How much do you spend on health care in a year?

[Kathy]

I just finished up our 2007 taxes (awfully close to the deadline, but done!) and kept wincing at the huge stack of medical bills. This year actually wasn't that bad compared to some we've had, but I'm still stunned at how much we pay for medical care - it's just under what we pay out in mortgage payments, all told.

This year we paid out $6,484.23 in out of pocket medical expenses (not including the cost of insurance). (Ack! Forgot about the $2,000 HSA account we used up on top of this, so it's really $8,484.23 plus what we paid for insurance.) Now, this isn't anywhere near as bad as the year we paid $12,500 out of pocket :eek:, but still! With insurance, it was well over $10,000 this year. For a family of four :eyes:.

What do you pay for medical care? I'm curious to see the differences in coverage out there.

[Storymama]

I'll play, but should I count optional-but-wellness-oriented stuff like vitamins and herbal medicine? nt

[Holly]

$100 out of my paycheck every 2 wks pays for medical/dental/vision. Beyond that, the expenses are minimal. A $20 copay here and there. So, probably $3000 at the most.

[Rosemary]

I just finished up our 2007 taxes (awfully close to the deadline, but done!) and kept wincing at the huge stack of medical bills. This year actually wasn't that bad compared to some we've had, but I'm still stunned at how much we pay for medical care - it's just under what we pay out in mortgage payments, all told.

This year we paid out $6,484.23 in out of pocket medical expenses (not including the cost of insurance). Now, this isn't anywhere near as bad as the year we paid $12,500 out of pocket :eek:, but still! With insurance, it was close to $10,000 this year. For a family of four :eyes:.

What do you pay for medical care? I'm curious to see the differences in coverage out there.

we have a flex account and elect $1000 so that is a pretty good number. This includes things like contact lenses, co-pays, scrips, over the counter meds etc.

Our premiums run around $100 a month out of DH's paycheck for the entire family.

Knock on wood we have a pretty comprehensive plan (BCBS Personal Choice) with our insurance. We have dental and vision which covers basics. We've so far only had to get basic services for dental (no braces here yet) so for now it's good.

[tumblewieds]

We spent $6,000+ on insurance, plus we met our $1500 deductible for my surgery, plus we used all of the $2500 we put in our FSA. Holy shit. That's a lot of money.

[Peggyann]

about $300 a month for medical/dental/vision/rx

+ $15 copays

~PA~

[kathy caribe]

We pay $2000/year in premiums but pay out of pocket for all expenses (as it is ridiculously cheap here, even in the most expensive area of Mexico).

Last year we spent $63 on dentist and $1215 on medicines (mainly Jamie's QUrol). I also stocked up on QUrol in October, getting 15 month's worth, so some of that should be translated to this year.

[Sarah]

Less than a thousand dollars a year. That's counting monthly Blue Cross payments, monthly meds (four kinds), glasses, dental, chiro, massage therapy and regular doctor visits.

But it's not really comparable, is it? :dunno:

[Brenda]

I do not have the exact figures in front of me, but just recently pulled them together for taxes, so I can give ballpark. It was about $3750 last year. I will say that is the highest it has ever been. We rarely go to the dr, but last year we met our deductibles for the first time in years. Deductible was $600/family, so this is a huge difference for us.

Last year included paying for Simon's homebirth out of pocket thanks to the midwife messing up and filing it wrong, which flagged it to the insurance and got it denied. The other two homebirths both slipped through, so this was completely unexpected and frustrating.

We had appointments for Vincent's allergy testing. I got Rx sunglasses that we paid for out of pocket.

Also, last fall we starting paying our own insurance for the first time, so that was almost half of the expenses right there.

[elizabeth]

What do you pay for medical care? I'm curious to see the differences in coverage out there.


Including insurance and long term care insurance and milage and hotels. We put $5000 in our flex this year and it's gone, although Sophia got her braces in January, so that was a good chunk of it. It's gone down since my expensive meds are now covered except a 35$ copay, as opposed to the years I was paying $700 a month for them. My main med is still a trial med so the drug company pays for it, as well as my every 12 week specialist appointment, when it gets FDA approved, how much I pay for it will depend on how it is classified (medicine or life saving device).

My insurance caps out at $6k a year out of pocket, but that doesn't include the travel expenses or herbal supplements or vitamins.

