Health insurance, can you afford it or will it break you?

[sharpe]

Yes, it was John Lennon.

 

[Samster]

Yes, it was John Lennon..

 

[Hangfive]

Back to the topic of affordability for innkeepers or any other small business for that matter....
We have a Health Care Saving (HSA) plan which for us if affordable. the plan has a very high deductable which is covered by the tax deductable savings account.
When I had another business with employees, the total cost which was shared between me and the employee could be over $900 per month for an employee with a spouse and children. Most people in the US who have employer sponsored healthcare never see the true cost.
One of the drivers of the cost of insurance in the US is determined by what is mandated to be covered by each individual state, which causes descrepancies in cost from state to state. So what is affordable for me in my state may not be so affordable in another state. I wish it were more a-la-carte, giving me more control over what I want to have covered and don't want to cover.

 

[swirt]

Last Christmas, I flew to Canada from England for three weeks.
On the flight home, I started coughing. Two days later, I was in intensive care and the docs told my husband that I had a 50 50 chance. My vital organs had shut down and I had blood clots on my lungs.
I AM NEVER SICK! I don't get colds or flu. I am very very healthy. I had contracted a virus infection that was asymptomatic. It ran down my immune system without making me ill. I then picked up a bacterial infection that raged through my lungs like a wildfire. I was three weeks in intensive care hooked up to some very expensive equipment. I was in an induced coma for two weeks. After leaving intensive care, I was in hospital for another week and I have quarterly lung examinations. I'm fine. Totally recovered. The bill? £0.00 $0.00 dollars. Thank goodness for British Health Care. My hospital stay was fabulous. (except for the food) I had my own nurse 24/7! I can't praise the health care system here highly enough. I'm used to public health care growing up in Canada but my sisters were worried because they had heard that health care in Britain isn't as good. It was exceptional. They couldn't have cared for me any better. We don't pay for it monthly. It comes out of our taxes. We pay 20% of our income..

"We pay 20% of our income."
I bet a lot of folks here in the States thought it was totally FREE. That is good to know. That could amount to quite a bit for some folks. Is it a sliding scale or is it 20% for everyone?
.

That's what we pay for income tax. Our health care comes out of our income tax. If you make more, you pay more up to 50% if you're Paul McCartney. Imagine a world where when you get ill, you just have to worry about getting better. It's easy if you try.
.

Just to put this in perspective for those outside the U.S. We pay ~30% (sliding scale) on income in the states and that does not include health insurance.

 

[Copperhead]

Last Christmas, I flew to Canada from England for three weeks.
On the flight home, I started coughing. Two days later, I was in intensive care and the docs told my husband that I had a 50 50 chance. My vital organs had shut down and I had blood clots on my lungs.
I AM NEVER SICK! I don't get colds or flu. I am very very healthy. I had contracted a virus infection that was asymptomatic. It ran down my immune system without making me ill. I then picked up a bacterial infection that raged through my lungs like a wildfire. I was three weeks in intensive care hooked up to some very expensive equipment. I was in an induced coma for two weeks. After leaving intensive care, I was in hospital for another week and I have quarterly lung examinations. I'm fine. Totally recovered. The bill? £0.00 $0.00 dollars. Thank goodness for British Health Care. My hospital stay was fabulous. (except for the food) I had my own nurse 24/7! I can't praise the health care system here highly enough. I'm used to public health care growing up in Canada but my sisters were worried because they had heard that health care in Britain isn't as good. It was exceptional. They couldn't have cared for me any better. We don't pay for it monthly. It comes out of our taxes. We pay 20% of our income..

"We pay 20% of our income."
I bet a lot of folks here in the States thought it was totally FREE. That is good to know. That could amount to quite a bit for some folks. Is it a sliding scale or is it 20% for everyone?
.

"We pay 20% of our income."
I bet a lot of folks here in the States thought it was totally FREE. That is good to know. That could amount to quite a bit for some folks. Is it a sliding scale or is it 20% for everyone?

I bet a lot of folks in England think it is totally FREE as well. There was a post from someone from Canada saying it was FREE there and it is tax based as well. Nothing is free in life it is paid for by someone. Having had (which many of you may have as well) many guests from both Canada & England, I have heard many real horror stories as well as several (much fewer) good stories as the one here. As one poster said, medical care is different in different areas of the country - I will one up and say that they are different from town to town, hospital to hospital!

