Ok, I’m a 26 y/o male nonsmoker student. I used to be covered under my wife’s work plan (which was good) until she was fired. I am now uninsured. My university’s health insurance plan sucks. It’s cheap but doesn’t cover a lot.
I actually need good insurance. I’m a sickly person and I require higher than average healthcare. Most insurances will have low copay for doctor visits and 100% vision plans. I don’t actually care about vision plan.
I need something that will really cover dental care and lab tests. I’ve spent tons of money on those even with supposedly good insurance and it’s been a big drain on my finances. So that is my main concern here.
Good hostpital coverage also seems important but is secondary to said dental care and lab tests.
I’ve been researching insurances but they all try to hide their shortcomings, obfuscate, euphemize and it’s just a royal PITA to get the relevant facts from them. But I guess you all know this already.
And because I don’t know where to turn, I ask for your help. Keeping in mind what my needs are, what insurances and plans would you recommend me and why? Details are welcome.
Was your wife’s company big enough that they have to follow laws regarding continuation of coverage (more than 20 employees)?
If yes, has it been more than 60 days since her employment terminated? If not, then she can sign up for COBRA and you will be covered just like you were before. (Obviously you and she will have to pay any portion that the employer was paying for.)
Even if it has been more than 60 days, if the employer didn’t notify her that COBRA was even possible, you should contact their HR dept. right now, and also contact the carrier and inform them of this.
If you’re a low income person there should be affordable or free health insurance available in your state. Contact your local medicaid office and ask them who to call.
I live in NY State and though I earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, I was able to get insurance for myself and my daughter at no charge through Family Health Plus and Child Health Plus. The coverage includes RX, dental and vision.
Well, if you’re a sickly person and know how insurance works fundamentally, you’ll appreciate that you probably won’t find what you’re looking for at a price that’s not “too high.” Insurance companies can’t give everyone $100 of care for their $5 of premium. Insurance always cost more than the “average” medical costs of all of its members, so reconsider again what you’re willing to pay for versus the benefits that are offered.
Your best bet is with state sponsored insurance. But you will generally have to meet an income limit. Currently in minnesota its about $1200 GROSS monthly. Also from what you have stated it seems like you have a preexisting condition which will further limit what you can get in terms of coverage. I’m sure someone will point me out if I’m wrong, but generally you aren’t going to help with a preexisting condition. There is the option of Health/Dental Savings Plan. You join a plan where you get set discounts on certain things.
Burrido: I do not have a pre-existing condition. Else i would have said so in the OP. I’m just sickly. Some people get sick more often than others. It’s a statistical certainty really.
I’m going to say this clearly so that no one gets the wrong idea: there is nothing with my current medical situation that would make my premiums go up or reduce my coverage or whatever. I’m not diabetic, haven’t been hospitalized, haven’t had surgery, ETC. ETC).
Maybe I should rephrase my request too while I’m at it:
I am looking for the best possible insurance when it comes to Dental and Lab tests (blood tests, x-rays, MRI, etc.). Surely, there are some insurances that are better than others. And some that are better than most. And one or two that have the best coverage?
Yes, but in completing an application for individual health insurance, you’re going to get a series of questions along the lines of, “in the last five years, have you _____________” and everything you might have ever had or gone in for in that time you’ll need to list.
Then they’ll order your medical records. They can flat out not give you a policy if they they agree with what you already said, which is that you get sick more than most people.
You might get “good” coverage, but you’ll have pay $$$ for it too. Other than your gender, age, and tobacco status, you’ve already admitted to being a risky client.
Insurance companies want people to want to have good coverage just in case they become sickly. They don’t want people to want good coverage because they are sickly.
I’ve only been in the workforce 19 years, and except for my stint in the army, dental’s always been a separate policy from a different insurer with its own premium payment.
As an independent contractor and a healthy person with 2 healthy teenage kids who uses very little medical care, my insurance cost is over 6000 annually with a 3500 deductible per person.
The only reason I don’t go bare and self insure is “what if” fear if some catastrophe should strike.
It’s pretty much what Balthisar said. Realistically, any sane insurance company will avoid you like the plague as you are a potential high maintenance client. Your only hope for “good” insurance is to work for the federal, state or local government, a union, or be in any industry where generous health plans are necessary to attract the best personnel, and be one of those sought after personnel. If your spouse has good insurance it’s a possibility to bring you onboard, but sometimes there are gatekeepers to keep high risk spouses out.
Dental insurance is generally a whole different thing than health insurance. You’re really going to be looking for two policies.
From experience, I can tell you that low-cost health insurance that covers things like lab tests and doctor visits is next to impossible to get. You’ve got a better chance if you live in or near a city, and there might be places like Kaisar that offer HMO services from Kaisar owned facilities.
Another thing to look into is to look into your local hospitals/clinics services. The hospital in my town offers a card that you pay about $150 dollars for. It’s good for a few visits to one of their doctors, and maybe a few other services. It may cover some lab tests.
Just for comparision - Mr. Athena is self employed. His policy runs ~$250/month, and it covers absolutely nothing until we meet the deductable of $1500/year. It’s pretty good after that.
A policy that covers doctor visits and lab tests easily ran almost double that, if I remember correctly.
I can’t speak for America, but in Britain I have been told that this is not actually true. I have a friend who is a senior employee of a major British insurer and he has stated that the premiums do not quite cover the expected payouts. What makes up the difference and give the companies their profit is the income from the premiums that the company earns.
Exactly how TheBoneyKingofNowhere put it, they WILL check your previous medical history. If they see that you have “X” they will generally not cover it. I haven’t heard of any company that will cover pre-existing conditions, but I’ll also admit to not knowing all company policies.
I don’t know if this is a Michigan thing, a federal thing, or something I imagined a long time ago, but I think I remember “knowing” that you can’t be denied for pre-existing conditions as long as you’re continuously covered for those conditions, i.e., that you don’t drop coverage between changing coverage.
One possible way of saving money on dental work is to have the work done at a dental school. The work is done under supervision but doesn’t cost as much.
Yeah, there may be some state-specific laws in which you could prove, with a “CCC” (certificate of credible coverage) the effective date and end date of your prior coverage in order to help obtain a policy and/or help ensure that pre-existing conditions are met (by showing you have no gap in coverage). Although, you say you don’t have any pre-existing conditions, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
Dental insurance can run from $25/$30 per month for individual coverage, maybe different where you are… Annually, that’s around $350 per year, and you’ll still have a deductible. At 26, you’re probably not going to need a root canal or anything like that, so aside from the risk of chipping teeth or getting them knocked out in a bar fight, some people just pay out of pocket.
It’s a Federal thing. HIPAA act of 1996. You have 62 days from the end of an 18 month COBRA to continue coverage without being subject to medical underwriting. 2 caviats: HIPPA coverage is NOT required to be the same coverage that you had before (often times it’s much crapier) and is usually much more expensive. In the OPs case it’s not applicable anyway because he opted not to take the COBRA option anyway.
Gozu, grab yourself a good agent, someone you trust, and tell him/her what you want. I’m thinking about how I would aproach it if you came to me with this request, and depending on how badly you wanted to nerf the hospital coverage, I should be able to put something together that’s surprisingly cheep. Hell, you’re only 26 and a NS, full coverage shouldn’t be much more than $150/month.