[tkln]

Hi everyone...I've been investigating what my options are for health insurance once we move. Currently, I'm a contract employee with my company so I don't get benefits; I purchase my own insurance here in NYC.

I have the option of getting on salary with benefits, which I might do, I need to figure out the financials. In the meantime, I'm doing my research to see my options. It seems there are two possible plans I can purchase as a freelancer, both with Catamount Health Care, one from MVP and one with Blue Cross.

Does anyone have any experience with either one of these plans, or have others they can recommend?

Thanks!

[chrismpv]

They are pretty expensive. My son looked into this and he cannot afford them. Unfortunately when deciding on the catamount cost, they take my salary into consideration because he lives at home (19 years old).
So, he is just another, unemployed, uninsured person.

[tkln]

Yeah, believe it or not, the prices I saw online were cheaper than what I pay here in NY (I currently pay $411/month for myself).

The whole health insurance industry in this country is deplorable, but that's another thread.

[arel]

When I lived in NYC, I got my health insurance from the Freelancers' Union.

When I moved to Vermont in September, I learned that I can keep my Freelancers' Union insurance, and could even get on their new plan in January. If you have their insurance, they don't drop you if you move out of state. But if you drop the insurance after you move, you can't get it back.

I remember being told that if you are eligible for an out of state group plan, you are not eligible for Vermont insurance. I'm not sure if the person referred specifically to Catamount, to VHAP or to individual plans. Please check that independently, becase I was told this last year. Things may have changed, and/or my recollection can be faulty.

Anyway, I have kept my NYC insurance. Thankfully, the network is nationwide, so I am covered here. So far I have been able to use it here without a problem.

BTW, if you are using Workman's Comp, you don't lose your benefits when you move out of state.

[tkln]

Hey Arel - I also was buying my insurance through Freelancers Union, but when they ditched Blue Cross and started their own insurance company, I bailed and got Oxford through Media Bistro. So Freelancers plan covers you nationwide??? Hm. I might have to get back on before we move up then....

[arel]

Yes. They now have their own insurance company. So, unless something bad happens, they won't be switching companies every year or every few years.

Their new plan is more expensive and I think the deductibles and copays are more than they were last year. But there are 5 programs to choose from, including high deductible programs. I almost chose the $5K deductible, until I realized that there was no out of pocket maximum if you used out-of-network providers. Yikes! But such a program can be cost effective if you tend not to get sick and only want catastrophic coverage.

I briefly had Oxford, and I hated their invasiveness. Also, as a therapist, I resented what they tried to do to therapists a couple of years ago. They started auditing therapists' charts and demanding repayment of the therapists' fees. If they had gotten away with that, then probably lots of other companies would have followed suit. But the therapists raised the roof and the whole thing was thankfully halted.

I need to tell you that I have had some bad experiences with Freelancers Union's customer service. When I was trying to figure out whether I could, or should, stay with them in January, I found that just about everyone I called there gave me a different answer. One customer service rep was especially irresponsible: He said I wasn't eligible, but nobody checks. When I told him I could be denied claims if I wasn't eligible, he said, "They wouldn't do that to you". Yeah right. They certainly would, and this was confirmed when I spoke to a Blue Cross Blue Shield rep here in Vermont.

And there are often long hold times when you call. Then you get cut off.

And these are not the worst experiences I've had. I had an experience last year that I won't go into now (I'm too tired). But if I could have ditched Freelancers Union I would have.

The new plan, though, has been carefully designed. It is the best program I know of. I try to avoid individual policies like the plague. You have no leverage at all. You have a little more leverage in a group policy, because the insurance company has a lot more to lose if the group goes elsewhere.

If I get a salaried job with benefits, I'm not sure what I will do. Maybe I will ask them to replace my health coverage with cash, if they are able to do that, and keep my own insurance. That way, if I leave the job I won't lose my insurance. As I said earlier, if I give it up, I can't get it back, since I am now out of state.

When are you moving up here?

[tkln]

Yeah, I wasn't too thrilled with the cost associated with the new plans so I did some research...I chose Oxford as a group plan through Media Bistro as the price was comparable to what I was paying for Freelancers before the change, and it doesn't have a deductible or co-insurance, etc....so far, they've been okay but I have heard some bad things about them (then again, I don't know of any health insurance I haven't heard bad things about!).

We actually put our house on the market two months ago and have had several offers, one of which we were this close to accepting this weekend...however, due to a bunch of conflicting circumstances with family, living arrangements and work, looks like we're going to have to pull the house from the market and wait another 6-8 months. I'm not happy about it at all, as I was really looking forward to our move, but everything happens for a reason, so I'm going with the flow.

In any case, I'm going to get high speed internet installed in our condo so I can work from there and I'm going to plan to spend much of the summer/fall in our place so I can at least FEEL like we moved.

[arel]

Sorry that your move has to be delayed. But I agree that things happen for a reason.

I hope the new administration is able to make headway on health insurance. The system is broken. We have all these medical advances, yet financial issues get in the way of access. There are people who are losing their health insurance because of job loss, and then can't afford to pay for premiums. Then what? If you go over 2 months without insurance, then any illness you get becomes a pre-existing condition. If you get insurance again, they won't pay for your treatment. So you either find a doctor who will help you, you spend down to poverty level and get Medicaid, or you go without.

Even with health insurance, we can be one illness or accident away from bankruptcy.

Scary.

[arel]

Well, I'm finally ditching Freelancers Union for a Vermont-based health insurance policy.

After FU denied about $800 worth of claims for visits to my naturopath, and gave me all sorts of different, unrelated reasons, I decided to leave. I no longer feel I can trust this company with my health insurance. If they deny payment for simple outpatient visits, what would they do if I came down with a serious, expensive illness?

I won't go into details here, but suffice it to say that my Vermont doctor will no longer accept out-of-state insurance.

She speaks highly of health insurance in Vermont.

I need a reality check here. Somehow, I get the feeling that the state government in Vermont is more protective of its citizens than the government in New York. It is smaller, less corrupt and more caring and responsive. I feel that the intense oversight acts as a deterrent to insurance bad faith, and that any insurance abuses would meet with a strong government response.

Is this true? Or is it just wishful thinking from an ex-New Yorker who's tired of corruption?

[Jeffinthecity]

I got the same impression of Vermont state government during my time in Burlington (heck, even my visits to the DMV were faaar friendlier in the Green Mountain State!). Vermont's government does seem more protective and well-intentioned. (I'll save my comments on NYS government for the New York forum. :-) Shame to hear about your experiences with Freelancers Union health insurance, since it's impossible to get on a subway train without seeing their ads next to the doors.