Posted: 2/24/2011 5:21:33 PM EDT
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I've been reading the Anthem site and the United Health Care site and I understand very little of the
prose and terms and this and thats of the whole racket. I can only afford $200 or so a month. I need to have a couple of minor physical issues looked at and fixed, I work out and eat right and don't smoke so I'm not a huge risk. What do I want? Ideally, they would pay for everything that ever happens to me, and I wouldn't pay more than a few hundred or so, depending on severity. The terminology is perplexing. Co-pay? Deductibles? Health Savings Accounts? The plans are bewilderingly complex, and seem to offer very little. I need a "Health Insurance for Dummies" sort of primer - I'm totally at a loss. I could talk to one of the local agents for the various providers, but I would feel "steered" into whatever is the most profitable for them. The cheap-assed company I work for offers nothing for health benefits. |
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Quoted:
I can only afford $200 or so a month. I need to have a couple of minor physical issues looked at and fixed, I work out and eat right and don't smoke so I'm not a huge risk. What do I want? Ideally, they would pay for everything that ever happens to me, and I wouldn't pay more than a few hundred or so, depending on severity. Your age, general health and previous medical history will determine how much coverage you can get for $200 per month. Naturally, a plan with a high deductible costs a lot less than a plan that pays for every sniffle. My personal opinion is that health insurance should be reserved for expenses you couldn't pay out-of-pocket within a reasonable amount of time. This keeps the monthly premium payments way down, and yet provides some assurance that a major medical emergency wouldn't bankrupt you. For everything else, there's the savings account (or a Visa card with some available credit on it). My own policy is with Texas Blue Cross, and costs around $220 per month. The deductible is $10K per year, but the plan also partly pays for routine doctor visits and some prescriptions. I'm in my mid-50's, so my premium is probably quite a bit more expensive than yours would be for similar coverage. |
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Quoted:
I've been reading the Anthem site and the United Health Care site and I understand very little of the prose and terms and this and thats of the whole racket. I can only afford $200 or so a month. I need to have a couple of minor physical issues looked at and fixed, I work out and eat right and don't smoke so I'm not a huge risk. What do I want? Ideally, they would pay for everything that ever happens to me, and I wouldn't pay more than a few hundred or so, depending on severity. The terminology is perplexing. Co-pay? Deductibles? Health Savings Accounts? The plans are bewilderingly complex, and seem to offer very little. I need a "Health Insurance for Dummies" sort of primer - I'm totally at a loss. I could talk to one of the local agents for the various providers, but I would feel "steered" into whatever is the most profitable for them. The cheap-assed company I work for offers nothing for health benefits. If you have minor issues just go to the doctors office and offer to paycash for the visits. Cash is still king. The ins. company would prefer to take your money and give nothing in return, so with that in mind you would be better off paying cash for doctor visits. You may just want to get a policy that will cover you in case you have a unexpected hospital stay. Insurance is pretty expensive, I don't know what you will get for for 200 a month. |
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Unfortunately, the days of $200 plans that pay for everything are long gone.
If you are healthy and a non-smoker, those things will help lower your premium. If you have any preexisting medical conditions (anything that has been looked at, diagnosed, treated or had treatment scheduled) they will most likely NOT be covered for the first 12 months you are insured (but the laws covering preexisting conditions vary by state). Deductible - the amount which you must pay out-of-pocket before the coverage kicks in. This can vary from $250 to $15000; the lower the deductible, the less you have to pay, so the more expensive the monthly premium. Deductibles renew on an annual basis. Copay- a small (usually $20-$50) per-service fee which you pay for less-expensive medical treatments like an office visit, an ER visit, or a test. You may want to try and get a plan with a split deductible, meaning a plan that has a higher deductible (like $5k) for seldom-used services like surgeries, but copays for often-used services like office visits. As far as being "steered" into a plan, the Obamacare laws mean many companies can no longer afford to pay agents for sales of individual health plans. It also means that your premiums are 15-45% higher than they were before Obamacare. |
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