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Working Moms
MommaP12
member
Anyone have private health insurance/ACA or something like that?
MommaP12
member
in Working Moms
My husband is a small business owner. I work in Corporate America so we rely on my health insurance from my employer.
We are getting to a point where either I could work with him in the next year or he said if I want, do something other than corporate America (I am so sick of cubicle life). Financially, in the next year, we'll have no debt other than our mortgage/living expenses (no car payment, student loans, credit card debt). I used to own my own wedding planning business and think of getting back into that at times. I stopped because my husband's business idea was too good for him not to do - so glad he started it!
The only thing scaring me is insurance. With 2 little kids (though we are done having babies) and histories of type 2 diabetes, cancer, etc. in our families, I'm terrified to not have great health care. But is slaving away in a cubicle forever my only solution for good healthcare??
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Re: Anyone have private health insurance/ACA or something like that?
Buying insurance on the exchange will cost more than getting coverage through your employer, for sure, because your employer is likely subsidizing well more than half the cost right now. So it is a good idea to get a sense of the plans and prices before you make any major decisions. Good luck!
We looked into it and it was not worth it for me to stop working; my husband is also self-employed but does not have employees to qualify for business insurance. The affordable care act is a joke if you live in a HCL area. For a family of four you have to make less than 92K to be eligible for any kind of help otherwise they consider 10 percent of your pay to be affordable well I don’t find 9 or 10K a year for insurance with high deductibles affordable when I live in an area with high taxes, housing etc. Private insurance was also not a good match for us so for now it makes more sense for me to work. Maybe down the road if things change with the ACA we can reconsider. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
IMO very few people understand the true cost/expense of health insurance and how much their employers are actually subsidizing. And even fewer, determine what there actual full compensation is from their employer.
If I were in your shoes I would determine what my yearly compensation amount was (salary, bonus, vacation, 401k or retirement matching, healthcare, HSA matching or contribution amount, life insurance etc.) subtract taxes from that amount and then determine if we as a family could afford to live without that amount while purchasing the benefits that we would still need.
My benefit package as outlined above is equal to roughly 30% of my actual salary. I don't think we would ever be able to replace that or cover what it provides for us without a seriously large increase in DH's earnings.
I agree 100 percent. So many of my friends only look at that bottom line how much do I bring home. I was once offered a job making 10K more. After running the numbers pension( my company has a pension), 401K match, and healthcare I would have been losing money for a 10K "raise".
Does your employer cover birth control, just not your preferred type? or doesn't cover BC at all?
I thought (but could be wrong) that the ACA mandates that ALL plans (including employers) must provide birth control coverage. However, if it is just that you prefer a brand name BC drug versus a comparable generic, I'm not sure even a private plan from the exchange would provide coverage for that. You would still end up paying the $115/month for the name brand RX.
My experience is that if there is a generic available for any RX that is the cost the insurance will cover. Name brand drugs are always an added expense.