Aflac

noffgurl · October 2014

Has anyone had it, is it worth it? I don't currently have insurance. . .

Xstatic3333 · October 2014

For what kind of insurance?

noffgurl · October 2014

We had a presentation at work, and I guess it's not exactly "insurance". They are more of a cash benefits when something happens that you can do with what you want. There are several items they will pay you for and the offer term life insurance as well. I'm just not sure if it's worth it. They do things like pay you $25 for a physician visit and higher amounts for the worse things.

als1982 · October 2014

When you say you don't have insurance, what do you mean? Health? Homeowners/renters? Life?

If you're talking about health insurance, you really must have that. And homeowners/renters too. Life is important if you have dependents that rely on your income.

The insurance Aflac pushes shouldn't be prioritized over those others, and frankly, I've actually heard mostly negative reviews of their product.

noffgurl · October 2014

I don't have health or life, DH does but it was too expensive to add me on. My employer is just now offering Aflac, they don't offer anything else. Insurance is just so expensive, especially with being young and healthy I don't really use it. For physicals and what not it's cheaper to pay cash up front. But with Obamacare regulations coming up at tax time, I know we can cover the penalty this year because it will only be $900, but it's going to just about double the next year and even more the year after.

smerka · October 2014

First of all, you either don't understand how the tax penalty is calculated or you make $90,000 a year. And if you make $90,000 a year, you have a spending problem and/or a priorities problem because health insurance should be one of those things you need. Here's the info. http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-individual-mandate.php If you are married with no kids and both you and your husband make about the same amount, I can see where you wouldn't need life insurance. I have not heard good things about Aflac. Not that isn't legit, just that it's not worth the money. Saving for your own emergency fund would probably be a better use of your money.

als1982 · October 2014

noffgurl said:

I don't have health or life, DH does but it was too expensive to add me on. My employer is just now offering Aflac, they don't offer anything else. Insurance is just so expensive, especially with being young and healthy I don't really use it. For physicals and what not it's cheaper to pay cash up front. But with Obamacare regulations coming up at tax time, I know we can cover the penalty this year because it will only be $900, but it's going to just about double the next year and even more the year after.

The entire point of any insurance is the hope that you're never/rarely going to need it, but that it's there in case you do.

So say you buy Aflac, and you trip and injure yourself, requiring surgery and a short inpatient stay, Aflac may cover your daily expenses and bills incurred by your being out of work, but who is going to cover the thousands of dollars incurred from an ambulance ride, ER visit, radiology costs, anesthesia, surgical and hospital bills? Either that's going to bankrupt you, or the rest of end up paying for it through increased cost of care.

If you can afford to pay the penalties and consider buying an Aflac policy, you should be able to afford a health insurance policy with a high-deductible (even $5,000 is still going to be less than the cost of what's listed above). Like all insurance, health is an investment in your financial well-being. Plus, it's just the right thing to do.

noffgurl · October 2014

@Smerka- This is what we were taught when I was taking the H&R Block Tax course.

Xstatic3333 · October 2014

Ditto PPs-please, please, please get health insurance. You may not need it now, but all it takes is something relatively minor (my healthy SMIL just had a $15,000 kidney stone without insurance) to derail all of your hard work getting out of debt.

Go on the exchange and just get the cheapest plan you qualify for. You can't afford NOT to. Another option, if you're Christian, is these faith-based cost sharing organizations that are cheaper than exchange plans in some states. I don't know a ton about them but they are another option.

Skip the Aflac but please get health insurance. It would be #1 priority for me after food, clothes, walls, and transportation, and I'm also young and healthy.

ETA How is your job allowed to not offer health insurance? Is it a small number of employees, or are you part time?

noffgurl · October 2014

I'm full time but we only have about 21 employees.

hoffse · October 2014

I agree with PP's. If you're young and healthy, look for a high deductible plan. Then if the worst case scenario happens, you might have to find or finance $5,000 (for your deductible) vs. $50,000+ (for the entire bill).

Health insurance is cheapest when you use it as true insurance. In other words, you aren't dipping into it all the time to pay for routine doctor's visits. As a young and healthy person, you have the benefit of being able to use it in this manner, and that should save you money. Unless you know you will be having large medical bills coming up (due to poor medical history, pregnancy, etc.) cadillac insurance plans are usually not the best option.

