[quote=davelj]I thought I’d weigh in on the insurance issue. I’m self-employed and I pay $160/month through Blue Cross of CA for a policy that has a $10K deductible and covers 100% of everything else up to $2 million of health costs annually. So, essentially, I’m self-insuring myself for the first $10,000 and insuring through Blue Cross of CA for anything really serious.
This is probably the best sort of plan for anyone with ALL of the following characteristics:
(1) self-employed;
(2) healthy – no known pre-existing health issues;
(3) single or married with no kids;
(4) under 55;
(5) enough liquidity to comfortably pay $10K if something bad comes up.
Many folks here in the U.S. are way overinsured for their real needs. When I was an employee several years back I paid $270/month through some high-fallutin’ plan and I think I used about $100/year of that insurance when I’d go to the doctor once a year for a check-up. Otherwise, it was flushed down the toilet. Had I not been part of group coverage, I’m sure that same coverage would have cost $400/month or more. Now, I’m not against insurance, per se. But a lot of people don’t think about their real insurance needs and how they should structure their policy. If you meet 1-5 above, self-insuring that first $10K is probably the most cost effective means of insuring yourself until you hit 55. For what it’s worth, my doctor agrees with this thinking as well.[/quote]
davelj, I agree with everything you’re saying here. I had an Aetna PPO when I was an employee and my employer pd. $237 per mo. for it and I pd. $96 of the $333 premium. I rarely used any of the benefit all those years.
However, the 50-65 age-group is very problematic to insure. Ins. co. age-discrimination is legal and small businesses bear the brunt because they essentially pay the same rates as individual policyholders. The persons that have always worked out and taken care of themselves are penalized because the vast majority has not (no disrespect intended to cancer survivors or those with birth defects other similarly unlucky individuals). Also, there are many healthy middle-aged persons and seniors in SD. However, we are lumped as an age-group in with those residing in the hollers of Kentucky (dramatization).
If I take another W-2 position, I will tell the employer that I WILL NOT give up my policy and give them a copy of my current premium invoice. They can pay the premium for me as a condition of my employment or put the cash in an HSA on my check and I will convert to an HSA policy. This will not only keep them from discriminating against me upon hire, they will find I’m cheaper to insure than what they’re paying for their 35 yr. old employees.
It’s way too risky for a baby boomer to give up a health insurance policy for a flaky “job.”
