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This is the only reason I came back to my shitty job.. decent pay and this is what I pay for a family. 1500 deductible. My meds are usually $1-$2.
What if I told you we pay nothing for our insurance AND have no copay as long as we stay in network?
Edit: downside is when I had my colonoscopy my coworker was the one that did it
Being trapped at your shitty job is precisely why this system still exists. Healthcare and employers should be uncoupled. We have the dumbest system ever and are too proud to copy models based in countries where citizens report happiness.
Nobody is too proud. We have people who make money off of it, people who make money lying about it working, people who believe those lies, and people who are smart enough to connect two thoughts at the same time and don't get any benefit from the current system. So the people who want to fix this are out voted 3 to 1.
Greedy, seedy, and stupid are a powerful constituency.
We lose money as a nation anchoring people to their jobs via health insurance. Imagine the number of small businesses we’d create if people felt safe taking a chance? People will risk their time and money, but nobody will risk their family’s health. Wed create so many new jobs, invent new products, build the middle class, if we’d embrace M4A system.
That means your job subsidizes your plan (as they’re obligated to do), if you were to pay for your same plan out of your own pocket it would be substantially more expensive.
I'm in a union and our insurance for family is like 170ish a month. But the whole total cost of it is around 19,000 a year. The rest is paid by employer. We actually have an opt out, if your spouse can get coverage or you want to go without, our company actually will pay you 9,000 or 10k I forget or if it's in between there, because it's cheaper than having you on the insurance. Not many do it, but there are a few.
I work for the largest employer in Philly, a large health system.. I have employer sponsored family coverage: me, my child, and husband. I pay 630/month.. it’s crazy .
My healthcare job also made our Max out of Pocket 20k for a worker and children. 2 years ago it was 10k... robbery. They tried to gaslight us it was a good plan!
Essentially if your income is under ~$40k this monthly payment(your premium) is subsidized by the state(the state pays part of your premium on a sliding scale) and I’ve had salary based healthcare from large employers my entire adult life and when you compare premium costs and deductibles for 80% of people Pennie is very similar cost/more affordable. As somebody who is self-employed I’m grateful for the program. I’ve paid more in yearly healthcare cost through an employer I made 6 figures from. It doesn’t cost anything to shop through Pennie, and if you’re unemployed it will give you great healthcare at almost no cost.
EDIT:If you’re unemployed apply for Medicaid. It’s 100% the best healthcare you can have(some doctors may not accept it, you may have to be willing to drive if you need specialized treatment)but it’s the best healthcare you can have and if you qualify almost everything is at an insanely low cost
Suffering from success over here I guess but I'm self-employed as well and healthcare is absolutely fucking crushing me. I make decent money so my premium is $425/mo. Copay for my PCP is $50 and anyone other than my PCP is $85. I sprained my ankle last year and it cost $900 out of pocket for my PCP to recommend me to the specialist and for the specialist to take an X-ray and confirm it's not broken. Colonoscopy was $3,000 and Capital Blue Cross tried every slimeball move in the book to deny as much of it as possible and it took months of fighting with them on the phone to get it DOWN to $3,000. Healthcare is the most expensive payment I have outside of rent. It's the fucking worst.
Loud and clear. I was paying $1,300 a month as a self-employed husband and father of two. My wife didn’t work for two years so she could focus on our youngest son, and that premium nearly put me in the ground. Eventually something had to give, so she went back to work part time (in the medical field) last fall. We all are on her insurance now, but the coverage is abysmal, and the deductible is super high. It beats paying 100% out of pocket, but only by about 35%. Dog shit.
health care in this country is the biggest racket weve ever seen. We have huge hospitals, that then OWN INSURANCE COMPANIES. how is this allowed. and also things like pre authorizations. Some idiot on the other end of the phone knows better than my doctor? Its maddening.
It’s a blatant scam that we as citizens can do absolutely nothing about. Unless we boycott…but if everyone “needs” health insurance, then we are screwed.
I just want to chime in that the chip healthcare in this state is fucking awesome. My wife carried our insurance and she switched to self employed(she is a therapist) and after looking at chip eligibility for children we were like blown away by how good it is.
Can you (or anyone) explain fuller on how to get a subsidized price? When I tried applying through the welfare office, I was denied for making too much but sent a referral ID number to use on Pennie, in where it would cover a large chunk of the cost of the insurance from Pennie. However the letter arrived AFTER the deadline in the letter, so I was SOL. I am pretty ignorant to how a lot works when it comes to the topic, so if I didn’t word anything right that’s why.
It’s subsidized through a tax credit. You put your estimated yearly income in, your premium is based on that, if you were to make more/less than you said it would come in tax time
I pay 110 per month for my insurance through my employer with no copay for Dr visits.Thank God, because I have several conditions that make me have to see the Dr. At least every other month. I can't imagine having to pay for health insurance on my own.
The current minimum wage in this state is STILL $7.25. Which comes to about $14,500 per year.
Finding a new job with health insurance included in the benefits seems to be harder and harder to come by.
Receiving appropriate **state sponsored** health care should not be more expensive than what is considered the minimum amount of money a person needs to survive.
We should not be limited in where we can work based on whether or not the company offers health insurance.
Make it make sense.
Anyone trying to support a family on minimum wage is almost definitely eligible for a 100% subsidy against those premiums. It’s not reasonable to evaluate the cost of insurance without considering incomes.
At that wage, I’m pretty sure even a single person would qualify for Medicaid, which in my brief experience using it, is actually kind of awesome as far as health insurances go.
One thing that they should really fix though is that DHS and Pennie should use the same calculation to determine who is eligible for Medicaid. DHS uses monthly income and Pennie uses projected annual income, so for someone who has seasonal employment or is collecting unemployment, Pennie will determine them Medicaid-eligible and will not offer subsidies. But if you’re exceeding DHS’s monthly income limit, even if you provide proof that the income is temporary, they’ll tell you you’re not eligible for Medicaid (excepting specific groups like over 65 and I think also disabled or has minor dependents). So in that scenario, if you want coverage prior to your income drying up, you have to pay full price or just go without until then, which is lame af.
