Curious Canadian looking for Americans input:)

[redneckhippy]

I pay $50 / month for my coverage, which is one of the main reasons I will stay in the military for as long as I'm able. This summer I will be going on active duty, then I won't have any premiums at all for the whole family. Private insurance is just insane with what you have to pay.

 

[Amythyst]

I pay 368.43 per pay check for my insurance - which is pre tax (that's a good thing). We get paid twice a month. That is a family plan and wouldn't go up no matter how many kids I had.

 

[LilFooshFoosh]

We are in (Ontario) Canada- Our company is fantastic and offers flex credits to use towards your medical/dental care. DH and I work for the same company so he picks up the medical and I pick up dental, neither of us pays for anything but life insurance. I don't think we have a medical deductible, I know we have one for dental ($100 for the family) but between OHIP & our private coverage we haven't had any medical bills.

The reason I said all that is because my SIL use to work for the same company. But then several years ago she moved to Cali, got a different job & married. They had a baby earlier this year and she tallied up all of the expenses both out of pocket (inlcuding monthly premiums) and what was actually covered by their insurance and the bills totalled just over $50k. She had to have 2 specialists and a pediatrician at her birth and I am certain they chose a more upscale hospital, but she was very surprised at how quickly it added up. Plus she was all too aware of what it would have cost her had she stayed here.

 

[Monzter79]

We will pay $300/month for 2015. Our office visit co-pay is $20. A specialist visit is $25. Prescriptions $20/script.

This year the deductible will be $200 for an individual, or $400 for the family. We'll pay $500 for each inpatient hospital stay.

I'm not sure if the ($500) copay for my hospital delivery stay will be applied to the $400 family deductible. Hope so!

We have $1,000 individual or $1,500 "stop-loss" out-of-pocket maximum. So, once we copay up to $1500 we won't be charged further. Should get there pretty quick this year!

Just used my health insurance app's cost estimator. A vaginal birth at the hospital I will attend costs between $14,965.00 - $18,117.00. Looks like an additional $10Kish for "post delivery care".

In my area- cesareans seem to average around $20K with hospital stay, not counting "post delivery care". Pre-mature births can climb as high as $50K according to the cost estimator.

 

[MommyJogger]

I had good insurance with #1. Hospital bill was over $30k for everything from first doctor's visit to 6w pp checkup. It was a vaginal delivery with pitocin and epidural with straightforward prenatal care. We paid very little oop.
With the same employer, our insurance with #2 changed and was horrible. I had a homebirth, which I didn't expect them to cover, but was affordable at under $2K. I had co-prenatal care with an OB and a 'complicated' diagnosis that required regular NSTs. We were told by the OB that the NSTs would be covered because of the diagnosis. We were told by the insurance rep that NSTs would be covered because of the diagnosis. After my 6w pp appointment, we received a bill for the NSTs for over $4K.
Neither time we knew how much it would cost out of pocket when it was all said and done.

ETA: Our insurance costs on the "crappy" plan are $18,000/year, with the university paying a large portion of that. Our deductible is $500 and oop maximum is supposed to be $2700, but that's something you have to call them on because they're not very ethical about keeping track of that (what with the the over $4K bill we received).

 

[DebbieF]

My husband kept a spreadsheet of our medical expenses from 2013 when dd was born. It appears that the total medical expenses for that year, were just about $26,000. We only paid a little over $2000 out of pocket. I am so grateful that we have good health insurance.

 

[minties]

These insurance costs are insane. We have a national health system in New Zealand but my partner gets some health insurance paid for buy the company he works with (covers things like GP visits and some surgical things). He's got the kids on it too which is another $4.50 per week I think.

I looked into some private health insurance for myself which was about $9.90 per week (maybe $8 US). It covered some dental, optician, surgery, physio, specialist appointments and GP...probably more that I don't recall right now.

Maternity care is paid for with tax so feels free. We also get tax credits for having children and a $1200 "bonus" for having a baby if one of the parents was employed at the time. We get $185 a week in tax credits for the children

 

[Feronia]

DH and I are American but we've lived in Canada for the last 5 years. Having experienced both systems, I prefer it in Canada SO MUCH MORE! In our family, when we got sick or hurt, we didn't go to the doctor unless it was an absolute emergency because we couldn't afford it. We wouldn't have been able to afford to have kids in the States, not for many many more years at least when we had well paying jobs and decent insurance. Neither of us has ever had a long wait time for anything, but we're in BC in a large city so maybe things are different here.

 

[Cattia]

These insurance costs are insane. We have a national health system in New Zealand but my partner gets some health insurance paid for buy the company he works with (covers things like GP visits and some surgical things). He's got the kids on it too which is another $4.50 per week I think.

