Yesterday was the 4th anniversary of my heart attack in 2019. Thankfully, all has been good with my ticker since then.
I recently had a “nuclear stress test” done where they put uranium into you before & during a steep treadmill run. It’s exhausting. The good news is that my numbers were identical to 4 years ago.
The bill for the test just arrived and it was over $4K. I’ve also had some orthopedic therapy in my long-standing Achilles injury (since a May softball game) that has cost me about $1K in bills (and still is sore!)
How much is insurance covering you ask? Nothing so far. We have a $6.3K individual deductible on our Bronze Plan, so we are still about $1K short of insurance kicking in.
Still, I think we just broke even financially on our coverage, compared to a low deductible gold plan. Those drop the deductible to just $1.5K, but they cost $300/month more. That’s $3.6K more per year in premiums for what would have been $3.5K in benefits.
My cardiologist says that he’s “not too worried about me”, so I won’t have another stress test until 2027. That’s probably when I’ll want to go with the lower deductible. I will be 61 years old then – still a bit short of Medicare coverage.
How are you ending the year relative to your insurance deductibles?
Image: AI Fotor
MrFireStation 
I started Medicare this year and am $0 against a $0 deductible Medicare Advantage Plan.
I track my total household expenses, including looking for vampire fees to reduce. My expenses initially increased by around $8,000 primarily due health insurance in 2022 over 2021, because I retired Q4 2021. Next year is forecasted to come in $5,000 under 2021, which is great because it offsets some large increases in fire insurance and electricity.
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$0 against a $0 deductible means you’ve had a very healthy year – good for you! That’s the real wealth we all need.
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You guessed right, I visited a doctor once last year for a physical. The best healthcare is delivered in your own kitchen, the gym, and working with my canine personal trainers on a hike every day,
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Good to hear! Our little canine personal trainer wants 3 walks a day, but they are all pretty short jaunts around our neighborhood!
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“ $6.3M individual deductible”, now that’s an incredible amount 😂
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Oooops!
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We are in year seven of our early retirement. My wife, who has always been very athletic and healthy, learned of a very serious health condition in year three and we’ve been dealing with it since. She is now looking at a likely transplant situation in early 2024. A reminder we should all retire as soon as financially possible because you just never know…
So we have had some significant health issues to navigate in early retirement. Amazingly, we have yet to hit the Bronze ACA maximum out of pocket amount in any of those insuring years, and only maxed the deductible once (this year). However, it’s clear 2024 will be different with her impending surgery. Fortunately, we have been maximizing our HSA(s) for many years and have well positioned ourselves for what is to come. Health insurance is complicated (and crazy) for most, but I’m thankful for what we have had, given our complex situation.
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Did you switch your deductible amount for 2024, since you know you’re going to have higher costs with surgery? I’m guessing an organ transplant – of any kind – has to be incredibly expensive.
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My canine personal trainers expect at least three miles per day. Last week it rained for a couple days, so they didn’t get their miles in. My normally calm female Rottweiler had the zoomies during the evening.
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I’m sure Riley doesn’t get 3 miles. All his 3 walks together equal about an hour, but he stops and smells the roses a lot on his way. 🙂
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We did not. After reviewing higher tier plans the costs of those lower deductibles (and more importantly for us the maximum out of pocket) limits still don’t offset the overall annual cost quite like you’d think they would. In the end, we stayed bronze for our situation. We know we will our max out of pocket this year as a result of the impending surgery. The combination of lower premium and Max OP was the actual trigger for us.
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