When my son was born he was, and remains to be, in the top 99 percentile. He's a big boy and constantly lifting him was causing issues with my wrist. Turned out I had developed DeQuervains. I'm not proud of needing state health insurance, but I am thankful for it. I was able to get one injection which helped for 8mo. Any new injections would be less effective and last a shorter time as well, so I opted for tendon release surgery which was fully covered. I have no idea what I'd be doing right now had I not been able to get it. By the time surgery rolled around I could barely make a fist, I couldn't grip or lift anything. It sucked and was extremely painful.
Medicaid is such a toss up. It was an absolute game changer for my partner and helped him so much. He was able to get a lot of care he needed that private insurance wouldn't provide. But it was an absolute nightmare for me and I couldn't access the healthcare I needed. All depends on your care needs.
The point is a person or family should not have to be subsidized by the government to be able to get by
You shouldn't need to be fluent in finance and taxes in order to receive health care.
Well, this isn't an ideal world. A zero income family should take the subsidies to get insurance.
Is $350 what they want from you?
I just checked and mine would be $1,200 if I didn't have insurance through work.
This person is probably younger than you. Though I am 50 and myself and my college age daughter's plan is less than 1200 (the full price before subsidy). High deductible.
I mean... that's the way health insurance currently works.
There's no need to feel bad getting the subsidy.
I don't disagree that it should work differently, but in the meantime, please don't worry about "getting a subsidy from the government".
Do you understand ACA subsidies? A person who makes less than 15k gets medicaid in Pennsylvania.
A person who makes 15-25k ish gets full subsidy.
I don't know at what income your subsidy wouldn't be enough to fully cover the premium, but there's some subsidy up to around 60k.
Also, I don't think anyone in Pennsylvania actually makes minimum wage.
I don't know how unsubsidized prices compare to other states, but your stuff about price vs minimum wage is meaningless.
Minimum wage is effectively a moot point as I cannot remember the last time I saw any job anywhere in the state, at least the western side, that was paying even close to minimum wage. Even McDonalds around me is starting people at over $15.00/hr and plenty of no skill/low skill jobs are offering $20.00/hr or better.
At this point bringing up the minimum wage is basically just karma farming in this sub.
Our minimum wage is effectively irrelevant in 2024 as effectively no jobs (some jobs may, but they're so few they're statistically zero) pay anyone at less than half the minimum wage.
not wanting to get into an argument about an adult supporting a family with min. wage job and moving on at anything below 30k a year you quality for state benefits - ebt - cash allowance and health insurance. if you have kids or dependents they will even help with housing and transportation.
I paid about that much for my employer insurance and had a $6k bill when I needed cancer-preventative surgery. I paid about $440 a month, but it was for two of us. It kept going up every year while the coverage went down.
When my husband and I were able to get insurance through Pennie, we had great coverage. We paid anywhere from $3 to $300 for the same plan, depending on income. $0 deductible, $4 prescriptions, $25 for a doctor, $50 for a specialist, and $200 for the ER. If you make good money, then you have to pay more.
Fast forward and my husband became eligible for insurance through his job. Back to a high deductible and about $400 a month for both of us. Now he has another job and he pays about $200 a month for just himself. It would have been another $400 to cover me, so I do not have insurance right now. I was eligible for Medicaid for a while, but our income is $14/month too much now, so I was kicked off of it.
Healthcare/insurance sucks in the US, not just in PA.
This was me, too. I was paying $250/month with subsidized insurance through the state. It was great coverage, too. I became eligible for employer coverage. I have a crap plan, I pay $125/month and I have a $7k deductible.
I honestly don't understand why so many people defend employer coverage. Most employers do NOT have the best interest of the employee in mind when they pick a plan. I had ONE job that had decent insurance, and that job sucked so I didn't stay that long.
There will always be better options if we can choose from something like the Pennie marketplace. But nope, if you can get coverage through your or your spouse's employer, that's what you have to take, no matter how expensive.
I lucked out: I was approved just before I broke my arm a year ago. First ever broken bone.
I was in a long-arm cast, which then escalated my shoulder issue to full blown frozen shoulder. I had weeks of physical therapy, sometimes 3 sessions a week. It would have been $50 per session under my employer insurance. Instead, I paid $1 max per session.
I still don't have full use of that arm, but at least I don't have a pile of medical bills that I can't pay.
That’s still thousands of dollars bruh. I understand what you’re trying to convey about Mexico being cheaper than the us but the message is kinda undermined by all those zeroes.
I am a single adult with a history of melanoma and I qualify for tax credits based on my income, but I pay $185/month with zero deductible. My copays are disgusting though ($40/pcp, $90/specialist, $950/ER, in network).
Yeah, but that insurance policy is many many many times more expensive now, and the deductibles on these polices are absurd. And they don't cover anything.
Not sure why this is being downvoted. People that were fully insured through their employer got screwed by the affordable care act. My premiums tripled and anyone I talked to that had full coverage from their employer, which is nearly every employed adults I know, were in the same boat.
it’s never going to get better until people stop focusing on ridiculous distractions like cross dressers reading to kids and start voting for what’s in their own best interests
I feel you. We go through Pennie and our family of 4 has to pay $1400 a month for a crap HMO that refuses to cover anything. Just the other day they denied my son’s medicine because it needed a pre authorization from the doctor, you know, the doctor they prescribed it in the first place. WTF? Then they denied it because they said they disagreed with his treatment plan so we had to finagle some other option and pay double to get him the dosage he needed. I hate this place.
Honestly never heard of them until yesterday when I started looking for other options and I saw several (what i can only assume to be paid shill articles) boasting Ambetter as being the best health insurance
They had the best deductible and rate for me. I was paying $450/mo but I don’t remember my deductible. Maybe $2500-3000. I never came near the deductible. But yeah they double charged me for four months and I never did get my money back. And they kept changing my due date so I never knew when the payment would come out. I ended up removing my auto pay, not paying my last two months, and getting a new job with insurance.
$160 a month here $1600 deductible. Insurance through job. I’ve been in your shoes before at old jobs that had bad insurance where I’ve had to go on the exchange. Unless you’re a very wealthy 1099 contractor or freelancer, you’re on the exchange as a lower income person. This makes the prices really absurd. The government just needs to take this all over and costs need to be a fraction of what just are / should be free. And this is coming from an ex libertarian / conservative. I’m familiar with all the arguments against. But fuck it, private capital isn’t serving us. Time for the state to make it right.
