health insurance or no health insurance???

[namama]

I am in a bit of a quandry.

We have a small contracting business and have been paying our own health insurance for the past 12 years.

We treat ourselves naturally and rarely need anything other than chiropractic and a check up every year or two.

This year its just too hard. Technically we would qualify for state help, but the kids aren't vaccinated and I love the idea of getting through this without help... and without getting further in the system.

soooooo, anyone have any tips? anyone take the risk of no insurance or have solutions to this little quandry?

[4evermom]

Nope. I put the groceries on the cc to keep health insurance, at times. My dh severed his finger once which hammered home how easy it would be to find oneself in crushing debt because of a one second slip.

[RoadWorkAhead]

I would do anything to keep insurance. There are things that natural remedies can't treat. Also, we get Medcaid (DD is considered disabled) and we don't vaccinate.

[MeepyCat]

No health insurance = one accident or illness away from financial disaster. One car accident. One playground mishap. One nasty case of rotavirus requiring IV fluids. One case of appendicitis. One unplanned pregnancy.

I adore the thought of being independent and not needing help from anybody, but I would take the state assistance on this one.

[~Laura~]

We had private insurance for many years. It was over $1k a month when we lived in MA and in Texas it was $850 for a family of 5, maternity coverage, $1500 deductible, PPO. It sucked writing that check every month, but it would have sucked more to lose coverage. (We are now on a group plan, which is like magic compared to private insurance!)

If you go without insurance for more than 62 days, you are suddenly lumped into a whole new group. Pre-exisiting conditions start being excluded, for example, and you become a much higer risk to an insurer because of the lapse.

We are what I would consider a very, very healthy family. None of us are overweight, no problems on either side of the family with cancer or anything. Three years ago I discovered a tumor in my salivary gland. Luckily, it wasn't cancer, but leaving it could have become cancer. That event was my first my first hospital stay and surgery (outside of two normal hospital births), but it could have bankrupt us if we didn't have coverage. I had to travel to MD Anderson to get treatment because the surgery was very complicated. It wasn't cheap.

A God forbid something happen to one of our kids - accident, cancer, anything at all. I just wouldn't risk it.

Laura

[mommy2maya]

absolutely not for the kids. If you are eligible for medicaid for the kids, absolutely get it, without a doubt.

[1littlebit]

my parents are currently paying for my insurance because we cant afford it... so yes i think its important. i had back surgery when i was a kid that cost as much as a house... insurance covered a ridiculous amount of. i would not be without health insurance unless i had absolutely no choice. i would be someone who would put the groceries on the CC to be able to do this... we would also cancel our cable and stuff before we would ditch the health insurance.. and if we got the point where we couldn't afford it i would use state care. not getting help is not as important to me as making sure we have healthcare.

[1littlebit]

Originally Posted by mommy2maya

absolutely not for the kids. If you are eligible for medicaid for the kids, absolutely get it, without a doubt.

: but for you too. you dont want you or your dh to get injured and not be able to work and then have to pay medical bills in the 10s of thousands on top of that yk?

[Thystle]

You don't have to vax to get medicaid for the kids.


In some states if you are low enough income you can get "family medicaid" and have the adults on it too.




At the very least I would look into medicaid for the kids and price out "catastrophic" health insurance for you guys.

[november]

Please, please don't go without any insurance at all. I know first hand how scary it is (now that I am pregnant with no insurance no options). Don't let this happen to you if you can AT ALL avoid it.

[MrsMike]

Adding my vote. We cannot afford health insurance and do not qualify for medicaid (I think in my county you can't make more than $5.00 a month to qualify ). It's been a few years. We also treat ourselves naturally and use chiropractic and we're pretty healthy, though I could use it to monitor a minor heart condition. We pay out of pocket if someone needs to go to the doctor or for my yearly pap smears. It's usually less than $100. Fine, right? Two words: optic neuritis. Dh suddenly had blurry vision and a blind spot that worsened within days. The optometrist at his job (Wal-Mart) took a look and discovered a swollen optic nerve disc. That can be caused by something simple like inflammation, infection or lyme disease or something worse such as tumors, aneurysm, stroke/TIA or MS. A hospital trip, 2 CT scans and 2 MRIs later we are $12,000 in debt. The hospital offered to help us try for "retroactive" Medicaid, something we fought for until this past month (went to court for it) and we lost. In the meantime, the hospital, knowing we were trying hard to get that medicaid coverage, turned it over to collections and now we have people calling 49858452390574532905 times a day. So, no, don't skimp on the health insurance.

[1growingsprout]

Do not skimp on medical. The worst that can happen is you have it and dont need it. You dont want to be in a position where you dont have it and then need it.

