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My husband got laid off a few months ago and we're getting insurance thru COBRA while we look for new jobs. Our COBRA premiums per month are a whopping $900 !
-Is this normal?
-We get our health insurance thru BCBS. Would it be cheaper to pay for our own health insurance?
-If so, what is the best way to go about doing that?
-Can we get health insurance elsewhere right now while neither of us has a job?
-Is it advisable to cancel COBRA, pay for one's own insurance and then get on a whole new plan with an employer once we get jobs? Is there any loophole there that insurance companies will use to screw us over?
-Finally, what about insurance companies like Aetna, Cigna, etc.? Why do most people in NC prefer BCBS?
I would appreciate any and all thoughts you have on this subject.
I haven't read through all the posts, but I think you'd be better off switching to a high-deductible plan and putting the money you save in a Health Savings Account. I pay $121 a month for my insurance and put my money into an HSA...
Anyone who has anything done evan if thay have insurance needs to ask for a break down of the bill. I did this once(no insurance st the time) because I thought the bill was very high, they had billed me for procedures I did not have, alo they trippled billed me on some things, it was crazy. If they say thay can<t do that go pay the 25 to 35 for your transcripst, its cheaper than paying 1000 or more for stufff you did not have done.
If you are young and healthy, you can get very cheap short term coverage to last until you have employer coverage again. Just go online and have your choice of any number of plans. If you are not young, or have any sort of health issue, you are basically screwed.
You can get private insurance less than COBRA but be prepared for higher deductibles. Maternity should be covered as a pre-ex if you are able to provide proof of credible insurance coverage, that little sheet of paper from your prior insurance company that says you were covered. Make sure there are no lapses in coverage for 18 months prior to you getting private insurance. With the company we went with, any period less than 6 months without insurance, is not considered a lapse of coverage. If I had availed of COBRA, our family premiums would have been $1200, $90 for dental. Private insurance with a plan with United cost $600, albeit with much higher deductibles. I continued with COBRA on the dental as the lowest premium I could get was $110. Check ehealthinsurance.com for various rates.
I don't know where you live but here in Los Angeles County you can get medical coverage by the county for no out of pocket expenses. Take advantage of it. You paid for it.
I don't know where you live but here in Los Angeles County you can get medical coverage by the county for no out of pocket expenses. Take advantage of it. You paid for it.
What the hell are you talking about? Please be more specific.
It might be cheaper to buy your own insurance, then get back on a group policy when you get employed again, but here's the loophole you referred to in your original post----
Employer based insurance is considered group coverage. By law, IF an employer offers group coverage, they cannot refuse you or restrict your coverage for previous existing conditions, as long as you haved had continous GROUP coverage with no gap longer than 63 days. Otherwise, they can refuse to cover you or refuse to cover previous existing conditions for as long as 2 years. That's 2 years of you paying the premiums and being on the policy before they will cover previous existing conditions.
Ok, so, if you go to an individual policy, you've lost that continous group coverage. then, you get a new job, try to get on their policy, and they won't cover anything previous existing until you've been on their policy for as long as two years.
Previous existing conditions can be anything, you could have broken your toe 10 years ago and they won't cover any orthopedic condition.
I know how expensive Cobra is, it cost us ~ $1500/month for a fmaily of 4, depleted our savings! But we all had previous existing conditions!
BTW, that's part of HIPPA---health insurance privacy and portability act. Its the portability part that you have to dance around, you can go from one GROUP policy to another only under certain conditions.
Unless either one of you has a serious pre-existing conditions or are considered high risk, it behooves you to look into individual policies. Yeah, I know they are a hassle, but think of the money you could save.
COBRA is there for a reason and it's for people who often can't get insurance for less in the private market. Only thing to keep in mind is do not let your coverage lapse for more than 60 or 63 days before you get the new policies. Ask a broker about a bridge policy or just pay the COBRA until you get approval on individual policies. If you go longer than the time frame I mention you could get hit with a pre-ex provision.
Now, if you are in the pre-existing group some conditions may be no big deal to some insurance companies. If you are high risk, then COBRA may be the way to go.
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