[lunita]

I just finished up our 2007 taxes (awfully close to the deadline, but done!) and kept wincing at the huge stack of medical bills. This year actually wasn't that bad compared to some we've had, but I'm still stunned at how much we pay for medical care - it's just under what we pay out in mortgage payments, all told.

This year we paid out $6,484.23 in out of pocket medical expenses (not including the cost of insurance). Now, this isn't anywhere near as bad as the year we paid $12,500 out of pocket :eek:, but still! With insurance, it was close to $10,000 this year. For a family of four :eyes:.

What do you pay for medical care? I'm curious to see the differences in coverage out there.

Usually it isn't much, but this year we reached our $3000 deductible in January. Ugh.

[Jill]

we have no premiums, deductibles, or copays. As much as I hate that Dave is pretty much owned by "Bill and Co." there is no better benefits package in the world.
Before working for MS we had what would be considered excellent coverage but they didn't cover most of Em's and Drew's therapies/treatments. There were a few years that we paid over 20k out of pocket (not counting what was deducted for premiums), so I *KNOW* how lucky we are today that we don't have that expense anymore.

[Annamarie]

Our co-pays are $20 except for the baby I had last year which cost around $500 for office visits and $750 plus 20% for each of us in the hospital. That added up to around $2000 in the end I think.

[aleutsi]

I just finished up our 2007 taxes (awfully close to the deadline, but done!) and kept wincing at the huge stack of medical bills. This year actually wasn't that bad compared to some we've had, but I'm still stunned at how much we pay for medical care - it's just under what we pay out in mortgage payments, all told.

This year we paid out $6,484.23 in out of pocket medical expenses (not including the cost of insurance). Now, this isn't anywhere near as bad as the year we paid $12,500 out of pocket :eek:, but still! With insurance, it was close to $10,000 this year. For a family of four :eyes:.

What do you pay for medical care? I'm curious to see the differences in coverage out there.

I don't know exactly, it's all out of pocket and I haven't kept receipts. $7,000 on DH's teeth, $500 for DS's dental work, $600 for DH's celebrex (that he buys online), $100 to $200 each for various illness like DD's UTIs, DH's pneumonia, my Dr visits for psoriasis creams.. so just that off the top of my head for last year: $8,600 - which comes to more than we pay on the mortgage (including all the included house insurance and property taxes).

And honestly, it could have been more - but because we pay out of pocket I skip on things here or there that I would have gone in for if we had insurance - example being chiro stuff for me, or my anxiety stuff, and I still need to get DD in for a dental check-up because her baby tooth has been loose forever - has drifted up and is pointing straight out of her gums and I'm worried about it messing with her permanent teeth alignment and I have a horrid ear ache that has been going on for weeks, but I'm trying to kick it with garlic & such, but if I had insurance, I'd go in for a decongestant to work with the garlic.

Shoot, and I forgot to add in the vision expenses - 4 of us in glasses (DH should be in glasses, but it's one of those things he opts out of because we pay out of pocket). :gross:

Oh and this week a Dr told DH that he needs a $50,000 knee surgery and he's only walking on 40% of his knee (The Dr actually took out a mic and measured the xray because it was the worst knee he'd ever seen and DH was walking on it) He said a step just right on uneven ground could blow his knee permanently. If we had insurance, he'd be in surgery now. There is no way we can swing that kind of money, otherwise, and the Drs aren't willing to bill us for something like that.

[Kathy]

I'll play, but should I count optional-but-wellness-oriented stuff like vitamins and herbal medicine? nt

You sure could. I'm not even sure where that would put us, since we don't keep reciepts on things that aren't tax deductible, but it's definitely part of health care and maintenance.

[Kathy]

we have no premiums, deductibles, or copays. As much as I hate that Dave is pretty much owned by "Bill and Co." there is no better benefits package in the world.
Before working for MS we had what would be considered excellent coverage but they didn't cover most of Em's and Drew's therapies/treatments. There were a few years that we paid over 20k out of pocket (not counting what was deducted for premiums), so I *KNOW* how lucky we are today that we don't have that expense anymore.

Oy - let's not even go into treatments and therapies. I can't even count the number of things Ryan has needed that we couldn't do because insurance didn't cover OT or evaluations or therapy.