I looked into some private health insurance for myself which was about $9.90 per week (maybe $8 US). It covered some dental, optician, surgery, physio, specialist appointments and GP...probably more that I don't recall right now.

Maternity care is paid for with tax so feels free. We also get tax credits for having children and a $1200 "bonus" for having a baby if one of the parents was employed at the time. We get $185 a week in tax credits for the children

This sounds quite similar to the UK system. We have free dental care for children under 16, for adults there is a small charge or you can get insurance. It's also free when you're pregnant so I will be getting all my dental care sorted before this baby is born! We get family allowance too, in total £130 per month which is around USD$200. I know people complain about the UK health system, and there are certainly funding issues with it, but I honestly feel so incredibly lucky that we have the system we do.

 

[MeaganMackenz]

I am greatful to be in Canada. Knowing I don't have to pay for ER visits, doctors etc is a huge relief. I don't mind paying for insurance to cover the rest of the things that are out of pocket like prescriptions. My husband has a $2,000 prescription limit per year per person, and at our young age we never get close to it. He's also got almost 100% dental for most things, 80% for larger. And the insurance payments come off his cheque so we don't have to worry about paying it we don't get a choice lol.

There can be long waits here in Manitoba, I've heard some specialists take awhile and surgery can too for less urgent things. Personally I feel it at doctors offices and ER visits when doctors can take a couple hours, walk in doctors are worse and ers can take over 6 hours to get in, then who knows how long to be seen. I suppose it's all worth it when I don't have to dread a bill in the mail

 

[MommyJogger]

There can be long waits here in Manitoba, I've heard some specialists take awhile and surgery can too for less urgent things. Personally I feel it at doctors offices and ER visits when doctors can take a couple hours, walk in doctors are worse and ers can take over 6 hours to get in, then who knows how long to be seen. I suppose it's all worth it when I don't have to dread a bill in the mail

I've heard people use this as a reason to argue against this system in the US and I hate hearing it. Specialists taking a while is still so much better than not being able to afford seeing a specialist at all. And walk-in doctors/ERs here are just as bad in many, many areas, you just have a huge bill at the end of the experience here.

 

[Cattia]

There can be long waits here in Manitoba, I've heard some specialists take awhile and surgery can too for less urgent things. Personally I feel it at doctors offices and ER visits when doctors can take a couple hours, walk in doctors are worse and ers can take over 6 hours to get in, then who knows how long to be seen. I suppose it's all worth it when I don't have to dread a bill in the mail

I've heard people use this as a reason to argue against this system in the US and I hate hearing it. Specialists taking a while is still so much better than not being able to afford seeing a specialist at all. And walk-in doctors/ERs here are just as bad in many, many areas, you just have a huge bill at the end of the experience here.

I think the thing is that they tend to prioritise, for example here you can wait a loooooong time to be seen in A&E, but if you were to come in having had a car accident or something serious then you would get in straight away. It's also the case with specialists - if something is considered urgent then you will get seen within two weeks, but if it's considered routine, then you wait much longer. There are certainly some horror stories where serious illness is missed, and in a free system the disadvantages are that some services like mental health are not well funded at all, however I think free health care is so so important and people always have the option to go private if they aren't satisfied.

 

[Amythyst]

Yea the healthcare in the US isn't the best compared to other countries but I am thankful that my company offers decent plans. So many companies here are jacking up people's premiums, raising deductibles and making it so expensive. Years ago, I used to pay like 20 bucks a pay check for my insurance... but those days are gone. The worst part about our healthcare is for the people who either don't get it through their company or they have low incomes and can't afford good healthcare. And the stupid Obama care that was called "affordable care act" is totally not affordable.

My company does offer a lower cost plan that would only be like 150 per check, but it has a much higher deductible. I would rather pay more per pay check, pre tax, then have a 5,000 dollar deductible and if I get an expensive doctor visit I could be responsible for a 1k+ plus bill that I would never be able to afford. My husband used to take medication that cost 900 dollars a month and you'd have to pay that until you hit this high deductible... I could not understand how anyone could afford that just for a prescription! We went into debt just to pay for his medication.

So, I am thankful for the plan I have now. Can see a specialist whenever I'd like and so far during this pregnancy I've only paid 250 dollars in deductible and I paid another 250 to my OB's office, in advance, for my delivery charges for next year.

I imagine the hospital bill will be well into the 50,000 range but to only have to pay 2,500 total - I'll take it. And if anything goes wrong or the baby requires NICU and the bill goes up even further, I still only have to pay 2,500. Its still a lot though... and it sucks that my bonus checks from work never go to anything fun... its always paying a bill or something. But, at least we don't have to go into debt for it!

