The Middle Class Insurance Conundrum

I'm going to share some personal financials with y'all but I do it with a purpose. This is an election year and I encourage everyone to consider something that affects each of us, especially those of us with families: medical insurance costs.

You all know us, healthy young couple with three kids. We have a standard PPO (preferred provider option) plan with a major insurer. Jon's employer covered his costs but we paid out of pocket monthly for four dependents $190.14. This is for a plan with a deductible of $500 per individual or a family deductible of $1500. Each office visit had a co-pay of $20 and we paid 20% out of pocket for a preferred provider and 70% out of pocket for a non-preferred provider.

To give you an idea of what we paid out each year, this year in AUGUST, we have met our family deductible of $1500. We have paid out co-pays of approximately $60 per month ($480) and currently have an outstanding invoice equaling $1005.00 for some cardiology work-ups for Jillian and Eli. We pay an additional approximate $50 per month in misc. costs from the 20% we owe at each visit.

Using these numbers our out of pocket expenses for this year will be somewhere around $5101.00!

And that doesn't include births. I paid around $2000 out of pocket to the hospital and $500 for my OB care and an additonal $500 for anesthesia.

Jon has started a new job and we have a lapse in care for 30 days. COBRA notified me that the per month cost for our family of five will be $1100.00.

This is absolutely ridiculous. And we have "good" plan with "affordable" rates. There are millions of uninsured people in our country and inability to afford a quality plan is one of the top reasons. We make a decent income. I cannot imagine paying $5000 per year on an income our government would deem middle class.

Please consider the financial strain this places on low and middle class income families as you look at the upcoming elections. Listen to the options being presented by the presidential candidates and consider what it means not only for your family but families across America. We are fortunate that while this is an expense that is no fun to pay it does not place financial stress or uncertainty on us. Insurance costs however continue to spiral out of control while insurance companies make it harder and harder for people to qualify. At minimum, families shouldn't face inadequate or no coverage for their children. Medical care should be something affordable and available to the American public and a priority of all elected officials, regardless of political affiliation.