[luckylion]

> Without the burden and complexity of securing private health insurance, anyone with a couple months rent saved up could try starting a business.

How expensive is private health insurance in the US? I've seen numbers as low as $6k a year, but from your post it sounds more like $20k a year.

I doubt that it would massively increase the amount of startups. We have all that (and more) in Germany, and you don't see companies popping up everywhere, and the ones that are founded are mostly copy cats.

[lotsofpulp]

At a minimum, for the healthiest young males, health insurance premiums are at least $300 per month with a $3.5k deductible. Older people are in the $600 or more range per month.

I would budget $500 per person per month with a $7.5k deductible for a family.

[luckylion]

Thanks, that's about the same as private health insurance in Germany, with slightly lower premiums and higher deductibles (1000€ is common here).

Are those regionally different? I understand that rent is much more expensive than this in sought after areas.

[0xfeba]

> Are those regionally different?

Perhaps, but I think most of the difference is between healthcare provider plans. In other words, depends on who employs you.

[lotsofpulp]

That’s two separate factors. Different insurance plans have different contracted providers, and different employers subsidize different portions of their employee’s health insurance premiums. Some employers might subsidize 50%, some 80%, some $100, etc.

I was referring to the cost of insuring someone, regardless of who is paying. I’ve compared costs on healthcare.gov to employer based options in a few states, and they’re not far off from each other unless the employer has many younger employees and few old employees.