for some reason or it's catastrophic/ongoing.

Best bet is to see what happens in 2018 elections and also plan for an employer plan if you work for bigcorp and they offer something.

I'm in the biz so have a pretty good understanding of the overall situation.

frugalmom

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #12 on: June 29, 2018, 07:58:24 PM »
Yes.  Me.

Paul der Krake

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #13 on: June 29, 2018, 08:16:00 PM »
I'm turning 26 next month so I am losing coverage from my parents insurance plan. My current employer doesn't offer benefits. For a god awful plan w/ 10k+ deductible, 50/50 coverage and the like, I was looking over 200/month, including gov discounts for my income bracket. Might as well not have insurance with that kind of coverage. I was going in to panic mode

Luckily we just found out my girlfriends work will allow her to add me as her partner since we've lived together over 6 months. 15 times better coverage for 10 times less the cost. Feel like I dodged a bullet there..
The premiums paid by your girlfriend's employer on your behalf will be considered taxable income to her, FYI.

mozar

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #14 on: June 30, 2018, 01:53:42 PM »
What state do you live in? My mother is 59 and pays 250 a month. I'm 35 and I pay 60 a month. We both are on ACA. Before the ACA existed I had health insurance through my state exchange for 250. If you have crappy insurance that's on you. Either move to a state that provides better health care or vote for local politicians who will implement better health insurance options.

seattleite

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #15 on: June 30, 2018, 03:07:22 PM »
It's weird. I'm not freaking out. At all. I have a wife and two kids. We are FIREd for 1 year so har. Healthcare will be expensive but I'm not freaking out. Because: 1. Other people have this issue and it's hard to imagine it getting completely out of hand for a long time. 2. Other than emergency crazy OMG stuff it shouldn't be too bad and if it is then we can always goto Mexico for our annual checkups. 3. We can always just move. Latin america is fine and their health care is perfectly fine and affordable. My brother paid like $7 for a checkout of his finger, cleaned and bandaged, and antibiotics in Mexico City just a few years ago. We just do health care shitty in the US and if we want to FIRE and it gets even more out of hand here then we just leave, right?

hops

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #16 on: June 30, 2018, 05:18:04 PM »
I've never been so glad my SO plans on working for as long as she can. We've both had preexisting conditions since childhood and mine can get quite costly at times. The need for quality health insurance has been dictating my employment decisions since I was in my early twenties, and before that it dictated the choices of my parents. Faith-based health sharing ministries aren't an option for us for many reasons (one being that we're gay).

TheWifeHalf

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #17 on: June 30, 2018, 06:00:54 PM »
The only reason TheHusbandHalf is retiring is because he can buy health insurance from his employer until he reaches Medicare age. He looked for me, and I can continue to buy it for 2 years until I reach Medicare age too.
Those who are buying it now are paying $750/mo. I'm sure it will continue to go up but we think it's probably the best we can find.
The way we look at it, this is just one of the things we saved our money for.

crxpilot

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #18 on: June 30, 2018, 07:08:38 PM »
You know, there was a time when people didnt have health insurance and the world turned out ok.  Now, this “need” has been created.  You know, you will eventually die dont you?  So why fret over something that people never had not that long ago?

[MOD NOTE:  That was quite enough.  You're done here.]
« Last Edit: July 01, 2018, 02:49:49 PM by FrugalToque »

DreamFIRE

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #19 on: June 30, 2018, 07:14:28 PM »
You know, there was a time when people didnt have health insurance and the world turned out ok.  Now, this “need” has been created.  You know, you will eventually die dont you?  So why fret over something that people never had not that long ago?
So your solution to healthcare is to just die, huh?  That's what some people call the republican plan.

Bateaux

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #20 on: June 30, 2018, 08:19:14 PM »
I'm not even considering FIRE till the 2018 midterms because of the unknown course of healthcare.   This could extent to 2020 if it looks like Trump serves a second term.  The only thing that can prevent our FIRE or cause bankruptcy for us going forward is healthcare. 

DreamFIRE

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #21 on: June 30, 2018, 09:03:38 PM »
I'm not even considering FIRE till the 2018 midterms because of the unknown course of healthcare.   This could extent to 2020 if it looks like Trump serves a second term.  The only thing that can prevent our FIRE or cause bankruptcy for us going forward is healthcare.

I'm with you on that!  It's why I didn't consider FIREing this spring.  I want to see the democrats take control of at least one chamber.

SugarMountain

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #22 on: June 30, 2018, 09:04:29 PM »
You know, there was a time when people didnt have health insurance and the world turned out ok.  Now, this “need” has been created.  You know, you will eventually die dont you?  So why fret over something that people never had not that long ago?

