Family approval

[Bluepanda92 33]

26 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

Click the details of the policy.

Deductible means what you pay yourself before insurance covers anything.

Copay means what you have to pay each time you see the doctor after insurance starts paying.

Coinsurance is the percentage you pay of the cost once you get past the deductible.

 

Example using 1000 deductible, $30 copay, 20% coinsurance.

Doctor visit bill $150

You pay $150 unless you have already paid $1000 in medical expenses for the calendar year.

 

If you have  reached that first $1000

Doctor visit $150

You pay $30 (copay each visit)

That leaves $120  remaining for insurance to address

Insurance covers 80% and you pay 20% (coinsurance)

80% of $120 = $96, Your 20% is $24

Each time you see a GP (after paying the first $1000) you pay a total of $54 and insurance pays $96. That only pays for the doctor. Any lab tests, x-rays, or medicines are additional bills. 

 

There are cheap policies with a $50 copay and 50% coinsurance.

After deductible is met a $150 GP visit is $100 your part and $50 paid by insurance.

 

When Jan 1 rolls around, you start over on deductible. 

 

Use the example to see how the policy plays out in real money. 

 

 

 

Ok so if I got this right, let's say I just started a health insurance policy, it's 100 a month and 1000 deduction, do I just pay the 100 a month and then I only pay anything extra if I have a doctor visits or whatever right, is there any upfront payments that I have to make at the start of the health insurance, like a deposit on a house for a example, or do I only pay like if I get in an accident and it cost 4,000, then I have to pay part of it or all of it

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 minute ago, Bluepanda92 said:

Ok so if I got this right, let's say I just started a health insurance policy, it's 100 a month and 1000 deduction, do I just pay the 100 a month and then I only pay anything extra if I have a doctor visits or whatever right, is there any upfront payments that I have to make at the start of the health insurance, like a deposit on a house for a example, or do I only pay like if I get in an accident and it cost 4,000, then I have to pay part of it or all of it

Policy cost per month is just your cost to be insured so you pay $100x12 ($1200) regardless of healthy or sick. That policy cost has nothing to do with deductible. It is your for sure amount monthly. A company may tack on a sign up fee like $25, but most good insurers don't.

 

Your deductible, as I said, does not include your monthly policy. That's the first $1000 paid for doctor visits, tests, hospitals, etc. So with that policy, you will pay $1200+$1000 or $2200 a year before you get insurance to cover anything. 

 

I think what will shock a person coming from NHS is the cost of healthcare. $4000 would fall way short of what your billing would be for a car accident with mild injuries and a trip to the Emergency room. 

 

 

 

[Bluepanda92 33]

2 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

Policy cost per month is just your cost to be insured so you pay $100x12 ($1200) regardless of healthy or sick. That policy cost has nothing to do with deductible. It is your for sure amount monthly. A company may tack on a sign up fee like $25, but most good insurers don't.

 

Your deductible, as I said, does not include your monthly policy. That's the first $1000 paid for doctor visits, tests, hospitals, etc. So with that policy, you will pay $1200+$1000 or $2200 a year before you get insurance to cover anything. 

 

I think what will shock a person coming from NHS is the cost of healthcare. $4000 would fall way short of what your billing would be for a car accident with mild injuries and a trip to the Emergency room. 

 

 

 

Ok we understand it now, even he didn't understand because he is still on his parents health insurance, but we both get it now thanks to all your explaining thank you so much, we decided to go with the $100 a month, $1,000 deductable 20% coinsurance, $30 copay, untill we get better jobs once we are earning more we will get a better insurance

[Wuozopo 4,293]

58 minutes ago, Bluepanda92 said:

Ok we understand it now, even he didn't understand because he is still on his parents health insurance, but we both get it now thanks to all your explaining thank you so much, we decided to go with the $100 a month, $1,000 deductable 20% coinsurance, $30 copay, untill we get better jobs once we are earning more we will get a better insurance

I will say, that particular policy may not be available when you get here. Companies change coverage and costs yearly. They raise prices and offer less benefit. They drop out of the market entirely.  You'll have to evaluate when you get here. He may be able to remain on his parents insurance and you get a policy on your own.