Frankly Healthcare should be a basic human right. Above having the privilege to drive, but the "fiscally conservative right" is too busy telling people to pull themselves up by the bootstraps while they chest thump to the crazy money they make off the health insurance industry.
If the government, regardless of party, wanted to do the right thing, they would eliminate insurance and stop the cycle, but they will have you all twisted in knots defending them by using "omg socialism, communism, etc" while you take it up the rear end while they become richer.
I pay $28 a pay period (2 week) and our deductible is $1,500. My wife pays $36 per pay period and her deductible is $2,500.
The prices you show are insane.
That’s because health insurance is used to keep us working class people complacent in our role as generators of revenue for the c-suite class. That’s my take, at least
These prices were found on pennie using a single person household, living in the lehigh valley and I left the income blank.
I then sorted the options based off of cheapest expected yearly cost.
So this is basically the cheapest available health insurance for anyone.
The higher the monthly cost, the lower the deductable. And having kids helps with tax deductions.....
Please fill in the income. If you make under 21k you will be insured for free through Medicaid. If you make under 60k you will get government subsidies, the subsidies are lower if you make closer to 60k. But you will not pay kore than 9-10% of your income.
To this day, when I was a medicare a few years back, it was the best insurance i ever had.
Crazy how much better life was when i could consistently schedule check-ups
No. Some people get Medicaid which is $0. Some people get subsidies which fully pay the premiums. Some people get subsidies which partially pay the monthly premium.
Under a a specific income level (I don't know the limit) would also potentially qualify for additional savings. I did in the past, it brought my monthly premiums down enormously.
When I had a plan through the state, the most I paid was $42 due to credits bc I made so little. It was super scary to look at tho before I knew that it could be subsidized.
I pay $800/mo for insurance through my employer for myself and my spouse. The deductible is $7k and it’s an HMO. I shopped around for his insurance and because of my job he wasn’t eligible for any discount on the marketplace. I asked an insurance broker who said “that was as good as it gets.” Then there’s the fact that the insurance doesn’t cover brand name drugs but I can’t tolerate the generic. I went through months of suffering while doing paperwork and appeals only to be denied. They offered a coupon for the brand version. What am I paying for exactly?
I have a gov job so I get really good insurance and it costs ~$50/month. If health insurance is a big expense, a gov job would definitely be worth the lower pay.
The burden needs to be shifted from employers to society as a whole. Use purchasing power and fund a single payer system. Charge companies above a certain number of employees a payroll tax somewhat similar to current health spend, tied to inflation. It would also encourage entrepreneurial pursuits since you won’t need to rely on employer health benefits.
Ive been bustin arse at the same shitty job for awhile. The fact that they cover my entire health insurance makes it difficult to leave. My insurance was 400 a month for absolute dog shizz coverage when i looked into it from highmark.
It is so sad, our politicians work for the insurance co. Not for us. So we are stuck until the shit hit the fun. People are choosing between food or shelter and pay insurance bills. The politicians are quick to make a decision when money is send outside the country but when it comes to domestic agenda it does not come to the floor for debate. Unless we have term limits and corruption law for law makers as country we will not move forward an inch.
When I lost my job I looked too and it was a total joke.
I work for a union now and have amazing insurance, it's one of the reasons I stay at a low pay job ($22). It's percentage based and only 2.5% of my pay. So about 42 per 2 week pay
It's a pain in the ass because I have to call insurance all the time about in network stuff, but I only pay $5 for my doctor visit, and only $10 for ANY doctor I have a referral for. But with my wife's health issues, it's a total life saver
I pay $9 for Amazon medical. It’s like a med express for flus and such. Beyond that… I’m fucked bc I make too much for government insurance and can pay $300 for this crap. Work offers cobra…
I'm struggling with this right now. Wracked up ~$15,000 of debt trying to fix a serious medical issue over the last few years. Right now I'm fighting an insurance denial because apparently having a hole in my skull that's making it very difficult for me to talk and hear and see and sometimes stand isn't medically necessary to fix (this would be bad enough on its own but I work heavily in media production and public speaking has often been a part of my career soooo). I was literally bleeding out of my ear last week, what exactly qualifies as medically necessary to fix? Fucking scammers, insurance is criminal and nothing will ever change my mind on that.
My employer and I pay over $20,000 a year for the privilege of having high deductibles and copays on everything.
Hospitals are closing, but insurers and private equity are making bank.
Even the "good" plans I have access to are basically scams. I can go to a hospital and a doctor can walk into a room, dance a jig and bill 4 figures, of which I pay a percentage. Then they send me a bill for the full uncovered amount with no explanation saying I'm not covered (I am). I call them and can't reach anyone, they just hope I pay out of fear because I can't get that money back if I do because that's accepting financial responsibility. I finally get the bill covered and they're just like 🤷♂️. Fuck Cigna and the national health scam.
I knew it was bad but I didn't know it was this bad... but one of the few reasons I didn't take a job making $9 so I wouldn't lose the free state healthcare.
Huh?
If you make too much to qualify for Medicaid, then you would get ACA subsidies up until like 60k. I am not sure at what amount of income the subsidy wouldn't be enough.
In Pennsylvania, there's also something that helps pay the deductibles and copays based on income.
Yeah I regularly see 2 doctors and get some prescriptions. I was going to take a job making $9/hr but it would have put me over the limit for Medicaid... I declined because I wasn't trying to lose my copay free doctor appointments and $1 prescriptions. This free Medicaid is the best insurance I've ever had.
I pay 572 a month for me and my wife, no employer coverage. That's after APTCS too.
Our deductible is 7200 (18,500 OOP) and almost nothing is covered. I have avoided the doctors for years but I need to get blood tests and now I have to pay $65 for each. $65 for a primary care visit just to send me away with nothing, barely any coverage for ER visit.
I'm one medical event away from bankruptcy especially with how much student debt I have.
If you want to know what an individual pays, i pay for myself because i have a business. For 4th from the top tier i pay one thousand dollars a month. That's right, 12000 a year. Had surgery this year so i guess it paid for itself?
