2012 Health Insurance

This years health insurance cost is taking $86.12 out of j's paycheck each week. We pay $86.12 a week for a family of three just to say we have health insurance, and we're lucky. We have insurance, and thanks to healthcare reform, it won't stop because I've reached some predetermined number by businessmen. It would be nice if this was our sole cost, but that's where the nickel and diming begins. We have a $500 deductible, which makes us ineligible for any pre-tax health savings plan, which are available for high-deductible plans. Then we have co-insurance, where the company pays 80 and we pay 20 of costs, up to $4000, which we hit early. For most families. This would be great for the average family, and often, having this co-insurance guarantees insurance companies never pay the full cost of treatment even though you pay 86.12 weekly. But we're not the average family, we are a sick one. The $4000 co-insurance bills will be flooding our mailbox by Feb. To be one of the "fortunate" Americans with health care, we will pay $86.12x 52 weeks or $4478.26+ $500 deductable + $4000 co-insurance equaling the MINIMUM amount we'll pay for health coverage: $8978.25. Of course, this doesn't include visit co-pays: $25 a specialist and $15 for primary care. It doesn't include co-pays for medications. Adding these two categories alone our health costs have reached $10000 for 2012. If only we were healthy, that $10000 could go towards one great vacation, but we are, so what does the insurance company do with all that money?
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