[MadAboutYou]

I just finished up our 2007 taxes (awfully close to the deadline, but done!) and kept wincing at the huge stack of medical bills. This year actually wasn't that bad compared to some we've had, but I'm still stunned at how much we pay for medical care - it's just under what we pay out in mortgage payments, all told.

This year we paid out $6,484.23 in out of pocket medical expenses (not including the cost of insurance). (Ack! Forgot about the $2,000 HSA account we used up on top of this, so it's really $8,484.23 plus what we paid for insurance.) Now, this isn't anywhere near as bad as the year we paid $12,500 out of pocket :eek:, but still! With insurance, it was well over $10,000 this year. For a family of four :eyes:.

What do you pay for medical care? I'm curious to see the differences in coverage out there.

We pay $280 ($270 for dh, $10 for me) per month for 100% coverage for our whole family. Both dh and I work for unions and we both have good insurance (his covers 80% and mine is supplemental and covers the other 20%).

I know we are very, very lucky about how much we pay. One of my close friends pays $950 per month (plus copays and deductables).

[Kathy]

I don't know exactly, it's all out of pocket and I haven't kept receipts.

You should keep reciepts!!!! You pay out enough out of pocket that itemizing on your taxes makes a ton of sense and will save you a lot of money. I'm always surprised at how much difference it makes come tax time - that scary medical bill amount (just going through the inch and a half stack of paid bills made my heart race a bit) takes a big chunk out of what we owe every year. Seriously, do yourself a big favor and keep all the reciepts in an envelope so at least you're getting the well deserved tax break from paying such a huge amount in medical bills!

[gfrach]

Waaaay too much. We spend $5640 a year (at current rates) just to insure the three of us (this is not including the $300 per month that DH's employer pays of our insurance). We each have a $500 deductible so that makes it $7140 a year minimum because we haven't had a year that we haven't met our deductible in a long time.

In general, for our family of three, we deduct 10-15K per year off our taxes in medical expenses. It sucks.

[Hobbes]

I just finished up our 2007 taxes (awfully close to the deadline, but done!) and kept wincing at the huge stack of medical bills. This year actually wasn't that bad compared to some we've had, but I'm still stunned at how much we pay for medical care - it's just under what we pay out in mortgage payments, all told.

This year we paid out $6,484.23 in out of pocket medical expenses (not including the cost of insurance). (Ack! Forgot about the $2,000 HSA account we used up on top of this, so it's really $8,484.23 plus what we paid for insurance.) Now, this isn't anywhere near as bad as the year we paid $12,500 out of pocket :eek:, but still! With insurance, it was well over $10,000 this year. For a family of four :eyes:.

What do you pay for medical care? I'm curious to see the differences in coverage out there.
10,800. For three of us. It sucks. 5 years ago it was 5,500.

I hate our health care system.'

Edited: Oh wait.. do you mean the cost of our health insurance (that is what we have to pay above) or the cost of healthcare above and beyond what the health insurance will pay for.

The former sucks over 10k from our lives every year.

The latter is only about 400 (if you don't take into account dental costs for emma which were 2,000 this year :( ), but of course that's because we paid over 10k in insurance.

[mirage1]

Medical insurance for me and Cassie is $480/year, no co-pays for GP, and (I think?) $12 co-pay for specialists. Dental is, I think, $30/month, but it's paid by my company (they'd pay up to $250/mo toward insurance and flex spending accounts, so my dental and fsa are both completely funded by them).

I think I paid about $200 last year for myself, due to the visits to the neurologist and a couple of prescriptions. Cassie's braces were not covered (and I didn't have the fsa then), and they were about $125/month and paid off in April, I think, so that was another couple hundred dollars. All told, under $1K.

My dog's insurance through PetSmart is nearly as much as our insurance, and with her being on special food ($35/15 lbs) and insulin ($65 every two months for that and the needles), I think I spent more on HER medical care last year than ours. :eyes:

They do say having a sweet little cuddly animal is kind of therapeutic, though, so I don't mind. :hearts:

[LDSmama]

But that is because we are on Medicaid. Just for kicks, I did a little research, and if we were not on Medicaid, and had a standard BC/BS policy (for eight people), we would pay in excess of $60,000/year, including premiums. Most of that is for mental health care that would have a coverage level of only 50% (standard coverage), but would max out at only $1500/year. We would max out our yearly benefit within the first month, so would have to pay 100% out-of-pocket the rest of the time.

