Healthcare in retirement

[plantoretire]

Husband and I are in early 40's. I am currently planning to work for another 10 years if I can and I usually carry insurance as husband is self-employed.

Just wondering what are the options once we retire and plan to split time between India and US. It will be a while before Medicare kicks in.

Do we need to budget some money in our HSA accounts to cover healthcare expenses for later on?

With all friends in the same age group, feels like no one has a good idea how things work.

[okonomi]

....feels like no one has a good idea how things work.

Yes; no one has a good idea how things would turn out.
Hopefully Obamacare would get tweaked to become better. or NOT.
And worse yet, Medicare could be privatized..... when it goes bankrupt.
After the election of 2016, there is even a planned exodus to Canada. When that happens we will all be covered under their NHS.
No need for any HSA.

Vote for Bernie Sanders, and budget money for HSA.

[techynt]

I am hoping that we can buy insurance from Obamacare for those days we are in USA. When in India you are on your own, I have not heard about anything over there like "health insurance as in usa", anybody knows anything?

Husband and I are in early 40's. I am currently planning to work for another 10 years if I can and I usually carry insurance as husband is self-employed.

Just wondering what are the options once we retire and plan to split time between India and US. It will be a while before Medicare kicks in.

Do we need to budget some money in our HSA accounts to cover healthcare expenses for later on?

With all friends in the same age group, feels like no one has a good idea how things work.

[okonomi]

I am hoping that we can buy insurance from Obamacare for those days we are in USA. When in India you are on your own, I have not heard about anything over there like "health insurance as in usa", anybody knows anything?

funny !

[cmk786]

One of the main reason why I changed my mind retiring in India. Is because of the medical coverage in India. There is a day light difference when compared to the kind of coverage we have in US. Especially for people like me who is working for US govt and who has post retirement coverage through the employer which is almost similar to what we have now when working. Neither coverage in India is good nor the treatments when comes to hospitalization. To get US kind of treatment in India. Even if it exists it will be very expensive and will be out of reach for a common man.

[FB2020]

I've been exploring this too, but obamacare is the one option that's possible as of now. Who knows if that will change later.

There is a freelancers group that provides group ins for freelancers. don't know much but you can google it.

Another way was one spouse to take up a part-time (at home) job just as tech support, cust service etc. that provides med insurance.
they don't pay much, but if you want to retire than you should have enough saved up I guess.
Just read this option in one of the forums online, but not sure how much would this sustain.

Husband and I are in early 40's. I am currently planning to work for another 10 years if I can and I usually carry insurance as husband is self-employed.

Just wondering what are the options once we retire and plan to split time between India and US. It will be a while before Medicare kicks in.

Do we need to budget some money in our HSA accounts to cover healthcare expenses for later on?

With all friends in the same age group, feels like no one has a good idea how things work.

[Old-Spice2]

Husband and I are in early 40's. I am currently planning to work for another 10 years if I can and I usually carry insurance as husband is self-employed.

Just wondering what are the options once we retire and plan to split time between India and US. It will be a while before Medicare kicks in.

Do we need to budget some money in our HSA accounts to cover healthcare expenses for later on?

With all friends in the same age group, feels like no one has a good idea how things work.

I know someone in Bay Area similar to your profile. Husband in mid-50s works as a contractor, so no employer insurance. Wife works as a teacher and gets 50% premium reimbursed by school. She is working for the insurance. They pay $2400 per month for four and $1200 out of pocket after school coverage. Husband has 10+ years to go before medicare. He is worried what if the school does a cut back and wife loses her job. Their kids are still in college and HS, so r2i is ruled out. Employer paid insurance is the best with min out of pocket expense.

Don't listen to cmk786, he has govt paid insurance. If you retire from govt or military then you don't have to worry.

For folks in private sector it is a nightmare to fork out $2K per month once you are in 50s. Obamacare is a fraud. I want Trump to close it down. When I tried to buy insurance through the exchange, I found the difference between Obamacare and e-Healthinsurance (private) was hardly $10 per month. Affordable care in USA, my left foot! Healthcare can never be affordable in US since the underlying hospital, doctors and the system is the same with malpractice insurance and hordes of lawyers waiting to pounce on. Unless US govt starts running hospital system like NHS, forget about affordable medical care for middle class. Just pray you do not get rich man's disease like heart attack, cancer etc.