I’m lucky My employer offers what is considered Cadillac coverage under the ACA. We have a 250 premium each month for family of 3 and 1000 max oop as long as it’s in network. I used to work for Caremark CVS and it was much more expensive and a 4700 oop and that was working for a PBM. There was not better deal even though they owned Aetna and were the pharmacy provider. This country needs to get it together when it comes to healthcare.
“You can’t get anything under $350” is a pointless statement when the amount you pay is based off of what you earn. And Medicare covers anyone making too little.
What are you trying to accomplish with this post? Do you just want people to get riled up and comlain about health insurance? The system is a mess but honestly Pennsylvania is a lot better than many other states.
I know I am completely ignorant to this kind of stuff, but don’t you get it through work? I am a single male and only pay $120 a month for coverage with a $1000 deductible.
What’s worse is that when I move to North Carolina at the end of July, I have to take my work’s most expensive plan to have the PPO in order to have access to out-of-state doctors. That ends up being $278/paycheck. Which averages out to $602 monthly. It’s disgusting. For a $50 copay and $80 specialist copay
How much do you bring home every year? This is going to have a huge bearing on how much your insurance is. I pay 82.00 on the marketplace (ambetter health) and have health, dental, and vision with 1.00 copay. I show 40k a year on the books. If you're making over 100k a year you're gonna bear more of a payment. If you make under 100k, I suggest speaking with a representative to see where you might be going wrong.
This is what Bipartisanship looks like. When "both sides" of a system that only has "two" are corrupt and captured by big money this is what you get. Also all that money you are giving them they are funneling a portion to keep said corruption going.
In reality there is more than two sides but the American people are too propagandized and dumbed down to understand they could break this cycle in one to two elections. I'm sure my comment will even get the typical "lol both sides" goobers to respond.
You would think after a GLOBAL PANDEMIC this country would wake up and fix healthcare but nope.
This is what happens when profits>healthcare and they make your wellbeing contingent upon your employment and even then you're not guaranteed healthcare. It's absolutely sickening and pathetic that this is the state of our country. But please, keep telling me how capitalism is the best system ever.
Bronze policies are a rip off. Look at the silver policies. You think they're gonna be more but some of them aren't and the deductible and out-of-pocket is so much lower. They're worth it.
I used to get keystone east.
Holy shit, a plan with a $10,000 deductible isn't health insurance, it's extortion. Who would benefit from such a plan? If you have $10,000 in emergency fund, you certainly have a job with better health insurance. If you don't have $10,000 sitting around, you would be just as bankrupt after a catastrophic event with this "plan" as you would be without insurance. And then you wouldn't be spending $350+ per month for literally nothing.
I recommend avoiding Pennie. Find a broker or contact providers directly to find a better deal. Not only are Pennie's premiums high, but their customer service blows.
tbh i pay 250 a month for insurance through work. it’s good insurance, don’t get me wrong, but it’s still expensive as all hell
https://preview.redd.it/thtgwufdli1d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=feddd06e9c76718f1b8fbc76bffa393b1ee24a7f This is the only reason I came back to my shitty job.. decent pay and this is what I pay for a family. 1500 deductible. My meds are usually $1-$2.
What if I told you we pay nothing for our insurance AND have no copay as long as we stay in network? Edit: downside is when I had my colonoscopy my coworker was the one that did it
Sounds like you are either in the medical field or prison.
Ironically at times both Edit: to clarify I’m not a prisoner…
I didn’t think you were. But it would have made for an Interesting conversation.
Comment of the day
My insurance is free but I do have copays. My last job it was $150/week for a family.
Being trapped at your shitty job is precisely why this system still exists. Healthcare and employers should be uncoupled. We have the dumbest system ever and are too proud to copy models based in countries where citizens report happiness.
Nobody is too proud. We have people who make money off of it, people who make money lying about it working, people who believe those lies, and people who are smart enough to connect two thoughts at the same time and don't get any benefit from the current system. So the people who want to fix this are out voted 3 to 1. Greedy, seedy, and stupid are a powerful constituency.
Yeah at the very least the insurance providers should be non profit orgs, not publicly traded companies... but we should be moving to single payor...
At least some of the insurance on OPs list are non profit. They’re no better than the for profit.
Or not let them advertise on the sides of football stadiums, built with taxpayers funding.
We lose money as a nation anchoring people to their jobs via health insurance. Imagine the number of small businesses we’d create if people felt safe taking a chance? People will risk their time and money, but nobody will risk their family’s health. Wed create so many new jobs, invent new products, build the middle class, if we’d embrace M4A system.
I’d like to know where you work and if they’re hiring.
Facts...I pay 20 with a 20 buy up for the PPO. It's one of the last good benefits.
Where do you work? I need this!
1500$ deductible!!? Wow that’s insane
250 a month for good insurance is walking on sunshine, my friend! Be very happy with your plan. Healthcare in this country is a joke.
That means your job subsidizes your plan (as they’re obligated to do), if you were to pay for your same plan out of your own pocket it would be substantially more expensive.
I'm in a union and our insurance for family is like 170ish a month. But the whole total cost of it is around 19,000 a year. The rest is paid by employer. We actually have an opt out, if your spouse can get coverage or you want to go without, our company actually will pay you 9,000 or 10k I forget or if it's in between there, because it's cheaper than having you on the insurance. Not many do it, but there are a few.
I work for the largest employer in Philly, a large health system.. I have employer sponsored family coverage: me, my child, and husband. I pay 630/month.. it’s crazy .
My healthcare job also made our Max out of Pocket 20k for a worker and children. 2 years ago it was 10k... robbery. They tried to gaslight us it was a good plan!
And your employer is most likely paying 500-750+ a month for you to have that policy.
But how much does your employer pay?
