Just because your current Hohum job comes with employer paid health benefits? Well, you are not alone. A recent study conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management discovered that a surprising two-thirds of employees said they would actually consider a lower paying job with health benefits over one without that's a big number is health. Ensure it's really that important that it's worth that kind of sacrifice just to have it.  is 

Especially when somebody else is foot in the bill, because if you get really sick and you have to pay for your own health care, it can get really expensive, really fast. Everyone has heard the horror stories, a bad injury or sickness that results in 100 of thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills or even bankruptcy in some states. Hospitals can actually garnish your wages or even force you out of your home over unpaid medical bills. These large medical bills could wipe out a lifetime of savings, retirement accounts, and even your kids college education funds. People's fears of expensive healthcare are very well supported. A recent study by Harvard University found that 62 percent of personal bankruptcy filings were due to unpaid medical bills, but a much bigger surprise revealed by the data was that 78 percent of those people actually had some type of health insurance at the time. 
Now just let that sink in for a minute. How can this be true if you think it's a safety net to catch you when you fall? But health insurance companies have put in so many cracks in it that it can only fail. Is it possible that you're putting up with a crummy job just to hang on to health insurance that could actually force you into bankruptcy if something bad happens? Wow. Thanks Boss. I talked with people about their health insurance all the time, every day. In fact. 

The first thing I always ask people is so tell me what's your deductible? And what's your co-insurance percentage? And it blows my mind every time. When someone tells me they have no idea, they have no idea how much cash it's gon to cost them and that they're gonna have to scrape together if they land in a hospital bed. I guess it's just such an impossibly large number that it's easier to pretend it will never happen. Now there is good news and bad news. 

Most people only need expensive higher level care once in a blue moon. If you prefer statistics that means about once every eight to ten years and average persons's medical bills will actually exceed the insurance deductible and the insurance will then kick in and pay some of the bills. But not all. But the bad news is that health insurance is doing nothing but collecting up premiums for eight to ten years before giving you any real benefit at all. You have to ask yourself is paid health insurance really worth putting up with a job that's not right for you or your future. If you're weighing the decision to stay in a job to keep the company's health benefits, it's really important to have a crystal clear perspective, especially if you're going to pay part of the premiums for your employer sponsored health coverage. Now the most important thing to consider is your own health and the likelihood that you might be needing higher level care. We all have different health needs and financial resources to draw on when things are going bad. If you're confronting an expensive health condition now or having upcoming surgery then, health insurance might be just the ticket for you. 

On the other hand, if you're generally healthy like most people, the value of health insurance is considerably diminished. Listen. If you're considering whether to stay in a bad job just to keep the health benefits, you should take the time to understand. Also, what alternatives might be available to suit your situation better. 

And give you the freedom to follow your dreams. Now, your first option is simply going without any kind of coverage at all. 

That is obviously going to be your most affordable plan right up until the day something goes wrong with your health, which we know is going to happen once every eight to ten years on average. So instead you should look into more affordable alternatives like Medical cost sharing memberships which works a lot like health insurance does. But instead of a profitmined insurance company. Is simply a nonprofit, communitybaed approach to paying for your large medical bills. Medical cost sharing relies on many of the same principles and statistics as health insurance does only without the overhead of a large insurance company, and shareholders expecting to make big profits instead. 

Medical costs sharing programs like Sidra and Zion Health sell memberships to healthy people who all agree to a common set of guidelines about how to spend the money on members healthcare needs. Take a look at episode six on our channel about why medical cost sharing is a better way than health insurance and then look at episode nine when Grace talks about her personal experience with medical cost sharing. Now another very important consideration when you're thinking about making the change in health benefits is how to pay for routine everyday healthcare needs. You know, these are the kind of things that are not going to be covered by any kind of an insurance program or medical cost sharing. For that matter, I'm referring to things like primary care, urgent care, and preventative care. These are all things that people need from time to time and they usually end up paying four out of pocket. These two can now be taken care of using a subscription model as opposed to the more traditional pay as you go or fee for service as health care. These programs use virtual medicine which is now as mainstream as primary care used to be. 

Thanks to the pandemic, by paying a low monthly membership fee, you get unlimited access to all types of routine, primary and preventative care. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No matter where you are. 

 When combining an unlimited primary care membership with a low-cot medical costs sharing plan for all of your large medical needs, you can have better health benefits and even the largest companies can afford to provide for half the cost. So now you can finally break the chains from that job that you just don't want anymore.