115
votes
Accepted
How can I get a job without pushing my family's income into a higher tax bracket?
The tax return of a dependent does not flow to the parents return. Earned income is taxed at your own rate, up to $12,000 tax free. for your own standard deduction, but unearned income is taxed at ...
112
votes
Is US health insurance just a terrible deal overall for a healthy young adult?
The goal of the health insurance decision is probably the same for everyone: Get a reasonable amount and quality of healthcare services for the lowest total cost.
I'd disagree with that goal. The ...
- 125k
107
votes
For very high-net worth individuals, does it make sense to not have insurance?
I think the key to this question is your last sentence, because it's applicable to everyone, high net-worth or not:
How would one determine whether they are better off without insurance?
In ...
- 41.4k
89
votes
How can I get a job without pushing my family's income into a higher tax bracket?
To be clear, this has nothing to do with tax brackets. (There's a longstanding belief that getting into a higher income bracket will increase taxes on all your income, when that bracket just applies ...
- 4,333
76
votes
Why is the monthly premium of one medical insurance plan over TWENTY times of another?
Without reading both company's benefit plan materials in detail, it is impossible to know for sure.
My wager, however, is that your partner's company pays a much larger share of the premium amount ...
- 25.1k
75
votes
Accepted
For very high-net worth individuals, does it make sense to not have insurance?
Yes, and the math that tells you when is called the Kelly Criterion.
The Kelly Criterion is on its face about how much you should bet on a positive-sum game.
Imagine you have a game where you flip a ...
- 3,083
69
votes
Accepted
Insuring body parts
You can get insurance for most anything, individual body parts included.
It's not particularly difficult, but you may find the bill disagreeable. The more specialized your coverage the smaller the ...
- 67.9k
60
votes
Is it mandatory to have health insurance?
The individual mandate is still in effect for 2018, which means you have to have qualifying health coverage or pay a fine--I can't find the penalties for 2018 but for 2017 it was the greater of 2.5% ...
- 14.9k
51
votes
For very high-net worth individuals, does it make sense to not have insurance?
There are 2 maxims that help make sense of insurance:
never insure anything you can afford to replace
always insure anything you can't afford to lose
Following those 2 rules, "normal" insurance ...
- 2,992
46
votes
Are the HSA and FSA bad deals?
So who are these accounts for? What kind of person would look at an FSA or HSA account and think, "that's a great deal"?
FSA: Those who have recurring expenses, or planned procedures this ...
- 47k
39
votes
Accepted
Dental insurance isn't really a type of insurance?
Why are companies passing on so much risk to individuals, when they don't do so for other types of insurance such as houses that can cost upwards of a million?
Because houses don't routinely go on ...
- 154k
31
votes
Is US health insurance just a terrible deal overall for a healthy young adult?
There are three reasons for the unattractiveness of your options:
(1) The US has been experiencing extraordinarily severe healthcare inflation for generations. In 1980 our spending as fraction of GDP ...
- 375
30
votes
Do I have to pay a medical bill when the ER never submitted it for an insurance claim?
Waiting two years is weird. However it's possible that this whole thing got a 15-month "pause" because of the pandemic, and that would make the timing more plausible.
Regardless, do not let ...
27
votes
Accepted
Short term health insurance between jobs
COBRA continuation is likely not the optimal move at this time. Employer-sponsored coverage subsidized by an employer, unless the available plans are absolutely awful, will likely result in a lower ...
- 3,644
26
votes
Is there any upside in keeping a physical copy of one's health insurance membership card in the United States, or is a scan of it enough?
This should normally be fine, most insurance companies contracts allow you present your card in physical or digital form.
Additionally there is no law requiring a physical card.
However this can ...
- 1,886
25
votes
Do I have to pay a medical bill when the ER never submitted it for an insurance claim?
In addition to Harper's answer, if the insurance company also gives you the runaround, here are some reasonable next steps:
Write down everything. Focus on the facts; don't editorialize or write your ...
- 496
24
votes
For very high-net worth individuals, does it make sense to not have insurance?
The point of insurance is to trade high variable costs for much lower fixed costs. The question isn't whether you can afford what would be a catastrophic event for anyone else, but whether it would be ...
- 32.6k
24
votes
Can I take the self employment healthcare deduction if I get my insurance through my employer?
The amount the employee pays for health insurance premiums is not included in your W-2 Box 1 income. As a result, it is automatically deducted, and you do not pay tax on that portion of your income. ...
24
votes
Do birth defects in children count as pre-existing conditions?
No. Since 2014, the concept of pre-existing conditions affecting coverage or rates no longer exists in the US:
Under current law, health insurance companies can’t refuse to cover you or charge you ...
- 47k
23
votes
Health insurance coverage canceled due to mistake. Can it be corrected?
HR told us nothing could be done to correct it. Is this true?
Probably not. I think it helps that only 11 days (now 12) has passed since coverage ended. It's possible the (incorrect) premium hasn't ...
- 47k
23
votes
Where can I get my girlfriend health insurance?
She should check with her school. They may offer low cost insurance coverage. I had an ex who years ago got her insurance through her college. I don't remember if it covered the year or the semester, ...
- 3,014
23
votes
How can I get a job without pushing my family's income into a higher tax bracket?
I feel like it's worth talking about the "tax bracket" part of this question, as it's a common misconception.
Let's suppose we're dealing with a simple tax system with two brackets: 20% up to $100,...
- 531
20
votes
Laid off. Had FSA overages that I wasn't aware of. Can they collect?
Possibility 1: Reimbursement exceeds contributions
You elect to contribute $1,200 to the FSA ($100 a month).
In February, you submit $2,000 worth of expenses. You are reimbursed $1,200.
In March, ...
- 5,097
20
votes
Laid off. Had FSA overages that I wasn't aware of. Can they collect?
It depends on what you mean by “overages.”
FSA plans have a feature called “uniform coverage.” When you sign up for the plan with your employer, you are signing up for coverage up to a certain dollar ...
20
votes
Accepted
Can I afford to take this job's high-deductible health care plan?
My opinion is that, in general, the HDHP+HSA is usually a better option for both the employee and employer than a traditional health plan. But of course, the details vary.
Besides knowing the premium ...
20
votes
Is US health insurance just a terrible deal overall for a healthy young adult?
You don't have any chronic health issues... yet. You can find out tomorrow that the genetic lottery has given you some sort of rare genetic defect. You can get cancer at any time, you can get in a car ...
- 335
19
votes
Accepted
Can you just cancel a health insurance plan and buy a new one at any time?
In the United States you only have two ways to switch insurance:
during an annual open season
in the period around a qualifying life event.
This is to force people to maintain their level of ...
- 129k
18
votes
Is it mandatory to have health insurance?
I see this sort of misconception flying around. "Well the health insurance takes my money, makes a profit, and pays me only if I need it, otherwise I 'lose' money. Clearly, I would be better off ...
- 1,121
18
votes
Accepted
What is the purpose of putting funds into an HSA when the interest rate is so low?
The HSA for most people, is a way to take pretax money and be able to use it for healthcare. No 7.5%/10% floor or need to itemize taxes in any way. It’s available based on the health plan you have, ...
18
votes
Where can I get my girlfriend health insurance?
Coverage under the Affordable Care Act can only be obtained during the Open Enrollment Period, which next starts November 1st, 2018. There are a few exceptions to this, though, such as getting married ...
- 764
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible