<p>I wonder about those $25K concierge doctors for rich people. Seems like the people who would sign up for all the (non-specialist) doctoring they need in a year are more likely to need a lot of doctoring. The doctors better hope they get a lot of snooty hedge fund managers who just want to avoid the hoi polloi, instead of a lot of rich people whose spouses are very sick and need twice weekly doctor appointments.</p>
<p>If you pay the $25,000 for the concierge doctor, you still need to buy health insurance! [xpost with emilybee]</p>
<p>I just think that the people who spend $25K to have a doctor at their beck and call might be doing a lot of becking and calling. It might not be the old-fashioned doctoring the doctors imagine it to be.</p>
<p>There are doctors doing this on a much smaller scale. Like pediatric medicine for $100.00 per month. I got a facial from a physician offering this service a few weeks ago. Also, have heard some radio ads from family practices offering a set number of appts. and services for a monthly fee. Concierge medicine for the masses.lol.</p>
<p>According to a study done in the state I live in now, patients in concierge medicine spent 12% less out of pocket, and it reduced doctors overhead by 40%</p>
<p>I don’t use a lot of medical, and H and I have been exploring this option, mainly because we would like to have a main doctor and because we have had to leave our old one behind. It seems like a way to build a consistent relationship with a doctor. For me, anyway, one of the things that really troubles me about the insurance situation is the way it is designed to make sure there is no relationship between a doctor and a patient.</p>
<p>This is a way to make sure that does not happen.</p>
<p>Suppose you have an adult child who is unemployed, and let’s say they are somewhat disabled, so they really are not in a position to hold a fulltime job, but they are not disabled enough to get SSI. (Which is, as a matter of fact, the situation my family is in.) Suppose you live in a state that didn’t expand Medicaid. (Which is not the situation my family is in; we live in California.)</p>
<p>Is it legal for the parents to hire the child for $12,000 a year, so that the child now has enough income to get health insurance? The child would be liable for payroll taxes, but in some cases, they’d still be ahead because their insurance would be practically free.</p>
<p>Why not? I am assuming you mean a child over age 26, who has to buy insurance on his own?</p>
<p>The parents would have to comply with all legal requirements for accounting – that is, p making appropriate payroll deductions-- and if the parents have a business, that’s $12,000 plus the cost of the employers share of the FICA payments being deducted from the business income. Parents need an employer ID number as well. </p>
<p>Obviously the hire should be for legitimate work to keep it honest – but I’m sure that parents running their own business could find tasks to keep someone busy that are worth the $12K – or of course they could hire the kid for household stuff (handyman, gardening, pet care, etc…) </p>
<p>If the parents are self-employed, there’s a potential of a dual benefit by hiring a family member, if the deduction for the offspring’s salary is enough to reduce the parental income to the level where they also qualify for subsidies.</p>
<p>As I said, I live in an expansion state so it’s not relevant for me, but I wanted to suggest this workaround to another family that had a Aspie son and lived in a non-expansion state.</p>
<p>Of course, many families don’t have $12K to throw around. But some do.</p>
<p>Why would you be audited? What would you be doing that would be illegal or even potentially illegal? Each parent can give the child $14K per year without triggering gift tax, so you wouldn’t be in danger there.</p>
<p>Well, you might be audited, but who cares? If you hired the kid to be a housekeeper/gardner, or a driver, or whatnot, “caretaker,” it’s still legal. Any irregularity will get you audited, in my experience, but every time I’ve been audited the IRS has ended up owing ME money.</p>
<p>There are plenty of domestic positions for which you can hire your kid. Actually, in the case of aging parents, I’m not sure why more siblings don’t come to agreements like this, and in fact, I think, many do.</p>
<p>If your business stops making money over a period of time it can be considered a hobby and the business loses tax breaks. You do need to talk to an accountant.</p>
<p>But… that’s my point. They DO NOT think it’s free. That’s why they’re NOT insured. If they thought it was free, they’d sign up as most uninsured list “cost” as the reason they haven’t bought insurance. </p>
<p>It’s when they find out that it’s reasonably affordable that they’re going to start signing up.</p>
<p>Romani, I suppose it depends on income and subsidies and state and so forth but insurance for a young and healthy person was always pretty cheap so if we’re talking about the ones who didn’t buy it then…Why would they buy it now?</p>
<p>My son is $90.00 per month. I don’t think it’s going down under ACA.</p>