 

 I think the reality of marrying a 19 year old who has been the "child" of his parents his whole life is that he doesn't likely think of the adult things like insurance,  bills, filing a tax return, choosing a cell phone plan, etc. it has all been handed to him. Not saying that's his fault. His parents may not have realized they need to prepare him for adulthood already. Our friend balanced her son's checkbook until he was past 25 yrs old and out of Uni for 3 years.  You as a newcomer and him as an emerging adult will have to figure it out together and ask the parents to teach you about things. It sounds like you are eager to learn. 

[CJKylie 161]

1 minute ago, Wuozopo said:

Our friend balanced her son's checkbook until he was past 25 yrs old and out of Uni for 3 years. 

I’m 31 and I don’t even know what balancing a checkbook means haha

[Wuozopo 4,293]

Just now, CJKylie said:

I’m 31 and I don’t even know what balancing a checkbook means haha

That can get you into trouble if you don't keep up with your spending and there's less money in the bank than you think you have. Probably most necessary for those who cut it close paycheck to paycheck. If your bank account has $10,000 in it then not a problem so much. 

 I use Quicken to keep up. 

[Bluepanda92 33]

7 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

I will say, that particular policy may not be available when you get here. Companies change coverage and costs yearly. They raise prices and offer less benefit. They drop out of the market entirely.  You'll have to evaluate when you get here. He may be able to remain on his parents insurance and you get a policy on your own.

 

 I think the reality of marrying a 19 year old who has been the "child" of his parents his whole life is that he doesn't likely think of the adult things like insurance,  bills, filing a tax return, choosing a cell phone plan, etc. it has all been handed to him. Not saying that's his fault. His parents may not have realized they need to prepare him for adulthood already. Our friend balanced her son's checkbook until he was past 25 yrs old and out of Uni for 3 years.  You as a newcomer and him as an emerging adult will have to figure it out together and ask the parents to teach you about things. It sounds like you are eager to learn. 

Yeah, we are both eager to learn, and it's already a stressful enough situation for us doing this whole visa stuff then to add on top, if we move out of his parents house it will be a whole new world for him getting a new apartment paying bills for the first time and finding out all these new adult things, and I won't be able to help him understand it much because I don't know anything about how America works, I only know UK bills rent etc, but we are 90% sure his parents will let us live with them even if they don't agree to the marriage, they aren't monsters they won't suddenly hate me just cause I wanna marry their son, I think the absolute worse tht can happen is they will ask us to pay rent which is absolutely fine by me, also I'd love to take every step with him when he experiences all these new things 

[geowrian 22,337]

What's a checkbook?  

[Bluepanda92 33]

2 minutes ago, geowrian said:

What's a checkbook?  

I want to know too haha

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

19 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

That can get you into trouble if you don't keep up with your spending and there's less money in the bank than you think you have. Probably most necessary for those who cut it close paycheck to paycheck. If your bank account has $10,000 in it then not a problem so much. 

 I use Quicken to keep up. 

 

I'm a Mint user myself, but when I first went out on my own...we still had registers for balancing checkbooks and I had a passbook for my savings account.  It was pretty important back then to make sure you didn't bounce a check.

 

Actually, we still have passbooks for our accounts.  🤣

[CJKylie 161]

12 minutes ago, N-o-l-a said:

 

I'm a Mint user myself, but when I first went out on my own...we still had registers for balancing checkbooks and I had a passbook for my savings account.  It was pretty important back then to make sure you didn't bounce a check.

 

Actually, we still have passbooks for our accounts.  🤣

Ahh so Mint is basically the modern version of balancing a checkbook? I don’t use Mint, but I use Prism which I think works the same way, knowing when money is due in/out etc..