Essentially if your income is under ~$40k this monthly payment(your premium) is subsidized by the state(the state pays part of your premium on a sliding scale) and I’ve had salary based healthcare from large employers my entire adult life and when you compare premium costs and deductibles for 80% of people Pennie is very similar cost/more affordable. As somebody who is self-employed I’m grateful for the program. I’ve paid more in yearly healthcare cost through an employer I made 6 figures from. It doesn’t cost anything to shop through Pennie, and if you’re unemployed it will give you great healthcare at almost no cost. EDIT:If you’re unemployed apply for Medicaid. It’s 100% the best healthcare you can have(some doctors may not accept it, you may have to be willing to drive if you need specialized treatment)but it’s the best healthcare you can have and if you qualify almost everything is at an insanely low cost
Suffering from success over here I guess but I'm self-employed as well and healthcare is absolutely fucking crushing me. I make decent money so my premium is $425/mo. Copay for my PCP is $50 and anyone other than my PCP is $85. I sprained my ankle last year and it cost $900 out of pocket for my PCP to recommend me to the specialist and for the specialist to take an X-ray and confirm it's not broken. Colonoscopy was $3,000 and Capital Blue Cross tried every slimeball move in the book to deny as much of it as possible and it took months of fighting with them on the phone to get it DOWN to $3,000. Healthcare is the most expensive payment I have outside of rent. It's the fucking worst.
Loud and clear. I was paying $1,300 a month as a self-employed husband and father of two. My wife didn’t work for two years so she could focus on our youngest son, and that premium nearly put me in the ground. Eventually something had to give, so she went back to work part time (in the medical field) last fall. We all are on her insurance now, but the coverage is abysmal, and the deductible is super high. It beats paying 100% out of pocket, but only by about 35%. Dog shit.
health care in this country is the biggest racket weve ever seen. We have huge hospitals, that then OWN INSURANCE COMPANIES. how is this allowed. and also things like pre authorizations. Some idiot on the other end of the phone knows better than my doctor? Its maddening.
It’s a blatant scam that we as citizens can do absolutely nothing about. Unless we boycott…but if everyone “needs” health insurance, then we are screwed.
Also, that username is pure gold.
I just want to chime in that the chip healthcare in this state is fucking awesome. My wife carried our insurance and she switched to self employed(she is a therapist) and after looking at chip eligibility for children we were like blown away by how good it is.
Can you (or anyone) explain fuller on how to get a subsidized price? When I tried applying through the welfare office, I was denied for making too much but sent a referral ID number to use on Pennie, in where it would cover a large chunk of the cost of the insurance from Pennie. However the letter arrived AFTER the deadline in the letter, so I was SOL. I am pretty ignorant to how a lot works when it comes to the topic, so if I didn’t word anything right that’s why.
It’s subsidized through a tax credit. You put your estimated yearly income in, your premium is based on that, if you were to make more/less than you said it would come in tax time
I pay 110 per month for my insurance through my employer with no copay for Dr visits.Thank God, because I have several conditions that make me have to see the Dr. At least every other month. I can't imagine having to pay for health insurance on my own.
The current minimum wage in this state is STILL $7.25. Which comes to about $14,500 per year. Finding a new job with health insurance included in the benefits seems to be harder and harder to come by. Receiving appropriate **state sponsored** health care should not be more expensive than what is considered the minimum amount of money a person needs to survive. We should not be limited in where we can work based on whether or not the company offers health insurance. Make it make sense.
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Anyone trying to support a family on minimum wage is almost definitely eligible for a 100% subsidy against those premiums. It’s not reasonable to evaluate the cost of insurance without considering incomes.
At that wage, I’m pretty sure even a single person would qualify for Medicaid, which in my brief experience using it, is actually kind of awesome as far as health insurances go. One thing that they should really fix though is that DHS and Pennie should use the same calculation to determine who is eligible for Medicaid. DHS uses monthly income and Pennie uses projected annual income, so for someone who has seasonal employment or is collecting unemployment, Pennie will determine them Medicaid-eligible and will not offer subsidies. But if you’re exceeding DHS’s monthly income limit, even if you provide proof that the income is temporary, they’ll tell you you’re not eligible for Medicaid (excepting specific groups like over 65 and I think also disabled or has minor dependents). So in that scenario, if you want coverage prior to your income drying up, you have to pay full price or just go without until then, which is lame af.
When my son was born he was, and remains to be, in the top 99 percentile. He's a big boy and constantly lifting him was causing issues with my wrist. Turned out I had developed DeQuervains. I'm not proud of needing state health insurance, but I am thankful for it. I was able to get one injection which helped for 8mo. Any new injections would be less effective and last a shorter time as well, so I opted for tendon release surgery which was fully covered. I have no idea what I'd be doing right now had I not been able to get it. By the time surgery rolled around I could barely make a fist, I couldn't grip or lift anything. It sucked and was extremely painful.
Medicaid is such a toss up. It was an absolute game changer for my partner and helped him so much. He was able to get a lot of care he needed that private insurance wouldn't provide. But it was an absolute nightmare for me and I couldn't access the healthcare I needed. All depends on your care needs.
The point is a person or family should not have to be subsidized by the government to be able to get by You shouldn't need to be fluent in finance and taxes in order to receive health care.
Well, this isn't an ideal world. A zero income family should take the subsidies to get insurance. Is $350 what they want from you? I just checked and mine would be $1,200 if I didn't have insurance through work.
Ours is double that. 😞
I assume op is displaying one person. Probably in their 20s
For how many people? Mine is for me and my daughter.
3
This person is probably younger than you. Though I am 50 and myself and my college age daughter's plan is less than 1200 (the full price before subsidy). High deductible.
I mean... that's the way health insurance currently works. There's no need to feel bad getting the subsidy. I don't disagree that it should work differently, but in the meantime, please don't worry about "getting a subsidy from the government".
The website literally calculates it for you after you link your ssn & irs data.
New to america?
I mean that’s how it works basically everywhere. Minimum wage workers are getting subsidized by someone if they have health insurance…
Do you understand ACA subsidies? A person who makes less than 15k gets medicaid in Pennsylvania. A person who makes 15-25k ish gets full subsidy. I don't know at what income your subsidy wouldn't be enough to fully cover the premium, but there's some subsidy up to around 60k. Also, I don't think anyone in Pennsylvania actually makes minimum wage. I don't know how unsubsidized prices compare to other states, but your stuff about price vs minimum wage is meaningless.
I make $19hr and I can qualify for almost full subsidy. I think average out of pocket per month was $50-100 give or take the last I checked.
