How much do you currently pay for health insurance or do you lack coverage?

[stray cat]

I'm curious how many people currently are quoted or have to pay more than 10-12 % of their income or more for health insurance and/or health care costs.

Someone pointed out I should be using adjusted income for the calculation - so after taxes.

[virgogal]

1. Medicare now-----prior to that my employer paid 100%. Those

days are gone forever.

[HuckleB]

5. That was a part of your pay.

You earned it.

[virgogal]

12. I realize that,but I retired 3 years before I was Medicare eligible

and they still paid my health insurance until I was 65.

I was lucky.

[HuckleB]

15. That's good.

I'm just trying to bring full perspective to the discussion.

Cheers!

:toast:

[Oregone]

2. $108 a month for my family. No deductible. No copay. No caps.

And if you want something similar, pack your bags, because your corrupt cronies aint going to give it to you in the States

[stray cat]

21. Where are you from?

[Oregone]

36. From Oregon. Moved to BC, Canada last year

Who would of thunk it...an infinite amount of activism, donations, calls, etc, and its more effective just moving if you are interested in, among other things, health insurance that isn't meant to bleed you dry


But hats off to the rest of you that want to "fight the good fight", if thats what floats your boat. Just don't keep your children in the foxhole with you.

[stray cat]

40. How do you like the great white north - I'm a Minnesotan - we always like Canada

[Oregone]

42. Well, not too white

Much warmer here on Vancouver Island than my old home...its been one of the mildest winters Ive experienced in my life. :)

But I love it. So many more mellow people and sane policies. It really manifests into some beautiful communities. And I have a piece of mind that Im not going to have some medical emergency take my home away (which I left behind in the states due to market)

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. My COBRA is subsidized through next spring. Right now, $120

It will go up over $300 after that. $500 deductible and $30 copays. Dr's visits/copays don't count to the deductible.

[CurtEastPoint]

27. My Cobra is going from 203 now to 617 in January...

but I read to day they extended the subsidy. Probably will have to pay the upcharge then get rebated.

[cynatnite]

4. Husband and I are veterans, but our son is uninsured...

Lost our insurance after husband was injured on the job and then fired.

[XemaSab]

6. I would be THRILLED to pay 10% for health care coverage

I make 1200 a month, meds are 300 a month, and I have several cavities that will probably be 300 a pop to fix.

Plus my car needs work, and the cord on my computer is busted.

Minimum wage sucks. x(

[stray cat]

24. I think the bill is made to help out people in your situation

and I would gladly contribute my taxes to that purpose. I hate the idea of pay off to insurance companies but like the idea that you could get coverage and I suspect significant subsidies to pay for it. Best wishes and good luck.

[NorthCarolina]

57. If you are making minimum wage then you are one of those people that our elected officials

are talking about when they tell us they can't support single payer health care because it would benefit all those "that don't pay taxes". They don't go into detail of course because they want the dimwits of America to just think they must be talking about illegals, or lazy people living off the Government. But, if you make minimum wage, then you no doubt get the bulk of any taxes you paid during the year in the form of a tax refund when you file your return. So make no mistake, even though you work, and probably work hard for that minimum wage, you nevertheless are one of those folks that the GOP and Conservative Democrats are referring to, the ones that prevent them from voting for a single payer plan so that tax payer money doesn't go to fund health care for those that don't pay taxes. But hey...at least you'll get a mandate for private insurance...without pesky price controls of course. Change YOU can believe in?

[beyurslf]

7. I have health insurance through my employer. I pay about $50 per paycheck

for my policy alone for health. Once the additional insurances are added (life, death, vision, dental), it is about $65. It is less than 10% of my income. However, if I want to make this family coverage and cover my 4 kids, it goes to $125 per paycheck for health only. I believe adding them to dental and vision brings it to about $160 a paycheck. I can't afford that right now so I only have it on myself. Luckily, my kids are adopted so they automatically qualify for the state medical card. Next year, I plan to cover them on my dental and vision plans only so we can look at contacts, nicer glasses, and maybe braces (for one of them).

[HuckleB]

9. And you earn the rest.

If you didn't, your employer wouldn't offer it, or your employer would cut your pay to pay for it.

[beyurslf]

17. It just amazes me how much it goes up for family. It doesn't matter how many kids I have.

When I did my first adoption, it was that much for me and 1 kid. And my coverage is employer + kids. If I had a spouse to cover, it would be even more.