Have enough money saved up to budget $2K per month plus any out of pocket expense if you get into a hospital. Otherwise work till 65, get employer coverage and switch over to medicare after that. Even medicare covers only 80%. If you have a surgery and bill comes to $100K, you have to shell out $20K. For that money+copay+deductible you can get treatment in a nice hospital in India.

There are tonnes of articles in US newspaper how 70+ year old white Americans are thinking of moving to India as they are unable to meet the bills from their savings and SS payment. You need at least $2-$4M saved up if you want to retire in USA and able to meet hospital bills for yourself and spouse. It is not just medical bills, you have to fund LT care and nursing bill also which is a separate expense item.

Splitting time between US/India is the option after 65 and if you enroll into medicare. Remember with medicare you have to pay monthly premium ranging from $100-200 for all the A-Z Plan. Then you have the problem certain doctors do not accept medicare patients. I see Kaiser in BA survives on oldies with medicare.

Life in America is good as long as you have good company paid insurance and you are healthy. There are lot of horror stories with treatment for older people. I have another friend in Bay Area who is 70+. Came to US in the 1980s. One day the pharmacy bumped up the out of pocket expense of his daily medicine from $90 to $300. When he protested, the pharmacist asked him to buy 10 pills instead of 30. Same person has diabetes and certain other old age illness. I have seen the bills for the diagnosis and it is high. They have not even reached the treatment stage. He is quite depressed.

For old age medical treatment India wins hands down. You save INR 25L and set it aside in FD. That should take care or use the SS payment for hospital bills. You are not going to be in the hospital every month. You do not have to worry about LT care or nursing as they are quite affordable. For the insurance premium and copay in US, you can pay for those services outright and still left with some INR for chai/samosa.

[plantoretire]

Life in America is good as long as you have good company paid insurance and you are healthy. There are lot of horror stories with treatment for older people. I have another friend in Bay Area who is 70+. Came to US in the 1980s. One day the pharmacy bumped up the out of pocket expense of his daily medicine from $90 to $300. When he protested, the pharmacist asked him to buy 10 pills instead of 30. Same person has diabetes and certain other old age illness. I have seen the bills for the diagnosis and it is high. They have not even reached the treatment stage. He is quite depressed.

For old age medical treatment India wins hands down. You save INR 25L and set it aside in FD. That should take care or use the SS payment for hospital bills. You are not going to be in the hospital every month. You do not have to worry about LT care or nursing as they are quite affordable. For the insurance premium and copay in US, you can pay for those services outright and still left with some INR for chai/samosa.

Thanks for your detailed response. We are paying for my in-laws health care costs in India, and if you are getting treated in hospitals like Apollo, etc it is not any cheaper. But definitely better than US. We can't really count on India for several reasons. Quality of healthcare, kids staying in US, etc.

Looks like it is best to work the last 10 years for federal or state govt for the benefits.

I have seen friends bring their parents on greencard and they didn't have to pay a dollar for their medical expenses, probably medicaid covered.

[plantoretire]

I am hoping that we can buy insurance from Obamacare for those days we are in USA. When in India you are on your own, I have not heard about anything over there like "health insurance as in usa", anybody knows anything?

You can buy health insurance in India too now.

[okonomi]

You can buy health insurance in India too now.

If claims-denials were the norms to rank good performance in the Insurance industry in the USA, the jugaad-able folks in India could not be far behind. In India, health insurance industry still follows the ideas of pre-existing conditions, and other denial schemes that were part of the US healthcare industry before Obamacare.

Perhaps that is the reason post #7 recommends "self-insurance". That is pay the premiums to yourself every month, and put it into a rainy-day fund for healthcare expense payments, when they happen.

[YOUTUBE]zGKtROmiJL8[/YOUTUBE]

The defense for Obamacare is not that it is affordable. What Obamacare had done is to eliminate the old practice of denials of payments -- based on pre-existing conditions and/or errors in form-filling while applying for health insurance.

Obamacare is a lot better than the cruel old days when people were denied payment for the expenses that had already happened while the "insured" was under the delusion that payment would be forthcoming. Hospitals routinely have the patients sign a statement acknowledging that they would pay the expenses in case the insurance company denies.

Ever heard of Hospital Liens on the house you own ? It happens in America.... to a lot of auto accident victims, with unpaid hospital bills.