Here we are, like a month later, and I've still been paralyzed with indecision on health insurance.
There's COBRA. $1,100 for the two of us. If Senor Dog gets the two big project later in the year that he's been working on, we'll make too much money for the Obama subsidy. If not, it would be 40% off.
We belong to two professional organizations. One would have cost $1500 a month (OUCH!), the other would be more like $800, but it has a 20% co-insurance. I sure don't want to pay 20% of a car crash ER bill, or a cancer treatment.
It looks like the best short-term solution is a cheap HDHP plan. We'd have a 10, maybe 15K deductible, but then we'd be 100% covered for a couple hundered dollars a month (3-400). We could really spend a lot of that deductible and still come out ahead.
The question is how long will this take? Do I think I'll be able to get us insurance soon? Do we even qualify for the HDHP plan?
Right now, I wish Congress had to do this. I wish they had to worry about their coverage or make sure their spouse stayed employed at a corporation or something. And these forms of every time you've ever been to a doctor ever are a nightmare!!!! I wish somebody understood the FRUSTRATION I am feeling with this whole mess.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
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9 comments:
Has your husband ever considered getting private insurance because he's self employed? Obviously there is something going on there to generate some income. I considered doing this back when I was thinking about creating a LLC. Check out groups like http://www.nase.org and for as little as $120 a year he could have access to a group health insurance plan, although I'm not sure what the premiums will be. I am willing to bet it's going to be less than COBRA even with your BO discount.
Don't wait for Congress to fix anything for you. They want to cram nationalized healthcare for everyone under the guise of being un-American not to support it, which will make private health care/insurance way more expensive. If the going to the doctor’s office ends up like a trip to the DMV, I'm going to lose it. Just stay pro-active and positive about it, I'm sure you'll find something better than COBRA.
I am very happy with my HDHP (and you get to make tax-deductible contributions to an HSA account if you make sure it's HSA compatible.)
When we retired, we opted for COBRA, just to be safe, but cut our premiums significantly by switching to the High-deductible plan. The amount we are saving on premiums will certainly cover us in a year where we have to pay the high deductible--those years shouldn't be that often (and we're already ahead the first year!)
You are young, underwriting for the new plan shouldn't take that long, the process was about a month for us, but we're older than you are. We just applied on-line, answered a few questions when they called, and that was that.
I admit, we were very stressed about it, since an independent broker told us there's no way we could get any insurance, but she turned out to be very wrong.
Here in New York, our HDHP plans cost the same as a cheap HMO with low co-pays. Otherwise I'd have gone that route too - the key to all that is knowing how to negotiate fees/prices with doctors' offices. It's easier with doctors you already have an existing relationship with. If you decide to sign on for an HDHP with some kind of HSA, let me know - I'll share the excellent pointers from my financial adviser, who spent years in hospital administration.
Oh, the government is going to give everybody health care. It will, however, be rationed. You will have to wait in line when you are diagnosed with cancer and wait for medical treatment. If you die before you receive care, oh well. More for the survivors (this is happening in Ireland and UK right now!)
Don't think this will ever happen here? Right now, if you are on Medicare, as most senior citizens are, the cut off for hip replacement is 75 years old. How'd you like to be 76, with maybe 15 more good years ahead of you and told you can't get the lifesaving operation?
Don't wish for Universal, government health care so soon.
You and senor are young. You need catastrophic health care right now. Self-insure yourselves with the higher deductible. Start writing to the pharmaceutical companies that sell your Asthma meds, tell them you lost your job. Some of the companies are offering free meds till you get another job or can pay.
Your new job is taking care of your own life and that of senor. Realistically, what else do you have to do?
Oh, the scare tactics of univ health care. Too bad every other industrialized nation has it and it works (I know because half my family lives in Europe). Anyway, before I totally step onto my soap-box about that, I understand your frustration with insurance. It is totally broken.
I could go on for hours about the crap I dealt with 7 years ago when I got laid off and started doing contract work. I HAD to pay for Cobra because individual insurance plans rejected me for having had my appendix out (like that'll happen again) and also because I was taking claritin (now OTC) for seasonal allergies. Yeah. I had no choice. 18 months later I ran out of Cobra coverage, tried again, and was rejected again. For having gone to PT for my knee when I was training to run the LA marathon. Healthy, 24, and rejected twice. Ended up having to apply for a high-risk plan that was run by the state of California. Paid $300/mo for a 2k deductible. Just me.
It's a bunch of bullsh*t, the whole health insurance industry, and it needs fixed ASAP. I'm afraid to go to the dr for fear if I ever need to apply for coverage again, they'll reject me for some hangnail or whatever minor thing I got treated.
It is pretty frustrating going through the rings of getting health insurance. When I became self-employed, I went through an online insurance broker and was able to compare health insurance plans. In the end, I settled for a $75/month plan through Aetna. (Which increased to $100/month because of some pre-existing conditions I have.)
You guys are pretty young so chances are that you'll be perfectly fine and won't need anything serious before you find a new job with health insurance benefits. So I wouldn't plan for the anomalies (cancers, accidents, etc). You will end up paying more each month for coverage you don't need.
It is really frustrating. It is the reason I must stay at my job as I want to have children soon. I don't think I could afford to have kids without the insurance from my full time job.
chacha: You pointed it out that it isn't healthcare that is the problem, it's health insurance. This doesn't mean that the government needs to provide it. You complain about $300/mo and 2k deductible, but what happens if your taxes double instead? Would you rather pay more taxes so that government can provide garbage health care to everyone? I don't want social insecurity either because the average individual loses 30-40x what they could have had if they save and invest the money themselves. Universal healthcare isn't a solution, it delays solving the actual problem.
You're preaching to the choir, after all Tim and I have been through.
You should check with the insurance plan. I don't know much about HDHP plans, but most insurance plans have a cap on your out-of-pocket expense. So you don't have to worry about 20% of all ER expenses.
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