Hey all, I’m British so I don’t really know the ins and outs of the US healthcare system. Apologies for asking what is probably a rather simple question.
So like most of you, I see many posts and gofundmes about people having astronomically high medical bills. Most recently, someone having a $27k bill even after his death.
However, I have an American friend who is quick to point out that apparently nobody actually pays those bills. They’re just some elaborate dance between insurance companies and hospitals. If you don’t have insurance, the cost is lower or removed entirely. Supposedly.
So I’m just asking… How accurate is that? Consider someone without insurance, a minor physical ailment, a neurodivergent mind and no interest in fighting off harassing people for the rest of their life.
How much would such a person expect to pay, out of their own pocket, for things like check ups, x rays, meds, counselling and so on?
I have insurance. Just to give you perspective. I had a video call for some mental health diagnosis. I now have a bill of $568 dollars. Reminder, this is WITH insurance. I have to pay that out of pocket. And I even have to set up additional appointments. Which will be probably around the same price.
I also have an inhaler. I had a doctor’s appointment to get a refill on my medication because I don’t have to use the inhaler too much (meaning I don’t have to refill often). I try to stay healthy and workout and only have to use it when working out/exercising. $300 dollars for the appointment. Another $212 for the actual medication that I picked up. In the last 30 days I have blown over a grand on medical. And I’m not even sick/unhealthy.
My wife on the other hand has very expensive monthly medication for a rare disease. She hits her max out of pocket every year which is 5k. Which we just have to pay forever. If I was on her healthcare plan, we would end up paying 10k every year just for healthcare.
I would say on a regular year. We pay around 7k in healthcare costs with our insurance (depending on how healthy I am throughout the year). On a light year 5.5k.
Is it possible to get health insurance with no copay at all in the US? My insurance in Berlin is about 1500€ per month, for which my employer pays half. If I lose my job, the unemployment office pays it and the price drops to 100€. The same happens if my salary drops, because the insurance cost is a percentage from my salary.
But if I came to the US, what kind of insurance would I get with $1500 per month?
When I was on welfare, I got Medicaid. (Free health insurance from the government.) I chose the plan with no copays or deductibles. It was nice.
They had another plan where the copay was $3. I had it before I moved to the no copay plan. It’s fine, but being on welfare at the time, every dollar counted.
Now I have my employer plan and my copays range from $15 - $50, depending on the type of appointment I see. I pay about $1k/month in premiums.
Typically you have a choice between public Medicare/Medicaid, high deductible health care plan through work. Or co pay plan through work. And as for per month. It really depends on the job. Everything depends on where you work. If you work at a company with good healthcare you will probably pay more. But have a lower max out of pocket.
If you want I could look up what I pay on a monthly basis for my healthcare and get back to you.
Like the whole stress of needing to pay anything if needing medical help… If I would avoid that, it is worth even a bigger monthly pay.
Like, in Berlin I can just walk to a doctor, to a hospital or to a pharmacy, plug my insurance card to a machine and it is all settled. I never see any money changing hands, or at maximum 10 euros copay if getting expensive prescription drugs.
Completely removing the stress of having a huge bill suddenly is worth the money I put into the insurance every month.
Oh totally agree with you. Our system is sooooo dumb. Plus, this is all just the payments for the actual healthcare and how it interacts with my insurance. This does not include the insurance premiums I pay every paycheck.
I spend all of this on top of my insurance premiums.
Yeah if you make less than 10k/yr or something, sometimes you can get state health insurance and it covered everything for me.