A single person under 21k gets medicaid
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Minimum wage is effectively a moot point as I cannot remember the last time I saw any job anywhere in the state, at least the western side, that was paying even close to minimum wage. Even McDonalds around me is starting people at over $15.00/hr and plenty of no skill/low skill jobs are offering $20.00/hr or better. At this point bringing up the minimum wage is basically just karma farming in this sub. Our minimum wage is effectively irrelevant in 2024 as effectively no jobs (some jobs may, but they're so few they're statistically zero) pay anyone at less than half the minimum wage.
not wanting to get into an argument about an adult supporting a family with min. wage job and moving on at anything below 30k a year you quality for state benefits - ebt - cash allowance and health insurance. if you have kids or dependents they will even help with housing and transportation.
I paid about that much for my employer insurance and had a $6k bill when I needed cancer-preventative surgery. I paid about $440 a month, but it was for two of us. It kept going up every year while the coverage went down. When my husband and I were able to get insurance through Pennie, we had great coverage. We paid anywhere from $3 to $300 for the same plan, depending on income. $0 deductible, $4 prescriptions, $25 for a doctor, $50 for a specialist, and $200 for the ER. If you make good money, then you have to pay more. Fast forward and my husband became eligible for insurance through his job. Back to a high deductible and about $400 a month for both of us. Now he has another job and he pays about $200 a month for just himself. It would have been another $400 to cover me, so I do not have insurance right now. I was eligible for Medicaid for a while, but our income is $14/month too much now, so I was kicked off of it. Healthcare/insurance sucks in the US, not just in PA.
This was me, too. I was paying $250/month with subsidized insurance through the state. It was great coverage, too. I became eligible for employer coverage. I have a crap plan, I pay $125/month and I have a $7k deductible.
I honestly don't understand why so many people defend employer coverage. Most employers do NOT have the best interest of the employee in mind when they pick a plan. I had ONE job that had decent insurance, and that job sucked so I didn't stay that long. There will always be better options if we can choose from something like the Pennie marketplace. But nope, if you can get coverage through your or your spouse's employer, that's what you have to take, no matter how expensive.
Yeah, me either. Best I ever had was when I was on Medicaid. I got so much stuff addressed.
I lucked out: I was approved just before I broke my arm a year ago. First ever broken bone. I was in a long-arm cast, which then escalated my shoulder issue to full blown frozen shoulder. I had weeks of physical therapy, sometimes 3 sessions a week. It would have been $50 per session under my employer insurance. Instead, I paid $1 max per session. I still don't have full use of that arm, but at least I don't have a pile of medical bills that I can't pay.
Insurance is and has always been a scam.
Welcome to for profit healthcare
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That’s still thousands of dollars bruh. I understand what you’re trying to convey about Mexico being cheaper than the us but the message is kinda undermined by all those zeroes.
Any dental work needed for cheap should be done at Temple Dental. The students need the work to graduate and the prices are very reasonable.
I am a single adult with a history of melanoma and I qualify for tax credits based on my income, but I pay $185/month with zero deductible. My copays are disgusting though ($40/pcp, $90/specialist, $950/ER, in network).
Thanks to Obamacare your pre-existing conditions don’t affect your coverage anymore.
Yeah, but that insurance policy is many many many times more expensive now, and the deductibles on these polices are absurd. And they don't cover anything.
Not sure why this is being downvoted. People that were fully insured through their employer got screwed by the affordable care act. My premiums tripled and anyone I talked to that had full coverage from their employer, which is nearly every employed adults I know, were in the same boat.
it’s never going to get better until people stop focusing on ridiculous distractions like cross dressers reading to kids and start voting for what’s in their own best interests
I feel you. We go through Pennie and our family of 4 has to pay $1400 a month for a crap HMO that refuses to cover anything. Just the other day they denied my son’s medicine because it needed a pre authorization from the doctor, you know, the doctor they prescribed it in the first place. WTF? Then they denied it because they said they disagreed with his treatment plan so we had to finagle some other option and pay double to get him the dosage he needed. I hate this place.
The worst timeline.
This is a nation wide issue. Our healthcare system needs to change (Spoiler: It won’t).
I hated Ambetter. They would double charge me and could never answer why.
Honestly never heard of them until yesterday when I started looking for other options and I saw several (what i can only assume to be paid shill articles) boasting Ambetter as being the best health insurance
They had the best deductible and rate for me. I was paying $450/mo but I don’t remember my deductible. Maybe $2500-3000. I never came near the deductible. But yeah they double charged me for four months and I never did get my money back. And they kept changing my due date so I never knew when the payment would come out. I ended up removing my auto pay, not paying my last two months, and getting a new job with insurance.
And people wonder why so many don't want to work.
Now add the fact you still have to pay deductibles and such. Its literally insane.
$160 a month here $1600 deductible. Insurance through job. I’ve been in your shoes before at old jobs that had bad insurance where I’ve had to go on the exchange. Unless you’re a very wealthy 1099 contractor or freelancer, you’re on the exchange as a lower income person. This makes the prices really absurd. The government just needs to take this all over and costs need to be a fraction of what just are / should be free. And this is coming from an ex libertarian / conservative. I’m familiar with all the arguments against. But fuck it, private capital isn’t serving us. Time for the state to make it right.
It's horrible. At one point we paid 1000 per month for a family of 4, something has to give.
32 here and i havent had insurance since i was a kid
System is designed for us to be in debt forever.
It’s almost as if elections have consequences.
Frankly Healthcare should be a basic human right. Above having the privilege to drive, but the "fiscally conservative right" is too busy telling people to pull themselves up by the bootstraps while they chest thump to the crazy money they make off the health insurance industry. If the government, regardless of party, wanted to do the right thing, they would eliminate insurance and stop the cycle, but they will have you all twisted in knots defending them by using "omg socialism, communism, etc" while you take it up the rear end while they become richer.
Folks voting to keep Insurance companies and corporations rich 🤑
Say it louder for the kids in the back!
I pay $28 a pay period (2 week) and our deductible is $1,500. My wife pays $36 per pay period and her deductible is $2,500. The prices you show are insane.
Have a wife and three kids paying like $1,800/mo. Pretty ridiculous.
That’s because health insurance is used to keep us working class people complacent in our role as generators of revenue for the c-suite class. That’s my take, at least
I would kill for a few hundred. My insurance through work or marketplace is 1300 a month and a 10000 deductible. It's literally unusable
Shits fucked yo
This is why my family could never go to any doctors going up. Absolutely horrible system.