[SharonAnn]

58. $330 a month as spouse of a worker (retired). I'm not yet eligible for Medicare.

[napi21]

8. You need to be specific. It's "Adjusted Gross Income". There's

a BIG difference! If you make $40,000 and are single, that's one thing. If you have 33,4 or more dependents, RE taxes, etc. it's quite another. Even if you only take the STD deduction, it significantly reduces your Earned income.

I would think using your AGI would significantly increase the # of people who pay more than that.

[stray cat]

25. Good point - I'll add it in

[OneGrassRoot]

10. Been uninsured for 10 years.

A minor bout with melanoma made getting coverage impossible due to cost after divorce (I'm self-employed, was previously covered through my ex's insurance plan).

[stray cat]

28. So any bill even this one would probably enhance the possibility you could get insured?

Best wishes!

[OneGrassRoot]

34. It's the affordability aspect still.....

even if the insurance premium were affordable (very questionable from what I'm seeing/hearing), the cost of actually getting CARE would probably still prevent me from accessing the system. Fees, copays, etc.

Thanks for the good wishes, though. :)

:hi:

[stray cat]

38. Yes - it depends on if you qualify for a significant break and if you are just above a cut off

its still expensive. :hi:

[begin_within]

11. $169.10 per month for me only, and for almost bare-bones coverage

Specifically, Blue Shield of California's "Vital Shield 2900" PPO plan, $2900 deductible, copayments for everything, hospital copayment of 40%, only generic drugs covered. Pretty lousy coverage if you ask me.

[HuckleB]

I'll try to check the files later.

However, if my memory is right. The full payment that goes from my wife's employer to the insurance company is more than $12,000 for three of us. In addition to that, we pay around $200 a month pre-tax. So around $14,500 for three people. And the coverage ain't all that.

[stray cat]

29. Sounds similar to mine

[bluedeminredstate]

13. $1500/mo

For our family of four. We had to switch last year because Anthem wanted nearly $3000 to cover us.

My husband goes on Medicare in February and it should drop to around $800/mo.
He needs hip surgery because of a fracture in his hip which was diagnosed in the beginning of October. Five days after the diagnosis the insurance company wrote us a letter informing us that they were dropping us retroactive back to August. We had to get an attorney and they just reinstated us but we had to pay for the nearly two months we didn't have insurance or they could have said that since we weren't paying that we "accepted" their decision to drop us. It's such a goddamn racket and what they put us through for those two months is unbelievable. I have to go back and resubmit all the medical bills from August through the beginning of December when they refused to pay.

[HuckleB]

14. That's about what it's actually going for, in my experience.

[stray cat]

31. The games the insurance plays to mess with people really has to be stopped

the current bill reigns them in to some extent but I don't think enough.

[Mojambo]

16. I haven't had coverage since 2001. n/t

[Cleita]

18. I have Medicare and

pay $96.00 a month, but must also get Medi-gap that is another $200 a month, which is a larger percent of my income than you mention.

[murray hill farm]

47. That is what I pay too, Cleita!

$96 a month. My Rx coverage is still covered by my pension plan, which is very helpful. In my opinion, no one in the USA should ever have to pay more than that for insurance. Geeez, if we taxed everyone the percentage to cover complete universal health care for all of us, it still would not cost a person or family as much as the ins cos charge for the most basic insurance.

[xiamiam]

19. posted on another thread..first month after 35 years i cannot afford

the 527 payment...its been as high as 800..i keep taking a higher deductible...had a major illness a few years ago but other than that..clean slate..the 18 months of illness, much of which was caused by the hospital, put me in a downward spiral..i cant pay this month or last..today was the deadline to come up with it..its a strange feeling..i'm well except i worry about my leg which cost a ton of money, even with the insurance and best hospitals..and of course, now i have a pre-existing condtion..

