Near retirement - health insurance

dahkota wrote:

Flanz wrote:

So, at this point you pay $600/month or $7200/year for health insurance? This is a silver plan form BCBS? For us, we're planning on $700/per month for a Bronze plan. We need to look around at SD, Texas, and FLA for completive plans and cost over the next few months. Out of pocket plus deductibles will also play a roll in the decision, but keeping an emergency fund for this will help.

$552 per month for 2 to be exact. We went direct through BCBS (got our quote off their website) rather than through any of the exchanges. To shop rates, try ehealthinsurance.com. Use the zip code of any mail service you are considering.

If you want a national network, you have to be careful with which plan you select. For BCBS, you must choose a PPO plan - I have been unable to find an HMO plan that has a nationwide network.

In the example above, with the aneurism, deductibles mean nothing - the entire bill was probably significantly more than the max out of pocket. Regardless of what the deductibles are, if one has a significant medical event, one will have to pay at least the max out of pocket. (It is also important to check out of network coverage - some plans will not even cover you outside of network). You aren't saving any money by having low deductibles if you have a high max out of pocket.

In South Dakota, there was one insurance company that may cover fulltimers but they had a very limited national network and it was more than three times what our current premiums are (for us).

It took me months of research (and lots of spreadsheets) to work through all the cost/benefit analyses of various states for domicile. Health insurance was a huge factor in our decision. Ease of setting up residency was second. Texas and Florida came out on top for all the factors involved, with Florida the winner because of health care costs.

I wish you the best. There are many things to work through and in the end, only you can make the decision that is best for your family.

I'm doing research right now in preparation for our launch into full-timing in early 2016. It sometimes seems overwhelming; there is a lot of preparation necessary with regard to health insurance (DW will have Medicare, but I am 4 years away at this point), mail, banking, internet and phone, domicile, and on and on! You have certainly shared some good info here.

We currently reside in Texas. We expect to sell our home (own it outright, so no mortgage), but we have close relatives who just may let us use their address for domicile purposes. (Is that advisable?) We would park the MH at their place whenever we need to return to the state for family reasons, vehicle inspection (I guess you have to continue to get that if TX is your domicile?), and whatever else might come up. (Although, we REALLY don't want to have to return to TX for at least one year after we hit the road.)

But, you've made me think that we might need to look into Florida as our domicile. I really worry about getting health insurance coverage for myself that we can afford. I have hypertension, but it is well controlled with medication. Don't go to the doctor real often, but often enough -- maybe 4 times a year.

Thanks so much for being willing to share the things you've found out through many hours of research. It helps me have a little peace of mind to know that others have "gone before" and have found ways to make it all work out.

Much obliged,

Mel