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Comment by dnewms | Hacker News Reader

For anecdotes: I've had a HDHP before ACA, started at about $45/mo now up to about $60/mo with an outrageously high $12.5k or so deductible.

I've had two different DPC, one about $45/mo, now with one about $30/mo.

Both combined are still less than I would pay in any marketplace.

It's nice to be able to just see your doctor without worrying what it might cost. A large list of simple procedures are covered, and tests cost next to nothing. It's a health subscription to an actual doctor who can be just as cost-conscious as you are while still incredibly knowledgable and invested in your health.

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> Both combined are still less than I would pay in any marketplace.

That might be as cheap as you can get for your out-of-pocket costs in any US healthcare marketplace, but that's one of, if not the most expensive in the world.

Factoring in the externalities is impossible, so it's an unfair comparison, but going to a doctor in Sweden costs ~$10, specialists are $30, and ER visits are $50, and after you've paid ~$120 in a year, all other visits (eg major surgery) are covered. On top of that, overnight hospital stays are capped at $10/night.

It's great that there's a bit of a loophole in the system for people that can afford to have a $12.5k deductable, but it's not for everybody.

I pay 780$/mo for a plan with a $13k max out of pocket. Where on earth are you getting 45$ ?

UnitedHealthcare -- though my plan may have been grandfathered in to be acceptable under ACA.

What state and how old are you? That seems insanely cheap compared every plan I've seen (high deductible or otherwise).

<30 midwest

Is this health insurance purchased via your employer? If so, is your employer subsidizing it?

Double digit premiums sound ridiculous, even for a male in their 20s. As a data point, I'm a <30 male, never been to a doctor with no health issues that I can tell, and my HDHP premium is $310ish, last year it was $275ish, but that's using healthcare.gov so completely unsubsidized, and I have a deductible of $1,500/$2,500 and out of pocket max of $3,600/$6,550 for their tier 1/tier 2 providers, respectively (whatever that means).

Note that GP had a much higher deductible.

Nope - the last workplace-provided insurance I had was my parents.

Notice the 12.5k is the deductible. The max out of pocket is likely much higher.

Since it was grandfathered in it doesn't have to offer all the benefits of the ACA.

I'm not sure if a grandfathered plan can have a maximum payout, but if it does that would explain the low cost.

Years ago I had a plan like this, it was cheap because they'd only pay a maximum 100k per year.

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