How much does private health insurance cost you?

I have ACA coverage now, and had it in 2020 when I made a trip to Mayo Clinic. Mayo was out of network, insurance wouldn't pay anything, so I investigated getting private insurance, figuring I could force a "life event" if necessary to switch insurance coverage outside the open enrollment period. I ran into lots of roadblocks:

Part of ACA is that insurance companies can no longer refuse coverage or charge more for pre-existing conditions. IMO the insurance companies agreed to this because everyone was going to be forced into either buying insurance or paying a penalty to be self-insured (not carry insurance). The penalty was later removed by Congress, but the insurance companies were stuck with the no pre-existing conditions rules.

https://www.hhs.gov/answers/health-insurance-reform/can-i-ge...

When I tried to get private insurance from major carriers, I ran into:

- circular phone trees that couldn't be escaped

- forwarding to "agents for my area" that never answered the phone

- forwarding to agents that did answer the phone but said there would be coverage limits for 6 months since I had a pre-existing condition. This is illegal. One agent did give me a quote for $2400/mo with a $10K deductible.

- I did find prices on the Internet that said private PPO coverage would cost about $800/mo with a $10K deductible, but no insurance company would actually write it.

IMO, only writing new individual coverage (not via company employment) during open enrollment is a way for the insurance companies to keep their limit on pre-existing conditions.

I ended up paying cash ($12K) for a 1-week visit to Mayo. In hindsight, paying cash was a better deal than if I had private PPO coverage: PPO would have cost $9600 in premiums (or more!) plus I would have paid the first $10K, so nearly $20K.

Insurance in the US is a mess!

I do have to add though, ACA has been a lifesaver for me.

Our high deductible insurance with Kaiser is about 12k/yr for a family of 3: two parents in their 50s and a teen. Then I max out an HSA (untaxed health savings account to actually pay for things) with about 7k, which generally gets drawn down to zero at some point over any 3 yr period. So I call it about 20k/yr all up.

It doesn't matter how much it costs anyone because your circumstances and needs will be wildly different than others, and you may qualify for subsidies.

I would figure out how much your current health insurance is (both the employee and employer contribution). This is the amount you would pay if you quit your job and went on COBRA. You can be on COBRA for 18 months and it's typically cheaper than finding an equivalent plan on the marketplace. That gives you time to grow your business and figure out a long term health insurance solution.

NYC, $2,500/mo, two adults + one child. We're expecting our second child, and it'll increase to ~$3,200/mo.

We're in our mid-30s, healthy (run marathons), non-smokers, with no prescriptions. Not having insurance means carrying the risk of going bankrupt after one unlucky event.

As someone from outside the US, I have two questions:

1) are these amounts tax deductible?

2) given the size of these amounts, OP’s statement that these are a big barrier to going independent would seem totally reasonable. Doesn’t this have a chilling effect on new business formation? If so, how is the US still so well known for startups? It seems significantly riskier than in other countries with better safety nets.

Via healthcare.gov and COBRA from living in a state that dragged its feet maliciously and a prior employer in a really poor state with an awful risk pool for a family of two adults that cost me $1500 / month for mediocre coverage in 2015. It was so high it blew through my runway far faster than I had budgeted and along with other unforeseen factors led to me stopping with my independent contracting work basically ever. It was high enough I paid out of pocket for everything and had a catastrophic plan only for still $500 / month.

$455/month

keep in mind that PPOs for independents aren’t the same as PPOs for companies even though the appear to be.

let’s say you have blue cross blue shield PPO with your current employer it’s not the same even on the platinum level blue cross blue shield PPO.

fewer doctors in network. lots of mini surprises await you if you actually use it.

that’s such bs.

in a way i was personally better of prior to ACA since i could get insurance for $150/month. yes it’s nice that i can’t be disqualified due to pre existing conditions but it isn’t the meca it’s claimed to be.

$2,400 a month, in NY, for a family of four. Going up 10% next year, too. Platinum plan on the exchange; costlier up-front, but comes with a $4k/year cap in copays we hit fairly early on, so it makes sense given our particular set of expenses. Cleared $40k in total medical expenses last year.

Moving back to Australia looks better every year.

It's not hard to find out - check healthcare.gov and also check your university has some sort of alumni plans - probably on eEhealth.

Expect to pay ~$300/mo for a catastrophic plan that covers essentially nothing until you meet an $8K deductible, and ~500/mo for plans that cover more.

Terrible system.

$370 / month for Kaiser gold. 32, don't smoke, and no pre-existing conditions. Seeing the doctor costs me $50-$100 per visit.

It's a bit depressing (but not surprising) to see any comment using dollars paying tons for limited service, and comments using euros pay a cut for everything

It costs my employer €180/month, which translates to €90/mo in additional tax from me due to it being a taxable benefit in kind. I could sign up for the same plan individually for €120/mo were it not handled through my employer.

