Health Insurance

[jahbp]

How many of you have Health Insurance how many of you can afford it ?

[qualitylandscaping]

I've got it, and I offer it to my employees after 6 months with the company.

100% for foreman, managers
50% for laborers

On average, single is about $250-290/month

[windsory]

ooo got any pictures of it?? Considering this is the pictures forum.

[Lawn Enforcer]

You should post this in another forum to get more responses-

P.S. I see you have only 8 posts, Welcome to Lawnsite.com!

[ccondie]

I have it. i pay $162 a mo for full coverage health. Then i pay $25 additional for a really good dental plan. Got to have it. theres really no way around it.

[supercuts]

my family plan is $854/month. im working up to getting it for employees. what is that guy talking about pictures for?? it states Bus managment forum

[jahbp]

I put post in wrong place sorry

[jsf343]

ooo got any pictures of it?? Considering this is the pictures forum.

pictures?! look again, it is called the "business management forum"

[jsf343]

I put post in wrong place sorry

no you didn't.

it is a great question and a lot of folks wonder about it. My advice is REALLY call around, get lots of quotes. Even check Costco if you have one near you. They offer a lot of good business stuff at the one I use including health insurance plans for small businesses.

[rodfather]

I pay $464 a month for myself and offer 50% contribution/reinbursement to my employees.

[causalitist]

i use HSA's (health savings accounts).. that approach is by far the best there is. use a low premium plan, around $80/month, coupled with an hsa. the hsa is awesome, the money is tax deductable when you put it in, AND youdont pay any tax when you take it out. once you have enough in there to cover your high deductable, any extra can be invested in mutual funds and the best part is that any gains are still withdrawn tax free!

its like a traditional and roth ira rolled into one.

i know it seems like having to save up $3000 to cover your deductable seems pretty expensive, but in the long run its wayyyy cheaper. onceyou have that deductable, keep contributing/investing to the hsa the extra each month you would be paying on a low deductable plan (a few hundred/month)and invest it in some cheap index funds ... and after a few years you have a crapload compounding at ~10% and all you have to pay is the low premium, AND and money you take out is tax free and you continue to get a deduction on all your contributions.

most hsa's come with debit cards so using it to pay deductables is easy.

it takes a bit to get enough in there compounding gains, but once you do your totally set and health insurance is super cheap from the rest of your life. ... saving you tons in the long run.

there are plans for employers to set up employees with this and deduct from each paycheck..
i use "hsa bank" online, they let me invest in my hsa thru ameritrade.

uncle sam gave us this tax advantage for a reason ... its a great idea.

[Mrs. H]

We just got health insurance for the family this past march. Blue Cross/Blue shield of AL, Individual Blue. I've been shopping for 7 years. It might be our area. But this one is $365 month, accidental dental, and it covers the whole family. The kids have AllKids that acts as their secondary insurance now. So, I don't have to pay their co-pays.

Could we afford it? Well, we just quit paying full price for everything and started putting that money towards the payment. It has been a relief.

We are still shopping for employees. Right now we havn't kept an employee around long enough who cares.

[windsory]

pictures?! look again, it is called the "business management forum"

It was posted in the pictures forum until last night when a moderator moved it. It's still listed in that forum too. Calm down, it was just a little joke. :dizzy:

[J&T Kiev]

I have TriCare military health care prime supplement for me, my wife, daughter ..$460 or there about a year. No deductible - $12 co-pay when we do go to the doctor

I pay 75% of my employees major medical.

[grassyfras]

Causalitist- I hears about those. They sound really sweet. I thought you lost the money every year if you didn't use it. Maybe I'm thinking of a different plan.

[jsf343]

It was posted in the pictures forum until last night when a moderator moved it. It's still listed in that forum too. Calm down, it was just a little joke. :dizzy:

WHAT?!!!!!!!!:nono: :dizzy: ;)

Oh. ok. sorry. I wasn't all wound up, just didn't understand the whole story.:hammerhead: :hammerhead: :hammerhead: :laugh: :waving:

[causalitist]

Causalitist- I hears about those. They sound really sweet. I thought you lost the money every year if you didn't use it. Maybe I'm thinking of a different plan.

no way jose ... its just like a retirement account but better... all money carries over year to year just like a retirement account .. except no tax is payed on money in or out or profit from bonds/stocks.

i think there is like a $25 fee if you have a very low balance (like under $500 or something) .. but once you got it set up and are putting the extra you would pay for a high deductable plan in there... your set. .. it's still your money too.. if you end up with a mass of extra $ in there you can take it out for whatever, you just have to pay tax. .. but honestly, i would just leave it compounding interest and be set for healthcare.

within my hsa i personally have keep my yearly deductable in money market, and the extra 50/50 in AGG/VTI ... agg is all bonds index , VTI is all 5000 american stocks .. cheapest mutual fund in existence 0.07% expense ratio lol

sorry for the book here, but this is my line of thought: insurance companies make $100's of billions .. and that means that if every american were to pay outright for healthcare, we would save billions.. now of course we have to reduce the risk of huge unexpected bills ... thats what health insurance is ... its financial insurance. if i can get a good plan that kicks in after i have spent $3000/yr and only costs $74/month ... its very very likely i will end up with more money than if i get a $250/month plan that kicks in after ive spent $300/yr.... thats just a fact, based on the fact that insurance companies are very profitable. if then on top of this uncle sam lets me save up and invest money for that $3000 deductable and never pay any tax on any of it, its a no brainer.

if you use less insurance than you thought, you end up rich from compounding interest, if you use the same, you pay the same or more than if you had a low deductable plan. but chances are wayyy in your favor for ending up with extra money in there..

all it takes is getting that first lump in there over and above that years deductable and get it to start growing from investment.

again, alot of coffee, srry bout the book.