 

[ginocat]

Canada has a wonderful system! Some things could be a little better (non-life threatening surgeries might take some time to arrange) but don't believe the Canadian woman who was bought and paid for by one of your health insurance providers. My BIL has been dealing with cancer for over 2 years. His $10,000 a month drugs are covered by our insurance. My friend just was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Was in and had her surgery within a week and now is on fully paid for chemo and other care. I don't have to worry about buying health care. We contribute to our provincial system based on earnings and it's never expensive. Rich and poor - all get good health care. I hate to see what's happening south of our border and all the bad stuff said about a man who only wants to protect the people of his country. I have friends in the US who fall through the cracks. It's so sad and soooooooo not necessary.
Okay, now I've annoyed you all by giving my two cents on something that seems to have everyone running in circles.

 

[hawley]

From what I understand, it is preferable to obtain your healthcare under the umbrella of a large group. This way, as mentioned before, they are less likely to try and drop you if you become ill. They will fight to drop Mr. and Mrs. Smith rather than an association.
Don't bother to try and find out if there is a B&B Association. That's been tried before and the group is not big enough to impress the big insurance companies.
I am also going to look into home care insurance. ONce my DH and I get old, with no kids to count on, we want insurance to keep us at home or somehwere decent rather than rotting in some disgusting place like where my grandfather ended up.
I am guesing even though we are in good health, with a large deductable my husband and I will be paying $1000 per month for health insurance once I leave work at UVA. I'm stuck here right now just for this indefinately.
Riki.

Riki, you would probably be surprised at the cost. At UNL I continued to work because I have always carried the health insurance. If I left work and took the insurance with me, it would have cost over $1,800 a month.

 

[egoodell]

From what I understand, it is preferable to obtain your healthcare under the umbrella of a large group. This way, as mentioned before, they are less likely to try and drop you if you become ill. They will fight to drop Mr. and Mrs. Smith rather than an association.
Don't bother to try and find out if there is a B&B Association. That's been tried before and the group is not big enough to impress the big insurance companies.
I am also going to look into home care insurance. ONce my DH and I get old, with no kids to count on, we want insurance to keep us at home or somehwere decent rather than rotting in some disgusting place like where my grandfather ended up.
I am guesing even though we are in good health, with a large deductable my husband and I will be paying $1000 per month for health insurance once I leave work at UVA. I'm stuck here right now just for this indefinately.
Riki.

Riki, you would probably be surprised at the cost. At UNL I continued to work because I have always carried the health insurance. If I left work and took the insurance with me, it would have cost over $1,800 a month.
.

Riki, you would probably be surprised at the cost. At UNL I continued to work because I have always carried the health insurance. If I left work and took the insurance with me, it would have cost over $1,800 a month.

Well I've just been told that UVA will have to cut back again and they are going to "reorganize" the school of medicine where I work. They think my office is overstaffed. There are rumors of layoffs.
So I just checked the retirement benefits, and I think I have just passed the mark where I can do an "early retirement" and it looks like I can continue to purchase our current insurance if I do, so I'm relieved. I will have to double check this, but I think I'm reading it correctly. I fall under the state of Virginia's retirement plan, thank God, not the university, which I would never trust. And it looks like we would be paying around $771 for the two of us a month. Not bad considering I think we would be protected against the immense increases that others suffer when purchasing their health insurance on their own.
RIki

 

[hawley]

From what I understand, it is preferable to obtain your healthcare under the umbrella of a large group. This way, as mentioned before, they are less likely to try and drop you if you become ill. They will fight to drop Mr. and Mrs. Smith rather than an association.
Don't bother to try and find out if there is a B&B Association. That's been tried before and the group is not big enough to impress the big insurance companies.
I am also going to look into home care insurance. ONce my DH and I get old, with no kids to count on, we want insurance to keep us at home or somehwere decent rather than rotting in some disgusting place like where my grandfather ended up.
I am guesing even though we are in good health, with a large deductable my husband and I will be paying $1000 per month for health insurance once I leave work at UVA. I'm stuck here right now just for this indefinately.
Riki.

Riki, you would probably be surprised at the cost. At UNL I continued to work because I have always carried the health insurance. If I left work and took the insurance with me, it would have cost over $1,800 a month.
.

Riki, you would probably be surprised at the cost. At UNL I continued to work because I have always carried the health insurance. If I left work and took the insurance with me, it would have cost over $1,800 a month.

