Personal Finance & Money Stack Exchange
Personal Finance & Money Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [health-insurance]

For questions about health insurance policies, including relevant terminology, types of policies, how to evaluate a health insurance policy, etc. Questions should be tagged with a country-specific tag in most cases, e.g. "united-states" or "canada".

465 questions
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For very high-net worth individuals, does it make sense to not have insurance?

Various types of insurance (health, car, life) protect you from relatively low probability but very expensive events in life (cancer, serious car accident, etc.) For the average person, it makes sense to have these kinds of insurance, because we…
minou
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58
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7 answers

Is US health insurance just a terrible deal overall for a healthy young adult?

Since it is open enrollment period, it is once again time for me and my family to review our decisions about our healthcare insurance. These days, there are quite a few nuances to healthcare insurance with things like copays, coinsurance, in/out of…
Melissa P.
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4 answers

How can I get a job without pushing my family's income into a higher tax bracket?

I live in Seattle and turn 18 before the year's end, and I'm told my family has an income such that if I get a job and make more than $1000, then I would push my family into a higher tax bracket. Because of this – according to my parents – our…
Jodast
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33
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2 answers

Do I have to pay a medical bill when the ER never submitted it for an insurance claim?

My husband went into cardiac failure while we were traveling. He was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital ER. I gave his insurance information at the time of service. About a month later, I received a phone call from the billing department…
Donna Lewis
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30
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5 answers

Why do doctors seem to overcharge for services?

What is the rationale for doctors to intentionally overcharge for services, when the doctor (or his service) already know the allowable charge for each procedure. For example, a pathology exam of tissue (code 88305) is charged at 227.60 but the…
BobE
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30
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2 answers

Insuring body parts

In the past few months I have injured my hands 4 times since I started playing basketball. One break was particularly bad and I wasn't able to use that hand for programming. This slowed down my work during the period that I was healing. I also get…
Jerome
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25
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8 answers

Dental insurance isn't really a type of insurance?

The central tenet of insurance is to pay slightly more on average while getting protected from paying very large amounts of money should disaster strike. In essence it's paying a premium to lower risk. A large company can pool risk, so it doesn't…
Kevin Kostlan
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24
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3 answers

Health insurance coverage canceled due to mistake. Can it be corrected?

My medical insurance coverage through my spouse's employer was terminated because my spouse mistakenly checked the wrong box during the annual open enrollment. I've been on my husband's insurance plan for five years and nothing should have changed.…
B Thomas
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23
votes
4 answers

Where can I get my girlfriend health insurance?

I have a girlfriend, she is not working, but in college at the moment. We live together, but are unmarried and have no kids. I have a considerable income of about $60k annually. We tried Medicaid, but it's been over 3 months and she has so far she…
needoriginalname
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3 answers

Doctor won't let me self-pay because I've "already presented" them my insurance card?

My doctor's cash price is lower than the insurance price. Since I likely won't hit my deductible this year I asked to switch to self-pay. They told me they are "not allowed" since I have "already presented" them with my insurance card. Is this…
Derek Fulton
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21
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3 answers

Is it mandatory to have health insurance?

Is it mandatory to have health insurance? Assuming that I contribute $200 monthly, which for 12 months is costing me around $2400, and don't use the insurance, then having only FSA with a fixed amount would save a lot on my pay check. So, can…
goofyui
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21
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7 answers

Are the HSA and FSA bad deals?

As I understand it, the HSA and FSA accounts are intended to provide individuals with a way of not paying tax on money they spent on healthcare. The individual sets up the account to receive a portion of their income every month, and this portion is…
Melissa P.
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19
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2 answers

Laid off. Had FSA overages that I wasn't aware of. Can they collect?

I was abruptly laid off, and I wasn't aware of the FSA overages until after my departure. I realize I'll sound like a weasel, but can they collect? They paid out more than the annual limit and they have sent an email asking for the funds back.
user68552
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19
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3 answers

Can I use an HSA to pay off medical debts incurred before the HSA was funded?

Let's say that in year A I had a medical insurance plan without an associated health savings account, and incurred some medical expenses (co-pays, deductibles). I didn't pay them that year; they may even have gone to collection. In year B, I'm…
david
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19
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2 answers

"Out of Pocket Maximum" and health insurance plan terminology & calculation?

I'm trying to understand the terminology on my health plan. I've read numerous websites, which have only confused me more, as they fail to use examples (more than one should be required) for people trying to understand this tricky terminology. I…
Question3CPO
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