There was also a time when people died or were severely disabled by diseases and accidents that are easily curable now.  Break your leg in 1675, you never walk again and probably die fairly soon after.  Pneumonia? Death sentence. Any type of cancer? Death sentence. To say nothing of the quality of life of diseases that might have been survivable but made life miserable. Personally, I'd rather get treated and survive another 20-30 years.

Johnez

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #23 on: July 01, 2018, 01:27:09 AM »
Not that I'm advocating this, but is moving to Canada a viable option here? I have a pretty good job with a global company with operations in Canada and dread the day I stop working and have to not only pay out my ass, but have to worry about what political vendetta the next moron president wants to hit this country with.

goatmom

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #24 on: July 01, 2018, 06:41:57 AM »
I am not freaked out about it. You need to decide what level of healthcare you need/want/willing to budget for.  Are you willing to relocate to another state or country? It is just another expense to me that I need to figure out like housing and transportation.  There are options and I need to budget for them.  That is what my stash is for.  I also plan on having enough for care at the end if I need it.  I have been inside the local nursing home that takes Medicaid in our town - no thanks.  I wouldn't fire if I didn't have enough to cover these two areas in the budget just like I wouldn't fire if I didn't have enough to pay for housing or food.  You might be a bigger risk taker than I am.

JGS1980

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #25 on: July 01, 2018, 07:46:06 AM »
I’m not freaked out at all.

It’s just money.

Take a reasonable silver ACA plan healthcare for your family, and then double it’s yearly cost. Add that to your expected yearly budget, and save for it.

MMM preaches FLEXIBILITY. If your state runs the ACA plans into the ground, move. Consider Medicaid if you have to. Work a low effort 15 hr/week job just to pay for healthcare, etc...

Make a plan. Adjust as necessary. No big deal.

Also, STAY fit and eat right. That always helps too.

FIRE 20/20

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #26 on: July 01, 2018, 08:06:26 AM »
I pay >$1600 per month for ACA insurance, so I have already been conditioned to their regular ripoffs. I'm not happy about the state of healthcare in our country, far from it, but continuation along this road is a price that I have already accounted for. I really dont think excluding pre-existing conditions is a place we are going to go back to; if anything, companies may begin charging more for such things. After all, insurance companies are in the business of pricing risk. Not agreeing with it in the context for health insurance, but thats how the modeling works, so we should all be prepared for it.

Wow, that sucks.  I was just looking into this as I prepare to FIRE in a year, and it looks like I'll be paying $100-200/mo. depending on the plan.  I didn't know California's options were so bad.

To the OP, yes, I'm pretty worried.  As it is my local ACA plans are excellent, but I don't expect it to stay that way for much longer. 

OzzieandHarriet

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #27 on: July 01, 2018, 08:48:26 AM »
What health insurance plans cost today does not predict what they will cost next year or going forward - that's what is worrying about it. This administration has put a number of stakes through the heart of the ACA already, and they don't care how many people suffer because of it. Even if the Democrats win big in November, do you think Trump is going to sign anything they pass into law?

Our local ACA plans this year would have cost MORE than the employer-subsidized plan for similar coverage. We are in Maryland, and we may have a Democratic governor after the midterms, but who knows?

We have saved plenty, more than enough to cover everything else we will need. Our house is paid off, we have no debts. We live relatively frugally (I'm sure we could cut some things out if necessary, but so far it hasn't been). So yeah, we can probably AFFORD to pay whatever it will be -- though there is the question of whether we will even be able to buy anything. And I also worry if something happens to my husband, I will be on my own with this.

This really sucks, that something so basic is so unstable. That people who have saved a few million dollars may be faced with trying to get a job at some corporate behemoth for the health insurance.

To the people who say well, you're going to die anyway, that's not the point. The point is no one wants to suffer unnecessarily on the way there.

DreamFIRE

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #28 on: July 01, 2018, 08:56:40 AM »
I’m not freaked out at all.

It’s just money.

Take a reasonable silver ACA plan healthcare for your family, and then double it’s yearly cost. Add that to your expected yearly budget, and save for it.

MMM preaches FLEXIBILITY. If your state runs the ACA plans into the ground, move. Consider Medicaid if you have to. Work a low effort 15 hr/week job just to pay for healthcare, etc...

Make a plan. Adjust as necessary. No big deal.

Also, STAY fit and eat right. That always helps too.

Just money?  $20K/yr or more in premiums can seriously jeopardize someone's FIRE plans.

Staying fit and eating right isn't the same thing as having healthcare coverage.  Even very fit people can one day need significant healthcare needs.

