Aflac- is it worth it?

[Lisa_M]

Do you have to get this threw work or can anyone get it. My DH works for his uncle and he pays for DH insurance and I have to pay for my own. I wonder if I can just get aflac and drop my insurance? It would be alot cheaper. The DS's are on the blue chip program.

Aflac isn't health insurance, it's supplemental insurance for accidents or cancer those sorts of things. They will pay a claim if you have an accident and have to get treatment (like $35 per visit or so), but the amount is not anywhere near the cost of going to the doctor, or having an extended stay in the hospital, ICU or NICU. It wouldn't make any sense to cancel your health insurance for Aflac. If you have an accident you would need to seek medical treatment to have an Aflac claim, yet you wouldn't be able to afford to seek medical treatment without insurance...

 

[disneypartyof4]

Can you get it on ypor own or does your work to provide it?

 

[Lisa_M]

Can you get it on ypor own or does your work to provide it?

They are selling it through work so we might get a group rate or something, I don't know. I'm sure you could buy it on your own. otherwise they wouldn't have all those commercials. I think their website is aflac.com so check it out.

 

[sameyeyam]

I don't personally have Aflac, but I am a breast cancer survivor that chats on the Komen message board a lot. There have been several women on there that have Aflac and they all say they are thrilled with it! For many of them it helped cover their deductibles or made it possible to cut their work hours back to part time during their chemo & radiation treatments. If it ever becomes available at my or my husband's work I will make sure to get it.

And for those of you that think you are in good health and young....I was 40 years old, had my first mammogram which was completely normal. Fast forward 7 months later and I had a 2-1/2 inch tumor that was cancer. I should have been the poster child for who shouldn't get cancer. I went from being a healthy person to being in the group of the sickest people in the world in just one day. Thank goodness we had very good medical insurance, because here are the approximate costs...

Mastectomy - $40,000
Chemo - $18,000 per round x 8 rounds
Radiation - $75,000 for 6.5 weeks
Reconstruction - $70,000

I do wish we had Aflac because it would have helped pay for those things that medical insurance didn't....gas for driving to doctors appointments, co-pays, babysitter to watch kids while you go to appointments, pay for house cleaner, special foods, hundreds of dollars worth of over the counter drugs not covered by insurance, etc...

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Can you get it on ypor own or does your work to provide it?

You can get it own your own. It is definitely worth it. I had it when I injured my knee in 2001 and it paid me to get it fixed. Well worth it, stupid duck or not (actually I really like that duck) AAAAFLACCCCCCCCC

Suzanne

 

[csmommy]

Hi - I know this is an old thread, but I was wondering how people feel about AFLAC now? DH is being offered it at work for $6 per week.

 

[Jeninindy]

Yes, AFLAC is worth it. We have the accident policy, and the two other supplemental policies. In a normal year, we make back the premiums just using the accident policy, especially with three kids and me (the Klutz I am).....

 

[DVC-Don]

I don't have an AFLAC policy but I do have a similar policy with State Farm. It's a hospital income policy that pays for ER visits, outpatient surgery and inpatient stays. It's easy to file a claim and they pay quick. The amounts vary but I get $160 per day in the hospital, $160 per outpatient surgery and up to 3 times the ER bill. The last few years I've made several inpatient, outpatient surgery and ER claims. Most insurance companies sell a similar product.

Looked up the cost: $142.90 per year. $11.90 a month.

 

[it's kelly]

I *love* having Aflac. I'm not sure the exact price as it's taken out of my husbands pay. They pay me to stay on top of my screenings (I'm paid for mammo or pap and because of strong history I've been going for a few years, and I just turned 33). I also have a friend who had cancer and said they were very thankful to have Aflac.

 

[it's kelly]

I don't personally have Aflac, but I am a breast cancer survivor that chats on the Komen message board a lot. There have been several women on there that have Aflac and they all say they are thrilled with it! For many of them it helped cover their deductibles or made it possible to cut their work hours back to part time during their chemo & radiation treatments. If it ever becomes available at my or my husband's work I will make sure to get it.

And for those of you that think you are in good health and young....I was 40 years old, had my first mammogram which was completely normal. Fast forward 7 months later and I had a 2-1/2 inch tumor that was cancer. I should have been the poster child for who shouldn't get cancer. I went from being a healthy person to being in the group of the sickest people in the world in just one day. Thank goodness we had very good medical insurance, because here are the approximate costs...

Mastectomy - $40,000
Chemo - $18,000 per round x 8 rounds
Radiation - $75,000 for 6.5 weeks
Reconstruction - $70,000

I do wish we had Aflac because it would have helped pay for those things that medical insurance didn't....gas for driving to doctors appointments, co-pays, babysitter to watch kids while you go to appointments, pay for house cleaner, special foods, hundreds of dollars worth of over the counter drugs not covered by insurance, etc...

Way to go on kicking cancer's butt! I lost my mom 4 years ago to breast cancer and I started with mammo/sono's since I was 30. I have high family history since I've lost both my parents to cancer and my grandmother (only other women in my family) also had breast cancer, twice.

I'm not sure on the exact requirements but maybe you can let some women on the Komen board know. My mother traveled 2 hours each way for her treatment, surgeries, radiation, Dr appts, and she was reimbursed part of the costs. American Cancer Society paid her by mile, it didn't cover the total but it helped. Also, there is a company that will come out and clean the house for a woman going thru treatment. If you'd like more info, you can private message me and I will get you the name.

I know how expensive treatment can be when you have insurance, every little bit helps.

