I know you’re asking about the US, but for comparison:
In Sweden it’s a flat 3.55% of your labor income, so about €100-200 a month for most people, and usually caps out at €200 for people doing tax planning. In either case, it’s paid by your employer so you don’t have to think about the cost.
Out of pocket yearly maximum is €145 for Healthcare and €380 for prescriptions (which was raised 30% this year by the far-right coalition 😑). Dental care is also mostly covered by insurance, but there’s a co-insurance between 50% and 15%.
InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 2 days ago
In the USA, shit’s so convoluted that it’s highly debatable whether average price is relevant. But, also, good luck finding someone willing to track that info down, assuming it even exists.
The costs depend on what state you live in, whether you’re getting insurance through your employer or the open market, whether you’re getting family or individual coverage, and a myriad other factors.
For insurance through your employer – The employer usually gets a group discount on a set of plans that range from shitty coverage to slightly less shitty, a range of costs based on how much the employer is willing to pay for each plan as a “benefit” to employees, and whatever other add-ons the employee selects (ex: dental, vision).
I don’t have average data, but I’ve paid as little as $50 a month for employer sponsored insurance, but it was the shittiest shit tier of insurance that was basically worthless (and that was over a decade ago). For my last few employers, the employee paid part of the plans seemed to be in the $200 to $400 range, again depending on the plan and the options selected.
For open market – This is even more complicated and complex. But basically everybody can get it through some version of what’s known as Obamacare or ACA. Costs and plans available vary from state to state. Technically, individuals are on the hook for the entire cost of the plans. In my area, when I last checked, there were a few options as low as $350 USD (but they were utterly terrible) to $2,500+ USD for ultra-premium plans. The caveat here is that the cost of these plans is partly based on income. So, in my state, basically everybody making below $60,000 USD (or so) gets a discounted rate (or rebate on taxes at the end of the year), such that people in the lowest income bracket can get health insurance for free or close to it.
Cost-wise, there’s a different price for individual insurance versus family coverage. Usually the family coverage is priced so that it’s a bit cheaper per person than getting separate individual plans, but even then there are exceptions. Family plans tend to have a shared max out of pocket and deductible (which are basically the annual limits on what you pay) that’s higher than the individual plan.
grrgyle@slrpnk.net 11 hours ago
Thanks for taking the time to explain all that.
I’m really sorry you have to deal with that.
I’m bad at personal admin, so I would be so lost if I had to manage my own healthcare logistics. It really is a crime what rich people put you through over there.
PotatoLibre@feddit.it 1 day ago
Thx for the answer!
Is there many tiers or you can chose between 2/4 steps (like basic-normal-premium)?
Sconrad122@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Depends on whether you are buying insurance in the general marketplace or through your employer. The general marketplace might have several dozen options depending on your state. An employer might offer 1-6 options, the selection of which will be different per employer. They vary not just in level of benefits/cost but also where the risk/cost is (high deductible plans mean cost is paid largely as you use medical services. Traditional plans will tend to weight more of the cost in your monthly premiums for a generally more narrow band of potential total out-of-pocket costs, although there are plenty of exceptions to that rule). Different plan structures will also have different methods available for you to cover co-pays and deductibles with money that you put in tax-advantage accounts like HSAs and FSAs. Different employers will have different selections, so one company’s “basic” option might have coverage more in-line with another company’s “normal” option. They will also have different rates depending on the size of the company and the amount the company contributes to the plans, so a comparable pair of plans in terms of benefits could easily triple or more in price between the two of them if they are offered by different employers. Different companies will have different open periods where you can select your coverage for the year (also the time when coverage prices and benefits can be changed by the provider, so you have to pay attention even if you like your current plan). These open periods can range from a month-long with a month’s worth of notice to review the plan options for the next year to a week long with no prior notice (and that week is often scheduled right around the holidays when folks have lots of other thimgs going on). It’s a mess here, do not let your government do anything that makes your system more like ours
PotatoLibre@feddit.it 13 hours ago
Woow, seems quite complicated from here. 😐