Silver plans and subsidies will not be an option, nor will Medicaid, if the ACA is overturned or otherwise implodes, dissolves, etc.   And if you already have preexisting conditions, you might not be able to get affordable coverage at all.

https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2018/6/8/17442238/trump-aca-obamacare-texas-department-of-justice-rule-of-law

jim555

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #29 on: July 01, 2018, 08:59:18 AM »
As long as the ACA is around then I will work the system to max advantage.  If it goes away and premiums become absurd, then I could pay it, become a nomad with travel insurance, or move to Britain (have that option). 

Luck12

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #30 on: July 01, 2018, 09:38:10 AM »
You know, there was a time when people didnt have health insurance and the world turned out ok.  Now, this “need” has been created.  You know, you will eventually die dont you?  So why fret over something that people never had not that long ago?

[mod note: crxpilot has been removed]
« Last Edit: July 02, 2018, 03:13:51 PM by FrugalToque »

pecunia

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #31 on: July 01, 2018, 10:31:18 AM »
Folks - Maybe the time has come to pick up pen and paper and write.  Write to your favorite American politicians.

With Republicans, it is a lost cause, but you will feel better.

With Democrats, they will lie that they are in favor of single payer, and you will feel better.

With independents - You may have a chance, but will be voted down by the others - But you will still feel better

And,.......you will have done what you can.  Tides do turn.

matchewed

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #32 on: July 01, 2018, 01:45:29 PM »
So we all know circumstances will and can change. Sure ACA will probably be fully gutted within the next two years. But two years is a small blip in your lifetime. There will more than likely be proposed solutions and insurance options which will be more affordable and still work.

In the meantime contact your representatives and voice your opinion, vote, and

OzzieandHarriet

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #33 on: July 01, 2018, 02:45:47 PM »
Or things could go back to the way they were before ACA, with worthless cheap plans and almost worthless overpriced plans if you could even buy them at all, because if you ever had so much as a hangnail you would be denied coverage.

Acastus

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #34 on: July 01, 2018, 02:52:23 PM »
Health Share Ministry?

Since these are so much cheaper than insurance, I am pretty sure they either do not cover certain things or they have greatly underestimated their possible costs. My fear is that when you present them with a huge medical cost, they will either go bankrupt or tell you"the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,' and leave you bankrupt or untreated.

Thoughts and prayers are not healthcare.

pecunia

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #35 on: July 01, 2018, 02:56:22 PM »
With Global warming Canada might not be too bad.  Good beer and fishing, eh?

RetiredAt63

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #36 on: July 01, 2018, 03:05:52 PM »
For those tossing out Canada as an option, we do not have open borders.  There is paperwork.  Much paperwork.   And you may or may not qualify.

Paul der Krake

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #37 on: July 01, 2018, 03:18:51 PM »
For those tossing out Canada as an option, we do not have open borders.  There is paperwork.  Much paperwork.   And you may or may not qualify.
Joke's on you, some of us LOVE paperwork!

Last I checked, I was eligible for express entry and immediate permanent residency. I suspect the majority of people driven enough to retire early could jump through the very large hoops with less effort than it takes to navigate the ACA efficiently.

GuitarStv

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #38 on: July 01, 2018, 04:07:56 PM »
For those tossing out Canada as an option, we do not have open borders.  There is paperwork.  Much paperwork.   And you may or may not qualify.

You'll also have to learn to live in a terrifying hellscape where you're not able to walk around a Walmart with your favourite Rambo inspired armaments, or walk into a bar with a handgun.  If you shoot someone (even if they're black), you're probably going to get in a lot of trouble in our country.  We are a deeply oppressed people, under the boot of our tyrannical government (who, btw leans a wee bit further left than your 'left wing' party.

pecunia

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #39 on: July 01, 2018, 04:19:35 PM »
Guitarman:
Quote
We are a deeply oppressed people, under the boot of our tyrannical government (who, btw leans a wee bit further left than your 'left wing' party.

Which Province do you recommend?

Goinganon

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #40 on: July 01, 2018, 06:22:14 PM »
For those tossing out Canada as an option, we do not have open borders.  There is paperwork.  Much paperwork.   And you may or may not qualify.

You'll also have to learn to live in a terrifying hellscape where you're not able to walk around a Walmart with your favourite Rambo inspired armaments, or walk into a bar with a handgun.  If you shoot someone (even if they're black), you're probably going to get in a lot of trouble in our country.  We are a deeply oppressed people, under the boot of our tyrannical government (who, btw leans a wee bit further left than your 'left wing' party.

