Affordable medical insurance

[tige1979]

I am looking for affordable medical Insurance, anyone have any suggestion?

[Yssup Rider]

Self employed? If so you have few options. Best bet is a catastrophic policy ($5K) deductible along with a Healthcare Savings Account to help you put away enough to cover the little stuff.

Other than that? Canada.

[WyldemanATX]

Esurance is a good place to go look for affordable health insurance.

I would not recommend Canada unless you want to be on a 6 month waiting list. There is a reason all of there nurses are coming to the US.

[Booth]

Originally Posted by tige1979

I am looking for affordable medical Insurance, anyone have any suggestion?

Good luck. You probably have a better chance finding a GFE with a drop dead gorgeous 10 for under $150 an hour.

[Yssup Rider]

Originally Posted by Wyldeman30

I would not recommend Canada unless you want to be on a 6 month waiting list. There is a reason all of there nurses are coming to the US.

What is that reason? Could it be that American health care has gotten so bad for primary care physicians that states have been forced to expand scope of practice for mislevel providers and physician extenders? Like nurses? Is that what you meant?

Or did you mean that increased hospitalizations as a result of our teeming uninsured has increased our demand for nurses?

One of those, right?

[WyldemanATX]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

What is that reason? Could it be that American health care has gotten so bad for primary care physicians that states have been forced to expand scope of practice for mislevel providers and physician extenders? Like nurses? Is that what you meant?

I worked in a hospital for 2.5 years and what the Canadian Nurses told me is that they are understaffed and underpaid in Canada. They actually sell insurance policies in Canada that will pay to send you to the US for better care.

[Yssup Rider]

I've heard otherwise from Canadian nurses, doctors and patients. How long ago was this? Id sure like to see one of those policies referenced in your next post.

[WyldemanATX]

Not that long ago. 1994 to 1998.

[Yssup Rider]

Seventeen years? WOW! OK. Im guessing things have changed a bit in nearly two decades.
Also, you ARE aware that Texas just passed a law to allow hospitals to hire doctors as employees? Look for great things there.

[mastermind238]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

Self employed? If so you have few options. Best bet is a catastrophic policy ($5K) deductible along with a Healthcare Savings Account to help you put away enough to cover the little stuff.

Other than that? Canada.

Being self-employed isn't such an obstacle. In fact it can be a benefit. It means you're free to reject expensive coverage you don't need, but which your employer is obligated to provide (and pay for) in a one-size-fits-all plan. But as an individual buyer, you don't get the tax benefit of excluding your premiums from your taxable income. (At least I don't think so. Can anyone speak to that?)

The biggest cost saving for someone in your situation - besides the high deductable - is forgoing Ob/Gyn and maternity benefits. Caring for a pregnant woman and delivering a baby are very expensive propositions. Last time I shopped for a private plan, my premium was almost cut in half by forgoing Ob/Gyn/Maternity coverage. (I'm just guessing that if you're an ECCIE member you're not planning to have a baby anytime soon with your SO.) Company-provided plans are required to carry such coverage - at least that's what my HR manager told me. In some jurisdictions (none in Texas, though), insurance companies are REQUIRED to cover sex change operations. I'm assuming that doesn't apply either.

[Yssup Rider]

There are just a lot fewer options available to you if you're self employed. At least that's what I've found over the past 28 years of self employment. Very difficult to change policies and if you or a family member has any major illness, expect to take it up the ass forever.

We pay more than $2500 a month in premiums WITH a $5000 deductible. And one of our kids is off the payroll.

I don't call that an obstable, MM, I call that highway robbery.

[mastermind238]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

There are just a lot fewer options available to you if you're self employed. At least that's what I've found over the past 28 years of self employment. Very difficult to change policies and if you or a family member has any major illness, expect to take it up the ass forever.

We pay more than $2500 a month in premiums WITH a $5000 deductible. And one of our kids is off the payroll.

I don't call that an obstable, MM, I call that highway robbery.

So that's roughly $35,000/year you're laying out for premiums and the deductible (12 x $2500 + $5000). Really? My employer's BC/BS plan costs only about $18k/year/employee.

Obviously I don't know your circumstances so I can't say why you'd be paying $30K/year in premiums. That's a stunning figure. You can pay for a lot of unexpected illnesses for that. Not offering financial advice, but if it were me I'd be putting $35K in a money market account and paying for the occasional trip to the emergency room out of pocket. Unless you expect to be paying for a heart (or other organ) transplant in the near future, what are the chances you'd have anywhere close to $35K in expenses per year, every year? Yeah, I suppose you could roll your car on Mopac and spend 6 months in a coma at Seton. That'll set you back a million or so. But still, what are the chances?

I shopped for a private plan roughly 7 years ago to replace my employer's plan when my employer cut back on their premium subsidy. I got a quote from BC/BS for a plan that was identical to my employer-provided BC/BS plan, for a family of 4, 2 adults, 2 kids under 21. The actual, unsubsidized premium was about $650/mo. The per-employee premium on my employer's plan was not quite double that (maybe $1150, I think). But the only major difference was the Ob/maternity benefits. None in my private plan. Same deductible.

I now have a BC/BS plan with a $5k deductible and put > $7k in a HSA every year. Can't remember the last time I used up all of my deductible, which means my out-of-pocket expenses aren't even $5k/year. Go figure.

[WyldemanATX]

It was not two decades ago it was a little over 10 years ago that I was in the medical field and I still have contact with those people.

If you do some research there are a lot of things out there you kind find some decent coverage. I found a plan for my self for just over 100 bucks a month on esurance and then just ad Aflac in that is cheap as well to help cover what major medical will not. I shop for insurance once a year.

The good thing is if you break an arm or leg in the US they will fix it right away. If you break and arm of leg in Canada it may be 6 months before they can get to you. If that happens they may have to re break it and set it again to fix it.

[Yssup Rider]

You're doing the right thing, mm. Catastrophic with an HSA. That's what I recommended at the top of this thread.

I'm stuck in a situation from which I can't escape from for another couple of years and, as a self-employed businessman, with a family load of pre-existings, it's virtually impossible to switch plans. In fact, we've been told as much.

[Yssup Rider]

Originally Posted by Wyldeman30

It was not two decades ago it was a little over 10 years ago that I was in the medical field and I still have contact with those people.

Uh, 1994 was 17 years ago. 1998 was 13 years ago. 2001 was 10 years ago.

The good thing is if you break an arm or leg in the US they will fix it right away. If you break and arm of leg in Canada it may be 6 months before they can get to you. If that happens they may have to re break it and set it again to fix it.

That, sir, is utter BS. For a broken bone? REALLY? I've got a ton of family in Canada. They tell it differently, amigo. They bitch and moan -- but not like we do.

The ERs in Canada do not make you wait 6 months to set a broken bone. The ERs are crowded there, just like they are here, and not NEARLY as crowded as they are along the US-Mexico border. Certainly there are shortcomings in their health care system, though not the same as ours, but what you're describing sounds like something right out of the mouth of Congressman Louie "FEAR AND SMEAR" Gohmert!

Where on earth are you coming up with this?