I need temporary (inexpensive?) health insurance. I know nothing about buying it.

In My Humble Opinion
1

I take anxiety medication, plus always like to have a course of antivirals on hand because I’ve had several bouts with shingles in my 30s.

I still get annual mammograms/paps because of prior scares/surgeries.

I inherited borderline bad teeth from my parents and have gone to the dentist 2x/yr for the last 5 years to keep them healthy.

(god, I sound like a mess)

This is my first time working freelance and not being covered by an employer’s health plan. I desperately need to get some coverage for (hopefully) the short term as my COBRA is getting ready to expire.

Is there affordable self-insurance out there that covers all the bits/bobs that I mentioned above? I worry that my choice for coverage that won’t put me in the poor-house is one of those catastrophic coverage policies.

Any suggestions? (I’m in Ohio)

2

Just purchased private insurance - learned a lot.

  1. eHealthInsurance.com is a very good place to start.
  2. Regulations, plans, prices etc. vary greatly by state.
  3. High deductible, catastrophic plans (HSA perhaps) can be a good deal - you pay more of the actual medical services bills but much, much less in premiums. (In my case, my maximum out of pocket + premium is less with a catastrophic policy than one that mimics my employer’s plan).
  4. Since you are exhausting Cobra, you cannot be denied coverage in most states, but the rate might be higher. Don’t go without coverage for more than 62 days or you lose that option.
  5. I did not find a reasonable dental policy.
3

Go to a university’s dental school for your care. Half or less of the price, and they do everything. A professor checks the work of the students; they are more exacting than most dentists, IMO. My parents’ dentist and my cousin, also a dentist, recommend dental schools. Dental insurance should not be on your radar right now. To give you perspective, Pitt’s dental school is $42 for a cleaning and exam. Retail is about $100 here.

Try to stock up on your meds if at all possible - buy them now at your insurance’s subsidized rates. If you don’t have refills left, call your doctor and explain the situation. Many will be understanding, and so long as it’s not a controlled substance, will comply. While you’re at it, get your flu shot too. Stock up on birth control, or go through an online Canadian pharmacy. Get copies of all your scrips from your current doctors.

Do you have vision insurance? Compare your discounted prices for contact lenses with online shops, like vision direct dot com. Get a copy of your prescription from your optician - the reputable online contact lens sellers demand a real prescription.

Go to Planned Parenthood or a low cost clinic near you for your paps and gyno stuff. Investigate these now. The low-cost clinic will charge on a sliding scale and require proof of income - will you be receiving unemployment while you freelance? Bring that in as proof. Low cost clinics typically have long waits - try and schedule these appointments now for well into the future.

Get yourself a plan in place. Do you have any of those Urgent Care centers near you, like MedExpress? Get their phone number and hours and have them on a small card or stored in your cell phone. They set broken bones and do nearly everything. They should be who you go to in a small emergency (like, slicing your finger while cooking, needing stitches, etc). Big emergencies, go to the ER. If you make too much to go to the low-cost clinic, or you don’t have one or it’s inconvenient, go to CVS’s MinuteClinic or Walgreens Take Care clinic for routine stuff, like a physical or an ear infection or strep throat. These visits are, IIRC, $60. You’re seen by a registered nurse or a physician’s assistant. They have prescription writing abilities. You walk right in. They, IMHO, are much better at providing primary care.

Then, if you do get sick, always ask for the cheapest drugs available. Go to a pharmacy that has free or $4/month prescriptions available, don’t hesitate to call around either.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

4

Great advice!

I used to work as a lab tech in the Pitt School of Dental Medicine and had all my work done by students - even wisdom tooth removal. It is exactly as you report - and later dentists commented on the quality of a filling I had done by a student.

5

That’s cheap for a dental school. In Chicago, they want $65.00 just to look at your teeth, x-rays and such are more. They gave me an estimate of $1,200 for a root canal and a time line of eight months. I can get it done for $1,500 and three visits from a regular dentist.

The U of I Dental School doesn’t seem to give much in the way of discounts.

For insurance, you might want to see if there are associations you can join if you free lance. Often these organizations have group rates for health plans.

6

oddly enough, the anxiety medicines are probably the least of your worries–either there will be a $4 generic, or the medicine will be just like a $4 generic, if you cross over properly.