Comment by Avicebron
5 hours ago
Excuse me, but how in the world were you able to afford 1200/month, you know that's like cheap rent right?
5 hours ago
Excuse me, but how in the world were you able to afford 1200/month, you know that's like cheap rent right?
If you're getting health insurance through your employer, that's a pretty standard price (counting both your contribution and your employer's together).
I'm probably going to be self employed for 2026 and a cheap-ish (not the cheapest, but probably below the average) plan for my family is going to be a little under $1500 / month.
It's pre-tax money, which helps a wee bit, but it is definitely expensive. If I made less money, I'd qualify for subsidies, but I don't, so that's just something that needs to be paid in full unfortunately.
That’s absolutely not an exception.
I’m in Germany, and for a family of four, the public healthcare system, covering my wife and my two kids costs us around 2,200€ per month. The company pays half.
A switch to a private insurance would lower the costs around half.
I was under the impression that German healthcare was essentially free (government funded) at the point of delivery, with additional top-insurance carried by most people similar to how it is in here in France.
Here I am self-employed and pay about 100 euros a month in top-up insurance (mutuelle) for myself and a couple of kids. Of course, the healthcare costs more, that’s why my taxes are high; but the insurance cost is about €1200 a year, not €2200 a month.
You must be mistaken…
The maximum personal contribution to public health insurance (GKV) is capped at around 400/m for healthcare (and an additional 200 towards long-term/elderly care). Spouse and children are free if they are unemployed.
https://www.tk.de/resource/blob/2189790/9321e565c304a9cc33bb...
If you are paying more than that then you are already paying for private health insurance (PKV) or private supplementation on top of GKV for some premium coverage.
My Employer sponsored supposedly nice insurance (I say supposedly because they keep being a pain in the ass for pretty much everything) is $200+ per paycheck for me and my spouse, i.e. ~$450/month. That is after my employer covers most of the cost. This stuff is ridiculous.