Cobra Insurance Rates-Ripoff?

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: djb
Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: Donald
COBRA is mainly to allow you to get insurance at a group rate and not be rejected because of a pre-existing condition.


Bingo. It is indeed quite expensive, but you will be getting good coverage.


That's not the case.

You'll keep whatever coverage you had before, and be paying the full amount for the coverage. If the coverage sucked while you were employed, it will suck just the same while unemployed.

It will give a fresh appreciation for how much you cost as an employee -- much more than your take-home pay.


My point is valid. The point that DPARM was trying to make that it will most likely be better coverage than you could get with an individual policy. But true, if you had a [censored] policy with your employer, that part does not change under COBRA.



Yes, I agree. I guess I've been lucky because both companies I've worked for have been massive and offered extremely good plans.

 

[kb01]

COBRA really isn't the problem. Health insurance is just crazy expensive in the USA.

It's the actual premium from before, plus 2% overhead. It's just especially painful because you're paying with after tax dollars and not getting an employer subsidy. The average cost to insure an individual is roughly $8,000/year and a family is just above $20,000/year.

If you're reasonably young and healthy, get a non-group HDHP or major medical policy with a $10,000-$20,000 deductible and self insure for day-to-day medical care. In my case,by raising my deductible by $5,000, my premiums went down by $10,000/year.

Insuring against highly predictable and relatively low cost risks makes absolutely no financial sense.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Illegal folks get free health care... why shouldn't a person paying taxes all their adult life also get free health care ?




An uncomfortable truth.


If you are willing to get sued for id theft or have any asset taken after a big incident by collection agency, you too can get "free health care".

It is not just about health insurance but insurance against your asset to be taken away. The problem is just as much about why US have the most expensive care cost per capital, why lawyers are making out like a bandit, why sick people who can't afford care don't just die off themselves and have to use other peoples money (a trick question with no standard answer), yet why people in this country has to constantly worry about it after paying more than every one else on earth.

 

[Win]

Originally Posted By: kb01


If ou're reasonably young and healthy, get a non-group HDHP or major medical policy with a $10,000-$20,000 deductible and self insure for day-to-day medical care. In my case,by raising my deductible by $5,000, my premiums went down by $10,000/year.

Insuring against highly predictable and relatively low cost risks makes absolutely no financial sense.


Region of the country probably makes a big difference, but, yes, our HDHP is less than $5k / annum and that includes our newborn. I think our deductible is $4K. We didn't have maternity since nobody our age has kids. I negotiated that bill to about what they would have charged the insurer and just paid it. When I broke my heel and ankle this summer, my costs including the copays were probably less than $750. I didn't even keep track of it.

Our insurance was even more affordable before Mr. Obama and Congress made health care affordable.

 

[Vikas]

I don't understand why would somebody pay 20K premium with low deductible rather than choosing high deductible and low premium. The numbers given illustrate that point pretty clearly (assuming the numbers are correct). Save $10K on premium buy raising deductible by $5K? How can anybody lose?

 

[Tempest]

COBRA is big bucks but with your shoulder as a preexisting, it's probably your best bet. Good chance you will pay a high premium or be flatly rejected on an individual policy.