 

[jessrose18]

i heard it is good to get aflac before you have a baby... what kind of policy would that be? what is the name of that coverage?... and does it pay you for time off of work, my union pays $150 a week for first 3 months off, but I can take up to 6 months off of work no penalties, so just wondering... thanks!

 

[hjvigz72]

I have a couple of "back up" policies. (Cancer for the entire family, eye care for just me.) I find that the cost is well worth it! It's pre-tax dollars, so my paycheck really only changed by a dollar or too. To me, that's a no brainer.

Thankfully, I have not had to use the Cancer yet, but I feel secure having it. The Eye Care Policy that I have ends up acting more like a "savings account" as the amount I end up paying over one year, is about the same as the check that they send me after my annual exam. The check was mailed to me very quickly and so far, I have no complaints.

The commercials are really silly, but I'm happy that I chose to add the policies.

 

[Nennie]

i heard it is good to get aflac before you have a baby... what kind of policy would that be? what is the name of that coverage?... and does it pay you for time off of work, my union pays $150 a week for first 3 months off, but I can take up to 6 months off of work no penalties, so just wondering... thanks!

I have the disability and the hospitalization policies. The disability policy paid me 13 weeks pay (5 before when I was put on disability, and 8 weeks after b/c c-section). The disability policy paid $400 the first day I was in the hospital and $150 each day after that.

It was definitely worth it!! I still have both policies as I plan on having another baby next year!

 

[MissManda]

i heard it is good to get aflac before you have a baby... what kind of policy would that be? what is the name of that coverage?... and does it pay you for time off of work, my union pays $150 a week for first 3 months off, but I can take up to 6 months off of work no penalties, so just wondering... thanks!

That is probably the short term disablity policy. From what I remember you have to be signed up and on the policy for a certain time period before you get pregnant for it to cover materinity leave. I can't recall that time period though. So for example, if you sign up for short term disability on March 1 and then have an accident that requires you to be out of work you can use this policy right away. However, if you find out on April 1 that you are pregnant, I don't think that you can use this policy.

I have the short term disablity policy because my work doesn't offer any sort of disability. So I like knowing I have a little something extra.

I also have the Intensive Care policy. I mainly got this when I was trying to get pregnant because I know that I would have a high risk pregancy and would have to deliver early. This policy would cover if the baby had to be in NICU. I was also told that AFLAC considers treatment for jaundice to be intensive care as well. As it turns out, I haven't needed it. But I've kept on to it just in case.

I also go the accident policy a couple of years ago to cover both DH and I. He has had a few accidents since we've been married and I thought that this would be a good policy to have. As it turns out, ever since I started paying for the policy he's been totally accident free so I haven't had to use it at all. (I have to say that I've been scared to drop it because I know as soon as I do, he'll have an accident!)

 

[jessrose18]

thanks, i think i will look into this... great advice

 

[starry_solo]

That is probably the short term disablity policy. From what I remember you have to be signed up and on the policy for a certain time period before you get pregnant for it to cover materinity leave. I can't recall that time period though. So for example, if you sign up for short term disability on March 1 and then have an accident that requires you to be out of work you can use this policy right away. However, if you find out on April 1 that you are pregnant, I don't think that you can use this policy.

I have the short term disablity policy because my work doesn't offer any sort of disability. So I like knowing I have a little something extra.

I also have the Intensive Care policy. I mainly got this when I was trying to get pregnant because I know that I would have a high risk pregancy and would have to deliver early. This policy would cover if the baby had to be in NICU. I was also told that AFLAC considers treatment for jaundice to be intensive care as well. As it turns out, I haven't needed it. But I've kept on to it just in case.

I also go the accident policy a couple of years ago to cover both DH and I. He has had a few accidents since we've been married and I thought that this would be a good policy to have. As it turns out, ever since I started paying for the policy he's been totally accident free so I haven't had to use it at all. (I have to say that I've been scared to drop it because I know as soon as I do, he'll have an accident!)

It's been a while since my office offered Aflac, but I seem to recall that you had to have the policy for 8 months to 1 year before you could get pregnant in order for the pregnancy to be covered under the plan.

 

[aprilgail2]

It's been a while since my office offered Aflac, but I seem to recall that you had to have the policy for 8 months to 1 year before you could get pregnant in order for the pregnancy to be covered under the plan.

When I got my plan they told me one year for pregnancy and any other pre-exisisting conditions. I have AFLAC but the policy only covers lost wages for disability up to 3,000 a month so I would still be short pay but at least its something. I do have another plan through my union that pays 2,000 a month for disability too and you can collect both so it would be closer to normal salary range.

 

[labdogs42]

I'm so glad to see this! My DH was just offered Aflac at work and when we did a Google search on "is Aflac worth it" the first hit was the DIS! How weird is that? This is where I was going to come and ask anyway! So, let's keep this conversation going. Anyone else have thought son Aflac? Seems like a pretty decent deal to me.

 

[katrina1122]

All of my coworkers laughed when I signed up for short term disability with Aflac, but it was so cheap it seemed stupid not to.

I went 8 years without it and then had full ankle reconstruction. My surgeon cleared me to go back to work after 10 weeks, but the county dr wouldn't let me back, I ended up out for almost 5 months. I used the state short term disabilty and Aflac during this time because I ran out of leave.

I made all of my money back and then some from Aflac and they were always on time with my check. The state on the other hand was totally random when it would send a check. Sometimes they'd go weeks and send two or three at a time.

I'd never drop my Aflac!

 

[CMHusband]

I've had great experiences with Aflac as well. and they pay fast!