[stray cat]

32. Good luck and best wishes - I hope something gets passed that helps you out.

[xiamiam]

52. thanks..but i'm not counting on it...the thing is that i'm one of the lucky ones

or was until this economic fiasco..the setback from my illness could have been corrected if things had any normalcy..i'm one of the most responsible and independent people i know..this year, i lost one house and perhaps another..i work, on commission..in real estate...no chance for unemployment benefits..i could have taken disability but didnt since i thought things would work out...i was seriously depressed over this mess last year..the fear of walking thru it after being so sick.didn't think i could face it...but im strong... the deck is stacked against us...if it could happen to me...it can happen to anyone...i've been saying that for over a year..met a lot of deaf ears although as people begin to be affected, they come round..unfortunately, the end is nowhere in sight since so much of the problems which created the mess are not fixed...i took off my rose colored glasses when obama threw the bankruptcy bill under the bus...its just been more of the same since then...no help for the middle class as we disintegrate

[Bonhomme Richard]

20. We are fortunate that all we pay is the copay thanks to

my wife's employer. Happens to be a dentist.

[Lisa0825]

22. Free for me from my employer, $25 co-pays... but my previous employer (last month)

had a high deductible plan... $100/mo for an individual with a $2500 deductible. Really sucked! I put off my follow up appts and prescriptions until I got my new job because pretty much everything would have been out of pocket except for annual checkups.

The benefits administrator was explaining about making sure they coded your visit correctly at the doctor's office so we'd get charged correctly. I said, "Gee I never expected I'd need to take a coding class in order to see a doctor!"

[USA_1]

23. No Coverage

But I help pay for Israel's universal health care.

How terrific, huh?

[cliffordu]

26. I get medicare - they take 175.00 out of my 741 dollar social security check

as my 'donation'..

But I get to see a doctor whenever I want to so I ain't bitching.

My wife doesn't have any coverage - she burned her hand last week and it got infected - we figure the emergency room visit is going to be 500-800 dollars.

[stray cat]

35. thats a pretty hefty donation!

My coverage subsidized by my employer means a $100 ER visit but its waved if I'm admitted. I consider myself currently lucky.

[cliffordu]

54. I worked for IBM some years ago - they paid for EVERYTHING -

It was magic.

But alas, those salad days ended when we parted ways....

[CreekDog]

30. $160/month for me is my share

not including dental or vision.

[Speck Tater]

33. No coverage. nt

[Davis_X_Machina]

37. $1340 per year...

...for 20% of my insurance. Employer pays the rest. So that would be $6700 per year that someone's paying. That would be about 9% of AGI.

[stray cat]

41. It sounds like you know what you are talking about

:hi:

[NRaleighLiberal]

39. For my wife and I, for decent medical and dental (only preventative), about 300/month.

medicines are $15/3 month supply each

We are very lucky - I am a retiree (actually laid off, but got a package and benefits) from Big Pharma. My two girls don't have insurance (can't afford in one case, preexisting conditions plus can't afford in the other).

[NorthCarolina]

43. $310/mo for me and $230/mo for my partner. Being an evil gay couple we

can't qualify for a family plan.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

44. About 100 a month. I make between 50 and 60 k depending on overtime.

[laughingliberal]

45. Ours was $1200 per month. Essentially 25 % of our income. And, no, we would not have qualified for a

subsidy. You have no idea how many people will be in that position. How 'bout this for a scenario. You are a couple. Your adjusted gross income is $58, 000. You qualify for a subsidy so, lucky you(!), the portion you pay for your premium is only $5800 per year, Yay! Your annual evaluation comes up. You've done a great job, this year, worked your ass off, and the boss noticed. Raises are a little skimpy this year, generally between 2 and 4%, but the boss took your file to HR and asked for 5% due to your exemplary performance (this was, actually me 3 years ago). Wow! Thanks, Boss.

Guess what? You no longer qualify for a subsidy. Oh, well, it's a nice raise. How much could the premium be? Ha Ha! $1200 per month for the coverage you now carry. Congratulations. You are now more that 400% above the Federal Poverty Level. It's good news! Come on, let's party.

[WeDidIt]

46. I have OUTSTANDING coverage from my employer.

I pay $267 out of pocket for rocking excellent care.

It all goes away in 16 months and I will then be at the mercy of the system.

[StarfarerBill]

48. Nada. Mostly unemployed and can't afford it.

[Mari333]

49. 300 a month only Catastrophic Care

10,000 deductible. have to pay my own pharma, pay my own doctors visits, and pay all expenses. only reason I have it is to protect my retirement savings in case I get seriously ill.
dont get check ups, dont get tests, dont do anything else with it.
cant afford anything else.

