If self-employed - How much do you pay for health insurance?

[NJbird_dog]

Hey everyone,
Since many of the people on this forum don't work a traditional 9-5 job that provides health insurance, can someone give me an idea of what the costs of health insurance is like on a monthly basis?

I'm asking because I am aiming to go full-time into REI by the start of next year, so I need to know what kind of costs I need to budget for since I have a corporate job right now.

Thanks.

[AzonPM]

A few months ago I got a bunch of quotes. It averaged $1000 a month for a family.  Top of the line program.    The cheapest was around $750-$800 with high copays and deductibles.   I prefer the higher monthly and lower copays, but everyone is different.

If you are looking for just you.  If I remember correctly is was around $400 a month on average.

[Rich_in_CT]

For that kind of money I would just pay out of pocket when I need to go to the doctor and hope I didn't get anything serious like cancer.....

[AzonPM]

Thats what a lot of single people say and do, but when you have kids its different.  

[Rich_in_CT]

That's what I was thinking based on the $400 cost, the family cost per person is cheaper if you have a wife and 2-3 kids.

[hanatal]

My husband and I pay 800. per month, we have 6 kids, 5 on the insurance and this is with no dental or optical.
If it were just the two of us I would definetly take advantage of the health savings plans that are available.

But I would only do that for myself. My husband is diabetic.'
But like I said if it were just me that makes the most financial sense, plus most programs cover catastrophic illnesses. I don't know the name of any co. off hand but you could do a google....Again not a good idea with kids
Wendy

[ElephantNest]

Single here, with a GF, and I'm self employed, and her company does not offer it.

We both carry Blue Cross Blue Shield, $155/month for me with $1000 Ded., and hers is $175/month with $5000 Ded.

[jharris]

For me, the wife and 2 kids we pay about $400/month I think.  No maternity, $10K deductible.  I think we have decent copays but not enough to make up for what we spend.

I wish I could just have some kind of umbrella policy that would just cover drastic emergencies like cancer or a horrible accident.

[techhead]

Family of 3, $5K deductible each, non-HMO, prescription and ER coverage, broad PPO network coverage, no dental, costs me about $575 per month

[PaulBroni]

For that kind of money I would just pay out of pocket when I need to go to the doctor and hope I didn't get anything serious like cancer.....

You don't need to get cancer to get a big hospital bill, and even a small series of exams and tests can run thousands and thousands of dollars.

[AzonPM]

Right, when I had an MRI of my back it cost over $5000, x-rays can cost thousands too

[dwj469]

Its almost not worth it to have insurance unless somethig catastrophic happens. My wife was put in the hospital at a time we didnt have insurance because she was found to have diabetes and they wanted to get it straight. So her doctor admitted her and she was out 24 hours later. The cost was 6000. WE soon got a letter in the mail stating that since we have no insurance they will only charge us $600 for the hospital so they do work with you although the doctors wont much.

[lucymay]

I'm 37 and healthy, except high blood pressure, which is taken to account on my policy. I have a high ded. health care policy with BCBS and a HSA which earns a respectable rate. My deductible is $5k, and my monthly payment is $88. Once I hit 40 and have a little more discretionary $, I'm going to lower my ded. to probably 1k or less. I'll revisit everything when I hit that magic #.

[PaulBroni]

Its almost not worth it to have insurance unless somethig catastrophic happens.

I know I sound like a jerk now, but this made me chuckle.

[d_sbrown]

For every $1.00 invested in insurance, the insurance companies pay out $0.52.  They are making their money by taking on our risk.  Determine how big a hit you can take and it not put you out of the game and then only insure above that.  In the long run of averages you come our way ahead by not using insurance.  But you have to deal with the fact that you may not be average....  and cover worst case senario.

DB