A journal written about life, retirement and our journey throughout the United States in a 5th wheel, along with our two Shih Tzus, Tanner and Syndey. Written not for notoriety but for our sons, family and friends, so they know where we are at any given time. And particularly for ourselves. Finally, we get to slow down and smell the roses and we don't want to forget any of it. You are welcome to join us as we go 'Down the Road a Piece'.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Health Insurance in Indiana
In signing up for an Affordable Care Act health insurance policy yesterday one thing I learned was Indiana has one of the highest health insurance rates in the country. It seems from what I could see Mississippi and Alaska may be higher but that appears to be it. In Mississippi the high rates are due to the great number of uninsured people who live in the state. In Alaska its due to the sparse population and the costs related to provide healthcare in those sparsely populated areas. For the policy I got for Huli and I for just under $1700 per month I could get the exact same policy if I lived in Florida for $1300. The same thing for North Carolina but the policy is by a different company. What I also found strange is that while there were 6 PPO plans available to me in Indiana there were like 30 PPO plans available to me in these other states. The other states offered many more plans than Indiana offers for some reason. Just by using the healthcare.gov site and plugging in various zip codes you can see the significant differences by state. Go figure. I am not sure why such differences exist. Since we live in other places much of the year it may be time to do what many rvers do and that is establish residency in another state. South Dakota, Montana and Texas seem to be the most popular states for that. Usually people establish residency based on state income tax rates, inheritance taxes, and mail forwarding services. I have talked to several people who have established residency in North Dakota and have never been to North Dakota. For a small fee there are businesses you can work with that provide these services for you. For us since we own property in Indiana we would incur an increase in property taxes for being non residents but that would easily be offset by the zero state income tax rates in these other states. It's something I am going to start looking into especially since I am now learning the exact same insurance policy can cost $5000 less per year just because you live in a different state. This coupled with zero income tax, lower or no personal property tax or excise tax on the motorhome, could make it worth while doing.
