View Full Version : What percentage of your income goes to buy health insurance?
Ours will be about 22% this year versus about 16% last year. Our premiums went up and our income is going down. It's our biggest expense by far. This is for a hospitalization only policy for me (younger, healthier) and a somewhat more comprehensive policy for hubbie (older) who has had some health "adventures" in the past, nothing ongoing though. His policy went up 41.6% over last year! :0! But our state insurance commission sees so problem with that. :confused: We're not covered at work and have to buy on the individual market in an area with almost no competition. Your experience?
ApatheticNoMore
2-21-13, 3:33am
Was about 5% and going up to 6% of gross income (of course gross is not net as over 25% of my gross goes for payroll and income taxes).
So .... deciding this was a lot of money!!, I gave in and decided to try the HMO rather than PPO so now it will only be about 1% of my gross, and both options are WITH employer provided. I may regret going with the HMO, have to go through a primary care physician which I don't even have, have to go in network, have to fight fight to see a specialist, but oh well, until I work somewhere with better benefits I debate fancier health insurance versus saving up my own personal unofficial health savings account (not to pay for hospitalization out of pocket or anything crazy like that - should be no need for that as the HMO should cover, just to pay Corba should I ever need to - maybe to pay a specialist out of pocket).
I work for the state and it is paid in full by them for now. About 8-10% of dh's paycheck is held for health insurance.
The total premium is a little over $500/month, but my employer pays a large majority of it. They deduct about 3% of my take-home pay.
rodeosweetheart
2-23-13, 4:59pm
The total premium is a little over $500/month, but my employer pays a large majority of it. They deduct about 3% of my take-home pay.
I pay about 3.5% of my take home pay for health insurance; it is very good health insurance, which is one reason that I would hate to lose the job, although it is very stressful. It has paid for my therapist for my major depression, which my therapist says is largely caused by the job. Hhmm.
awakenedsoul
2-23-13, 10:27pm
I pay $120. a month for a catastophic policy. I start the year with $25,000. and am working on saving as much of that as I can. Last year I spent about $20,000. and this year I hope to get it down to $15,000. So I guess around 10%...
As Canadians, we pay very little. Less than 3% (approx) for our large family.
Gardenarian
2-25-13, 4:16pm
Almost 30% of my take home pay. My insurance is around $1000 per month (just mine! dh and dd pay another $1000!) I have a lot of pre-existing conditions and I hope can get cheaper insurance in 2014. I'll be looking for a catastrophic plan. (I do have other sources of income aside from my paycheck - investments, stock.)
Even though I won't be denied insurance come 2014, in California there is no regulation of how much insurers can charge. We shall see what comes!
Mrs. M - dh wants to move to Canada.
About 25% just for premiums. In addition, last year was bad...I had to meet my $5100 deductible on my individual health insurance because of gall bladder surgery. Then I got dental implants for $12,000. First year I've had to dig into my nest egg principle in 10 years of retirement. Add on to that dental cleanings, prescriptions that aren't covered by my medical insurance. I'm looking forward to Medicare.
I'm jealous of the 3% Canadian premiums.
ApatheticNoMore
2-25-13, 4:52pm
Ugh I'm debating back and forth on the health insurance plans again. Ugh. Might just decide to pay more again (about 6% of *gross* or so). A major problem is I don't really understand health insurance. I mean I can kind of tell you what a deductable and out of pocket maximum is, but it's not like that's the end of the complexity with it. If it's a California only plan what if I took a vacation, gasp, out of state? (and needed care) What happens if I passed out at my desk tommorow was taken to the nearest hospital and it was not in network?
Gardenarian. DH and I, met a gentleman and his wife a few years ago who moved to Canada from California, and they said it was the best move they ever did!
Originally posted by Rose.
I'm jealous of the 3% Canadian premiums.I wouldn't give up my homeland of Canada for anything!
ApatheticNoMore
2-27-13, 4:12am
Next time I'm choosing a policy not only will I ask more questions before signing up but perhaps talk to a professional on these issues (a financial advisor? that specializes in health care?). Because clearly even I dont' think I'm making rational decisions here, nor are most people probably. I think I'm making decisions based on running possible scenarios in my head without even any real understanding of potential medical costs and how they would be handled (it's not my profession, not my industry, why should I be an expert?).
I like the freedom of PPOs and alternatively I like saving money on premiums, but what I want most is neither: it's getting whatever healthcare I need with a hard cap on how much I have to spend out of pocket, it's bankruptcy protection plain and simple (since supposedly most medical bankruptcies are people with health insurance, though I have no idea how this happens!). The PPO seemed closest to this since there are out of pocket maximums even for out of network (although they are fairly high for out of network), so if the radiologist or other specialists in a hospital was out of network, I wouldn't somehow end up with some unfathomable bill, it does hit a hard limit, even out of network.
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