My kids have asthma, you'd think no biggie right? Their meds alone are over 1k a month each advair is $250, x3 kids right now plus inhalers, albuterol solution, we are trying to get another breathing machine, rounds of steroids, trips to the urgent care and ER in the middle of the night, last year alone we were over 75k (billed amount) and I wasnt pgnt and we didnt have any major medical issues, that was for RX and 'regular' emergencies alone. (i have 8 kids )
Every time I complain about co-pays, then I look at the 'billed' amount Im so thankful DH has a job that provides wonderful coverage.

So i ALWAYS say part of being adult is forking out the money for insurance, health, auto, homeowners, renters etc....

[Rebecca]

I've known people who've just had catastrophic insurance on themselves and the kids on the state plan. The deductible is like $5000 to $10000, which stinks, but sure beats not having insurance and getting t-boned at an intersection by some drunk who also doesn't have insurance.

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by Rebecca

I've known people who've just had catastrophic insurance on themselves and the kids on the state plan. The deductible is like $5000 to $10000, which stinks, but sure beats not having insurance and getting t-boned at an intersection by some drunk who also doesn't have insurance.

A couple of months ago I read an absolute horror story of one of these catastrophic plans. The deductable was 10K a year and had all kinds of things they would not cover. The husband had cancer (I believe). I have heard of others that their policy was completely canceled when they got sick.

[namama]

this is really helping me, thank you.

dh just got over shingles and our out of pocket was over $3500. and i just feel pissed because all the medical care basically got us nowhere. buuuuuuuut that would be a different story if it was a broken bone or a heart condition, right?

and i was in a car accident and thankfully was okay, but without our car insurance we'd have been in BIG trouble.

so how much do YOU pay for medical bills and premiums?

i don't want freebies, but things are JUST SO TIGHT. do any of you know what's happening with Obama's plan and if there is hope for that, for families like us?

oh and good morning!

[russsk]

My brother had a snowboarding accident when he was 13. He had emergency surgery and was in the hospital for weeks. The bill was well over 100K. I can't imagine what would have happened to our family if we didn't have insurance. My mother has worked so hard her entire life to leave behind the life of poverty that she grew up in. She put both her kids through college and is debt-free. Insurance is a must-have in my book.

[cristeen]

This is the position I found myself in last month... DH just switched jobs and went from an old job that paid almost 100% on family coverage to a new company that pays 100% for him and 0 for the rest of the family. Coverage for JUST me would be $500/month with the group plan (same for baby), or about $700 through COBRA. So I called our insurance agent... to stay with the HMO I've been with for 10 years, with an increased deductible ($1500/yr) will cost me $170/mo. To add baby will be another $100/mo. While at the same time, I'm paying out of pocket for my MW for a HB. But there's no way that I could justify completely dropping my health coverage, pregnant or not - particularly because it would make me virtually uninsureable down the road. I know my parents ran into this about 5-10 years ago - my dad (in his late 50s) wound up being uninsureable and my SM was paying something like $600/mo for catastrophic coverage just for herself.

[1littlebit]

this is interesting b/c i know some people don't think going without health insurance is a problem.. i actually thought most people would say you don't need it. go figure.

[chiromamma]

Originally Posted by namama

this is really helping me, thank you.

dh just got over shingles and our out of pocket was over $3500. and i just feel pissed because all the medical care basically got us nowhere. buuuuuuuut that would be a different story if it was a broken bone or a heart condition, right?

and i was in a car accident and thankfully was okay, but without our car insurance we'd have been in BIG trouble.

so how much do YOU pay for medical bills and premiums?

i don't want freebies, but things are JUST SO TIGHT. do any of you know what's happening with Obama's plan and if there is hope for that, for families like us?

oh and good morning!

Did you go to your chiro when he got shingles? We've had excellent results in our practice.

We also have hit some slower times and dropped our catastrophic insurance and we don't qualify for state insurance. If we did, we'd take it. If you don't do the well child visits, vax aren't an issue. Take the state insurance in case someone breaks an arm and for dental care.
We've managed to barter for dental, and have a relationship with a orthopod if someone breaks an arm. We can call a midwife if a few stitches are needed.
But if we end up in the ER with something major, we're screwed financially. Getting a reasonable catastrophic plan is top of the list for us right now.
I love the current administration but I'm not holding my breath on it doing anything to help situations like ours any time soon.

[Healthy Skeptic]

We don't pay for insurance.

Our kids have state, but we don't even use it. I just keep it in case they sever and arm or something.

As for us, most hospitals will work with you when you are a cash patient. And most have grants for those who really need the help.

So many things we can take care of ourselves, so I try to keep up on the herbal and emergency stuff.

Not sure if this helps you.