Health Insurance Nightmares

[pineywoods]

I hear ya. This a big part of decision process in retiring early. My wife was only on ACA for 2 year. I am 10 years younger so I am still not that close to Medicare. Till 2026 my monthly premiums were palatable. Next year will have a higher monthly, but it will likely pay off with the cost of meds and specialists. 2 years during retirement I maxed OOP from accidents/surgeries. While unexpected, I am still active and thus there are things that can happen. 7 years to go.

My wife and I are both over 65 but when we looked at Plan G and the costs we are better off with her work insurance

 

[sandyut]

My wife and I are both over 65 but when we looked at Plan G and the costs we are better off with her work insurance

I believe it! Workplace ins is a great deal. I dont think I ever really new how good it was till I had to buy it on the marketplace. We did Cobra for a minute, that is WAY expensive. That was one decision I regret, but it was only 3-4 months till we sorted everything out.

 

[texomakid]

I decided to go ahead and get medical insurance for 2026 despite the extremely high cost. The cheapest policy for myself and my wife is $2622 per month. I've run several scenarios with & without and as much as this is out of my budget I'm still gonna do it. If we have one catastrophe it could essentially whip out what I worked my entire life to save.

MERICA!

 

[sandyut]

I decided to go ahead and get medical insurance for 2026 despite the extremely high cost. The cheapest policy for myself and my wife is $2622 per month. I've run several scenarios with & without and as much as this is out of my budget I'm still gonna do it. If we have one catastrophe it could essentially whip out what I worked my entire life to save.

MERICA!

OUCH! Ok my monthly sounds better now. I have had a couple accidents in 3 years and both were north of $200K/each. S**t happens.

 

[sandyut]

The ER I went to in Feb finally sent the bill. They were arguing about a $330 "discount" my insurance applied to the $4800 bill. They conceded on the the discount. Pretty ridiculous. I am confident they waisted far more than $330 fussing around with the insurance company. I asked if there was a discount to pay in full...big no. At least I can start next year without that hanging over me.

 

[thirdeye]

The ER I went to in Feb finally sent the bill.

I hate when that happens. I had two physicians that I saw for an annual visit and they were notorious for late billing of my small co-pay amount. So one year I told each one that I would pay the entire bill and submit to insurance. They apologized and I got a statement in about 3 weeks. As it turns out, each one used the same third party company to code and submit the paperwork to insurance companies.

 

[sandyut]

I hate when that happens. I had two physicians that I saw for an annual visit and they were notorious for late billing of my small co-pay amount. So one year I told each one that I would pay the entire bill and submit to insurance. They apologized and I got a statement in about 3 weeks. As it turns out, each one used the same third party company to code and submit the paperwork to insurance companies.

Its pretty lame. When I lived in UT the medical bills were always more than three months after. But 10 months is a joke. Common Spirt pulled the 10 months BS. I dont get that from any other provider in CO...so far

 

[jcam222]

The ER I went to in Feb finally sent the bill. They were arguing about a $330 "discount" my insurance applied to the $4800 bill. They conceded on the the discount. Pretty ridiculous. I am confident they waisted far more than $330 fussing around with the insurance company. I asked if there was a discount to pay in full...big no. At least I can start next year without that hanging over me.

Our local hospital estimates the bill including insurance and offers 20% discount for pay in advance

 

[DougE]

Only good thing I have seen so far with Common Spirit is that the providers in the network use carepayment that lets you make reasonable monthly payments on your balance interest free.

 

[clifish]

Such BS, I was called at 4pm the day before I was supposed to get a stress test saying they did not participate in my plan. I have been with this cardiologist practice for over 5 years. My wife works for our insurance provider for 34 years, she knows that they screwed up. We told them we would private pay for the test, knowing we were covered. They told us they could not accept private pay (aka cash) as we had insurance...wtf???