I pay for my own health insurance, and I tried getting coverage that would be as affordable as possible. I learned the hard way that health insurance, while better than no insurance, is still a lot in the long run, even for a seemingly healthy 25-year old (at the time).
My premiums were $97/month at first, but six months after I got the insurance they changed stuff around- hiked the price of the premium to $118 and actually CUT services at the same time :mad:
My deductible for most things is 40% (have to pay 40% the cost of virtually everything). Even still, this seems like a lot. For example, an ambulance ride (which I had to take while I was insured by my mom) is about $1,000. Under her insurance, its completely covered. For my current insurance, I’d have to pay $400 out of pocket.
As stupid as this sounds, all these costs make me balk going to the doctor about things. Even with insurance, even moderate medical problems still get pricey. A big part of my job search has shifted to companies that provide good medical benefits, because even if the salary is low, the savings in health coverage will more than make up for the lower pay.
Of course, since I’ve only had to deal with this on my own a relatively small part of my life, I could be really naive, and for all I know my insurance isn’t that bad for what I pay. Even still, a recent Sigmoidoscopy ended up costing me more out-of-pocket than a month’s rent :eek: and that was WITH the insurance covering 60% of the procedure :dubious:
You are smart to factor health insurance benefits into your job search. And companies that offer health insurance generally offer other benefits that will make a difference in your long-term financial wellbeing, like paid time off and 401k matching.
Does your insurance have some type of annual out of pocket maximum you will pay? That would be a good feature to shop around for. In general, what insurance protects you from is completely ruining yourself financially in case of medical disaster. What if you had paid for the whole sigmoidoscopy, resulting in missing a rent payment, and so on from there? And I hope they didn’t find anything serious. But in general health insurance is about protecting you financially from the worst case scenario.
Good luck finding a good job with the benefits you need. As a job search tip, it is best to either research benefits on the website, if possible, or ask about them when you get the offer. It’s not a good topic to ask a lot of questions about at the interview.
I understand the concept- even little insurance is still better than nothing at all, and a significant long-term benefit of it is that the costs don’t get so out of control that it wrecks my credit if medical bills go to collections.
But for some things, it still feels like a lot. $35 doctor visit didn’t sound like much at first, but a $35 visit about bowel problems, then a $35 visit to the specialist, then a $500 anal probing, then a $35 follow-up, plus the co-pays for a prescription which may or may not cure the problem starts to add up, and I kind of wonder if I can get better coverage for ~100 a month…
Well, I might get flamed for this, because we all know that health insurance is Very Important and if you don’t have it you’ll surely contract leprosy and be forced to live in a ditch, but on the other hand if the cost of it is preventing you from paying bills necessary to survive (I don’t know if that’s the case with you, just saying)…
If it were me, and I was young, relatively healthy, and had a relatively low income, I might go ahead and skip the insurance and seek health care at a local health clinic- they have them in practically every city and many will charge according to your income. If you do have a catastrophic illness, your state’s Medicaid services would kick in after a certain amount of medical debt, and could be retroactive.
Not such a good idea at 40 when the major parts are starting to show wear, and you need regular maintenance, but not a terrible risk at 25 and healthy.
I had considered something like that, if not for a horrible course of events for a friend’s roomate.
In theory, she probably could have afforded cheapo health insurance like I have. But she was already living paycheck to paycheck, and I guess didn’t feel the expense was justified. What happened?
First she got an infection from a piercing. She didn’t want to go to the doctor, because I guess a visit would be over a hundred bucks if you don’t have insurance. So the infection, obviously, got really bad; so bad she developed a fever and had to go to the ER. The damage from the swollen tissue left one of her ears deformed.
Almost immediately after she recovered from this, she dislocated her knee. She had to get a leg brace and be on pain medications for a while. She also couldn’t work since she couldn’t even stand up. Between these two things, she racked up a lot of medical bills, which she couldn’t afford to pay off. The bills got taken to collections and her credit got wrecked.
In the end, paying the insurance, even crappy insurance, would have saved her a lot of money- not just in covered doctor/ER visits, but prescription drug plans, physical therapy, the chance at having reconstructive surgery for her ear, and an intact credit rating.
I’m sorry to tell you this, but medical insurance is one of those things where you’ll get what you pay for. You’re unlikely to find anything better at around $100 a month - I’m actually a little shocked that you found it in the first place.
I work in health benefits outsourcing, so I get to see (and program) the raw premiums (the actual cost of the coverage) for a large number of different plans across the U.S. It is not unusual for a month’s coverage to run $900 or more, and I’d say the bottom floor is around $600 for an HMO that will cover more than what you’re currently getting. (In general, from cheapest to most expensive premiums, it goes catastrophic indemnity, HMO, POS, PPO or EPO, and then the fancy kinds of indemnity. )
If I were a healthy, self-employed, 25 year old, I would look into the catastrophic indemnity plan and then go to a bank for a Health Savings Account. The plan is exactly what it sounds like, insurance that only kicks in after you’ve paid a large amount of money (I don’t have the current federal rules in front of me but the people selling it should know. I’m thinking that it’s around $1100). You can put money into the HSA pre-tax, which will earn interest. You can withdraw the money to pay for your day-to-day medical expenses like normal doctor checkups.
**Risha’s ** advice is good. Also, don’t hesitate to explain your minimal health insurance coverage to your doctor. Especially with prescriptions, they will sometimes give you samples or pay more attention to cost in the drug they prescribe, how they prescribe it, etc. to minimize your copays. In general, I’ve found doctors pay no attention to cost unless you bring it up.
I understand your predicament as I have recently gone (voluntarily) from a job which paid 100% of my medical coverage to one where I pay about $150 a month. This is with a fairly small private company, too.
That said, seeing you are in San Jose, are obviously intelligent and (I think) college educated, there must be thousands of jobs you are qualified for that offer comprehensive medical coverage. I know guys who mow lawns and shovel snow who get full coverage.
My advice? Get the cheapest major medical plan you can find, and realize that clinics are your friend. Don’t go to a doctor, go to a clinic with a sliding scale based on your income. I’m sure there’s a ton of them in San Jose, just take a look around. You’re not the only one with health care problems, and places exist that service the uninsured or low-insured.