$230 medical, $13 dental. Med has a stupid-high OOP max. I have that set aside in an HSA but knock on wood I never get into a major medical emergency in the fall potentially being responsible for 2x that. Good luck, OP.

The gap between the US prices as reported here and the rest is mind boggling.

Around $56/mo in Colombia with access to top doctors, hospitals and clinics. Copay is $6 for any appointment. But surgery/ER/hospitalization incidents are free

Just shy of 500 GBP a year for myself via Bupa. That includes a fairly compressive policy excluding dental. Family are all fallback to the NHS (sorry family).

€120/month (€1440/year) with a €385 per year deductible.

Or €100/month (€1200/year) with a €885 per year deductible (the legal maximum in the Netherlands).

Go to a broker online and get quotes for you. It's highly age-dependent. Also go to healthcare.gov and see what your subsidy options are.

I normally pay $550/mo for high deductible for me individually, but actually pay $42/mo right now because I wasn't making much money this year. ACA FTW.

I just got a job that comes with great insurance, though, so that's the end of all that.

80 €/Month. It covers all kinds of doctor's visits, both general and specialists, hospital stays up to two weeks and, generally, grave illness until one million euro in cost/year. It also covers part of dental care but I still pay about 30 euros per session. It's in addition to my state health insurance which covers everything but requires going through more hoops.

If you’re in the US, you can get some detailed quotes (and information on what tax benefits, if any, you may be eligible for) at healthcare.gov

$400* for a family of 4 with teenage kids (converted from Euro, in NL)

That covers everything from biannual dental checkups, physiotherapy and any & all GP visits to chronic medication, oncologic immunotherapeutics or months long stays in an intensive care unit, etc.

Not gloating/bragging, our family didn't create the system. Just lucky to be born here.

* including all own risk/"excess"

Right now (till 2025 if Congress doesn't extend it) the premium is limited to 8.5% of income if you buy your insurance through the public ACA exchanges. You do have to reconcile the actual amount through the premium tax credit at tax season. The premium limit is for a silver plan so there will be out of pocket expenses if you actually need care.

Costs vary immensely if it’s just you ($), you and a spouse ($$$), or an entire family ($$$$$).

As a point of reference, in 2015 I quit to go indie and decided to keep my employers coverage through COBRA. It cost me $1100 a month for my family.

I rode it out until my wife got a job later that year, since we couldn’t find independent coverage anywhere as good as my former employer’s.

80€/month in France (+40€/month for my spouse, free for the kids), covers pretty much anything: hospital visits, general and specialists doctors, great vision and dental care. It is in addition to our social security system so that you don't have to spend anything (usually, there are exceptions) to get medical assistance.

My rate for private health insurance in Germany is nearly 9.6k EUR/yr, not including family.

This is a contract so terms can vary. Here: zero deductible, vision and dental included, international coverage including US. Includes a savings-like provision required by law. It is designed to keep rates affordable over time.

Assume you may end up paying $500/mo for yourself in the US, or more. It gets worse as you age, and if you need a better plan (to control deductibles, etc) it'll cost you more. Last time I freelanced (at age ~28) it cost me about that much for a mediocre Kaiser plan in California.

I believe my employer pays around £1,000 a year, which I think is a bit steep as it does not cover much and I’ve only ever made one claim under private insurance in my life and the total bill was only £1400.

Private medical offered to normal employees doesn’t really plug the gap in the NHS services

$550/month for myself, $1100/month for my family (Switzerland, which has world's second most expensive healthcare, and insurance is obligatory for all, and only could be paid in after-tax money).

Individual about ~600 month for high deductible coverage.

What Country or US State ? The answer depends upon that plus income level. With ACA in the US best to check the WEB site of the state you live in.

~$350/month, which to me has been useless so far. Generally costs about 20k USD a year in the US split between employers and employees

- 360 CHF / Month

- Switzerland

- 2500CHF / Year deductible

- 1 person

- ~30yo, good shape, no smoking, a beer now and than, office job

this is just the health insurance, here in Swiss we a shitload if insurances.

You should go on healthcare.gov and look at plans. Insurance plans are variable from person to person and situation.

27€/Month.

Around $1500 for a family of four.

$1,800/month for two of us. Both 63 years old. In the US. Vision and dental extra.

£500 per year, Bupa, "comprehensive" cover (basically everything paid for)

Just you? What’s your age? Any chronic health conditions? How risk tolerant are you?

About 1k a month. 2 non-smoking adults, 1 teenager

Maybe you should consider moving to Europe and benefit from a proper public healthcare system?

But I must admit, the energy bills lately are no fun here… So maybe wait until all that mess is over.

~$900 because my wife is pregnant.

It's $0 to not buy-in to a broken system.

Are we paying rent on our body now? Is that an accurate way to describe it?

Ideally (from the farmer's POV) you will utilize every part of the cow. Lips to lungs. Which is to say, rent will be collected on every single facet of existence.

It's like being wrapped in a rent-absorbing membrane. A rent-stomach.