Vt. Is First State to Post Health Insurance Rates.

[elleng]

Source: nyt/ap

The state released proposed rates Monday. Examples show that a family of four with an annual income of $32,000 would pay $45 a month out of pocket. A single person making $40,000 would pay $317 a month.

Vermont's rates aren't expected to affect other states'. Andy Hyman of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says every state is expected to release theirs over the next month or so.

Vermont embraced the federal health overhaul from the outset and hopes to go further. The state is setting up what would become the nation's first single-payer health care system, to be implemented in 2017.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/04/01/us/ap-us-health-overhaul-vermont.html?hp

[Walk away]

1. I wish it was NJ! Too bad Christie is our Boss. nt

[SunSeeker]

2. Holy shit that's cheap. I pay $1,757.89 a month for Blue Shield HMO for a family of 3.

And that's after my employer here in CA kicks in $1,402 a month.

[Marrah_G]

3. Just one of the many reasons I would like to move there.

[riverbendviewgal]

4. I just did my taxes yesterday

My tax report shows how much my taxes cover my health care, which is provincial... $450 a year.

I am 65 and retired. I have cpp and old age but not the supplement which you can get if you make 16k or less. I also have pensions from other companies I worked.

In Ontario those 65 and older pay only $100 annual for prescription drugs.

We like our health care up here.

[shawn703]

5. That's a pretty steep bump in rates from $32,000 to $40,000 a year

An $8,000 raise means $3,264 of it goes to insurance? I'm surprised it's not more gradual then that.

[cali]

6. individual v. family of 3.

[nobodyspecial]

7. Yes, but the family is the one paying $45

It is a huge leap in rates, but $317 is still a bargain for most people.

[Journeyman]

12. The family of 4 would qualify as Poverty Level?

[valerief]

8. Huh? The first is family of 4. The second is single person. nt

[southernyankeebelle]

9. I was thinking the same. I want to say I don't think it's fair that single people are always

getting screwed. I wonder what a single person making the $32,000 a year would pay in health care.

[JDPriestly]

13. It's a question of how much discretionary income you have after

you cover essential expenses. The single person with an income of $40,000 has more left over after just paying for a subsistence level of life than does a family of four earning the same amount or less.

So that is why single people pay more.

Of course, that does not take into consideration things like student loans.

When I was working and buying my own health insurance (and this was some years ago), I was already paying over $300 per month. I know an elderly woman ON MEDICARE who pays $300 per month for health insurance. That is not expensive.

Don't forget, a single person earning $40,000 per month is probably already paying a larger share of the cost of Medicaid for the poor than is the family of four earning less than $40,000. That's simply due to tax deductions.

[southernyankeebelle]

14. Well, I have to say I was living at home and paying rent to my mother but I also helped out raising

my little sister and brother at the time. My father died at the age of 50. We helped our family. That was the way I grew up. My own mother said when her dad died she and her 3 siblings helped pay someone to come in and take care of their mother. It was something you did. Now my mom had more kids than the others so she paid a little less. I guess I can see may $100 or $150 more than a married family. Married couples get all the tax breaks. Singles always get the screws. I have been married 35 yrs. I have a twin who still isn't married. She works hard and it seems she is getting screwed for being single.

[JDPriestly]

20. Someone has to pay taxes.

We give married people with children a break on taxes because they carry a heavier load than single people when it comes to expenses and keeping our species going.

[southernyankeebelle]

21. Yes, your right but we don't have to gouge them, do we?

[Historic NY]

15. Exactly.......I had to give up the same time to get my retirement medical

benefits as a single person. I had to cash in 167 days save sick time. Singles tend to use it less and pay the greatest disportunate amount....I get less now because medicare is my primary and my plan is secondary....sucks. I'm stuck with an orthodics bill that my plan pays for but medicare won't. I should just get the surgery.

[southernyankeebelle]

17. Man I know what you mean.

[beyurslf]

10. That seems pretty high for the single person to me.

[DebJ]

11. Looks incredibly good to me for the single person.

I am used to seeing rates more like $900 and up per month.
Are you looking at rates with heavy employer-subsidies?

[Skittles]

16. forget about saving for retirement

you'll need to fork it over to private insurance companies for "coverage", not for actual care

[pnwmom]

18. That's probably because you're not in the individual market.

I'm paying the premium for a young woman right now -- healthy, no preexisting conditions. (She's a full time student and the coverage through her college is pathetic.) It's almost $300 a month for coverage that's not as good as what we get through work.

I'm interested to see what options she'll have under Obamacare.

[jeffrey_pdx]

19. I'm single too

I'm willing to pay a little more to help out the struggling families, or any families that make the same or less than me. But that seems like a lot too much to me.

[Cal Carpenter]

22. Regarding 'out of pocket'

It seems like the numbers in this article refer to premiums only, not what are commonly referred to as 'out of pocket' costs in health care (eg copays, deductibles, coinsurance, etc).