Without the mental health care, I and at least two of my children would be hospitalized indefinitely. Since we could never even hope to earn enough money to pay for our care, we have had to choose between breaking up our family, and living well below the poverty line. As much as we'd like to not have to utilize state aid, we are unable to do so.

Another problem we face is that the care we need is simply not available to non-Medicaid clients in our state. It's because of a flaw in the Medicaid law that prohibits state mental health care facilities that accept Medicaid from accepting non-Medicaid clients, even on a sliding scale basis. The only exception to this is for substance abuse clients enrolled in a government-run program. We were told that the only way we could even receive care would be to either stay poor enough to receive Medicaid, or start abusing alcohol or drugs.:dunno:

This system needs help. :banghead:
What do you pay for medical care? I'm curious to see the differences in coverage out there.

[movingon]

Prior to dh's retirement, we were nearly always seen for free on base. I had a $12 co for my civilian psychiatrist. Now, everything has gone up - $25 for my co and we see a civ fam prac doc for $12 co-pays. Also, prescriptions run $3/$9 or $22 depending. We could fill at the base but with the cost of gas...

K was seen in the emergency room for an asthma attack in the middle of the night several monthes back - the bill was upwards of $2000, but our co-pay was $30.

It is sometimes a PITA dealing with tri-care (military insurance), but I consider our cost relative to the total cost, very low. Luckily, my condition and K's asthma are documented, so they alway approve any emergencies.other providers they necesitate.

[Storymama]

I have a friend with the same employer now, after years of being starving students and poorly insured w/ 4 kids! She feels like a queen, just from the benefits. A queen who's king is always on the road LOL . . . but a queen nonetheless.

[Storymama]

Can you use ExpressScripts for online/mail order rx'ing? I thought it worked pretty well when I utilized it, but I'm afraid I don't know if they serve retiree beneficiaries or not. nt

[mudcreekmama]

For our family of 5 about 1500 a year including blue cross payments, glasses, dental, chiropractors and prescriptions (our copayment is 5.00 on each script) I know it isn't comparable really ... I don't know what percentage of our taxes goes to health care but its a big chunk

[Kathy]

That's insane! BC/BS in your state sounds terrible. I have BC/BS, and I have UNLIMITED visits to a therapist for myself, and my 4 kids. My oldest sees a psychiatrist, and the visits, and the meds are covered 100% (after my $2750 deductible is met). Inpatient treatment (or outpatient) for mental health or chemical dependency is covered.....100%. My deductible is a "family" deductible. I cover myself, my four kids, and.....were I legally married, I could cover my (imaginary) DH, and any stepchildren.....all for that $2750 deductible per year (IOW, it's not per person).

It is messed up, that it can be so different from state to state.

Wow! We have BCBS and it's completely different. We get 20 mental health visits a year at a $15 copay each time (even after the deductible is met - copays continue), and med cost is defendant on whether they're on the formulary or not just like every other medication. Inpatient treatment for mental health isn't covered at all, and outpatient is only covered for up to 14 days per year at 80% coverage (we found this out with Ryan, who needed inpatient treatment, and found that the two weeks of outpatient treatment would be almost $2000, which we didn't have).

[mowse]

What do you pay for medical care? I'm curious to see the differences in coverage out there.

My gosh, y'all are making me feel lucky! I was complaining how much the insurance we have now sucks compared to what we had in Oregon.

Right now we pay $1200 a year for our premiums. $20 copays. and roughly $750 a year for our basic prescriptions that we fill. We have two regularly that are $30 each a month.

If someone is required to go to the ER, if it's an accident, all care is covered at 100 percent. So D's ankle issues are all covered, including the boot, braces, bone scan, physical therapy, etc.

Income-wise, we do qualify for the state run health insurance for the kids, but because he is a "public employee" we are not eligible! I just want it for the dental benefits, because the ones offered to public employees are a joke. They will cover 80 percent on a single person, but only 50 percent on families.

Aside from the dental, I guess for a family of 7 we're not doing too badly!

Back in Oregon, we had Kaiser with the premiums fully paid for by his employer. We just had $20 copays and the $10 prescription copay. We also had a dental HMO and for $11/mos we have 100 percent coverage with a $4 copay (had two wisdom teeth removed for $4) :eek: