Re:President Jimmy Carter has passed away
by efitz on Sunday December 29, 2024 @11:12PM
(#42546405)
Not by itself, not anymore, because of ACA. For most people, the most cost effective insurance is catastrophic major medical + self-pay for anything else. What passes for insurance now really isn’t “insurance” in the sense that completely expected, and even likely, events are covered. It’s more like paying for discount healthcare but has the major medical built in.
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Re:President Jimmy Carter has passed away
by gigatree on Sunday December 29, 2024 @11:31PM
(#42546497)
Stupid question but does that mean the “discount” comes from tax dollars? i.e. medical costs are spread out more but we’re also collectively spending more of our income on it?
Re:President Jimmy Carter has passed away
by lotsofpulp on Monday December 30, 2024 @12:08AM
(#42546658)
The discount is from a knowledgeable entity who buys lots of healthcare knowing what they are buying (theoretically preventing fraud) and what competing healthcare providers are selling at, and also negotiating with the collecting purchasing decision of thousands or millions of insureds.
Re:President Jimmy Carter has passed away
by gigatree on Monday December 30, 2024 @12:34AM
(#42546760)
Was thinking of the tax credit, but yeah that makes sense (assuming that the post-ACA unsubsidized price of a plan is lower than its pre-ACA price).
Re:President Jimmy Carter has passed away
by pkulak on Sunday December 29, 2024 @11:35PM
(#42546515)
You can buy it as long as you also have an HSA account, which you should have anyway because it’s pre tax.
Re:President Jimmy Carter has passed away
by lotsofpulp on Monday December 30, 2024 @12:07AM
(#42546657)
That is a High Deductible Health Plan, which have out of pocket maximums capped in the $10k per calendar year range. While $10k is a lot to a lot of people, it’s a drop in the bucket for an actual catastrophic healthcare event.
Re:President Jimmy Carter has passed away
by pkulak on Thursday January 02, 2025 @04:27PM
(#42579122)
What are you trying to say? Max out of pocket is the max out of your pocket, not the insurance company's.
Re:President Jimmy Carter has passed away
by lotsofpulp on Monday December 30, 2024 @12:05AM
(#42546647)
Catastrophic health insurance makes no sense as an insurance product since the probability of catastrophic health event costing hundreds of thousands of dollars is so high as one ages. Heart disease and cancer is a given, and that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to treat, and premature babies are in the millions.
US health insurance is a combination healthcare purchasing agent/second opinion/fraud detection/insurance/tax collector.
A large part of a premium is a tax due to the maximum age rating factor that limits the prices old people pay to 3x or less what young people pay. It is also a tax because the insurer cannot underwrite the insureds, except on the basis of age, tobacco use, and location.
> Catastrophic health insurance makes no sense as an insurance product since the probability of catastrophic health event costing hundreds of thousands of dollars is so high as one ages.
Then no health insurance would make sense?
Well, as you suggest, the regulations that cap the premiums for old people at 3x those of young people seem to blame?
Insurance companies sold such plans for decades; the price goes up as you get older (==riskier from the pov of the insurer). Just like life insurance.
At some point the consumer makes a decision that the cost of insurance doesn’t justify the benefit.