Brilliant decision

Yes it was. By not paying for something I don't use, I paid off my mortgage early and am debt free. And I can afford to go to the doctor because I am not paying huge health insurance premiums. Ironically if I had the insurance, I couldn't afford to go to the doctor. Not having insurance is my choice. I would think that would be fine for all the pro choice people.

Hey, its a free country, you can do what you want. Hope it works out for you. That you dont become another bankruptcy due to an illness.
I never met my deductible due to illness...til last year. Two herniated discs in my neck, had to be fused because of how bad they were.
And now, at the end of may a full hysterectomy...and hubby already hit his this year too, with a bout with high blood pressure.
So, teo years in a row for me, and him this year too...
So, the older you get, the more the odds swing. So, be careful gambling.
All it takes is to wait just a little too long.
You might want to get with a financial adviser.

Strategy worked for you. But like any strategy they work until they don't. And yours seems like you are pushing all in every year. I would think everyone that faced a catastrophic bankrupting illness one day crossed the line from health costs being a non issue to a catastrophic one.

With the deductibles it's worth the "risk".

Especially when you know the economy is going to crash and burn. It's really weak to just give in and pay $400-$800 month for practically nothing.

The poverty line is so low on it that if you make north of 25k you're not getting a subsidy at all.

It's not fair. It's a disaster. I read comments of people supporting it and I just think these people have been conditioned to be dupes.

Unless you own a business or are extremely wealthy and have many investments, I've never understood paying someone to tell you how to handle your own money. Then again, I look at today's youth whining about loans THEY signed and understand it completely.

You're talking about catastrophic insurance. I would have no problem buying a catastrophic only policy. Used to have that, affordable monthly premiums with a high deductible (25,000). Can't get one anymore. Now every plan has to cover everything. Prescription drugs, birth control, wellness visits-that's why the costs are so high. I live in Mass. We have the highest premiums in the country. We've also had the mandatory insurance longer.

I had to self insure early in my career and realized insurance companies would gve you a teaser rate for a year before they hold you up. I did the dance and have seen a lot of small companies doing the same, I changed companies every year to capitilize on intro rate. Not sure that opportunity still exists though since I have been using wifes plan for a bit. She works for a small starup they have changed a couple times so it still may.

Actually, Massachusetts isn't even in the top 15.

There are a lot of folk out there who confuse being lucky with being smart. So far, you've been very, very lucky. May you continue to be so. Medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcies in this country.

The reason i sad talk to someone is so that maybe they can help you understand that one catastrophe with a medical issue can ruin your debt free lifestyle. You have a house paid for, that you are risking every day.
Health insurance with the highest deductible would give you catastrophic care, so that if god forbid you had an emergency, it wouldnt completely wipe you out.
Look outside of the exchange, which only unhealthy or subsidized people should shop thru. Any insurance companies not jnvolved in the exchanges can rate accordingly, whereas those who are in the exchanges have to keep pricing the same in or outside of the exchange.

Massachusetts pays the highest family health care premiums in the U.S.

David Seltz
David Seltz, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, spoke to health care and business leaders in Worcester on Tuesday, the 10th anniversary of the Massachusetts health care reform law. Seltz, who helped write the law, is holding the Boston Globe from that day in 2006. (Michael D. Kane | MassLive)
Print Email Michael D. Kane | mkane@masslive.com By Michael D. Kane | mkane@masslive.com
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on April 12, 2016 at 4:28 PM
WORCESTER -- Ten years after Massachusetts signed into law Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006 -- which called for affordable health care for all -- the state is still struggling with how to deal with the cost of a law that has insured nearly everyone, but one that has also created the highest premiums for families in the country.

Today's issues with costs were not unexpected 10 years ago, according to the state's healthcare expert, David Seltz, who spoke before the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.

Seltz heads up the Health Policy Commission, and independent state agency with a mission of developing policy to both improve patient care and control costs in the state. As the chief health care advisor to then-Senate Therese Murray, Seltz helped write the 2006 health care reform law, particularly when it came to financials.

Holding up a copy of the Boston Globe from 2006, when the law passed, Seltz noted the Globe noted the "joy" and "worries" of the law.

