Talk to me about: Individual Health Insurance

[Theia]

The short story is.... I am a single mom of a toddler. We are currently on medicaid but I just found out my new income will put us over the limit for that. I/we are not able to get insurance through an employer or through DC's father. So that means as far as I can tell, that I am going to have to purchase it out of pocket.

What kind of coverage should I look for? We are healthy and health conscious. We rarely have need to visit a doctor unless one of us is very sick which doesn't happen much. So far the best guess I've been able to come up with is to purchase insurance for emergency coverage and pay out of pocket for doctor visits. I think I would rather be able to choose our doctor freely rather than from a limited group. My goal is to find a ND in our area that I like.

I really don't even know where to start looking for this. I know I couldn't afford to pay out of pocket for most emergency care or hospitalizations. Help!

[SunRise]

Check to see if your state has a subsidized health plan for children.

I think all states are different, but NY toots health care for all children. There is a sliding scale, but no child is refused (no matter the parents income). The monthly maximum for one child is 184.00 (I think). Minimum is around 30.

For yourself ask about the catastrophic plan, traditional plans w/ deductibles and full coverage (to compare plans and prices)

And I guess to be thorough, get quotes from several different companies

I have catastrophic health insurance for myself. I just downgraded from a full coverage to this, which is a huge monthly savings yet I am still covered if I end up in the hospital. Catastrophic covers hospital visits and a yearly mammogram and a few other things.

[Drummer's Wife]

I agree with checking out subsidized insurance for your child. I'm guessing most states have similar programs, b/c the two we have lived in do.

For yourself, I would start by filling out an app at ehealthinsurance.com. DH work insurance went up to $780 a month, for crappy coverage so we opted out (except dental, vision, life, and disability b/c they are at least affordable). Anyhow, we got coverage through Blue cross blue anthem via that website. It's something like $47 per person a month, and while it has a really high deductible, the doctor's visit copays are $40 and prescriptions are $15. We haven't used it, as we pretty much never go to the doctor, but it's there if we need it. I think the ER copay is $250, but there are different plans for various premiums.

Anyhow, it's worth a try to see what they offer.

[ltlmrs]

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Edited by ltlmrs - 7/13/11 at 7:05am

[lolar2]

We've also found some good deals on ehealthinsurance.com.

If you have anything pre-existing, sometimes you can get short-term insurance from ehealthinsurance until you can figure something else out.

[Theia]

Thank you for the suggestions everyone. I will check into the subsidized health insurance for DD. I'll also see what ehealthinsurance.com offers me. I really hope I could get something reasonable with less than a 10K deductible. I've got massive student loans and while my income has grown, 10K seems pretty high. I suppose a lower deductible raises your payments though. *sigh*