Do you still have healthcare?

[RUsure]

In the US, if you lose your job because of Covid19 do you continue to have healthcare coverage? I.e. I’m assuming that coverage was through your employer. How does that work?

I haven't had healthcare through a print employer since I left Los Angeles in 1992 ...
Went to Florida (both coasts '92 >'10), then home to Colorado ('10 >'19) ...
Now that I'm back in Florida, I'm lucky to be on Medicare - fortunately, being in the warm embrace of print production keeps me healthy & alive ...

 

[Joe]

Do you at least get a discount on your health insurance premiums if you haven’t made a claim in the past year? I think that’s what auto insurers do. Heck, I even heard that Allstate and at least one other auto insurer is sending checks to their customers because pepeople are driving so much less due to the lockdowns.

No. The price goes up every year even if you didn't have a single claim for the previous year.

 

[AP90]

One of my close friends works at a national franchise and has health insurance, dental and optical. I've analyzed the number that he "saves" on both optical and dental as we were comparing our plans and coverage. The amount of money he pays back to his company to enroll in their plan doesn't balance out in his favor for both dental and optical. His teeth are incredibly bad, and his maximum out of pocket is an insanely large number, so much so that it doesn't make any sense for him to use their plan. He argues that being paid minimum wage is worth it because he gets access to optical and dental plans. He could be saving money by pursuing the plans on his own instead of through his company. I do not know anything about his health insurance situation with them, but he is healthy like me so I'd say it isn't relevant. My point is some people are too lazy and buy into the "don't work for x place because they don't offer benefits, it's better to make less per hour and get great benefits". Taking a higher hourly rate or salary can sometimes be a much better investment. However, Joe Schmoe isn't very intelligent so this point is largely escapes him.

Of course, there are going to be people that work for x company and use their benefits to great effect. The point I am trying to make is that there are a lot of people across the US that are not capable of rationalizing this balance. They do not understand that they are losing in the long run.

I have a silver plan through healthcare.gov and am relatively pleased with it. I do not have any health issues that warrant medications, but do have sleep apnea. It covers the cost of my equipment and supplies pretty well, but I still have to fork over $600+ on my own each year. I exercise 6-8 times per week, so I'm in pretty good shape. With that being said I did get a dental plan this year. It's a silver plan. I get my teeth cleaned twice per year, and of course have x-rays done once per year. This is the most common set of yearly procedures for Americans, and I weighed the cost/benefit ratio of all the plans and literally the only plan that made sense was the plan that covered only these two procedures at 100%. It costs EXACTLY 2 cleanings + 1 X-Ray, per year for the plan. It's a wash. It kind of covers other stuff, but then again I take very good care of my teeth, so I have 0 use for it.

I understand your logic behind this, and for some things it might make sense, but your looking at health insurance from the eyes of an investment strategy. You shouldn't be purchasing insurance based on your rate of returns (yes, there are certain instances where it matters like life insurance). But I purchase my health insurance in order to insure that I don't go broke if something drastic happens. I pay roughly $4000/year for my health insurance. If I take that plus my deductible, If I don't have expenses over $4600/year then I wasted money and it wasn't a good purchase. But, when I factor in the fact that if I trip and hit my head and require a $100k brain surgery then I made a good purchase. Insurance is something you buy in order to safeguard from drastic and costly things happening. It isn't made to be looked upon as a return on investment commodity.

Example, I purchased trip insurance earlier this year for my flights to Italy that are on April 22nd, 2020. When I purchased the insurance, I bought it knowing I have never had to use trip insurance before and have never had a trip cancelled. There was also no talk of Coronavirus shutdowns. Life was as normal as possible. So I paid the $70 knowing it would most likely be the same as me driving down the road and throwing $70 out the window. But guess what, Im not going to Italy anymore, and I am receiving a full refund. $70 well spent because if not, I'd have to rebook my trip within a year and pay the difference in flight cost. Instead, im getting a full refund.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

I pay roughly $4000/year for my health insurance. If I take that plus my deductible, If I don't have expenses over $4600/year then I wasted money and it wasn't a good purchase. But, when I factor in the fact that if I trip and hit my head and require a $100k brain surgery then I made a good purchase. Insurance is something you buy in order to safeguard from drastic and costly things happening. It isn't made to be looked upon as a return on investment commodity.

I mean I spent the same amount last year as you and view the insurance program in the exact same manner. The big thing to consider is that there are insurance programs that have a good cost/benefit return and many many that do not. 30%+ of the population does not understand this.

 

[tngcas]

My opinion on this topic is this:
America's health system is the MOST un-capitalistic system out there. America doesn't have a heath care problem it has a health insurance problem. In America we only talk about how and where people get their insurance from. Health Care should NOT be an insurance product.