"We could write the same headline today," he said, noting the proponents of that 2006 law understood the difficulties the state faced trying to make sure all of its residents had health insurance.

In 2016, Massachusetts has the lowest rate of uninsured residents in the country and it consistently ranks highest among public health quality surveys, Seltz noted. But it also has the highest family premiums in the country, and health insurance costs are outpacing wage growth.

A family of four in Massachusetts, earning two times above the federal poverty level, spends roughly 40 percent of their income on health insurance premiums and co-pays, he said.

Seltz'€™s numbers are also reflective of two earlier studies of Massachusetts'€™ health care reform.

A 2012 report on the state of Massachusetts healthcare by the Kaiser Family Foundation found Massachusetts per capita spending on healthcare was 15 percent higher than the country's average and that Massachusetts consumers paid the highest premiums in the country. However, the same report noted rising costs in healthcare was not unique to Massachusetts.

A 2014 (taken from a late 2012 survey) study found many positives in the law, including increases to the number of people insured and the number of people who had access to places to go other than emergency rooms when sick. Also, fewer Massachusetts residents reported having trouble finding a primary care doctor in 2012 than in 2008, and the 2012 number is Massachusetts was better than the national average.

However, 40-percent of non-elderly respondents also told Blue Cross that health care costs had been a problem in the year prior to the survey. More than 16 percent of those surveyed said they had gone without needed care because of the costs.

Being insured did not eliminate problems with costs, with almost 39 percent of the insured polled reporting problems with health care spending in the prior year. Problems arising from costs were felt more by those with lower incomes, according to that study.

The Blue Cross report noted that part of cause was the shifting of costs onto employees by employers, including so-called high-deductible plans and requiring more services be paid for out-of-pocket.

Overall, the quest to accomplish sustainable, universal healthcare, is a group effort, and one that is beginning, Seltz noted.

Among the drivers of cost in Massachusetts is both the rising cost of medicines and more people seeking treatment at hospitals in places like Boston for routine services that could be provided in lower-cost markets.

"Many equate price with quality, saying 'it costs more, it must be better.' But that is not the case in healthcare," he said.

Among the actions being taken by the Health Policy Commission is offering innovation grants to groups who have come up with an innovative idea to reduce the cost of medical treatment.

Among the requirements is that the applying agency must have a partner. Partner agencies do not have to be health care providers, but they must be able to be part of the solution.

While Seltz expected about 40 groups to apply for the grants, more than 100 have sent letters of interest, 400 unique partner organizations have been identified. They include law enforcement agencies, specialty courts, housing agencies and employers, among others, he said.

Seltz said he is also advocating for the same type of coalition of government, healthcare providers, insurers and business/employers that helped write the 2006 law to reconvene to tackle the problems of costs.

Not to worry. I understand the risks completely.

If you did, you would have insurance. And dont forget, if its affordability that is the issue, you may well qualify for a subsidy.
You have a house...you have assets to protect, and income to protect? You are quite literally flirting with disaster in opting to not buy health insurance. The number one cause of bankruptcy in this country is medical bills. There are three times as many collections made for medical bills then for credit cards.

If you can, start a health savings account also, especially if your employer offers it. Any money in the account is retirement money down the road if you dont use it. It is not use or lose, and is free money if your employer kicks any in.

So you have a family and you are letting them go uninsured? :eek:

Because if you are a single looking for health insurance, your state isn't even in the top 15.

No you don't.

And in general health care advice, having just come back from burying my father, barely a year and a half after burying my aunt, those DTers who are still smoking, please quit. If not for yourselves, do it for those who love you and will grieve you when you leave them too soon.

:tro:
we quit 19 years ago. what a waste of money, it literally goes up in smoke.

Destroy cultural Marxism and take our country back from overbearing dumb asses.

It was you and GR who don't understand. "Not to worry. I understand the risks completely" was my polite way of saying butt out. I didn't ask for your advice concerning my private life. Good luck with all your medical issues.

Well, that is true, i do not understand at all. Well, at least the people i deal with on these issues every day at work understand i am there to help them and that they trust my judgement.