You should work for Canada’s tourism and immigration department. You’ve completely sold me on moving there and I’m the more conservative one in my relationship.

pecunia

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #41 on: July 01, 2018, 07:36:07 PM »
Aocean:
Quote
You should work for Canada’s tourism and immigration department. You’ve completely sold me on moving there and I’m the more conservative one in my relationship

I'm ready man.  I will tell them about how the frozen tundra has been transformed by peace, order and good government.  I will tell them that Canada was the terminus of the road to freedom on the underground railroad.  I'll get my long johns, parka and took ready.

drudgep

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #42 on: July 01, 2018, 08:22:13 PM »
If you can live lean enough, you qualify for medicaid. I don't see that program going away soon.

FireLane

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #43 on: July 01, 2018, 08:26:31 PM »
Yep, freaked out is a good way to describe my state of mind. If I had any confidence in what health care will cost in the future, I could retire this year. As is, I'm planning to work until at least 2020.

If Obamacare is sabotaged to the point of collapse, I'm going to cut back to the minimum number of hours my job will allow and put off retirement indefinitely. You can't stay healthy enough to be sure you'll never get hit with some cripplingly expensive fluke of bad luck, and you can't save enough to cover it when hospitals are allowed to make up any number they like as the charge.
« Last Edit: July 01, 2018, 08:28:29 PM by FireLane »

DreamFIRE

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #44 on: July 01, 2018, 09:22:44 PM »
If you can live lean enough, you qualify for medicaid. I don't see that program going away soon.

The Medicaid expansion that allowed people under certain income thresholds to become eligible is part of the ACA, which is being threatened.  Also, some states didn't expand Medicaid.

Paul der Krake

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #45 on: July 01, 2018, 09:47:01 PM »
If you can live lean enough, you qualify for medicaid. I don't see that program going away soon.

The Medicaid expansion that allowed people under certain income thresholds to become eligible is part of the ACA, which is being threatened.  Also, some states didn't expand Medicaid.
The beauty of living in a large federated Republic with 300+ million people is that you have options. Seventeen states' legislatures determined that they didn't want to provide coverage to their poorest citizens, but 33 others did. States compete on earning other states' citizens business all the time, it's a feature not a bug.

If you live in a place that is constantly enacting legislation you disagree with, you should strongly consider moving.

jim555

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #46 on: July 02, 2018, 12:13:50 AM »
The beauty of living in a large federated Republic with 300+ million people is that you have options. Seventeen states' legislatures determined that they didn't want to provide coverage to their poorest citizens, but 33 others did. States compete on earning other states' citizens business all the time, it's a feature not a bug.

If you live in a place that is constantly enacting legislation you disagree with, you should strongly consider moving.
A feature yes, but it was not designed that way.  Only after the Supreme Court ruled that the Medicaid portion was "coercive" did states start the opt outs.

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #47 on: July 02, 2018, 06:45:21 AM »
Not that I'm advocating this, but is moving to Canada a viable option here? I have a pretty good job with a global company with operations in Canada and dread the day I stop working and have to not only pay out my ass, but have to worry about what political vendetta the next moron president wants to hit this country with.

Honestly, that's my backup plan if shit gets really bad. I have a standing employment offer from a company in New Brunswick who creates software for my industry. Course, that may be a pipe dream, because if the situation deteriorates here so badly that I'm ready to leave, their customer base is probably already drying up. Nice to imagine that I'd have an out, though.

OurTown

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #48 on: July 02, 2018, 10:12:26 AM »
Not freaked out yet, we get our insurance through wife's work.  We are 5-6 years from FIRE, we may freak out when we get closer to that date, or alternatively one of us may keep working just for the insurance.  Maybe we will get a "public option" by then.

wageslave23

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Re: Is anyone else freaked out about health care right now?
« Reply #49 on: July 02, 2018, 10:47:09 AM »
Health Share Ministry?

Since these are so much cheaper than insurance, I am pretty sure they either do not cover certain things or they have greatly underestimated their possible costs. My fear is that when you present them with a huge medical cost, they will either go bankrupt or tell you"the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,' and leave you bankrupt or untreated.

Thoughts and prayers are not healthcare.

I know of several people who have had significant on going health issues while on Health Share Ministry and not had any problems getting reimbursed. 

A couple reasons why they are significantly cheaper:

1. They don't cover tobacco, alcohol, and other drug related expenses.
2.  Don't cover most STD's, out of wedlock type expenses.
3.  Some have caps, i.e. $1M per incident
4.  Regular health insurance premiums for healthy people are partly subsidizing the sickly or poor (not sure about this)

I'm not religious, but when I retire I can accept those conditions.  And while the person who was blocked suggested the point a little more crudely, I think there is a point to be made that as medical expenses get more costly you have to start playing the odds and saying I can either have 100% chance of paying astronomical premiums which would significantly hinder my enjoyment of life or except a small chance of a catastrophic injury/disease that won't be covered and I can't afford. 

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!