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Re:Research repository ArXiv receives $10M for upgrades by BeetleB on Thursday October 19, 2023 @07:46PM (#37950348)
I mean this with the utmost sincerity: Get better insurance. Or work in a company with good contracts with insurance companies. Like probably any Fortune 500 company.

(Either that or understand your insurance better).

Re:Research repository ArXiv receives $10M for upgrades by dheera on Thursday October 19, 2023 @07:49PM (#37950367)
> Get better insurance

Back when I was a contractor I was on $850/month insurance and they paid for almost nothing. Deductible was $6K and even after that they paid for almost nothing.

Maybe $1600/month+ insurance would pay for something, but then it's questionable whether it's a good deal.

None of the marketplace plans covered the only couple of medical institutions in my area I trusted to give me a life-saving medical implant for a condition not well understood.

Re:Research repository ArXiv receives $10M for upgrades by BeetleB on Thursday October 19, 2023 @08:25PM (#37950620)
That sucks. I can believe if you have a tough medical condition then there's no limit to how expensive life can be :-(

And yes, marketplace insurance is poor. I get paid a fraction of $500K and the deductible for the whole family is under $4K. Max out of pocket is about $5K, but we never hit it. I don't pay any premiums. If I were single, it would be much cheaper - I mostly pay for the dependents. Big companies negotiate good deals, and they'll often have employees who will act as your advocate for weird billing problems. Insurance companies don't want to upset a big client.

Sad fact of life in the US that one of the reasons people cling to soul sucking jobs is this - even when they have enough money to retire (but still too young for Medicare).