Heath care co-pay

renovation · Post by **renovation** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 1:37 pm

whats it cost you for Heath Care ?
bcbs heath insurance jump 25 % was about 70-75 a pay. as if jan 1 $91 a pay check wife is payed every 2 weeks.

this is just for the wife and I.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 2:13 pm

Consider yourself lucky to have your employer co-pay.

My wife & I are self employed, and you do not want to know what I pay for BCBS PPO. It's well over $1K a month.

I could reduce my rate by increasing the deductible, but I like my plan, and it's covered us very well the past 13 years.

I could also save some money if I switched to their HMO but I refuse to ever belong to an HMO again if I can afford not to.

We don't have a mortgage, so I consider this my mortgage.

Yeah, it hurts to cut that check every 2 months, but when I think of what my hospital and doctor bills would have been for the past 2 years without insurance after my ladder accident, I feel better about it.

b-man1 · Post by **b-man1** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 2:51 pm

my copay varies, depending on what type of provider i see...typically $20 or $40. examples:

--basic wellness checkup is free (annual cholesterol check, etc)
--"normal" problem such as back pain, infected cut, etc...$20
--a specialist is $40 minimum (for the office visit, not procedures)...so a GI doc, eye surgeon, etc.

procedures have a $250 minimum copay i think...up to $1000 or something. i don't remember exactly. dental is a different story...free cleanings, but everything else is 80/20 split usually.

renovation · Post by **renovation** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 3:10 pm

procedures have a $250 minimum copay i think...up to $1000 or something. i don't remember exactly. dental is a different story...free cleanings, but everything else is 80/20 split usually.

were on what sounds like the same plan !

EvilHorace · Post by **EvilHorace** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:20 pm

as if jan 1 $91 a pay check wife is payed every 2 weeks.

Are you serious? I pay $178 per week for my wife and I plus co-pays and I still get doctor bills. My employer pays about 1/2 the health care costs too.
A couple months back I decided to do something about swelling in my left foot. After all sorts of tests, I now get to pay $1000 for what insurance didn't cover and as for the swelling (which hasn't improved), my doctor says it's due to 2 of the meds I take and not a big deal.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:53 pm

I love it when doctors tell you "it's no big deal... live with it". If I'd done that after my accident, I'd probably still be in daily pain, and find it uncomfortable walking.

I decided to take things into my own hands and I've been going to the gym 2 - 3 times a week, building up strength in my back, core muscles and ham string. I'm just about 99% back to where I was before the accident, not to mention in the best shape of my life. Started getting back into mountain biking recently.

vwkess · Post by **vwkess** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 10:37 am

FlyingPenguin wrote:Consider yourself lucky to have your employer co-pay.

My wife & I are self employed, and you do not want to know what I pay for BCBS PPO. It's well over $1K a month.

I could reduce my rate by increasing the deductible, but I like my plan, and it's covered us very well the past 13 years.

If you are healthy, and provided the rest of the coverage is the same, why not take the higher deductible plan? Take the difference and save it towards the "deductible fund" if you need it. Anything over the deductible amount you can continue to "pay yourself" into some other savings.

When my wife and I had good health insurance, this is what I did and it worked out well, but we rarely use medical services. I am self employed as well and unfortunately I can only afford to cover the kids right now (and just some "catastrophic" coverage for ourselves.) Private school for 2 kids is painfully expensive! We are lucky to have an old school doc near us that deals with cash customers. Health insurance costs have really gotten out of hand, but at least death insurance is still affordable... if I get seriously/terminally ill, there is no way I'm racking up medical bills. But at least I will have peace of mind that my family will be financially secure.

Funny how some people I know were so happy about National Health Care, thinking it is going to be some easy free ride. When they got their first paycheck in January, they were like "Uuhhhh, what??? I have to pay more??"

EvilHorace · Post by **EvilHorace** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 10:42 am

Funny how some people I know were so happy about National Health Care, thinking it is going to be some easy free ride. When they got their first paycheck in January, they were like "Uuhhhh, what??? I have to pay more??"

It IS a free ride for all those on Welfare, etc which unfortunately is a large # of people in the US now. For those of us who work however, we'll have to support it.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 3:08 pm

Umm, not to get political but the hike was for social security, and it was a hike that was scheduled to go into effect automatically unless congress changed it.

Congress chose to let it ride.

EvilHorace · Post by **EvilHorace** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:18 pm

True but national health care is eventually going to become costlier to everyone who works as it is in other countries.