Well I've just been told that UVA will have to cut back again and they are going to "reorganize" the school of medicine where I work. They think my office is overstaffed. There are rumors of layoffs.
So I just checked the retirement benefits, and I think I have just passed the mark where I can do an "early retirement" and it looks like I can continue to purchase our current insurance if I do, so I'm relieved. I will have to double check this, but I think I'm reading it correctly. I fall under the state of Virginia's retirement plan, thank God, not the university, which I would never trust. And it looks like we would be paying around $771 for the two of us a month. Not bad considering I think we would be protected against the immense increases that others suffer when purchasing their health insurance on their own.
RIki
.

Thanks goodness. Much more economical than it is for us.

 

[egoodell]

From what I understand, it is preferable to obtain your healthcare under the umbrella of a large group. This way, as mentioned before, they are less likely to try and drop you if you become ill. They will fight to drop Mr. and Mrs. Smith rather than an association.
Don't bother to try and find out if there is a B&B Association. That's been tried before and the group is not big enough to impress the big insurance companies.
I am also going to look into home care insurance. ONce my DH and I get old, with no kids to count on, we want insurance to keep us at home or somehwere decent rather than rotting in some disgusting place like where my grandfather ended up.
I am guesing even though we are in good health, with a large deductable my husband and I will be paying $1000 per month for health insurance once I leave work at UVA. I'm stuck here right now just for this indefinately.
Riki.

Riki, you would probably be surprised at the cost. At UNL I continued to work because I have always carried the health insurance. If I left work and took the insurance with me, it would have cost over $1,800 a month.
.

Riki, you would probably be surprised at the cost. At UNL I continued to work because I have always carried the health insurance. If I left work and took the insurance with me, it would have cost over $1,800 a month.

Well I've just been told that UVA will have to cut back again and they are going to "reorganize" the school of medicine where I work. They think my office is overstaffed. There are rumors of layoffs.
So I just checked the retirement benefits, and I think I have just passed the mark where I can do an "early retirement" and it looks like I can continue to purchase our current insurance if I do, so I'm relieved. I will have to double check this, but I think I'm reading it correctly. I fall under the state of Virginia's retirement plan, thank God, not the university, which I would never trust. And it looks like we would be paying around $771 for the two of us a month. Not bad considering I think we would be protected against the immense increases that others suffer when purchasing their health insurance on their own.
RIki
.

Thanks goodness. Much more economical than it is for us.
.

Thanks goodness. Much more economical than it is for us.

Yes, it's because we are under the state of Virginia rather than the university. I would not trust the university with my health. I am going to double check emailing both the state and uva to confirm this. If it's true that takes care of one of my greatest fears - that we finally go on our own and the insurance rates start to double. I figure being part of the state will make the cost increases more affordable. Plus being part of a large group lessens my other fear - of being dumped if I come up with an illness.
At any rate, if this is all true then I WILL be able to etiher quit or go part time as soon as we have the other wing built.
RIki

 

[sharpe]

Last Christmas, I flew to Canada from England for three weeks.
On the flight home, I started coughing. Two days later, I was in intensive care and the docs told my husband that I had a 50 50 chance. My vital organs had shut down and I had blood clots on my lungs.
I AM NEVER SICK! I don't get colds or flu. I am very very healthy. I had contracted a virus infection that was asymptomatic. It ran down my immune system without making me ill. I then picked up a bacterial infection that raged through my lungs like a wildfire. I was three weeks in intensive care hooked up to some very expensive equipment. I was in an induced coma for two weeks. After leaving intensive care, I was in hospital for another week and I have quarterly lung examinations. I'm fine. Totally recovered. The bill? £0.00 $0.00 dollars. Thank goodness for British Health Care. My hospital stay was fabulous. (except for the food) I had my own nurse 24/7! I can't praise the health care system here highly enough. I'm used to public health care growing up in Canada but my sisters were worried because they had heard that health care in Britain isn't as good. It was exceptional. They couldn't have cared for me any better. We don't pay for it monthly. It comes out of our taxes. We pay 20% of our income..

"We pay 20% of our income."
I bet a lot of folks here in the States thought it was totally FREE. That is good to know. That could amount to quite a bit for some folks. Is it a sliding scale or is it 20% for everyone?
.

"We pay 20% of our income."
I bet a lot of folks here in the States thought it was totally FREE. That is good to know. That could amount to quite a bit for some folks. Is it a sliding scale or is it 20% for everyone?

