As I piece together our budget spreadsheets projecting our expenses for the next 60 years, there’s one line item that I keep coming back to over and over, the cost of health care. I predict our future expenses with all sorts of inflation rates for our expenses… but what about health care? How much will it cost? At what rate will it increase?
We’ve made it no secret that my husband works for health insurance [1]. Our original long term backup plan was access to my husband’s health insurance, which we would have access to for life in 7 more years. However, the writing on the wall says it’s time to let go of that backup plan and move on.
Enter private health insurance. We’ve done all the quotes for individual policies [2], but since my background is in insurance, I know that unfortunately the quote you get or the first year premium has little to do with your renewal premiums in the future.
Health Care in the Future
Obviously, a lot of the future health care costs may hinge on the health care reform [3] and what it will look like if and when it’s actually implemented.
There is an interesting Kaiser calculator [4] that predicts what individual health care will cost in 2014 with the tax subsidies. Based on the calculator, you could make some reasonable assumptions for future costs.
But obviously, (even leaving politics out of it) it doesn’t make sense to make any financial decisions based on that law. So we’re back at square one for predicting health care costs.
How Much Do You Pay for Health Care?
So as we do some planning to move into the individual health care market, I’d like to hear from you. Let’s talk about money. How much do you pay for health insurance?
For the group insurance plan we’re on now, we currently pay about $200 in premiums per month for a family HMO plan. In addition, the plan has a 10% coinsurance.
How much do you pay for health insurance? How much do you think it will cost in the future? If you plan to retire early, how much have you budgeted annually for health insurance costs?
Retirement
- Why I Hate Target Date Mutual Funds and You Should, Too [5]
- It’s Not Too Late to Max Out Your 2011 IRA Contribution in 2012 [6]
- 12 Month Calendar and Task List For A Secure Retirement [7]
Frugality
- Discount Grocery Stores: Are They Worth the Savings [8]
- Frugal Living Basics: How to Cut Back [9]
- Top 10 Couponing Tips from the Lazy Couponer [10]
Investing
- How to Invest with Just $25 A Month [11]
- Why I Don’t Use a Dividend ETF for my Leveraged Portfolio [12]
- Claiming Investment Losses on Your Taxes [13]
- Morningstar Mutual Fund Star Rating Review 2012 [14]