Health insurance for a new baby
My wife and I are planning on having a baby in the next year. We don't make a ton of money since I am still in college. We could probably qualify for all those government programs (WIC, CHIP, etc) but we don't want to do it that way. What are some options for non-government subsidized insurance plans for children here in Utah?
Thanks in advance.
Originally Posted By c86man:
My wife and I are planning on having a baby in the next year. We don't make a ton of money since I am still in college. We could probably qualify for all those government programs (WIC, CHIP, etc) but we don't want to do it that way. What are some options for non-government subsidized insurance plans for children here in Utah?
Thanks in advance.
When I was at the U of U, we had a family plan from IHC (now Selecthealth). It was ok, but not fantastic. Do you qualify for the student health plan that might be offered by your college?
Originally Posted By eastonj:
Originally Posted By c86man:
My wife and I are planning on having a baby in the next year. We don't make a ton of money since I am still in college. We could probably qualify for all those government programs (WIC, CHIP, etc) but we don't want to do it that way. What are some options for non-government subsidized insurance plans for children here in Utah?
Thanks in advance.
When I was at the U of U, we had a family plan from IHC (now Selecthealth). It was ok, but not fantastic. Do you qualify for the student health plan that might be offered by your college?
I get practically free health insurance from the school, we will have to pay about $2700 a year for my wife to be on the school plan, and about the same for the baby when it comes. So I'm kinda hoping there is something cheaper, for both of them in fact. Right now my wife is covered by her work insurance, but she is going to go to part time once the baby comes and she will not get insurance.
Are you concerned about having insurance to cover the birth only or are you concerned about having coverage for ongoing newborn care expenses?
Originally Posted By thecreeper23:
Are you concerned about having insurance to cover the birth only or are you concerned about having coverage for ongoing newborn care expenses?
The birth/ hospital fees will be covered by my wife's insurance. My question is more for insurance after the birth since my wife will not have insurance shortly after the birth.
This insurance would only be needed for about a year since I will be done with my graduate program by then.
I'm going to be about as honest as I can be without being rude.
If you think that $2700 is too much, then you don't know a lot about health insurance.
CHEAP family plans for a family of 3+ are $700 per month for a family in their late 20's early 30's with a $500 deductible.
The student plan you are on is dirt cheap.
Once you get out in the real world, you are in for a real eye opener.
My fourth child was born last year, had a small cyst in his eye / tear duct. Over $260,000 in the first ten days of his life in medical bills. Thankfully, we had good insurance coverage and had to cover $4,000 of it. But we pay $9132 per year for that insurance.
A routine birth at a hospital with a two day stay for mom / baby costs around $6,000 if there are NO complications.
Most insurance requires that you are on the insurance plan for at least 10 months prior to becoming pregnant or they won't cover the birth.
Ok, so getting off the soap box.
There aren't too many good "cheap" insurance plans IME, and I'm an HR guy who provides plans for big companies.
Your "best option" IMO is to take back some of the money that the government steals from you at gunpoint by using the government programs... it is YOUR money afterall.
Semper Fidelis
Originally Posted By USMC_2674:
I'm going to be about as honest as I can be without being rude.
If you think that $2700 is too much, then you don't know a lot about health insurance.
CHEAP family plans for a family of 3+ are $700 per month for a family in their late 20's early 30's with a $500 deductible.
The student plan you are on is dirt cheap.
Once you get out in the real world, you are in for a real eye opener.
My fourth child was born last year, had a small cyst in his eye / tear duct. Over $260,000 in the first ten days of his life in medical bills. Thankfully, we had good insurance coverage and had to cover $4,000 of it. But we pay $9132 per year for that insurance.
A routine birth at a hospital with a two day stay for mom / baby costs around $6,000 if there are NO complications.
Most insurance requires that you are on the insurance plan for at least 10 months prior to becoming pregnant or they won't cover the birth.
Ok, so getting off the soap box.
There aren't too many good "cheap" insurance plans IME, and I'm an HR guy who provides plans for big companies.
Your "best option" IMO is to take back some of the money that the government steals from you at gunpoint by using the government programs... it is YOUR money afterall.
Semper Fidelis
I appreciate your advice, but I somewhat resent the tone. The whole "when you get out in the real world" stuff is a little annoying. My wife and I both graduating from BYU debt free working our butts off with 2 jobs each without taking a dime from anyone is about as real as it gets. Financially, the best option would be to just suck off the government tit for a while, and most do that, but I refuse.
