The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: MichaelB on January 27, 2017, 01:17:21 PM
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I am curious--does anyone have any experience with chronic health issues in FIRE?
I know some people advocate basically spending as little as possible on insurance, and just staying active and eating well. Won't work for me--I am type 1 diabetic. Even with pretty good insurance thru work, I spent over $1400 on prescriptions for insulin, test strips, meds, etc. Not to mention doctor visits, labs, etc. Right now my HDHP is about $110ish per pay for me and the wife, but that's through work. I would imagine that getting my own insurance post-FIRE would cost way more and cover way less. This isn't an issue for me now while I'm working, but it could easily become my biggest expense post-FIRE given the current healthcare environment.
Any words of wisdom or good strategies?
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There's no way to plan at this point since the Republicans want to blow up the ACA. IMHO,the best you can do is pump up your HSA, assuming you have one, and keep your fingers crossed for that you'll be able to actually get health insurance when you FIRE.
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I do have an HSA, and I'm maxing it out thru payroll deductions. I certainly won't have to wonder whether I'll have accumulated enough medical expenses to be able to pull money out of it come FIRE.
Oh I know that it's absurd to try to plan for health care when my FIRE date is probably a good 15+ years and 2 or 3 different administrations down the road. But I am curious to hear how other people have handled having chronic health issues in FIRE.
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So far, we've been on an ACA plan (and yes, we both have chronic health conditions).
I have no idea what we'll do if they go back to kicking you out for pre-ex. DH hasn't worked since 2013 (tech), and while I've had jobs, I've never had one that offered insurance.
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I am starting to look at this. We are FIREing in the next few months to be full-time RVers and will be trying to figure it out! Neither of us has anything serious, but we both have several meds and things that could become issues. Very daunting!