[Margot]

Open enrollment closes tomorrow has anyone decided to take their kids off their insurance?
My situation: kids can be covered by state health insurance but my husband and I can’t

2024 monthly BCBS cost for a family: $650
2024 just my husband and I: $420

Savings would be $2760 for the year

[Kellie]

We are a blended family with 6 kids. Most of our kids were in high school sports (the youngest just graduated).

All of us are relatively healthy. We have not carried health insurance in over 14 years (except 2 years for special circumstances).

The cost of insurance would well surpass the cost of out-of-pocket/ self-pay payments.

For us, it simply wasn’t even worth it to have insurance. It’s cheaper to make payments to a provider or put the balance on an interest free care credit card.

If you have any of the kids on regular medication or they are accident prone, maybe keep them insured, otherwise, drop them.

Perhaps put that monthly premium you are saving away into savings, in case you need it for health care costs.

Like your own personal HSA.
Take a look at how much you spend on medical last year. Did you meet the deductible?

Did you pay more in medical bills than what the premium would be?

[Annette]

Wow, those rates are low. I pay more for one person than you pay for your family. Cheapest insurance isn’t always the best option.

[Charlotte]

Curious how your kids can be covered by state health insurance while you can’t?

[Autumn]

We pay $1300 a month for BCBS for a family of 5. I hate paying it because it barely covers anything, but it comes out of the business and is a write off(we are self employed).

It has a 7k deductible so I see it as catastrophic coverage mostly.

We are about to pay off our house and I want us to be protected in case something happened to one of us that we could not foresee happening.

This thing about insurance, is you don’t need it til you need it.

My mother in law was in hospital for 10 days and had a $300k bill. But Medicare covered most of it.

All it takes is one event to ruin you financially.

[Toshia]

Have you had your kids on public health before? Your choice of doctors may be different, so why change their doctors?

And also, in some areas, the quality of care is quite different.

I would need to know that information before making a decision.

[Nancy]

No, I wouldn’t. It’s a lot harder to find decent docs that take the coverage – in my immediate area. We never know what is right around the corner

This is Part of why medical bills is a top reason for bankruptcy. “I never saw that coming”…

[Rachel]

Networks will be different. Coverage may be different.
Does state coverage have deductibles that would lead to multiple deductibles vs meeting one family deductible?

[Eryn]

My kids have been on Medicaid since they were born, and my husband and I were on it for a couple years in between Medicaid expanding coverage to non-pregnant adults and me making too much for my husband and I to qualify (yay!).

Anyway, I’ve had no problem with Medicaid in terms of what they cover or getting care when needed.

And I have no shame about benefitting from the government assistance programs I qualify for.

They’re there to make sure your kids get medical care, and also to make sure you have enough money to handle other kid needs and expenses.

[Jennifer]

I had my child covered under state health insurance (pandemic Medicaid) for a brief period when I was a single parent receiving no CS & funds were strained.

As soon as I could get them back on my private insurance, I did.

Better safe than sorry with our babies, god forbid they ever have a serious health issue or injury.

Want them to have the best medical coverage possible.

[Paul]

There’s frugal, and there’s cheap. I sure wouldn’t cut on my kids health insurance. But then we’ve had medical issues.

[Daan]

Frugal vs cheap, I would always cover my kids, even if strained for cash, as they’re my responsibility.

Would not want to shift that responsibility to the tax payer.

[Teresa]

State health insurance is not free since tax payers pay for that people to have that service.

If absolutely cannot afford the kids insurance then go with the state.

[Liz]

My kids are on Medicaid and it’s been great coverage. We have had no issues finding providers and have received the same or better care.

Highly recommend. I’m in Indiana.

[Christina]

A savings of just $2700/yr is not worth the risk imo. I’d look in your budget to cut $2700 elsewhere.

My husband works at a hospital and we have BCBS that cost over $1000/mth.

My husband knows how easily a diagnosis or treatment can bankrupt a family so he goes for the best coverage.

Your $650/mth for a family is actually not expensive.

[Melissa]

My brother has been in the situation of having his kids on state insurance for years (in two different states) while he and his wife couldn’t be covered. It worked out fine for the kids.

I’m not sure why you wouldn’t have your kids on state insurance if that was an option. You can call your current providers and see if they accept it.

Here it was the same pediatrician and hospital so the care was the same.

I think they had to go to a special clinic for dental care, most dentists didn’t take state care but that wasn’t a big deal.

A lot of these people aren’t actually comparing BCBS to state coverage, they are comparing BCBS to no coverage which I would never recommend.

It would be best to talk to someone who has state coverage in your state to see what they think and check with your current providers.

[Bradley]

I would find a side gig if I had too to cover that, that’s only a $100 a check difference for peace of mind.
Though I do understand the thought process.

Think of the 10s of thousands we spend on health and car and house insurance and some of us NEVER use it.

But the one time you need it it’s there

[Lisha]

The best insurance I ever had was when I was on Medicaid. I’m comparing that to my current insurance as a government employee.

I’d go with the state sponsored.

[Erin]

I absolutely would not do that. Keep your kids on your insurance.
This is one area not to “cheap out” on.

Signed, a previously healthy person diagnosed with cancer this year who is very thankful for her health insurance that covered my treatment and helped keep me alive and not broke.

[Charlene]

Honestly it depends on how robust your state insurance is and how widely it’s accepted in your area. In some areas it’s very hard to find docs who accept.

In other areas of the country it is widely accepted and literally the best coverage available (especially for kids)

[Lynne]

I did think about it. But then I realized that state insurance would not cover things my daughter needed for her long term illness.

That blindsided us when she was 11.
Was not worth the risk.

[Ashley]

I also for sure would not for everything mentioned above. Coverage levels could be different and your out of pocket could be more than what you’d pay anyway.

I also agree with the family deductible.

Having it on two policies could cause more out of pocket too vs working from one bucket.

[Robin]

It absolutely depends on your state and how/if they prioritize subsidized healthcare. I’m in Texas so it’s an automatic hell no.

[Courtney]

In our state of Arkansas, and in my son’s state of Colorado, the state insurance is pretty good. My youngest grandchild is on it.

They had one issue that insurance wouldn’t cover for a tongue tie, and it was $600 out of pocket.

At the end of the day insurance came back and covered it and reimbursed them.

[Jennifer]

I’ve done a ton of analysis for this, I think the response is going to be based on what level of risk you’re willing to carry.

– the gold marketplace top tier packages still have a 30% coinsurance typically. Most work place insurance is 20%. Even then the best plan has about a $3k individual deductible.

Max out of pocket $15-18k. Get into silver it’s 40% coinsurance with 17-18k max out of pocket.

– what I notice on exchanges is the max out of pocket is typically around the same for all plans 15-18k. So, no big difference imo.

But comparing that to an employer plan you typically get a 8-10k max out of pocket.

So again, all about risk. If you told me that you’re going to put into savings $2760 for this plan for the extra “just in cases”that would make me feel more comfortable in that situation.

By year 5 you could have $10k+for these medical emergencies.

Also, balance this out with asking for cash prices for every service you receive doctor visits, pharmacy, specialist.

See which ones cheaper if you end up with marketplace insurance.

It won’t go to your deductible though but may be cheaper then out of pocket.

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