The sad part is it wasn’t designed to be. Making health care more affordable would mean cutting into the business of pharma, medical device companies, insurance companies, the hospital industry, physician salaries, etc. Nobody in politics has the desire to do that so the ACA mostly just expanded coverage and closed a few (but not all) loopholes.
True health reform will be a hard battle that the health care industry will fight tooth and nail. Nobody has the balls for that right now, not even on the state level.
I wonder how far the working public can be pushed economically. In between rising health care/real estate/taxes/daycare/retirement expenses and stagnant wages, fewer jobs and higher inequality something has to give. I assume the US will do what Germany did in the 30s (in a milder form), basically a weak form of fascism and communism will start to become more and more popular.
I think the bottom line is that healthcare associated industries have made it abundantly clear that they cannot be entrusted with our lives, greed will always take prescience. As much as I hate the thought of nationalized healthcare i think we are way overdue and no other solution is in sight.
That won’t solve the problem though because governments are in cahoots with large industry. And large industries involved in health want an overpriced health care system because that means more business for them. So even if we had medicare for all, we would still have a wildly overpriced and unsustainable system.
I think the best bet is meaningful state reforms and hoping those catch on nationally, combined with market forces to provide alternatives to the current health care system. I want to avoid the system as much as possible, and so do many other people. New technologies and alternatives (including traveling overseas for major procedures) could make that a bigger share of the market.
Are you currently insuring yourself and your spouse through your work? Have you shopped for different health care providers on the exchanges? Insuring my husband through my employer was insanely expensive, but we found the same coverage on through the exchanges for much less–like $300/month less.
I would definitely shop around on the exchanges this year during open enrollment. Also, unless you have an under-26 kid who still needs to be on your insurance, you should compare your costs for getting two individual plans for you and your spouse, rather than a “family” plan. Because I agree – your health insurance costs sound absolutely insane. My individual Silver level plan (in IL) is around $200 a month. Coverage may well be more expensive in California, but even if it’s $500/month each that still saves you a ton of money.
The first thing, do you have a written budget. I do not if it is true or not but I read that less than 30% of families do.
Budget everything.
My budget has a line for spending money (cash in the wallet every week that I do not keep track of). And a line for credit card spending when we are out. Every month I check where our spending is.
I find that $78,000 a year in California does not go very far. But I know of families that are surviving on less. I don’t know how they do it but they do.
As for selling the house and moving back into a city, I just got a Zillow email claiming I could rent out my 2100 sq ft house for $3500 a month. And that is a low estimate.
So to the OP sit down and make up a yearly budget. Include all expenses even the ones you pay yearly. If your monthly expenses are higher than you monthly income you can see what adjustments you must make.
not what you’d expect already knows where the money is going, so a budget or a spending log is not going tell her anything new.
If relocating to a lower-cost housing situation will ease things, it should be on table. Hubby may have to bite the bullet with regard her not being able to support him in the style to which he has been accustomed.
Would ditching the pick-up lower costs by any significant amount? If you don’t use it a lot, an occasional rental could fill in the blanks.
She knows where the big bills are. But without a written budget the day to day stuff can get lost. With a budget it is possible to figure out where you can cut. Or if you need to make major changes. With the house paid for it may be less expensive to stay put.
not what you’d expect - I have a suggestion for you: Elizabeth Warren’s book All Your Worth. It covers the specific situation that you face – not being able to meet your everyday bills on a reasonable income. I found it incredibly helpful, and it’s much more geared toward your circumstances than mine (I’m single and renting, and the book is more for couples who own a home). Anyway, the book walks you through the specific steps of reviewing your budget and determining the appropriate places to cut, with specific suggestions on how to do it. Many of the concerns you mention in your OP are the ones she discusses.
There is one possibility I had not considered. IIRC when the whole Obamacare insurance exchange program initiated some unhappy health insurance companies who did not (really) want to be part of the health act exchange competition in certain states set prices to utterly crazy ass “go away” levels to drive business away because no one would sign up for these nutty rates if they did any price comparison.
Is it possible the OP did not price shop during open enrollment and actually agreed to, or stayed with, one of these “go away” plans?
Oh crap, I did mean to write $2000.00 rather than $1000.00, but I had not yet allowed for the one car payment and then when I subtract for the cell phone, internet and cable, I’m back down to only having a little over $1000.00 per month for everything else.
And that sounds like it should be enough, but it just isn’t.
There’s the firewood we buy every year and getting the chimney swept. The car needs new tires this year. The brakes went out on the mower and the x3. We had to have the sewer system cleaned out last year. The plumber had to come out for a water leak we couldn’t find.
I could go on and on about the unexpected bills that come up, which is why I’m so nervous about this $2400.00 increase in health insurance. I’m not in danger of being overdrawn, but it just wouldn’t take much to put me there.
I bought my health insurance from the Covered California website, which is my only option, as far as I know. I did go for the silver plan, because the bronze plan wasn’t a lot less, but the deductible was even higher.
I do use a CPA for my taxes and I’m aware of the standard deduction. When I said I have no deductions, I meant in addition to that. Sorry I was unclear there.
Neither my husband nor I are obese, we don’t use tobacco. We are 59 and 58 years old. I don’t know why the insurance is so expensive for us.
Seriously, this can change your life, but you and your husband both have to be on board. You may be able to pick up Dave Ramsey’s radio program. He is brutally honest with people about the finances, their lifestyles, and their choices.
I know that money doesn’t go very far in California, but i am also shocked by your premiums. Mine (employer provided, but counting my employer’s portion) are less than $1000/ month for a family of 4. That’s with a similar deductible to yours.
I came in to suggest this as well. not what you’d expect’s husband wouldn’t have to worry about any issues related with non-coverage of certain conditions since that is now illegal under the ACA.
If one of the couple has no health issues, s/he could go for a high-deductible plan or HMO, and the other one for a more comprehensive plan that might cost more up front but would be a better deal on coinsurance, deductible, and medications.
One other item: check into using online coupons to reduce your co-pay for brand-name prescription drugs. I currently use one to reduce my Relpax copay from $45 to $10. I found another to reduce the copay for hormones. And I’m looking for more, because it’s stupid to pay full price if you can save $100 a month with a little Googling!
If you don’t have complicated finances, there is almost zero reason to use a CPA to do your taxes. Granted it’s probably less than $200, but unless you have a business, have rental property, or other scenario you’re really not getting a lot of value. Just my opinion.
Well, I could see consulting a CPA on a one-time basis to set up a home accounting system… We did that years ago and it’s been a huge help keeping us organized.
Then again, we’ve often had side businesses and other complications to our finances, so maybe not so much for the average wage earner. I do sort of miss the days when I had just a simple W-2 and could use the 1040EZ.
