Healthcare Insurance American Style in 2015

Healthcare Insurance American Style

Our business and industry leaders as well as all the elected offic

ials of our government have created an America in which the rest of us must live our lives marginally if married and your combined income is $50-60,000. If your combined income or if single and your income is above this amount, then your life in this country (and depending upon how much debt you have) will be relatively comfortable... but again, this depends upon your definition of relatively comfortable.

And, if you are in a situation where your annual income is $150,000 or higher, and again, depending upon your debt, your quality of life in America is more than just relatively comfortable.

If you combined and/or individual annual income is $30,000 or less then you life, even if receiving Welfare, is pretty miserable unless you have lived like that for so long that you don't know any better.

And, if you are working for a company that provides you with health insurance, then my advice to you is to stay with that company or another just like it until you are 66 years old, regardless of your health. Some companies actually pay 100% of the employee's monthly premium and 60-80% of the monthly premiums for all additional dependents with a typical deductible of about $2,500 to $3,000 and a reasonable copay for office visit and medications.

The cost of getting sick is outrageous in America and these costs continue to increase every year. My health issues revolve around blocked heart arteries and inserting stints and cancer issues that revolve around chemo treatments and CT/PET scans. I have been enduring these kinds of issues since 2008 and even with a reasonable company provided healthcare plan, my out-of-pocket expenses are somewhere between $20,000 to $24,000 annually.

And, I was health as a Clydesdale Horse and never had to go to a doctor except for routine stuff until age 60 when the shit hit the fan.

At 66, I retired with full Social Security benefits and at age 67 filed for Medicare insurance since my wife as retiring at age 62. I am paying between $350-$400/month plus some doctor visit copays and some minimal copays for drugs which are really low if I have them mail to me every 90 days and everything else is covered... by the Federal Government through your collected tax dollars...

Yes, I admit that this is somewhat Socialistic in nature but for those of us who are not millionaires, multimillionaires, billionaires, or have company retirement programs, then this little Government guaranteed security is not a bad thing to have once you have reached this age... because at best, you only have about 20-25 years left to live.

However, my wife's story is something completely different since she took early retirement and therefore has to secure an individual health insurance plan which (and I'll be blunt here) costs out the ass.

Now, here is the interesting part... The plans are based upon a low monthly payment and a high deductible or a high monthly payment and a low deductible. And, then there are all sorts of variations in between those 2 extremes.

So, being in the financial situation that we are in, she needs the lowest possible deductible therefore we must receive the big chili on the deductible. This particular plan that we are interested in is about $500/month or $6,000/year and the deductible is $6,300/year and the insurance company shares none of the costs for the first $6,300 in medical expenses and then they pay 100% as opposed to some who only pay 20%.

So, when you run this through the logical side of your brain, you can theorize that it is entirely possible that your annual healthcare costs may not exceed $6,300 each year; in fact, it is entirely possible that they may only be a flat $6,000...

But, according to your plan, you are also paying another $6,000 each year for the RIGHT to pay these healthcare costs yourself.

Yes folks... you are right... and, you heard it from me, right here...

If you take early retirement at 62 and regardless of whether you are male or female, there is absolutely no need for you to ever have sex with your spouse again because your Insurance Company will be screwing you and screwing you GOOD.

So, you damn well better hope that you are sick as shit at age 62, so your medical expenses will exceed the threshold of $6,300 each year and it will be worth having health insurance for those 3 years until you reach the tender age of 65 when all the bells and whistles starting ringing in your favor.

And, when you think about it... there is a positive side to taking early retirement and that is that these Insurance Companies can only SCREW you for 3 years or 36 months or 1,095 days... but, I guaran-damn-tee you that they will enjoy each and everyone of those days.

If you want to get a good screwing for 3 years, then retire early at 62 but make sure that you have stocked up on Petroleum Jelly and I think that if you have a SAMS club nearby where you live then you can get a pretty good deal if you buy a full pallet.

Otherwise, don't touch that retirement dial until you are 65... and, as I said, then you are good to go...

The best insurance carriers and this may change from State-to-State, are Humana, United Heathcare, and USAA and not to far off in the distance is Blue Cross Blue Shield. All the others are like Mexican Hot Peppers... in that, they will all burn you a new asshole.

If there are 2 of you in one family and you are looking for healthcare insurance and you got a burning desire to retire at age 62, then you better make sure that you set aside $1,000/month/person for 3 years or a total of $72,000 for instance in a 401K that you can make withdrawals from each month.

These costs will be relatively stable no doubt for the next 2-3 years maybe 3-5 years but after that these insurance costs are going to escalate...

Why do you suppose this is happening?

Most healthcare facilities are being purchases by conglomerates who sell stock and need to make substantial profits to keep their stockholders happy. Another reason is that the cost of labor has increased as has the cost of medical equipment.

Many organizations that file for reimbursement claims against an health insurance policy finds out ahead of time the maximum amount of money that the insurance company is willing to pay but instead of billing the insurance company for the actual cost of the procedure, these companies bill the insurance companies for the maximum allowed which over time inflates the cost of healthcare on individuals and families while making these companies what we might refer to as filthy rich...

And, only in America will you find that this game has been honed to perfection by all the players, leaving the recipient of the healthcare receiving the mushroom treatment... which is kept in a damp dark place and fed bullshit...