FWIW, H and I both have high-deductible plans. If we were both injured in the same car accident, it would cost us a pretty penny to cover both deductibles at once. But it's a hell of a lot cheaper than if we were paying fully out of pocket for that medical care because we did not have health insurance at all. I also hit about half my deductible each year just based on the BC I use because I buy a pretty expensive one (the only one I've found that doesn't make me crazy).

But yeah, the point of insurance is to cover you in "oh crap" moments. Even if you are young and healthy, there's always a risk of getting injured unexpectedly. THAT is what you need to be looking to insure against. It's really not meant to be a source of funds you dip into on a frequent basis. People who do use their insurance as a regular source of funds (for whatever reason) tend to pay way WAY more than those who don't.

hoffse · October 2014

And honestly, as a young/healthy person I would look into life insurance. It's really REALLY cheap. It also tends to be cheaper for women than men, unless you have some history that would flag you (smoking is a good example).

I pay about $13/month for mine. H pays $14.50. I am turning 28 next week, and H just turned 27. Each policy is for $500K.

Think hard about whether you need it or not. We bought ours about a year before we really needed it just because of the price we were offered through the state bar association. Now that we own a house, we absolutely DO need those policies. We can afford the house on a single income, but it would be tough, and I can't imagine trying to do it while grieving. So right now, we each have enough for the other to pay off the house, all the student loans (because most of our loans are financed through my parents, and we would want to pay them back in full even in the event of death), burial expenses, to take an unpaid leave of absence for a few months, and to have a modest - though reasonable - nest egg going forward.

If we have children, we will need to buy more.

strickland8052 · October 2014

Please please please go buy health insurance for yourself. You need it. I have a friend who didn't get health insurance because "he was young and healthy", but then he ended up in the ER with excruciating stomach pain. Two surgeries and five days in the hospital later, and he owes $120,000. This incident happened 7 years ago, and he has barely put a dent in that bill. Regardless of how young and health you are, you never know what could happen.

On top of that, (I don't mean to be rude, because you probably just never thought about it this way), but not having health insurance is incredibly irresponsible and a drain on society. People like my friend, who rack up outrageous medical bills with no way to ever repay the hospital, are a big part of the reason why health insurance and medical care is so costly. The ER can't turn you away so you get treated, but then someone has to pay for that. Ultimately the hospital has to raise the costs on everyone, which means insurance companies raise premiums for those of us who do make health insurance a priority.

*Stepping off soap box

Shop around for health insurance on the exchange or consider a policy through H's employer. You should be able to get a high deducible policy for a decent amount. Do not get Aflac until you can afford health insurance. Better yet... cut cable, cut smart phones, don't eat out, raise deductibles on your car/home insurance... do everything you have to do to get health insurance. It is that important.

blondie42107 · October 2014

Ditto getting health insurance.

My kiddo had a "simple" trip to the ER for 5 stitches. $900 pre-insurance. A few years ago my husband was doing some work in our bathroom and cut his hand. That ER visit was about $500 before insurance - no stitches, just glue and a tetanus shot.

smerka · October 2014

noffgurl said:

@Smerka- This is what we were taught when I was taking the H&R Block Tax course.

You were taught wrong or misunderstood. The calculations are pretty simple and it's whichever is larger. Your husband does not have to pay the penalty, just you. And if you get insurance by December (the insurance exchanges reopen on November 15th), you only pay penalty on 11 months instead of 12. As I understand it, the IRS hasn't figured out how it will get reported or they haven't revealed the plan yet. If I had to guess, they are waiting until the mid-term elections are over and we know who is going to be in control of the senate. Either way, the responsible thing to do is get some health insurance.

brij2006 · October 2014

Priority #1, get health insurance! Google "Independent Insurance Agent" in your area, call them up, and get quotes. Then get it set up to go with the policy during open enrollment. Have them quote ones with high deductibles with or without an HSA attached to it.

If your penalty this year is $900, then that means you make $90k. There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to find the money in your income to pay for health insurance.

