Healthcare costs are so high in Minnesota.

This was originally posted in r/Minnesota but was removed from there.

Update: thank you for your opinions. I guess my writing skill sucks. To be simple, I was mainly wondering how MN providers charge $378 whereas NJ providers charge $175 for the same exact service. But I see most of you are talking about insurance plans and copays… Thank you all for your comments though!

Original: I’m a registered nurse, and my husband is a teacher at a public school. We moved to Minnesota from New York/New Jersey a couple of years ago, and I’ve noticed that healthcare costs here are much higher than what we were used to. (Just to clarify, this is based on my personal experience.)

Back in NJ, as a healthcare worker, I got “free” medical care at my hospital. MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds, procedures, and even surgeries were all covered at no cost for employees. One of my friends, who works at a different hospital in NJ, recently had surgery for endometrioma, and it was completely covered. When we moved to Minnesota, I realized that there is no benefit as such at my current hospital.

Deductibles are so high, and it feels like PPO plans aren’t even an option. In NJ, I paid just $15 for a primary care visit and $30 for a specialist. If I had to go to the ER, it was $300 (or free if I went to my hospital). Almost everyone I knew had a PPO plan. I recently visited NJ and had to go to urgent care for a sinus infection. I noticed everyone in the clinic was paying their copays, which made me realize how different it is here. My husband’s medical plan doesn’t offer a PPO, and his deductible is over $5,000. My workplace, which is a large hospital in Minnesota, just started offering a PPO plan this year. But it’s much more expensive—$4,000 more to start with. The premium is $2,000 higher, and if I choose the PPO, I lose the $2,000 my employer contributes to my HSA. My out-of-pocket costs are $4,000 per person and $8,000 for the family. Last year, I paid $8,000 when I had my baby.

The cost of medical services here is just so much higher. Every time I go to urgent care, the base cost is around $350 just to see the doctor. My mom recently went to one for a cold (she waited over an hour), and she was charged $358 for a 5-minute consultation with no treatment or prescription. When I took my baby for his 1-year well child visit, my insurance information wasn’t updated, and the visit ended up costing over $1,000. This was a regular wellness checkup with recommended vaccinations, without any extra concerns or consultation. It was eventually covered by my insurance, but if I didn’t have insurance, I guess I wouldn’t have taken my healthy baby in for well child visits. Then, my baby got RSV, and I took him to urgent care- where he was examined, swabbed for viruses, had a chest X-ray, got a dose of Decadron, and a nebulizer treatment. The cost? $896 for that one visit. I really try not to go to the doctor unless it’s absolutely necessary… It’s kind of ironic, since I am a healthcare professional, but I’m so scared of the costs that I put it off until I really have no choice. To my surprise, when I visited urgent care for a sinus infection in NJ last month, I was only charged $175. That’s half the cost I would have paid in MN.

I had 12 weeks of maternity leave, and I had to use my own PTO during this period. When it ran out, I was on unpaid leave. Meanwhile, my friends in NJ are taking 5-6 months off, collecting unemployment, using their sick leave, and still keeping their PTO untouched. And they had no cost for delivery, while I had to pay $8,000 here.