If somebody can't afford their own damn kids, they don't have any business having kids. I'm not going to use government assistance for my baby while I'm going to school, it isn't a freaking scholarship.
(deep breath) (sorry, all my fellow college students talking about how wonderful medicaid is because it is "free" has gotten me all fired up)
Anyways, I still think $2700 a year PER PERSON is quite a bit for insurance. Your insurance, which you say is good insurance is $1522 per person counting 6 people and $1826 per person counting 5 people.
Originally Posted By c86man:
Originally Posted By USMC_2674:
I'm going to be about as honest as I can be without being rude.
If you think that $2700 is too much, then you don't know a lot about health insurance.
CHEAP family plans for a family of 3+ are $700 per month for a family in their late 20's early 30's with a $500 deductible.
The student plan you are on is dirt cheap.
Once you get out in the real world, you are in for a real eye opener.
My fourth child was born last year, had a small cyst in his eye / tear duct. Over $260,000 in the first ten days of his life in medical bills. Thankfully, we had good insurance coverage and had to cover $4,000 of it. But we pay $9132 per year for that insurance.
A routine birth at a hospital with a two day stay for mom / baby costs around $6,000 if there are NO complications.
Most insurance requires that you are on the insurance plan for at least 10 months prior to becoming pregnant or they won't cover the birth.
Ok, so getting off the soap box.
There aren't too many good "cheap" insurance plans IME, and I'm an HR guy who provides plans for big companies.
Your "best option" IMO is to take back some of the money that the government steals from you at gunpoint by using the government programs... it is YOUR money afterall.
Semper Fidelis
I appreciate your advice, but I somewhat resent the tone. The whole "when you get out in the real world" stuff is a little annoying. My wife and I both graduating from BYU debt free working our butts off with 2 jobs each without taking a dime from anyone is about as real as it gets. Financially, the best option would be to just suck off the government tit for a while, and most do that, but I refuse.
If somebody can't afford their own damn kids, they don't have any business having kids. I'm not going to use government assistance for my baby while I'm going to school, it isn't a freaking scholarship.
(deep breath) (sorry, all my fellow college students talking about how wonderful medicaid is because it is "free" has gotten me all fired up)
Anyways, I still think $2700 a year PER PERSON is quite a bit for insurance. Your insurance, which you say is good insurance is $1522 per person counting 6 people and $1826 per person counting 5 people.
Any tone you read, and took offense to, was not implied by me. Real world comment was "non education world" where careers are the norm, not hourly jobs while going to school. It isn't an insult to be working a part time/ full time hourly job while going to school... it is commendable to be smart enough to plan for your future and for you to be doing it. But that doesn't mean that you are living in the real world, you are living in a pseudo four-twelve year (depending on your career choice and education needs) virtual reality where when you are done you will "take off the visor" and go out into the real world and start over.
Lets be honest here.
It is admirable what you are trying to do. I commend you for it.
But insurance doesn't work by person. It works as "Single, Double, or Family".
You get "free insurance" basically. Your wife gets free insurance basically... until she quits after the baby. If you play it right, she can stay employed for a month or two after the baby (by using the FMLA properly, combined with vacation / time off), and thus keep her medical insurance for a bit.
The baby is your big thing.
My advice to you is, keep looking. But, don't be SO damn prideful that at the end of the day you end up buying insurance you can't afford (going into debt you can't afford) or going without insurance (not getting the baby onto medicaid) because you are too prideful.
Everyone needs help at some point in their life... and for many people it is in the beginning of their career.
Medicaid isn't free. It is blood money. It is stolen from me, it is stolen from you. If I don't pay it, they throw me in jail, and if I resist, they shoot me. Make no mistake... you pay for medicaid.
My opinion, try to get it changed through the local politics. But take advantage of it if you can legally / morally do so.
Welfare belongs in the hands of the private entity... private citizens, charities, and churches... but so long as government is involved and is stealing my money to use it, I might as well get some of it back IF I can legally / morally do so.
I just can't qualify in any way shape or form.
Semper Fidelis
Originally Posted By USMC_2674:
Originally Posted By c86man:
Originally Posted By USMC_2674:
I'm going to be about as honest as I can be without being rude.
If you think that $2700 is too much, then you don't know a lot about health insurance.
CHEAP family plans for a family of 3+ are $700 per month for a family in their late 20's early 30's with a $500 deductible.
The student plan you are on is dirt cheap.
Once you get out in the real world, you are in for a real eye opener.