 

I’ve never actually had a checkbook lol.  They’re pretty much extinct in the UK I think.  When I moved to the US and got added to my wife’s bank account she asked if I wanted her to order me my own checkbook...I was just like ‘why?’.  The joke was on me though because I’ve had to pay a couple of things with her Hello Kitty checks 😂

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 hour ago, CJKylie said:

Ahh so Mint is basically the modern version of balancing a checkbook? I don’t use Mint, but I use Prism which I think works the same way, knowing when money is due in/out etc..

 

I’ve never actually had a checkbook lol.  They’re pretty much extinct in the UK I think.  When I moved to the US and got added to my wife’s bank account she asked if I wanted her to order me my own checkbook...I was just like ‘why?’.  The joke was on me though because I’ve had to pay a couple of things with her Hello Kitty checks 😂

 

Yeah, balancing checkbook is an old term. Quicken does have a balancing function to check your entries against your bank statement. Since I don't get statements in the mail, I forget to do it. All the transactions are downloaded from the bank or credit cards. Pretty automated by Quicken and mostly accurate. I was about 18 months behind and decided to catch up. What a mess. I had forgottten to enter some things or some deposits got in there twice. I thought I had thousands of dollars more until I actually started looking at bank statements.  Took me awhile to sort it out and get balanced (matching what bank says). I really will dig until it's correct. I think it comes from the early days when I had to keep up to the penny because I was always down to only pennies before my monthly payday. 

 

Checks--we still write a few, but not many. The lawn crew guy doesn't take credit cards...or Apple Pay...or anything else but cash.

[Mr&Mrs G. 903]

On 8/30/2018 at 8:33 PM, Bluepanda92 said:

we talk on mic every single day, we spend at least 10-15 hours a day talking every day literally with no breaks, 

You say he earns 20k per year and you are able to spend 10-15 hours per day talking to him with no breaks, so he is being paid to spend the day talking to you? You are also unemployed and have too much time on your hands. 

 

If you get married in September and file for CR1 it will be another 12-15 months before you get your visa. Seriously you need to get out now and get a job yourself and start saving to build a little nest egg to take with you to help start you off. 

 

Being honest if he was my son and due to head to college I would be advising him against this marriage. Let him finish his education and then see where life takes you both. Plenty on the forum here waited years to eventually be with their fiance or spouse, slow down and build the foundation first otherwise you are in for a very rude awakening. 

[Bluepanda92 33]

2 minutes ago, Mr&Mrs G. said:

You say he earns 20k per year and you are able to spend 10-15 hours per day talking to him with no breaks, so he is being paid to spend the day talking to you? You are also unemployed and have too much time on your hands. 

 

If you get married in September and file for CR1 it will be another 12-15 months before you get your visa. Seriously you need to get out now and get a job yourself and start saving to build a little nest egg to take with you to help start you off. 

 

Being honest if he was my son and due to head to college I would be advising him against this marriage. Let him finish his education and then see where life takes you both. Plenty on the forum here waited years to eventually be with their fiance or spouse, slow down and build the foundation first otherwise you are in for a very rude awakening. 

Well on the days he works it's more like 6 hours, 4 hours before work, and most days I stay awake and see him for a few hours after work Aswell, also it's not just me that wants to do this visa it's him too, his college would take 4-5 years and we BOTH don't want to wait that long, nothing wrong with him waiting a year or two to start college, and I am going to get a job here when I come back from America 

[Mr&Mrs G. 903]

6 minutes ago, Bluepanda92 said:

Well on the days he works it's more like 6 hours, 4 hours before work, and most days I stay awake and see him for a few hours after work Aswell, also it's not just me that wants to do this visa it's him too, his college would take 4-5 years and we BOTH don't want to wait that long, nothing wrong with him waiting a year or two to start college, and I am going to get a job here when I come back from America 

Sorry you are 25 and unemployed planning to work in McDonald's in the US,. He is 19 earning 20k and about to go to college so he can have a future and you see nothing wrong in him waiting a year or two to start college? 

 

You are betting on his future here and at 25 you need to be the grown up and let him finish his education. He may never get another chance and at 25 he may be the one working in McDonald's.

 

I am worried for both of you, I think you are both caught up in the fairytale love story and not facing reality.