Health insurance

[GHOST 2.2]

thanks for those who are helping. so far im leaning towards kaiser....

even though some say its pointless asking over here cause the rates vary, it was just the fact what others say and see what i can come up with. from a person not knowing jack shit about health insurance it would atleast be nice to have lil or some help on this.

[phatdoughnut]

That still tells us nothing about how good your coverage is

WHY DOES NOBODY UNDERSTAND THAT?!!?!?

maybe you didnt understand the question. He didnt ask us how good our coverage was.

what should i look for and what is a good rate?
im still tyring to understand these deductibles/coinsurance/hsa/copay etc.

I gave him my rate because i thought maybe it would help him when other people posted what they paid.

IT sais he is trying to understand not what are your deductibles/coinsurance/hsa/copay etc...

So dont get all hostile if it helps you.

I have a 300 family deductible and after tat 90% of our helth care is covered, 90% of our dental is covered if we drive to one of our insurances prefered places, The optomitrist part is shitty tho, only cover your exam and like 100 etheir contacts or glasses frame. But my wife works at a eye center so we get hooked up.

[NutBucket]

See, that's useful information man. You can get health insurance for $20 a month.....is just will have crap for coverage so what's the point of that?

I'll take a better shot at answering his questions:

Deductibles are like they are for any insurance, you're responsible certain costs until you've reached the deductible. After that, you pay a set percentage, say 20% of all costs beyond the deductible. The better your plan, the less the deductible is and the percentage you'll be responsible for beyond the deductible is lower.

Coinsurance basically means that neither the insurer or the insured are fully responsible for costs. So, the insurance company pays so, you pay some. Again, the percentages depend on the "quality" of your plan.

An HSA is an interesting beast. Think of it as a Savings Account just for health care. Basically if you have a high-deductible insurance plan, about 2k or more, you can choose to contribute money, tax deferred (money is taxed when it is withdrawn) to a HSA. So, you'll see some tax savings in the short term. So now you'll say, what can I use the money I've saved for? Under age 65, you can use the money
tax free for any medical services, including prescription drugs, eyeglasses, hearing aids, even medical transportation. You can also withdraw the money for your own purposes, but it will be taxed as income with an additional 10% penalty. After age 65, you may use the money however you choose without any additional penalty, however non-medical will require you pay income tax on it. The best part about the HSA is that you can choose to invest it however you like, just like a IRA. As a final note, you can only contribute to a HSA if you have a high-deductible insurance plan. However, you can withdraw from it regardless of what type of plan you have.

Copay is a set amount you pay for a medical service. For example, if you visit the doctor, your copay would be say, $20. Every time you visit the doctor, you'll pay $20 and your insurance will cover the rest.

If you have any more questions on terminology, maybe I can help

[phatdoughnut]

Some companies have special accounts(not sure what they are called, my wifes was called "cafe" account, where you get pre taxed money set aside to use for medical purposes.) which you never pay taxes on. for us its not worth it because we hardly ever go to the Dr. and when we do we barely use our deductibles worth.

the dentist, thats another story.. hehehe

[NutBucket]

But that's the beauty of the HSA, money you put in isn't taxed and money you take out isn't taxed when you use it for medical purposes...so its about the same as what you're talking about. Its not company specific either.

[GHOST 2.2]

thank you nutbucket/phatdoughnut

i dont see the doctor that much. maybe 3 times a year on average.


im looking at a 1500 deductable and a 500 deductable.

so if i choose the 1500 plan the cost per visit etc is more but with the 500 plan its less. thats whats confusing me