Aflac is a waste of money. It's called an emergency fund, and you're better off.

noffgurl · October 2014

Combined we only make $35k ish, the $900 I got was from when I was in class at H&R Block. We had to learn it for doing peoples taxes, they showed us the penalty schedule. 2014 was a standard $900, 2015 $1600, 2016 $2500, and beyond that will be based on inflation.

Xstatic3333 · October 2014

noffgurl said:

Combined we only make $35k ish, the $900 I got was from when I was in class at H&R Block. We had to learn it for doing peoples taxes, they showed us the penalty schedule. 2014 was a standard $900, 2015 $1600, 2016 $2500, and beyond that will be based on inflation.

I bet you would qualify for ACA subsidies making $35ish combined-although, if your husband's work could cover you that messes that up a bit. *Not an ACA expert and I know it's complicated stuff*.

brij2006 · October 2014

noffgurl said:

Combined we only make $35k ish, the $900 I got was from when I was in class at H&R Block. We had to learn it for doing peoples taxes, they showed us the penalty schedule. 2014 was a standard $900, 2015 $1600, 2016 $2500, and beyond that will be based on inflation.

All of which will be changed. Sorry, but H&R Block is pretty incorrect at their statement.

In 2014 it is $95(per person) or 1% of your income, whichever is greater.

So the penalty isn't bad this year, but the aftermath of having something major happen and not having health insurance is even greater than that $95 penalty. It doesn't matter if you get a policy with a $5k deductible that costs $150/month, get something.

Also, if you only make $35k/ year combined, then you will qualify for some assistance from the ACA. The range for 2013 was $15,510 - $62,040 for a family of 2. Of course the range for 2014 has not been released yet, because it's a government program and we all know how those go about a timely manner. But it should only be slightly increased (likely 3%) this year.

So your best bet is to get onto the Marketplace and put a quote together. You will not be able to get the insurance until the open enrollment period, but you will likely qualify for assistance.

brij2006 · October 2014

Hopefully this shows up okay, but this is directly from Healthcare.gov

At least the government has something right..... "People without health coverage will also have to pay the entire cost of all their medical care. They won't be protected from the kind of very high medical bills that can sometimes lead to bankruptcy."
This statement is 100% true. There's a study out there that says 95% of the uninsured people file bankruptcy within a 5 year timeframe of having just a simple procedure done.

Put yourself in this situation. Let's say you need to have emergency surgery to remove your appendix (something that comes along quickly with no signs of it coming). The cost of that is $20,000-$25,000. If your annual income is $35,000, how long will it take for you to get that procedure paid off?

I'll get off my soapbox now..... moral to the story, get insured!

smerka · October 2014

If your class isn't over yet, please ask your instructor to review this. Otherwise ask another tax pro. That information is not correct. This might help. http://taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/acacalculator.cfm

cupcait927 · October 2014

Just throwing this out there - there are AFLAC plans that require you to have major medical insurance in order to even sign up. So you may not even qualify to enroll in the AFLAC plan if you don't have medical insurance. AFLAC is not insurance, it's simply meant to help with certain out of pocket expenses related to accidents, cancer or other specified disease, etc.

If you want to talk to someone face to face about the healthcare exchange, you can go to www.healthcare.gov. You should be able to use the site to find a navigator in your area that can go through all of the exchange information with you, tell you if you qualify for a subsidy, etc. Or just google ACA navigator in xyz state and you should be able to find a listing of locations that have navigators. Most likely you won't qualify for a subsidy if your H has access to coverage (even though you're not on it), but it's worth it to look at your options. You might be young and healthy but what happens if you get into a car accident? Or if you fall and break a bone? Or one of the other million things that could happen to you that are outside of your control? You need health insurance. Period.

*I work for an insurance broker so I have some knowledge on these things

vlagrl29 · October 2014

We are on ACA. But I think with your spouse having access to health insurance, I don't think you would qualify. You can always call and find out. Otherwise your best bet IMO, is just to buy a policy for yourself only and go with a high deductible plan since you say you are healthy and never use it. You can get quotes if you call blue cross, coventry, whichever company you are interested in. They have agents that work there specifically for this.

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