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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2247 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 5, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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but am rich enough to not worry about any reasonable health care cost I will ever have to bear.

I don't need or want to know your specific number, but what is the number - in terms of liquid net worth - that must be reached in order to simply pay out of pocket for all reasonable medical care.

This came up for me over the holidays when my mother and father (early and mid 80s, respectively) and I were discussing healthcare costs in the U.S. My father stated that after a lifetime of diligent having-of medical insurance, things would've ended up being more cost-effective with paying out of pocket. What's curious about this is that my mother has been on variety of prescriptions for decades, my father has had surgery twice, and one of my siblings required quite intensive multiple rounds of surgery about 15 years ago. We did not grow up wealthy, but in that even more rare economic zone of "comfortably middle class" (the kind of thing that only baby boomers will ever know).

Is my father's advanced age perhaps playing tricks on his financial memory?

I don't know. 500,000? 1 million? It's definitely a number that a significant percent of Americans have exceeded. Of course, these are the exact people most likely to have generous government or corporate health plans so it's kind of a moot point.

The actual cost of most care is quite low when you strip away the layers of bullshit. Even complicated surgeries like gastic bypass should only cost around $20,000. Routine surgery is more like $5,000. Pretty cheap when compared to the astronomical cost of Obamacare-era health insurance.

I'd gladly forgo insurance except that I'm afraid that I'd either be refused care or charged astronomical sums for routine stuff. Aspirin? That will be $500. Since there appears to be no enforced regulation against unreasonable profiteering, they could theoretically charge me $1 million for an office visit. I suppose I could negotiate and simply refuse to pay unreasonable bills. The question is, how much hassle do I want to deal with.

I'll probably end up dropping insurance for the same reason I've dropped accountants and lawyers from my life: a strong preference to not pay the Danegeld even when it's easier just to do it.

I just want to say, from significant near-to-me experience- it’s very, very easy to call a medical provider and get large markdowns on the bill. They don’t fight you at all.

Thanks. That's helpful. I might just go commando and do it for my family next year. "Honey, hear me out".

But, seriously, yeah I will probably do it. No more paying for fatties, addicts, and gay orgies for this family!

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