Why individual healthcare plan is so expensive?
Hello,
currently enrolled in employer-based plan, but potentially, I am looking for running my business and therefore, I was exploring individual health plan, but it’s quite expensive (As I wont be eligible for subsidy thru market place). My expected income is around 100K-150K if it goes as expected.
Running the number is telling me monthly premium almost 1K with deductible around 3K and Out of pocket max in 9K, so this means that even if I do a quick surgery, I will end up with spending 20K as medical expense. (Monthly premium + OOPM). This include my spouse, who needs quite medical visits due to pregnancy and other issues.
Then I simply ran with my spouse’s income only around 50K (as if I dont make any income from my business) and then with subsidy, it goes down around 12500 with 4000 as premium and 8500ish as OOPM per person.
Either case gives me 20% of total income might be….. needed for medical expense (only for one person), so I am not too sure if this is comfortable level of potential risks.
What’s the typical way to save money?
Do I need to look into small business healthcare plan as well?
I looked it up, using ehealth insurance and it looks like it could be much cheaper and better suited for my needs (typically 6K per yearly premium from both employer and employee sides with OOPM around 6K-10K)
I know it can’t be done by Spouse and myself, and this business can be run by myself as it’s pretty much automated, so if needed, I have no problem to hire my brother as a full time W-2 (as a cleaning crew), offering healthcare, but I know he will not take healthcare coverage, because he has better healthcare plan (Medicaid) and compensation is minimum wage.
In this case, then the minimum wage has to be added to total expense (so instead of 20K as total medical expense, now I am looking around 15K as total medical expense and 30K as wage/taxes), but he would agree that checking account he got paid for his salary is not used, so he will donate the money to me eventually using gift (in compliance of IRS rules)
I feel like I am going too far, but on the mean time, the healthcare cost sounds like it’s going too far either. What’s realistic way to have good insurance?
The easiest way is to have my spouse’s work insurance program, but she also wants to run business as well.
Thank you
