Hillary: People who refuse to buy health insurance may have wages garnished

[GaryC 7]

Its a crooked business.

No, not crooked. Just terribly inconsistent across accounts and very very political.

But is there any realistic way that a prospective customer can find out about this before they sign up to an employer sponsored health program?

Or do you only find out the hard way when things start getting denied?

I was given a book about 3/4 of an inch thick that explained everything in great detail. My insurance excludes pre-existing conditions for 1 year. After that it's all covered.

Of course a lot can happen in the course of that year.

Thats where my medical savings account comes into play.

True - but from what I've seen a lot of those accounts are pretty bad value. First, can a person save enough money in the short term to cover anything major during the 'qualifying period', and second, with a lot of those you actually lose the money if you don't use it within a given time period.

With mine you sign up for it at the open enrollment period for a specific amount. From that moment you have in your account what you signed up for. For example, the max is $3000/per person for my plan. In January I signed up for a $3000 savings account. That day I had $3000 available to me. Each payday they took out (pre-tax) $115. I can use the money for any medical expense I wish. It is true that you lose the money at the end of the year. Our secretary used hers to get RK for her eyes at the end of the year so it isn't hard to find something useful to spend the leftovers on.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Its a crooked business.

No, not crooked. Just terribly inconsistent across accounts and very very political.

But is there any realistic way that a prospective customer can find out about this before they sign up to an employer sponsored health program?

Or do you only find out the hard way when things start getting denied?

I was given a book about 3/4 of an inch thick that explained everything in great detail. My insurance excludes pre-existing conditions for 1 year. After that it's all covered.

Of course a lot can happen in the course of that year.

Thats where my medical savings account comes into play.

True - but from what I've seen a lot of those accounts are pretty bad value. First, can a person save enough money in the short term to cover anything major during the 'qualifying period', and second, with a lot of those you actually lose the money if you don't use it within a given time period.

With mine you sign up for it at the open enrollment period for a specific amount. From that moment you have in your account what you signed up for. For example, the max is $3000/per person for my plan. In January I signed up for a $3000 savings account. That day I had $3000 available to me. Each payday they took out (pre-tax) $115. I can use the money for any medical expense I wish. It is true that you lose the money at the end of the year. Our secretary used hers to get RK for her eyes at the end of the year so it isn't hard to find something useful to spend the leftovers on.

It wouldn't be such a bad deal to me if the money didn't "time out". Personally I don't think there's any reason why you should forfeit money you pay into a programme like that, just because you don't use it by so and so.

[no name 1]

It wouldn't be such a bad deal to me if the money didn't "time out". Personally I don't think there's any reason why you should forfeit money you pay into a programme like that, just because you don't use it by so and so.

Exactly why most opt out of it.