Ablou

SamsMom91

Holy sh!t, so you paid your $5000 for last year and got stuck with another $5000 for this year? 

See, this is why my next baby has to come when I plan for it to come. I can't be paying this deductible twice.  $6000 for the next child is one thing, but $12,000?  No way, Jose.  I'd be in the poor house or asking a family member for money.   

ablou

Yeah, we just should have bought our insurance before the baby was born, so we would only have to deal with the deductibles once this year.  

It looks like I won't be able to get my Mirena, because of the deductible, and we can't afford it.  So, the Pill it is...  

SamsMom91

I was contemplating Paragard because it's the only thing left that I haven't gotten pregnant using, but I am still freaked out by the idea of having something chilling on my ute. 

kcisthebombdotcom

Totally off topic but with the high deductible you pay, have you considered enrolling in a flex spending plan to offset the cost?

 

SamsMom91

KC--if you're asking me, yes, we have one already.  My husband's work contributes $1000 to it annually. 

ablou

SamsMom91:

KC--if you're asking me, yes, we have one already.  My husband's work contributes $1000 to it annually. 

I don't know what that means, but J's on unemployment, I SAHM, and we pay for our insurance out of pocket.  ... and we get help from family ::hangs head in shame:: 

kcisthebombdotcom

SamsMom91:

KC--if you're asking me, yes, we have one already.  My husband's work contributes $1000 to it annually. 

If your employer is contributing, you're probably thinking of a health reimbursement account, not a flexible spending plan. A flexible spending account is an option for people who have high medical costs. It allows you to put a set amount of money in an account a year. They divide the amount over 52 weeks, and take money out of your paycheck every week accordingly. It helps you save money since they take the money out of your pretax dollars as opposed to your post-tax income so you wouldn't see as big a difference in your paycheck every week as opposed to paying for healthcare bills OOP.

You should look into this, it would save you about 25% off your health care costs a year.

SamsMom91

KC_13:

SamsMom91:

KC--if you're asking me, yes, we have one already.  My husband's work contributes $1000 to it annually. 

If your employer is contributing, you're probably thinking of a health reimbursement account, not a flexible spending plan. A flexible spending account is an option for people who have high medical costs. It allows you to put a set amount of money in an account a year. They divide the amount over 52 weeks, and take money out of your paycheck every week accordingly. It helps you save money since they take the money out of your pretax dollars as opposed to your post-tax income so you wouldn't see as big a difference in your paycheck every week as opposed to paying for healthcare bills OOP.

You should look into this, it would save you about 25% off your health care costs a year.

I'm pretty sure that's what we have, only we call it a "health savings account."  We do contribute to our account bi-weekly (I think $50, but don't quote me on that one) and it does come off the pre-tax of DH's paycheck.  His employer adds money to it on top of what we put in.  I didn't realize it was saving us that much off our health care costs, so that's pretty cool! 

Reality--we'll never meet that deductible unless someone has an operation or I have another baby.  But I use the health savings visa card for everything health related--we can even buy condoms with it!  

kcisthebombdotcom

SamsMom91:

KC_13:

SamsMom91:

KC--if you're asking me, yes, we have one already.  My husband's work contributes $1000 to it annually. 

If your employer is contributing, you're probably thinking of a health reimbursement account, not a flexible spending plan. A flexible spending account is an option for people who have high medical costs. It allows you to put a set amount of money in an account a year. They divide the amount over 52 weeks, and take money out of your paycheck every week accordingly. It helps you save money since they take the money out of your pretax dollars as opposed to your post-tax income so you wouldn't see as big a difference in your paycheck every week as opposed to paying for healthcare bills OOP.

You should look into this, it would save you about 25% off your health care costs a year.

I'm pretty sure that's what we have, only we call it a "health savings account."  We do contribute to our account bi-weekly (I think $50, but don't quote me on that one) and it does come off the pre-tax of DH's paycheck.  His employer adds money to it on top of what we put in.  I didn't realize it was saving us that much off our health care costs, so that's pretty cool! 

Reality--we'll never meet that deductible unless someone has an operation or I have another baby.  But I use the health savings visa card for everything health related--we can even buy condoms with it!  

This is true! Yes, that's a health savings account if you pay into it-pretty neat that your employer matches. It's the least they can do with a $5k deducible though!

I had some funds left in my account last year and we bought condoms, orajel, and pregnancy tests since we're ttc now. hahaha!