[Blue_In_AK]

50. We pay $800 a month for the two of us

from my husband's fixed pension. That is 25%. It pays 80% as long as we use "preferred providers." We are both getting social security now (we took it early at 62) but are not yet getting Medicare. We're not hurting too bad right now, but when we turn 65 it's going to suck because there are very, very few primary care doctors in Anchorage (as in no one but the Neighborhood Health Center) who take Medicare patients at all. For Alaska, a Medicare buy-in wouldn't have made much sense.

We don't know whether we're going to keep the pension insurance as secondary when we turn 65 or go to AARP's plan, which seemed to work okay for my mother-in-law (although she DID have to go to the Neighborhood Health Center for her care, for the reason mentioned above). We probably will have to, too, unless something is done about the doctor shortage here.

[Doremus]

51. We pay $15K/year, 37% of our adjusted gross income.

It's our largest single monthly expenditure (insurance, co-pays and deductibles), $150 more than our freaking mortgage, and today I absolutely loathe the fucking corporatists who pretend to be the people's representatives. :mad:

[Stinky The Clown]

53. Twenty Nine Fucking Thousand Dollars a Fucking Year For A Fucking HMO

I pay every fucking penny of it. For just two of us. No dependents.

[flvegan]

61. No offense to you, but that's obscene.

THAT should be criminal.

[Stinky The Clown]

82. Age and medical histories ......

.... and what is being spoken about now in the Senate bill can only make this worse for us. I'm close to Medicare so it **may** get a little better. My wife is ten years behind me. If we're lucky, the premium will go down by maybe a third? To maybe Twenty Fucking Thousand Dollars A Fucking year. For a Fucking HMO.

No offense taken whatever. It IS obscene.

[iris27]

74. Jesus! That is more than my entire (non-adjusted) gross income!

I guess I would just have to curl up and die. Honestly, that is absolutely criminal.

[kcass1954]

55. Insurance thru Blue Cross FEHBP. Premium is $132.83 bi-weekly.

Mr. kcass's employer pays $428.27 bi-weekly. We'd have to get second jobs if we had to pay the whole thing ourselves.

We also have a real dental plan through my employer. I opted out of the crummy self-insured plan they offer, and use the flex dollars for the dental.

[MercutioATC]

64. Any reason you went with BCBS Standard?

BCBS Basic is cheaper and looks like it actually has better coverage (as long as you stay in-plan).

Just curious if I missed anything.

[Edweird]

56. $17/wk Med, $6/wk Dental and $4/wk legal.

The Medical and Dental are pre-tax and nowhere near %10 of my income.

[tXr]

59. Like millions of others, I lost my COBRA subsidy at the beginning of this month,

so once more I am without access to health care.

[TxRider]

60. Significantly less than 10% here

Closer to 5% at 50yrs of age.

But I make good money, and my insurance for a good plan is about half the national average from what I can see.

Maybe being single and healthy and not overweight at all pays off here?

[MissB]

62. I pay no premiums

For myself, spouse and two kids. My employer covers it. We do have copays, but those are $10-$20 a visit.

[Seedersandleechers]

63. I pay nothing for health care, and

no deductibles as long as I use all the facilities that's offered at the large hospital I work for. I'm lucky, but damn it, I want the same for everyone. And it's because of that, that I weep. :cry: :cry:

[readmoreoften]

65. My partner pays $100 a month and then has to pay out of pocket about $200 for meds and care

And earns less than $1000 a month. My employer currently pays mine, but I could lose that perk next semester.

[subterranean]

66. I've been without insurance for 10 years.

I'm self-employed. The best affordable family plan available in my area would be about $315 a month with a $4000 deductible. Including the deductible, that would be more than 10% of my AGI.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

67. I pay $250 a month with a $5000 deductible, which I have never met

I am paying the insurance company $3000 a year for NOTHING except a slight discount on the medical services that I do buy.

Next summer, I will hit a milestone birthday, and looking at the charts and hearing what is happening to other people, I expect the premium to skyrocket.

