My wife carries our insurance through her employer (or should I say we carry his insurance through her employment) and it costs us $10,000 to $12,000 a year. No #$%*! Her's is the "cheap" part but the coverage for the family is the expensive part. Her employer could pay more but he gives a good salary. She got a $1 per hour raise and the insurance went up $2 an hour. The problem I have with "family coverage" is that family means myself and our daughter. If we had 20 kids it would cost the same. Can you say "INSURANCE REFORM IS NEEDED"?
Roger that. My wife's alone is $500/month for $2500 deductible, then 40% coverage until $8000, then 50% coverage over that, no limits. Drug copay is $600/year, then %40 coverage, if generic (they don't make any of her meds, like Humulin insulin, in generic, though). I recently joined a 700-person company group, now it only costs me $440/month (this year), decent coverage, for the first time in 19 years. I still owe $18k on past medical bills, so I work 3 jobs to pay it down!
..and make & sell parts for old Hondas, job #4...
One reform that makes too much sense for anyone in positions of power: let small businesses that are in similar activity (like machine shops, or auto shops, or bike shops, or pharmacists, etc.) join into a larger, say, statewide group so they can have a policy of some sort and a rate that makes some sort of sense.