1. It's not an insurance product: It's not something people might end up needing but something people always need. Insurance products should be for unforeseen expenses and costs. You insure a building against a fire, you insure a car against an accident, insurance is for things which might never happen. Health care does not fall under these guidelines. We don't buy insurance for "groceries" or for "gas" or for things we know everyone needs on a regular basis.
2. The system is corrupt: The insurance system in America is corrupt because it's a third-party payer system.
3. Third-Party Payer systems are ALWAYS BAD and Anti-Capitalism. If you don't know what something actually costs that breeds confusion, confusion allows for corruption and hesitation about using necessary preventative care. The negotiations on costs happen between care providers and insurance companies. The consumer has very little control or say-so in their care.
4. It's anti-capitalistic: Consumers cannot "shop around" for the best deal which means they cannot drive down costs with their wallets. Ignoring the except of "emergencies" - No one is able to say... hey this hospital, clinic or specialist charges less for this procedure so I'm going to go there instead. There is no competition and no one has any idea what a service is actually going to cost beforehand because nobody lists their prices and costs upfront. Well, health care is complicated... blah blah blah... lots of things are complicated. Where there is a will there is a way.
5. Obviously, health care should not be tied to your job: I mean, nobody believes this is a good thing.
6. We need to make a choice: The system needs to either be socialist or capitalist. This quasi-half-way land is stupid, insanely expensive and counter-productive.

Here is a good example: There was a story going around about a band-aid costing someone $15k and the guy was like "well my insurance company paid it so it's all fine." That's not fine. The ObamaCare act placed a limit on the amount insurance can charge as a percentage of their actual costs - the 80/20 rule. They cannot raise premiums more than a certain percentage of what they actual spend on costs. That means there is an active incentive for them to accept high charges because 20% of $15000 is more money in their pockets than 20% of $5. It's a bad system.

 

[OffsetStorefront]

I understand your logic behind this, and for some things it might make sense, but your looking at health insurance from the eyes of an investment strategy. You shouldn't be purchasing insurance based on your rate of returns (yes, there are certain instances where it matters like life insurance). But I purchase my health insurance in order to insure that I don't go broke if something drastic happens. I pay roughly $4000/year for my health insurance. If I take that plus my deductible, If I don't have expenses over $4600/year then I wasted money and it wasn't a good purchase. But, when I factor in the fact that if I trip and hit my head and require a $100k brain surgery then I made a good purchase. Insurance is something you buy in order to safeguard from drastic and costly things happening. It isn't made to be looked upon as a return on investment commodity.

Example, I purchased trip insurance earlier this year for my flights to Italy that are on April 22nd, 2020. When I purchased the insurance, I bought it knowing I have never had to use trip insurance before and have never had a trip cancelled. There was also no talk of Coronavirus shutdowns. Life was as normal as possible. So I paid the $70 knowing it would most likely be the same as me driving down the road and throwing $70 out the window. But guess what, Im not going to Italy anymore, and I am receiving a full refund. $70 well spent because if not, I'd have to rebook my trip within a year and pay the difference in flight cost. Instead, im getting a full refund.

Yeah, this is kinda how you have to view health insurance in America. But it'd be nice if routine medical care could be made affordable as well. Or even regular things like having a kid, be made affordable. And maybe that $100k brain surgery shouldn't actually cost $100k? But it does cause insurance will pay it so providers will charge it. That unfortunatey dynamic bleeds into non-emergency medical care too.

 

[photoshopdude]

In the US, if you lose your job because of Covid19 do you continue to have healthcare coverage? I.e. I’m assuming that coverage was through your employer. How does that work?

I just got laid off from my prepress job. 56 years old and screwed now. Luckily my wife has our health insurance through her work otherwise I would have to pay for Cobra which is as much as my mortgage payment. Our healthcare system is joke. Not sure what I'm going to do now that I'm unemployed.

 

[kev_24]

It depends upon the employer you are working under. If they are extending such coverage, then its fine

 

[Slammer]

I just got laid off from my prepress job. 56 years old and screwed now. Luckily my wife has our health insurance through her work otherwise I would have to pay for Cobra which is as much as my mortgage payment. Our healthcare system is joke. Not sure what I'm going to do now that I'm unemployed.

That sucks, at 56 you are toxic for most companies in any country. Good vibes from me.

 

[agmfan3]

No my employer offered to let me pay them and they would pay insurance, I am covered by hubby so I declined.

 

[snowcline]

As far as I can see, the average monthly health insurance premium for an individual in the US is about $500 (Average Cost of Health Insurance (2020)). For a family it would be much higher of course. I’m assuming that if you lose your job because of the covid virus that unemployment insurance kicks in? So you do have some income coming in. Still, does it mean that many people will stop paying premiums and lose health insurance because they can no longer afford it if their only income becomes unemployment cheques?

I work for a very small company that gets their health insurance through Covered California. I - a single person with good health - pay $1100 a month for HMO coverage. Seriously! Luckily, my employer pays half the premium but still...

 

[kev_24]

Fortunately, we are having health care insurance