How much do you pay? What is covered? Who do you use? etc., etc…
I have no benefits, and I am almost 100% sure that I have developed asthma. From what I hear it can be expensive to treat, so I think I want to get benefits before going to the doctor.
Try ehealthinsurance.com for some quotes.
I don’t know where you are located, but Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield is decent insurance, although their rates and customer service SUCK!!! My hubby and I paid almost $350/month for the two of us for a year when we were self-employed.
His didn’t cover regular doctor visits OR prescriptions, due to his prescription use (ONE scrip filled in a year) and his “build” - 5’10" and 210 lbs. If you are female, be sure to turn down the maternity rider - it’s worthless even if you do plan on getting pregnant. They can screw you every which way from Sunday on a private plan.
Best of luck to you!
If you are self-employed you might be able to get insurance which comes with a Medical Savings Account. Mine is with Golden Rule Insurance Co. Each month I pay a premium (about 280) and also put 200 in my MSA. The MSA money can be used for any medical purpose and is *mine to keep * at the end of the year. You can put up to 80% of your deductible into the MSA every year. It’s worked out great for me so far.
I pay $74 per month (single’s cover) - I get top hospital cover (for everything I might possibly need) with a $500 excess, payable once per year. I also get quite a good range of extras, from physio, glasses, massage, dental, orthodontics, hearing aids (if I need 'em), prosthetics (if I need 'em), ambulance cover, natural therapies and a whole lot of stuff I will probably never use. I even get $100 per year towards a gym membership or sports shoes or other “healthy living” stuff…
All done, it’s a pretty good deal, and I’ve been impressed, but then I’ve never needed anything done.
Robin: Are you going to keep this wonderful insuranve company a secret?? Oh… you’re in Oz. Maybe that explains it.
I think being Australian is the main reason it’s so good - but, then again, it’s about $30 per month cheaper than the next best one at the same level of cover, so it’s still pretty good. A company called GMHBA…
I’m in New Mexico, and our family has three insurance plans, all through Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The first is a regular family plan for me and one child. It costs $196 a month. My husband and other daughter have pre-existing conditions that caused all the regular insurers to turn them down, so they’re covered under a special New Mexico high-risk health insurance pool. That’s also administered by BCBS, and it costs $128 a month for my daughter and $376 a month for my (middle-aged smoker) husband.
The plans are essentially PPOs, which means we can see any doctors we want to, but the ones who participate in the BCBS plan are cheaper than the ones who don’t. The deductible is $500 a year for the regular plan and $1000 a year for the high-risk ones, but prescriptions are covered (aside from a copayment) before we reach the deductibles. We must get prior authorization for any hospital stay, but all medical expenses are covered.
I just changed insurance so I can give you 2 examples. I was most recently using blue cross/blue shield and was paying ~130$ a month with a 1000$ deductable just for me (30,male,smoker). My wife as of June 1st, has began a life insurance plan for the whole family. Its less than 300 a month, for the whole family(2 adult smokers and 3 children 6 and under, non smokers) with a deductable of 500$. I’m not sure of the company its with or any of the details really.
I pay for mine every year when I submit my income taxes.