So tell me about getting personal health insurance

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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[QUOTE=SNenc]
Not to hop on OpalCat’s thread here, but I have the same question yet under completely different circumstances:

I work a normal job and have normal health insurance (i.e. my employer pays a part of my premium, the rest comes out of my pre-tax income). However, my girlfriend (who I’m proposing to in, oh, 10 days) just got a job at a law firm. They handle health insurance by giving their employees $4,000 to use however they choose on health insurance. It’s “use it or lose it” — if you only spend $3,000, it’s not like you have another grand to blow on a vacation. It can only be spent on health insurance.

So, we had a crazy idea: Find a health insurance plan that will cover both of us. She says she’s heard of some plans that will allow you to cover any 1 person besides yourself, regardless of how you’re connected to that person. And there are obviously plans that cover domestic partners. Now, I’m a guy, but I know for a fact that hetero couples can also qualify for domestic partner benefits under the right circumstances. Ideally, we’d also like a plan with excellent birth control coverage, and prescription coverage is definitely required (I have chronic asthma that can easily be controlled by drugs, but without them, I’d probably be wheezing 24/7 within a couple weeks).

Does anyone know of an insurance company that provides such benefits? From what I’ve read of this thread, we shouldn’t have too hard a time paying less than $4,000 for it. Oh, and if it’s relevant, we’re both in our late 20s and, aside from my asthma, in very good health.
[/QUOTE]

You might be suprised at how much it costs. Most of the policies you pay $120 a person for or so don’t cover any prescriptions, certainly not things like birth control, and involve huge co-pays and deductables. After I paid my $200 a month premium, I still had to pay $4000 a year on deductables before their coverage kicked in. If you want “good” coverage for 2 people, one with asthma, you will probably pay well over $500 a month for it, (I am guessing more like $600-800) well over $4000 a year.

If she is healthy she may be better off getting a solo plan with as low a deductable as she can afford. Will they let her put some of the money into a HSA?(I think that’s what they are called. Where you put your money aside in a special savings account for health expenses.)

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Opal, I have heard horror stories of people having the type of weight loss surgery you (and I, of course) had, not being able to get private insurance at any price, so that may not even be relevant for you to price it out. However, I know that most (if not all) major drug companies have programs for people on maintenance drugs, who cannot afford those drugs. I’m not sure who makes Welbutrin, but you may want to contact them, and see if they have such a program. Or check and see if the health dept. where you’re moving to has a program that might benefit you.

Good luck!

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[QUOTE=Velma]
You might be suprised at how much it costs. Most of the policies you pay $120 a person for or so don’t cover any prescriptions, certainly not things like birth control, and involve huge co-pays and deductables. After I paid my $200 a month premium, I still had to pay $4000 a year on deductables before their coverage kicked in. If you want “good” coverage for 2 people, one with asthma, you will probably pay well over $500 a month for it, (I am guessing more like $600-800) well over $4000 a year.

If she is healthy she may be better off getting a solo plan with as low a deductable as she can afford. Will they let her put some of the money into a HSA?(I think that’s what they are called. Where you put your money aside in a special savings account for health expenses.)
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, a couple phone calls seems to suggest that our plan is untenable. Oh well, I thought it was rather clever :wink:

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Opal, another thing to think about is purchasing short term insurance. SpouseO and I did just that when we were transitioning from college to my first job (it had a 3 month waiting period, or whatever, before I was eligible for insurance). Going without was not an option for my husband, so we went this route. The insurance that we purchased was pretty basic, since we were both young and didn’t have any prescriptions, and very reasonable (I recall paying $180 for 3 months, I think). We got ours from State Farm, but I believe all of the big carriers would offer it.

There are caveats, as you know. I don’t know what the restrictions were for prescriptions; we didn’t have any. When they say short term, they mean it - it’s good for a maximum of 6 months (hopefully by then you’d be able to purchase insurance through the new school). And I don’t know about pre-existing condition stuff either - we were both young and in good health. But it’s something to check into.

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[QUOTE=norinew]
Opal, I have heard horror stories of people having the type of weight loss surgery you (and I, of course) had, not being able to get private insurance at any price,
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That sucks.

So how have you been doing?? I haven’t heard from you in a while. Do you have some sort of progress update thread/journal/scrimshaw/whatever somewhere?

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[QUOTE=Cemetery Savior]
Disclaimer: I do work for United Health Group.

However, I’ve gotten pretty good feedback from members leaving my clients when I directed them to Golden Rule (UHG’s Indivudual policies):

Golden Rule

I think you can come in under $100.

Also, be sure to Google for RX discount programs. For a small fee ($6/month?), you can get larger discounts on your Meds. Buproprion is a nice generic, nice discount.

-Cem
[/QUOTE]

Actually that’s who I was going to recommend.

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[QUOTE=OpalCat]
That sucks.

So how have you been doing?? I haven’t heard from you in a while. Do you have some sort of progress update thread/journal/scrimshaw/whatever somewhere?
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I have a scrimshaw, but it’s all in symbols understood only by me, so it will do you no good! :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m doing well, actually. A little more than a year out, down about 135lbs. I’m hoping to get some update photos this weekend, and will email you a link when I do get updates.

No talk of a tummy tuck yet, because I’m still actively losing weight (which is fine; I mean, I wouldn’t be disappointed if the weight loss stopped here, but I’d rather drop another 20lbs. or so first); in fact, I lost 5lbs. last week! :eek:

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claps excitedly Yay! Isn’t it just the best thing ever?

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Opal, I think you (and the juggler, if he doesn’t have coverage) might both (separately) qualify for Ohio’s Best Rx because of income. It’s run by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

If you enroll in the program, you can purchase drugs at a discounted price. It’s free to enroll; all you have to do is qualify. If you’ve had coverage in the past 4 months, you might not qualify yet.

They have a pricing look-up on their website. Here’s the search page for buproprion. I checked the pharmacy locator, and there seem to be several participating pharmacies near you.

Looks like just about everything you need to know is somewhere on their Web site. (They also have some links to other programs.)

Good luck!

GT

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Are you calling my boyfriend “the juggler” as a way to distinguish him from me? :confused:
And thanks, I actually already signed up for that just over a week ago and ordered a card and stuff. That will help for prescriptions for sure.

I do sure wish I’d had insurance last week when I had to go to the walk-in clinic in New Hampshire after hacking my thumb :frowning:

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(In case that was confusing: my boyfriend has been juggling for about 23 years. I have also been juggling for about 23 years. We met at a juggling convention, in fact.)

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[QUOTE=OpalCat]
claps excitedly Yay! Isn’t it just the best thing ever?
[/QUOTE]

Well, I gotta say, the best thing ever is getting dressed, looking in the mirror, and going “holy crap, I look normal!” (I won’t look ‘normal’ without clothes until I’ve done some major plastics).

Perhaps we should start calling him JOMP (Juggler of Male Persuasion) :wink:

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Or JWDB (Juggler With Dangly Bits)