Health Insurance...off topic?

[ricktate]

I'm on cobra BCBS from my ex-employer after 10 years of perfect attendance I was terminated and it costs 430 a month, soon to run out. I was wondering if my fourm friends here had any recomendations for self insurance people.When you search for insurance you get about a 1000 calls not knowing if they are any good. I would rather trust friends from here thanks for any help. Rick

[tube fanatic]

Before making a decision, check with all of your doctors to see which plans they participate in and whether they are planning to cancel their participation in the near future. That will help you narrow your choices a bit. Be prepared though that even if you are offered an attractive premium initially, it's likely to go way up when renewal time comes. Health insurance providers are notorious for offering very low initial premiums, and then ask for huge increases afterwards.

[ricktate]

Thanks, good info. did not think of that . Rick

[JL Sargent]

We had BCBS Individual Blue insurance for my family for about 3yrs. We thought it was reasonable health insurance. Since you have BCBS now, maybe you prequalify for a similar plan. The Alabama version can be found at www.alabamablue.com and click on individuals. There might be a version of this insurance in your state?

[oscarsear]

Check your COBRA policy. It is not uncommon for a company to not give you the same policy(s) under a COBRA plan that covered you while you were an employee. Often the coverage is less and with different providers. I have no suggestion about any best alternate solutions. Sorry, but IMHO that industry, it is shades of grey without any standouts.

[mustang guy]

I'm on cobra BCBS from my ex-employer after 10 years of perfect attendance I was terminated and it costs 430 a month, soon to run out. I was wondering if my fourm friends here had any recomendations for self insurance people.When you search for insurance you get about a 1000 calls not knowing if they are any good. I would rather trust friends from here thanks for any help. Rick

Ouch, that bites! Very sorry to hear.

$430 per month isn't that much. The insurance industry has been soft for many years, so you may not see increases as stated before. Sticking with the insurance company you know might be best.

What was it you did for 10 years?

[DizRotus]

$430/month is not horrrible, but it depends on many factors, such as age, health history, co-pays, deductibles, etc.

Find poeple in your area who are pleased with the service and prices from their independent agents. Contact those agents and consider co-pays, deductibles, health savings account, etc. If you deal with the right agent you will get value. Price alone is not a value.

As previously indicated, make certain the doctors and hospitals you prefer accept the coverages you're considering.

Health Insurance is sort of like cable; you need to switch (or threaten to switch) providers occasionally to get the best rates. We just switched, lowered our rate and now get yearly physicals, mammograms, colonoscopies, so-called well visits, at no cost. If we'd stayed with the old carrier we'd not have benefitted from some of the recent changes in health insurance.

[mustang guy]

It has been my practice to resolicit health insurance about every three years. When you have low claims, and the premiums keep rising, you have to do it. As Diz says, when they think you are leaving, all the sudden they can do this and that to keep you. The threat of leaving is a negotiation tactic.

General liability and property/casualty inland marine, etc., I let go longer just because it is so much more work to resolicit and increases seem to creep up much more slowly. For that I might go as long as 10 years. Just this year I left my agent of about 15 years because I resolicited, and am saving about $20,000 this year alone. I warned him the day would come, and wham! I did give him an opportunity to go back and sharpen his pencil. He might as well have been writing with a baseball bat. He couldn't come close. As I said before, the Insurance industry is very soft right now.

The long and the short of it is that you can always save money, or get more value, or whatever. But if it aint broke, don't fix it, unless you think it's too high, or there is a coverage you aren't getting. When you fix something that aint broke, sometimes you get denied claims due to pre-existing conditions, or non-covered services, or higher co-pays if you stay at the doctor you have been going to for 20 years because he's not in that particular ***, or no coverage at the hospital you like, and on and on...

Is there something you are not getting from the current provider? Is it just plain crappy health insurance? Let them give you an individual price for the same coverage. The laws in your state may actually compel them to provide it.