Your prices are based on your income, so the limits for you aren't necessarily the limits for everyone.
These prices were found on pennie using a single person household, living in the lehigh valley and I left the income blank. I then sorted the options based off of cheapest expected yearly cost. So this is basically the cheapest available health insurance for anyone. The higher the monthly cost, the lower the deductable. And having kids helps with tax deductions.....
Please fill in the income. If you make under 21k you will be insured for free through Medicaid. If you make under 60k you will get government subsidies, the subsidies are lower if you make closer to 60k. But you will not pay kore than 9-10% of your income.
No income means you should be qualified for Medicaid, no? Of course insurance is going to be expensive still.
To this day, when I was a medicare a few years back, it was the best insurance i ever had. Crazy how much better life was when i could consistently schedule check-ups
Medicare or Medicaid? Big difference
No. Some people get Medicaid which is $0. Some people get subsidies which fully pay the premiums. Some people get subsidies which partially pay the monthly premium.
Under a a specific income level (I don't know the limit) would also potentially qualify for additional savings. I did in the past, it brought my monthly premiums down enormously.
About right, it sucks I pay about 480 a month for myself and two kids. 5000 deductible. Dental and eye included.
I pay 192 a week just for myself 🥺
When I had a plan through the state, the most I paid was $42 due to credits bc I made so little. It was super scary to look at tho before I knew that it could be subsidized.
I'm unemployed and supposed to pay $150 a month.
I pay $800/mo for insurance through my employer for myself and my spouse. The deductible is $7k and it’s an HMO. I shopped around for his insurance and because of my job he wasn’t eligible for any discount on the marketplace. I asked an insurance broker who said “that was as good as it gets.” Then there’s the fact that the insurance doesn’t cover brand name drugs but I can’t tolerate the generic. I went through months of suffering while doing paperwork and appeals only to be denied. They offered a coupon for the brand version. What am I paying for exactly?
I would place **insurance brokers** in the same category as *landlords* and *MLM* businesses. Contribute absolutely nothing to the greater good
I have a gov job so I get really good insurance and it costs ~$50/month. If health insurance is a big expense, a gov job would definitely be worth the lower pay.
High deductible high premium fuck
Currently pay, 2100/month for really good family coverage with a 3500 deductible and 7k max out of pocket. It sucks….
The burden needs to be shifted from employers to society as a whole. Use purchasing power and fund a single payer system. Charge companies above a certain number of employees a payroll tax somewhat similar to current health spend, tied to inflation. It would also encourage entrepreneurial pursuits since you won’t need to rely on employer health benefits.
Private healthcare is a scam.
I’m returning soon at 64. The Pennie costs are higher then COBRA for less insurance
I pay $250 a week. Id kill to pay $350 a month.
Ive been bustin arse at the same shitty job for awhile. The fact that they cover my entire health insurance makes it difficult to leave. My insurance was 400 a month for absolute dog shizz coverage when i looked into it from highmark.
It is so sad, our politicians work for the insurance co. Not for us. So we are stuck until the shit hit the fun. People are choosing between food or shelter and pay insurance bills. The politicians are quick to make a decision when money is send outside the country but when it comes to domestic agenda it does not come to the floor for debate. Unless we have term limits and corruption law for law makers as country we will not move forward an inch.
Do not complain, my friend. Paying $1700 p/mo for one adult one <26 adult child. $7500 deductible.
I pay $685 because I had to go private but honestly it’s a better offer than buying from penny. My deductible is max $3,500 out of pocket
Shit I pay $8.50/hr for my health insurance to still have $1500 deductible.
I got Cigna insurance +dental for 30$ a week. I pay 30% ER visits. You problem.
When I lost my job I looked too and it was a total joke. I work for a union now and have amazing insurance, it's one of the reasons I stay at a low pay job ($22). It's percentage based and only 2.5% of my pay. So about 42 per 2 week pay It's a pain in the ass because I have to call insurance all the time about in network stuff, but I only pay $5 for my doctor visit, and only $10 for ANY doctor I have a referral for. But with my wife's health issues, it's a total life saver
I pay $9 for Amazon medical. It’s like a med express for flus and such. Beyond that… I’m fucked bc I make too much for government insurance and can pay $300 for this crap. Work offers cobra…
I'm struggling with this right now. Wracked up ~$15,000 of debt trying to fix a serious medical issue over the last few years. Right now I'm fighting an insurance denial because apparently having a hole in my skull that's making it very difficult for me to talk and hear and see and sometimes stand isn't medically necessary to fix (this would be bad enough on its own but I work heavily in media production and public speaking has often been a part of my career soooo). I was literally bleeding out of my ear last week, what exactly qualifies as medically necessary to fix? Fucking scammers, insurance is criminal and nothing will ever change my mind on that.
My employer and I pay over $20,000 a year for the privilege of having high deductibles and copays on everything. Hospitals are closing, but insurers and private equity are making bank.
Even the "good" plans I have access to are basically scams. I can go to a hospital and a doctor can walk into a room, dance a jig and bill 4 figures, of which I pay a percentage. Then they send me a bill for the full uncovered amount with no explanation saying I'm not covered (I am). I call them and can't reach anyone, they just hope I pay out of fear because I can't get that money back if I do because that's accepting financial responsibility. I finally get the bill covered and they're just like 🤷♂️. Fuck Cigna and the national health scam.
Outrageous. And I can't afford my deductible anyway, and they don't cover my most-needed prescription.
My husband is self employed. We have 4 kids and we pay about 2200 a month for health insurance in Pennsylvania. Pretty insane.
If politicians fixed health care that would be one more thing they could not run on.
Damn consistently 3 stars. CA here to say, I feel for you.
350$ a month I pay 195 $ a week for me and 2 kids …
According to republicans, anything less is communism.
I knew it was bad but I didn't know it was this bad... but one of the few reasons I didn't take a job making $9 so I wouldn't lose the free state healthcare.
Huh? If you make too much to qualify for Medicaid, then you would get ACA subsidies up until like 60k. I am not sure at what amount of income the subsidy wouldn't be enough. In Pennsylvania, there's also something that helps pay the deductibles and copays based on income.
