Just in case someone outside of the US is reading this and thinking, "$1,8000/mo can't be right" - sadly, it is. It might even be on the low end. A self-employed person with a family must pay ~$25,000 p.a. for health insurance even if perfectly healthy.
Sometimes people look at the "nominal" cost of catastrophic insurance or their partial contribution as an employee and extrapolate - but that doesn't work when you're fending for yourself.
> Sometimes people look at the "nominal" cost of catastrophic insurance or their partial contribution as an employee and extrapolate - but that doesn't work when you're fending for yourself.
Another wrinkle with the "what do I need to pay for the equivalent of this without an employer", in my state, is that only two providers—both ones I'd never heard of before—offer individual insurance plans at all. The others do not deal in them any more, period. Call them and ask, that's what they'll tell you. Call an insurance broker and ask, that's what they'll tell you. "No, zero providers aside from the two on the exchange offer individual plans in this state now". IOW, it is impossible to pay for an individual plan as good as even mediocre employer-provided plans in my state.
For one thing, both exchange providers have far worse networks (lists of specific healthcare providers for which the insurance applies, for non-USians) than even some pretty terrible employer plans I've been on before. They're also worse value for the money, even factoring in the full cost (as one might with, for example, COBRA) even if their networks were as good.
Interesting. In my state there are still non exchange plans. Pricing is about the same, maybe a bit higher. But yeah they probably aren't constrained as much in terms of network breadth.
Nope! I was surprised, too. Brokers were basically like "LOL, I take it you haven't shopped for individual insurance in a while if you think I can do anything for you—your only option in this state is the exchange". Insurers, including BC/BS themselves, said essentially the same thing—nope, we don't do that any more, check the exchange, and no, we're not on it.
Reality: The average premium is actually under $1200 for a family plan with a max additional annual out of pocket is $17,100. For a single individual in their 40s it's around $400 a month premiums and $8550 max annual out of pocket.
I'd prefer single payer, but I was comparing to what we had before, where lots of people simply died due to being denied any insurance despite willingness and ability to pay. Even a condition as treatable as asthma would get you denied private health insurance.
Must depend heavily on the state. My numbers were accurate for mine (a middle-low cost of living state) as of earlier this year, for IIRC a "silver" plan. The levels don't—in this state, nor, actually, with most employer plans I've seen that provide coverage options—make much difference in max-out-of-pocket and mostly just shift around how much you'll definitely spend, except the bronze plans (again, in this state) which were just rip-offs even compared to the rest.
As I understand it, the max out of pocket is a federal legal limit that has nothing to do with level.
Some states do, unfortunately, have very high premiums because their anti-Obama leaders intentionally chose to screw over their constituents for political points.
> Some states do, unfortunately, have very high premiums because their anti-Obama leaders intentionally chose to screw over their constituents for political points.
True, something along those lines is very likely what's up with ours.
Sometimes people look at the "nominal" cost of catastrophic insurance or their partial contribution as an employee and extrapolate - but that doesn't work when you're fending for yourself.