Personal health insurance policy?

Section 1101 of the Senate Bill, entitled "Immediate Access to Insurance for Uninsured Individuals with a Preexisting Condition" implements coverage for pre-existing conditions within 90 days of enactment of the Act. While it's not always the case, I'm pretty sure enactment of this bill is immediate when the President signs it.

 

If government will help out with Pre-Xs, that's all good. All good.

But for those who are running around without coverage, waiting for the government to do something about it first is a fool's bet.

Find coverage yesterday. I wasn't kidding ... you'd be surprised at how many people swore they were going to seek coverage when something catastrophic and/or life-altering occurred. If the government helps, none of these policies are binding. Simply switch to something else, but make sure there's no lapse in coverage to avoid falling into pre-existing waiting periods.

 

I hear you. I'm one of those. I left my job and got a catastrophic coverage plan with a $3,000 deductible for a year and a half and dropped it when the rates went up to over $100 a month; I just got tired of flushing that money down the toilet for what amounts to insurance against having to file bankruptcy if something happens; figure I'll just go bankrupt if something does happen. I do hope to get some coverage soon but I'm not paying $100+ a month to protect against the off-chance that something happens to make me incur over $3,000 in meds.

 

I hear you. I feel like many of the private providers have robber-baron tendencies. Some are legitimate. Many of them aren't.

This is pretty similar to the lottery. Chances are fairly slim that you get caught without coverage. But if you need something, procedures can easily run five figures ... and those are just the facility charges. We haven't even discussed the physician's fee - and, oh yeah, either he/she gets this in full prior to the procedure or no dice - as well as the anesthesiologist.

Not trying to scare you, POO ... I own no stock with the providers and some of them are crooks. But if something happens, the financial ruin on top of the clinical concerns are overwhelming. "Be careful" doesn't begin to describe it.

Look up some policies at www.ehealthinsurance.com. There should be some policies there with reasonable deductibles and coinsurance splits that won't rob you blind. Just double-check to see what that company considers in-network and make sure the facilities near you are part of this, including your primary-care physician.

 

I've never had a primary care physician. My mom is a nurse and she always took care of what I needed. I went to an orthopoedic doc a few years back when I hurt my knee and had insurance at the time, but I've never done doctors other than that even though I've always had health care either through my parents or through my employment up until a couple of years ago. I'll check out that site but honestly I'll probably end up trying to skate by until September when my career plans and income are more certain. I don't know what I would get if it wasn't another cat coverage policy. It all makes my head spin.