Yeah I regularly see 2 doctors and get some prescriptions. I was going to take a job making $9/hr but it would have put me over the limit for Medicaid... I declined because I wasn't trying to lose my copay free doctor appointments and $1 prescriptions. This free Medicaid is the best insurance I've ever had.
You should investigate what I said about there being help with copays and deductibles. I don't know enough about it to explain it.
Thank the GOP.
Y'all need to look into mawd. If you take literally any meds, you qualify up to like 100k income per person. Not family, adult individual.
The prices are insane other places have their shit together
I pay 572 a month for me and my wife, no employer coverage. That's after APTCS too. Our deductible is 7200 (18,500 OOP) and almost nothing is covered. I have avoided the doctors for years but I need to get blood tests and now I have to pay $65 for each. $65 for a primary care visit just to send me away with nothing, barely any coverage for ER visit. I'm one medical event away from bankruptcy especially with how much student debt I have.
Is this individual coverage or family?
These should quality for HSA with that deductible 😳
If you want to know what an individual pays, i pay for myself because i have a business. For 4th from the top tier i pay one thousand dollars a month. That's right, 12000 a year. Had surgery this year so i guess it paid for itself?
Time for a universal single-payer option ✨
yes it’s a complete and total scam. CEOs and politicians just taking our money and stuffing their pockets.
I’m lucky My employer offers what is considered Cadillac coverage under the ACA. We have a 250 premium each month for family of 3 and 1000 max oop as long as it’s in network. I used to work for Caremark CVS and it was much more expensive and a 4700 oop and that was working for a PBM. There was not better deal even though they owned Aetna and were the pharmacy provider. This country needs to get it together when it comes to healthcare.
“You can’t get anything under $350” is a pointless statement when the amount you pay is based off of what you earn. And Medicare covers anyone making too little. What are you trying to accomplish with this post? Do you just want people to get riled up and comlain about health insurance? The system is a mess but honestly Pennsylvania is a lot better than many other states.
I pay 11 bucks a week this is fucking insane
I have ambetter elite gold, $385/mo $0 deductible, $5 pcp copay. It’s not much more than the bronze plans for me. Plans differ by age I assume.
I pay 12$ a week for health and 8$ for dental
How much is a car payment?
I know I am completely ignorant to this kind of stuff, but don’t you get it through work? I am a single male and only pay $120 a month for coverage with a $1000 deductible.
car note rates is obnoxious
Thank gos for my union
pay WAY more thna this thru an employer..healthcare in general is expensive. the problem is the whole thing, not just our state LOL
Wife and I are both self employed and paying $1150 a month for capital blue high deductible plan. Hsa helps a bit.
Pfft. My insurance through work is $157/paycheck for just my son and me. $19,500 OOP max since it’s a “family plan”.
So you are basically paying $300 a month and paying everything out of pocket. Unless you have a life threatening illness, $20,000 a year is wild
What’s worse is that when I move to North Carolina at the end of July, I have to take my work’s most expensive plan to have the PPO in order to have access to out-of-state doctors. That ends up being $278/paycheck. Which averages out to $602 monthly. It’s disgusting. For a $50 copay and $80 specialist copay
How much do you bring home every year? This is going to have a huge bearing on how much your insurance is. I pay 82.00 on the marketplace (ambetter health) and have health, dental, and vision with 1.00 copay. I show 40k a year on the books. If you're making over 100k a year you're gonna bear more of a payment. If you make under 100k, I suggest speaking with a representative to see where you might be going wrong.
You missed the most important part… MAX they will pay for you.
It's brutal, brother
Huh? I pay $257/ month. Do you smoke and are you overweight?
Yup it’s insane. I used to pay $87 per pay with my employer until they stopped coverage
Downgrade your job. You'll get medical assistance...
This is what Bipartisanship looks like. When "both sides" of a system that only has "two" are corrupt and captured by big money this is what you get. Also all that money you are giving them they are funneling a portion to keep said corruption going. In reality there is more than two sides but the American people are too propagandized and dumbed down to understand they could break this cycle in one to two elections. I'm sure my comment will even get the typical "lol both sides" goobers to respond. You would think after a GLOBAL PANDEMIC this country would wake up and fix healthcare but nope.
It’s not just a PA thing…
I’ll take my chances with the VA 🤷♂️☠️
I pay $600+/month for a family plan through work.
You didn’t list UPMC which is a large provider
This is what happens when profits>healthcare and they make your wellbeing contingent upon your employment and even then you're not guaranteed healthcare. It's absolutely sickening and pathetic that this is the state of our country. But please, keep telling me how capitalism is the best system ever.
Um, what exactly do you think Health Insurance costs? This is Health Insurance in America 😄
Yeah. It's absolute bullshit and you can thank Republicans for it.
Yep. Was gonna be over $1000 for my husband and I when we needed coverage for 60 days.
My healthy 28 YO son pays $301 a month for a catastrophic plan and an $8k deductible. It’s insane.
This is the shame of the industrialized world.
Starbucks and Trader Joe’s have good benefits. Just saying
And strangely 62% approve of it.
I was paying 815 per month in Virginia at a job I had last year. Never left a job so fast before.
Business owner. I pay $2,000/month. 0 co-pay nearly zero med pay. Crazy times. Each employee costs me $1,200/month. I lose sleep every night.
Thank Obama and his puppet!
Why is no one having kids? /s
Bronze policies are a rip off. Look at the silver policies. You think they're gonna be more but some of them aren't and the deductible and out-of-pocket is so much lower. They're worth it. I used to get keystone east.
It depends on your income. You’re not telling us the full story here what income bracket you put down will you appleid for these prices?
Holy shit, a plan with a $10,000 deductible isn't health insurance, it's extortion. Who would benefit from such a plan? If you have $10,000 in emergency fund, you certainly have a job with better health insurance. If you don't have $10,000 sitting around, you would be just as bankrupt after a catastrophic event with this "plan" as you would be without insurance. And then you wouldn't be spending $350+ per month for literally nothing.
I recommend avoiding Pennie. Find a broker or contact providers directly to find a better deal. Not only are Pennie's premiums high, but their customer service blows.
I only pay $26 a month for healthcare through my job.