 

[MrsKChicago]

I think so far we've paid close to $800, between deductible and copays. It'll only get more fun next year with the actual birth. I expect it to cost us probably a couple thousand more, assuming everything is uncomplicated, but to be honest, the insurance here is a little confusing and I'm not really sure - it may be less? If we end up with complications or a nicu stay or something, our out of pocket limit is $3500/person or $7000 for the family, so it can't go above that for the year. Plus the premiums, which are going from $330/month to $360/month this year. Insurance in the US is so fun....

 

[MrsKChicago]

There can be long waits here in Manitoba, I've heard some specialists take awhile and surgery can too for less urgent things. Personally I feel it at doctors offices and ER visits when doctors can take a couple hours, walk in doctors are worse and ers can take over 6 hours to get in, then who knows how long to be seen. I suppose it's all worth it when I don't have to dread a bill in the mail

I've heard people use this as a reason to argue against this system in the US and I hate hearing it. Specialists taking a while is still so much better than not being able to afford seeing a specialist at all. And walk-in doctors/ERs here are just as bad in many, many areas, you just have a huge bill at the end of the experience here.

I can say in the US, even with good insurance, I've never gotten into a specialist promptly. I went through a lot of allergy testing and treatment in my late teens, and it was always months of waiting to get in to a new doctor. So I don't really buy the long wait argument either. We get that here, we just pay more for the privilege.

 

[Catmat]

I do think in Canada it depends where you are. I used to live in rural Nova Scotia and if I made a call to see my doctor it would take 2 to 4 weeks. This morning I called my doctor about my kid's rash and she saw me this afternoon. The rash wasn't serious so I was happily surprised to get in here (Calgary) so quickly. It also took less then 40 minutes. I have also given birth outside Canada and will never complain (seriously) about our medical system.

 

[Menelly]

There can be long waits here in Manitoba, I've heard some specialists take awhile and surgery can too for less urgent things. Personally I feel it at doctors offices and ER visits when doctors can take a couple hours, walk in doctors are worse and ers can take over 6 hours to get in, then who knows how long to be seen. I suppose it's all worth it when I don't have to dread a bill in the mail

I've heard people use this as a reason to argue against this system in the US and I hate hearing it. Specialists taking a while is still so much better than not being able to afford seeing a specialist at all. And walk-in doctors/ERs here are just as bad in many, many areas, you just have a huge bill at the end of the experience here.

Yep, I have totally waited more than 6 hours in an ER before. More than once. With a complementary $9000 bill afterwards. (Our insurance sucked at the time.)

 

[misspriss]

I had good insurance (double on me) when DS was born. I paid $2000 out of pocket for him, Nothing for me. I paid about $300/month for insurance (pre-tax) before he was born, went up to $425/month after when I added DS to the plan. I lost that job recently, and aged out of my dad's insurance, so no double insurance anyway.

My current job offers no insurance, it's seasonal. DH's job has a waiting period of 6 months for medical, which expires about 3 weeks before my due date. I hope that I go term and can get on his employer sponsored plan before the birth.

I have to get obamacare now, which royally sucks because we both have jobs right now so we get no assistance and I don't qualify for any state plans. We pay $478/month, after tax, for minimum coverage with $2000 deductibles per person, $3500 max out of pocket, so if I ended up with a big bill again like with DS I'd end up paying at least $7000 instead of $2000. My co-pays are higher and I don't have an emergency room copay anymore. And I have a crappier job so I don't have nearly as much income, and I won't be working after DD is born to pay the bills.

 

[Amythyst]

Ouch MissPriss, that does sound yucky. I really hope you are able to get on hubby's plan. My husband is Danish and he absolutely detests the insurance here. He is of course used to the government paying for everything and then having very high taxes on their pay. After seeing how other countries handle healthcare I can't stand how we have it here. Some people have plans that cover every thing for very little cost and then others, like you, get stuck with these enormous payments and deductibles which don't really coincide with your income. UGH!

 

[misspriss]

Ouch MissPriss, that does sound yucky. I really hope you are able to get on hubby's plan. My husband is Danish and he absolutely detests the insurance here. He is of course used to the government paying for everything and then having very high taxes on their pay. After seeing how other countries handle healthcare I can't stand how we have it here. Some people have plans that cover every thing for very little cost and then others, like you, get stuck with these enormous payments and deductibles which don't really coincide with your income. UGH!

I'm just saddened to see how we got this screwed up "solution" to healthcare. All it does is increase costs across the board. I wish we'd gone ahead and thrown out the profit based insurance companies and gone with a single payer system like the NHS, it has it's flaws, but I don't think that people should ever have to worry about paying for their healthcare at the point of service. Blame the BnB influence...