[dysfunctional press]

68. i have medicare. BUT- i'm 48, disabled, and NOBODY will sell me supplemental coverage...

to cover the 20% that medicare doesn't cover- and they don't have to until i turn 65 and there's an open enrollment.

so- for my 80% coverage, they take about $100 every month from my $1250 disability check(my monthly check is also over 12% less than it should be, because one of my former employers never paid into the SS the fica money that they deducted from my check during my 2+ year tenure with them. as they were long gone and bankrupt by the time i found out at my ss consultation after my finding of disability- i had/have NO recourse, and i get NO 'credit' for those fica deductions.)
my meds have also recently increased dramatically, in number and price, so i've also gotten the prescription drug coverage during the current enrollment period- so that means that much more from my check each month. yay! (which will also raise it up to the 10% of income level.

also- because i don't think that it's right/fair that NOBODY will sell me the coverage and aren't required to, and because i can't afford to pay the 20% on some of my pricier procedures- i've explained the situation to & informed all of the billers that i will not be paying the 20% to ANY of them, so they'll have to get by and be satisfied with what medicare pays them.

my wife is currently unemployed- she gets $454/week. her health insurance is $466/month, which makes it over 25% of her income.

if you combine our current incomes, and our monthly premiums(including my part d prescription coverage) it comes to over 18% of our combined incomes.

[Odin2005]

69. $0. The state of Minnesota covers people with disabilities.

[GreenPartyVoter]

70. We're on Medicaid and I wish everyone could be so lucky, although I do

wish it covered adult dental and eyeglasses.

[mokawanis]

71. I pay $110 monthly for family coverage

co-pay on prescriptions is usually $5. I work for the state of Wisconsin.

[The Midway Rebel]

72. Nada, zip, zilch, nichts, bupkis, dill weed, zero, scratch, less-than-sumthin.

I gots and can afford nuttin'.

[Flagrante]

73. $540 per month ($6500 per year), for family of four

Blue cross blue shield of California. It breaks down like this:
$2500 per year in premiums.
$4000 per year deductible, out of pocket before BCBSofCal pays anything.
Once I reach $4000 out of pocket in a calendar year they cover all remaining costs for the year (at least that's the claim, haven't got there yet).
My employer pays about half of the $4000 deductible for me.
I pay the premium of $2500 + $2000 of the deductible, for $4500 per year, or $375 per month.
Should I feel lucky? It's a new job, I had to get one cause I got laid off (lucky I got one at all, took me 5 months to find it. While out I was paying $500/month for COBRA, and that's with a 60% subsidy).
My previous job had a way cheaper plan, but they would screw me with "limits," like when my wife had two "prevention measures" (a pap and a mammogram) in a single year they only covered part of it, leaving me with an $800 bill. That was BCBS of Texas.

[Justitia]

75. our COBRA = $1200 / mo, which we will lose in a few months. -eom

[JCMach1]

76. about $200 a month for a family of four...

Of course, it's a different country. Not subsidized by employer either. Private insurance in a private market.

The only government intervention is tight price controls on the health industry.

No deductible, doughnut holes, nothing... The only payment I make is co-pay if I refer MYSELF to a specialist and 15% on extremely cheap pharmaceuticals.

For Choice... I can choose virtually any doctor or hospital in (or out) of the country.

[bamacrat]

77. $460 per month for me and the wife before I left my last job.

I made about 40,000 so that is about 11%. The plan we are on through her work now is about $300 per month she makes $50,000. So that is a tad better but the stupid thing is I worked for a small business (backbone of our economy, right) and they had no married plus one so I had to pay the same rates as my co-worker who has 4 kids. She works for a big 4 accounting firm so the choices are a bit better, but still. lack of choice hurts a lot of people even if they can only choose from private insurance. We lived in Alabama and BCBS is the only healthcare provider. They have something like 90% of the market so what they offered us is what we had to choose from.

[Raine]

78. No coverage. nt

[quiller4]

79. Just under $700/mo for the two of us on a private policy w/ $3500 deductible

and 80/20 after that.

[Sunnyshine]

80. Over $1,200 pr. month for insurance- but more like over $15,000 pr. year in total avg. cost.

Makes me sick to think of what we have spent in the last 5 years. We could nearly pay off our house.

[coyote]

81. I have German socialized healthcare and I pay

291€ / month....my employer pays the other 50% (291€)....this is standard. This is the maximum amount that can be charged for public health insurance. German health insurance is a family plan...so I would pay the same amount if I was single or had 20 kids.

100% coverage....10€/per visit deductibles.

No Dental except emergency...like removing teeth. There is no preventative dental health care in Germany unless you buy optional exta dental insurance.

[lukasahero]

83. $1100/month for me and spouse --- about 16% of adjusted income

That's for COBRA from my husband's old employer's insurance plan. He 'retired' after quadruple bypass surgery.

If I were to take my employer's plan, we would pay $300/month for $10,000 'catastrophic' coverage with high deductibles and little services covered.