What's your insurance cost (or what would it cost if you got it)?

[Bucky]

Poll question: What's your insurance cost (or what would it cost if you got it)?

Whether it's you or someone in your family paying, what does or what would your medical coverage cost? Are you making the choice not to get covered because you don't think you can afford it, despite knowing that you're basically gambling your health, your regular check ups, or even serious bankruptcy on the fact that you won't get sick?

[Donnachaidh]

1. many people are what would be considered insurance *untouchables*

Too many times I've had agents shrug, say no, or even laugh in my face when I was seeking insurance for my child with a bleeding disorder.

[One_Life_To_Give]

2. Employer picks up most of the cost

The policy itself costs over $500/mo for the Mrs and I. Although employer picks up 80% of that.

[csziggy]

10. Same here but we're getting a bargain

We pay less than $100 every two weeks for coverage for the two of us, including vision and dental. That is why he keeps working for FedEx even though after 6 years he's still earning less than $10 an hour - the benefits are good.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. $800 a month is taken out of my husband's pension check

to insure the two of us. We still have copays and deductibles.

[Bucky]

4. Shit, guess the dollar ranges in my poll weren't well balanced

I'm supposed to be paying $350 for just me, but I don't because I can't afford that. Maybe I'm just being cheap, but 350 a month for a basically healthy 45 year old just seems like wasted money to me.

But $800 for two people? Damn.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. What's really bad about it

is that his pension is a fixed monthly amount, but the health care premium keeps going up, so his net income continues to decrease. The only positive is that we do get a small federal deduction for it on our income taxes as it qualifies as "medical expense."

We are both in our early 60s, healthy ourselves and hardly ever use it (except for my Synthroid, which is cheap) so it does seem like quite a lot. I guess we can't complain because my husband was able to retire after 25 years as a marine engineer at a quite young age (before we hooked up) with a full defined pension. We are luckier than most.

[One_Life_To_Give]

15. Some retiree's Cobra coverage $26k/yr

It may be top of the line health insurance. But for a couple when they retire and have to pick up their own insurance till Medicare starts. Over $2k/mo seems outrageous to me. Then again spending $500 per person per month nationally on healthcare/insurance seems awfully high for the service we can expect.

[murphymom]

6. Husband and I are self-employed so we pay the whole thing

We're in our 50's and have a preferred provider plan with fairly low deductibles. Not having insurance isn't an option as we both have chronic medical conditions. Our bill every month is just under $1600 for the two of us (not including our out of pocket expense for our share of prescription medications).

[mmonk]

7. $500 a month? I can't even remember the year the coverage I pay for was that cheap.

But it was a long time ago.

[Vinca]

8. Our last quote was $1200 a month with a $5,000 a head deductible.

Of course that's before either of us had pre-existing conditions. Now we're insurance company lepers.

[RebelOne]

9. Fortunately, I work for a very large corporation,

so my health insurance is quite cheap at about $120 a month. This includes dental and eye care, plus life insurance.

[riderinthestorm]

11. $1100/month for 3 of us.

One child covered under s-chip. We're also self-employed and we pay for all of it. We actually use some of our savings every month to pay the insurance bill. It's a necessity (husband has serious med issues). When/if we run out of savings to supplement the business payment, I'm not sure what we do then....

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. FEHB Blue Cross/Blue Shield. About, $350 to cover me and wife. $250 deductible.

[MADem]

13. I have military insurance. There's copays if you get care from civilians

and if you want the lower copays you have to pay a small fee every month. It's "worth" more than that, but it's a part of the compensation/benefits of service.

[MercutioATC]

14. About $370/month family plan - Aetna HMO...no deductible. (FEHBP)

Of course, my employer kicks in another $740/month.

[MissB]

16. My employer pays for my premium

for myself and my family. It's unusual these days.

I chose the plan that allows us to see the doctors we've seen for a decade, so I do pay 15% copays, but the maximum out of pocket is very low.

[ohheckyeah]

17. Mine cost $244 a month but

it has a $3500 deductible. It's pretty worthless except in a major medical event.

[Bucky]

18. Is that per year or per incident? Does it cover your doctor visits?

[ohheckyeah]

19. Per year.

I end up getting a reduced rate for a doctor visit. I suppose it's the amount the doctor has agreed to pay the insurance company but I have to pay it. Nothing gets paid until the $3500 is met except for prescriptions which has a separate $250 deductible per year.

[bobmorr1]

20. Plasterers local 5 per hour rate

We pay $9 per hour. Thats $360 in a 40 hr week. This is with a $700 deductable. It only pays 80% and if you go to a clinic or doctor not in network, nothing is covered. Anyone higher than this?