Thread regarding Verizon Communications Inc. layoffs

Some things I have learned in the last 12 months of going through a medical crisis.

Self-insured plans (e.g. Verizon's) can in rare circumstances be inferior to "real" insurance that is bought through the marketplace, or via an employer that does not self-insure (most small and medium sized companies)

The (mostly ?) Christian health sharing plans are NOT insurance. If you get seriously ill then your condition might not be covered and you could be left up the creek without a paddle. If you have typical non-severe health issues then I guess they are probably OK.

As an individual the normal cost of the marketplace plans is expensive. If you have very little income then much of the monthly premium can be discounted away. e.g. you might be able to get a $1,000 a month policy for $100. But you really do need to have very little income.

Not all marketplace plans are equal. Some insurers are viewed dimly by certain physicians due to them not paying without a ton of hassle. So if you need specialist doctors then check if they take the insurance you are considering.

If you are not working then you don't have much choice - it's expensive. Does this s--- ? Yes, yes it does. Is it bad ? Well, yes and no. It's expensive, but pre-existing conditions are covered. So it's much better than the alternative of a strictly employer based system that does not cover pre-existing conditions. But both systems are bad, because if you do get seriously sick then you're not going to be able to work. At that point you lose your employer based insurance, and you have to pay for Obamacare. If you qualify for discounts then the premiums are not too bad, else they can be unaffordable... until you are destitute and get Medicaid, which can be kind of c-appy... or you're just dead.

So the system needs further changes.

How do we lower the price ? Medicare for all.

Disclaimer... before anyone posts a knee-jerk "we have the best healthcare in the USA, and single payer can't work".... if you think that then fine... but please... it's just not true. Go and do your own research. Google stuff from multiple sources. USA healthcare is decent IF you can get it, and IF you can keep it when you actually need it. Many people cannot. And by any measure at all it is too expensive. Other countries can and do provide good, sometimes better, insurance at more affordable prices. If they can do it, we can do it too.

The Medishare Christian medical insurance is not a bad deal and probably the most affordable but the post below is not quite correct. The "$1,000 to $10,000" is the total deductible amount for the family/person per year. And depending on the amount of the deductible will determine what your payments will be, a few hundreds, 7 times a year, or a lot of hundreds. All depends on the deductible.

Christian Health Sharing plan seems popular around my area.

Kinda seems ofd to me but then at least for now I have company insurance. The huge gap between retirement and if there is Medicare when I get there could be huge though.

Thank Obama!

medishare $1,000 - $10,000 per year broken into 7 installments

https://mychristiancare.org/medi-share/

Verizon is self insured...Fact

" I ended up with an open market plan thru United health care....same coverage as Vz plan for 1400.00 self respect plus one. "

Was that $1,400 per month or????

Keep in mind I was riffed two years ago and was allowed health benefits to be purchased thru Verizon plan,just had to pay full cost,which at that time was 11,850 for self only and exactly twice that amount for self plus one(i.e. Spouse). I just laughed at that as it was zero benefit to buy thru Vz group plan. I ended up with an open market plan thru United health care....same coverage as Vz plan for 1400.00 self respect plus one. Pricey I know, but not nearly as pricey as Vz plan. Now we are 1 year away from Medicare age and sup. Insurance added to Medicare/Medicade will reduce my annual outlay for both of us to under 10k

It’s inportant to note that the retiree and the active plans are not the same. They have different features and higher risk levels for the insurers, so they tag on a premium to offer this. Even with the subsidy, it appears very high to most. You would need to do side by side comparisons with some of the cheaper alternatives, as less and less is being covered these days.

goes without saying...

Look into it yourself before just going with their subsidy. Long ago I remember a lot of people who had various levels of subsidy finding similar plans cheaper even paying full price in the general market compared to the cost with the subsidy for the VZ retiree only plan.