I bet a lot of folks in England think it is totally FREE as well. There was a post from someone from Canada saying it was FREE there and it is tax based as well. Nothing is free in life it is paid for by someone. Having had (which many of you may have as well) many guests from both Canada & England, I have heard many real horror stories as well as several (much fewer) good stories as the one here. As one poster said, medical care is different in different areas of the country - I will one up and say that they are different from town to town, hospital to hospital!
.

I bet that no one thinks that doctors and nurses are free. It's about whether health care is a necessity and not something you have if you can afford it.

 

[Proud Texan]

Thank God DW and I are retired DOD. We are blessed in that part of our retirement package was paid-up health insurance. We only pay a co-pay when we go to the doctor. The insurance is not perfect, but it's one aspect of our life that we don't have to worry about.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Canada has a wonderful system! Some things could be a little better (non-life threatening surgeries might take some time to arrange) but don't believe the Canadian woman who was bought and paid for by one of your health insurance providers. My BIL has been dealing with cancer for over 2 years. His $10,000 a month drugs are covered by our insurance. My friend just was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Was in and had her surgery within a week and now is on fully paid for chemo and other care. I don't have to worry about buying health care. We contribute to our provincial system based on earnings and it's never expensive. Rich and poor - all get good health care. I hate to see what's happening south of our border and all the bad stuff said about a man who only wants to protect the people of his country. I have friends in the US who fall through the cracks. It's so sad and soooooooo not necessary.
Okay, now I've annoyed you all by giving my two cents on something that seems to have everyone running in circles..

You certainly haven't annoyed me! Thank you for putting some perspective on the issue.

 

[ginocat]

Canada has a wonderful system! Some things could be a little better (non-life threatening surgeries might take some time to arrange) but don't believe the Canadian woman who was bought and paid for by one of your health insurance providers. My BIL has been dealing with cancer for over 2 years. His $10,000 a month drugs are covered by our insurance. My friend just was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Was in and had her surgery within a week and now is on fully paid for chemo and other care. I don't have to worry about buying health care. We contribute to our provincial system based on earnings and it's never expensive. Rich and poor - all get good health care. I hate to see what's happening south of our border and all the bad stuff said about a man who only wants to protect the people of his country. I have friends in the US who fall through the cracks. It's so sad and soooooooo not necessary.
Okay, now I've annoyed you all by giving my two cents on something that seems to have everyone running in circles..

You certainly haven't annoyed me! Thank you for putting some perspective on the issue.
.

That's good.

 

[Morticia]

My experience with healthcare has been it is very expensive if you buy it on your own and not thru a group. So, wherever you move to in the States, check into getting healthcare thru a B&B owners group, either state or local or a chamber of commerce. NOT having healthcare will break you faster than having it.

 

[Skamokawa]

Canada has a wonderful system! Some things could be a little better (non-life threatening surgeries might take some time to arrange) but don't believe the Canadian woman who was bought and paid for by one of your health insurance providers. My BIL has been dealing with cancer for over 2 years. His $10,000 a month drugs are covered by our insurance. My friend just was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Was in and had her surgery within a week and now is on fully paid for chemo and other care. I don't have to worry about buying health care. We contribute to our provincial system based on earnings and it's never expensive. Rich and poor - all get good health care. I hate to see what's happening south of our border and all the bad stuff said about a man who only wants to protect the people of his country. I have friends in the US who fall through the cracks. It's so sad and soooooooo not necessary.
Okay, now I've annoyed you all by giving my two cents on something that seems to have everyone running in circles..

Thanks Ginocat. Most of my relatives are in BC and Alberta. My uncle keeps asking me "When are you Americans going to become civilized?"
Always enjoy your comments on several of the forums.
KathleenM

 

[egoodell]

So my question to you all now how the system in the US works for Innkeepers?

Hi Ben,
Am I remembering correctly that your wife is planning to work outside the inn? If I am remembering correctly, she also has/is completing an advanced university degree?
If this is correct, most likely she will receive health insurance with whatever company hires her, and she will be able to include you in the insurance.
I would advise her to check not only if she would receive health insurance with her new position, but also check to see if she will be able to keep the insurance when she retires.
This is what I have by working for the state of Virginia. I'm still verifying, but it looks like I can keep the insurance after I retire after working 8 years. After working 16 years I receive credits towards the insurance which makes my payments less, but I'm not planning to stay here another 8 years.
Riki