My fourth child was born last year, had a small cyst in his eye / tear duct. Over $260,000 in the first ten days of his life in medical bills. Thankfully, we had good insurance coverage and had to cover $4,000 of it. But we pay $9132 per year for that insurance.
A routine birth at a hospital with a two day stay for mom / baby costs around $6,000 if there are NO complications.
Most insurance requires that you are on the insurance plan for at least 10 months prior to becoming pregnant or they won't cover the birth.
Ok, so getting off the soap box.
There aren't too many good "cheap" insurance plans IME, and I'm an HR guy who provides plans for big companies.
Your "best option" IMO is to take back some of the money that the government steals from you at gunpoint by using the government programs... it is YOUR money afterall.
Semper Fidelis
I appreciate your advice, but I somewhat resent the tone. The whole "when you get out in the real world" stuff is a little annoying. My wife and I both graduating from BYU debt free working our butts off with 2 jobs each without taking a dime from anyone is about as real as it gets. Financially, the best option would be to just suck off the government tit for a while, and most do that, but I refuse.
If somebody can't afford their own damn kids, they don't have any business having kids. I'm not going to use government assistance for my baby while I'm going to school, it isn't a freaking scholarship.
(deep breath) (sorry, all my fellow college students talking about how wonderful medicaid is because it is "free" has gotten me all fired up)
Anyways, I still think $2700 a year PER PERSON is quite a bit for insurance. Your insurance, which you say is good insurance is $1522 per person counting 6 people and $1826 per person counting 5 people.
Any tone you read, and took offense to, was not implied by me. Real world comment was "non education world" where careers are the norm, not hourly jobs while going to school. It isn't an insult to be working a part time/ full time hourly job while going to school... it is commendable to be smart enough to plan for your future and for you to be doing it. But that doesn't mean that you are living in the real world, you are living in a pseudo four-twelve year (depending on your career choice and education needs) virtual reality where when you are done you will "take off the visor" and go out into the real world and start over.
Lets be honest here.
It is admirable what you are trying to do. I commend you for it.
But insurance doesn't work by person. It works as "Single, Double, or Family".
You get "free insurance" basically. Your wife gets free insurance basically... until she quits after the baby. If you play it right, she can stay employed for a month or two after the baby (by using the FMLA properly, combined with vacation / time off), and thus keep her medical insurance for a bit.
The baby is your big thing.
My advice to you is, keep looking. But, don't be SO damn prideful that at the end of the day you end up buying insurance you can't afford (going into debt you can't afford) or going without insurance (not getting the baby onto medicaid) because you are too prideful.
Everyone needs help at some point in their life... and for many people it is in the beginning of their career.
Medicaid isn't free. It is blood money. It is stolen from me, it is stolen from you. If I don't pay it, they throw me in jail, and if I resist, they shoot me. Make no mistake... you pay for medicaid.
My opinion, try to get it changed through the local politics. But take advantage of it if you can legally / morally do so.
Welfare belongs in the hands of the private entity... private citizens, charities, and churches... but so long as government is involved and is stealing my money to use it, I might as well get some of it back IF I can legally / morally do so.
I just can't qualify in any way shape or form.
Semper Fidelis
I understand where you are coming from and I shouldn't have taken offense. I can afford the $2700 a year if I need to. I was just hoping there were other options besides medicaid and CHIP.
medical insurance.is what it is....in the end......if I had my way..I would prefer my citizens have decent insurance to cover expenses.
While the whole socialism is evil mantra is nice, in the end, I know of enough families including one good friend in Oregon who is basically broke simply because his insurance wasn't enough to cover anything. How do you define broke? He sold his car to stop payments and now take the bus, she sold her car to pay the bills, so they both take buses now, they lost their house and now rent, they cut up cell phones, cable, eating out..simply because of his pride. Yes they don't do the medicare and other stuff because of his PRIDE.....
whatever.....it's his choice and money.
Him and his wife have good jobs ( financial investment firm), it is just that he broke his hip and his wife got some kind of bacterial infection of the spine, and both being laid up in the hospital just ran up the hospital bills. Long term disability insurance did not kick in and the bills are still there with their insurance saying no to coverage as it is PER INCIDENT for family, and both of them getting whacked at the same time but different incidents, was the killer for them. Now if they both got hurt in a wreck TOGETHER, then it is a different story.
Yes, he got the cadillac option in coverage but in the end, it still hurts him.
Buy the best you can afford.
