Near retirement - health insurance
Just wondering how you manage health insurance while traveling nationally if not subsidized by Medicare, Medicaid or a retirement system (such as government employee, teacher, military etc).
Forum Discussion
dahkota wrote:
We purchased a silver level plan directly from Blue Cross. We found the plan through the exchange but it was easier to go direct as we knew we would not qualify for a subsidy. Our plan is about 1/2 the cost of our COBRA option and has a national network, which our previous plan did not.
The cost of health plans varies widely by state and even by county. The two cheapest states (of the ones I investigated) were Maryland and Tennessee. For us, both were under $300/month/person for a silver plan with a $1500 deductible and max out of pocket of $5000.
We looked at all the typical fulltimer states for their health insurance costs. South Dakota, our first choice for residency, was extremely expensive and had no true national networks. Texas and Nevada were also expensive (over $500/person). Tennessee was very cheap but it is hard to establish residency. So we have settled on Florida. The monthly cost is under $400/month/person with a $5000 max out of pocket.
We are pretty healthy people, only visiting the doctor twice per year for checkups for our pre-existing conditions (free in all plans). So, we are considering a plan with a lower max out of pocket but higher deductible. For us, the max out of pocket is most important when looking at health plan costs (i.e. Monthly premium X 12 + max out of pocket = maximum yearly cost. Our current plan works out to $8312 per year if we hit the max out of pocket. We found many plans with a yearly cost over $12000 per year in the same situation).
Most people focus on the deductible, which makes sense if you visit the doctor frequently but your charges don't reach your max out of pocket. In our case, because we don't see the doctor unless it is a major medical event, the max out of pocket is more important. We have funds set aside to cover both of us to our max out of pocket for two years. Meeting deductible requirements will come out of that.
It takes some work but it really is in your best interest to find the best plan for your situation. Understand how you use medical care today so you can predict for tomorrow. In some cases, a high deductible/low cost plan would be best. In others, a low deductible/high cost plan will work best. In the end, you should look at total out of pocket costs for a year of coverage if you are looking for the best "bang for your buck."
Hi Dahkota - I guess we never considered FLA as our domicile. We too are healthy and only visit the doctor once a year for our checkups. I've got a couple of questions if you don't mind.
R U fulltimers and if so where in FLA do you call home....i.e your domicile?
How R the other taxes that you pay in state....i.e state and vehicle taxes and others? Did U ever compare the cost of your other taxes in savings to health care costs in other states to see if you could save money?
Who do U use for mail forwarding?
-paul
