Both Mr. Athena and I are self employed. So far, I’ve been using the COBRA coverage from my last job. That’s up next summer, and I just got notice that they’re raising the rates to over $750/month for the two of us. Ack! That’s a LOT of money!
Soooo… I don’t even know where to start. Can anyone suggest any decent health insurance for us non-corporate people? What should I look for? I assume that I probably can’t afford the coverage I’m currently getting ($10 co-pay for doctor’s visits, mental health coverage, etc. etc) but I’m hoping to at least get something that will take care of us if one of us is in a serious accident, or comes down with some horrible disease.
My girlfriend pays something like $600/month. I don’t know how people do it. I think some insurance companies create small groups that you can get a better rate through. I’d call around and see if that is true.
Probably not. I couldn’t get health insurance privately because of my weight, which was a motivating factor in why I created a company for my business. In California insurance companies have to offer insurance to any company with 2 people or more.
The problem is that because they have to insure anyone, they charge through the nose for it.
I think you can get major medical, to cover only the most serious problems, for a good deal less than you are paying now. But of course, then that means you will have to pay for all your doctors visits and minor things and prescriptions out of pocket. If you have ongoing issues that require a lot of doctor’s visits every year, it might actually be cheaper to pay for insurance.
[plug]Weirddave does this kind of thing for a living. You might want to talk to him and see if he can give you some direction on where to go in your area.[/plug]
I’ve used Kaiser Permanente for the last 4 years. I’m currently paying $112 per month for their HMO plan (single male, almost 40). I’ve been quite happy with their service – not that I’ve used it much.
Unfortunately, they don’t seem to provide coverage in Athena’s part of the world.
Move to canada
I’ve been there and found that if I incorporated I can get a better rate (which I did some yrs ago). It’s really worth the expense and recurring cost of incorperating to get a brake of HI costs - also their is some tax advantages as well.
If you are both pretty healthy I would suggest a low premium coverage that has high deductables and frankly not that good coverage. Put the difference into a medical savings account and whenevey you need to draw out of it to pay medical expenses. Pretty soon you should have a sizable amount so you can afford to go to better dr’s if you feel the need - if you don’t you can eventually get that $ back.
$750 is obscene. I’ve dispached an email to you with my number in it. Call me, I’ll be glad to help you out.
And folks, anyone in a similar situation, give them my email. We are the only organization that can make individuals part of a national group with hundreds of thousands of members, and base your rates on that large pool.
Mods, sorry for the pitch, but know that I will most likely not benefit personally from these contacts, I’m only licensed in two states. I’m always glad to help, though.
BTW, this is extrodinarily bad advice. ( No offense dave ) MSAs have been almost completely discredited recently, it’s hard to even find a company that offers them anymore. All of the supposed tax advantages are wayyyy offset by other IRS allowences. It’s a very complicated subject.
