I am probably being Dramatic...

[mrsklamc]

don't mean to thread jack here....but how do you go about getting your own insurance?
For example...I live with fiance and we basically live like a married couple, but I stay at home with DD and go to school at night. I don't work...so how do I go about getting insurance?
He and DD have insurance through his job, but I do not b/c we are not married.
I will be getting my degree in Jan and I hope I get a job, but probably won't get a job that offers insurance until Sept 2010....its hard to find a teaching job mid-year, just subbing.
I am covered through the college I go to, but if I got into a car accident it would cover squat.

Can you just get married? Even if you're saving for a big wedding later, you could go to the courthouse and get married and not tell anyone, have the big party later. Over 15 months that could save you a ton of money.

But if getting married isn't feasible you could just call up like a state farm/american family agent, or just google blue cross.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Can you just get married? Even if you're saving for a big wedding later, you could go to the courthouse and get married and not tell anyone, have the big party later. Over 15 months that could save you a ton of money.

But if getting married isn't feasible you could just call up like a state farm/american family agent, or just google blue cross.

You know, that's a good point.

I totally forgot you were living with your fiance. Does he contribute to the household? It sounded to me like you were just using your income as a base for everything. If you don't want to marry early, can he help you with the health insurance cost? He would benefit in the long run, because any debt you incur would be his also.

 

[allison443]

don't mean to thread jack here....but how do you go about getting your own insurance?
For example...I live with fiance and we basically live like a married couple, but I stay at home with DD and go to school at night. I don't work...so how do I go about getting insurance?
He and DD have insurance through his job, but I do not b/c we are not married.
I will be getting my degree in Jan and I hope I get a job, but probably won't get a job that offers insurance until Sept 2010....its hard to find a teaching job mid-year, just subbing.
I am covered through the college I go to, but if I got into a car accident it would cover squat.

Maybe you and your fiance could move up the wedding? I am not being rude, I'm serious. You're planning to get married anyway, right? And you have a daughter together? I say go for it!

 

[quentina]

Do not cancel, change it to a high deductible plan to reduce the premium.

Do the same with you car insurance....reduce cell phone and internet plans.

Medical insurance is critical...do not drop it.

It will also be harder to be re-insured at a future date.

 

[WDWAtLast]

Do anything you can to keep your insurance!!! Besides possible medical bills, you may be considered "uninsurable" if you have a laspe in coverage. If you find out while uninsured that you are diabetic, have IBS, acid reflux - many things that are not fatal but will need life long medical treatment - those htings may be denied under a new policy if you had a laspe in your health coverage. They will be considered pre existing and you may never be able to get coverage for them!!! It is NOT worth it!!!

 

[Crystal824]

I went for awhile without insurance after graduating and getting a job that did not offer health insurance and not being eligable for student insurance or my parent's insurance. I wasn't making much money and didn't believe I could afford insurance. Although I do not have a horror story to tell as some others have told about being without insurance, I now look back and thank my lucky starts that nothing happened. I now would never go without insurance. It is just too risky.

 

[Poohbear5]

For anyone out there in NH, a law was passed NH RSA 415:5 (also known as Michelle's law) that allows your child to stay on your health insurance until they are 26 regardless of whether or not they are full time students if they live in the state and are not married.

We were inquiring about COBRA for our recently graduated college age daughter when we learned of this new law.

Check out your state laws regarding this matter. We had never heard of it before and were prepared to shell out the monthly premium for COBRA as our daughter has a bone tumor and is facing surgery and treatment this summer.

Our daughter is the picture of health at age 22, works out daily and ran long distance until this past month. A bone tumor was not in the plan but since she's covered,she can get the best medical care available.

Do NOT give up your coverage! Give up the cell phone, the cable bill, pizza out. Our friend's daughter recently had a blood clot at age 18, requiring 4 days in the hospital. Being young does not make you exempt from unexpected bumps in the road.

 

[christa112]

Can't you purchase insurance through the school you are going to? Most schools require students to have health insurance and if you do not you are required to purchase through the school. Maybe check out how much the school insurance is.

Also, I live in a state the requires everyone to have health insurance so if it is not offered by your employer or it costs too much you can get on insurance through the state. Have you looked into that.

<<Can you change to a catastrophic-type policy? A higher deductible? .>>
Actually, this is the type of insurance I have. It is $100.00 per month, which doest seem like alot but i just work pt( 2 pt jobs) and am a student and am trying to keep a roof over my head and gas in my car and food on the table so i dont have the $100.00 extra per month any more.
__________________

 

[Resseda]

I will echo previous posters who said that you need to do all you can to keep some sort of insurance. I went home from work with a wicked stomach ache last last August, and after being sick all day, wound up in the ER-gall stones. Yeah, I'd love to have the insurance premium every month because I have a lot of other ways I could spend it, but that $30,000 (before insurancekicked in) for 2 surgeries and 5 days in the hospital was a heckuva wake up call. I don't complain about my insurance any more.

Ress

 

[mjkacmom]

I remember my dad telling me to always have heath insurance, even if it meant living out of my car! Seriously, it's a HUGE gamble, that can affect your for your entire life if something goes wrong while uninsured.

 

[MineMail]

Some other options:

. Ask at the school's Student Service Center about student health care plans.
. Check your state's website for parental coverage extensions. (Poohbear posted about New Hampshire; New Jersey has a similar extension.)
. Some states also have healthcare plans for children and their mothers.
. Try to get one job with enough hours to earn medical coverage instead of the two you have now.

Also, contact your current insurer. One of my brothers had a major health issue while he covered by his estranged wife's policy. She quit her job for no good reason other than she didn't want to work anymore. She dropped the medical coverage just when he needed it most.

He explained the situation to the insurance company and they set him up with a special COBRA plan for catastrophe situations. The deductibles were high, but because of his medical condition, he was at risk of not being eligible for ANY insurer. (Pre-existing condition)

It doesn't hurt to ask.

I would advise you to cut something else to pay for the med plan or share the rent. I know, free advice is overpriced...

 

[ameraumi]

PLEASE DO NOT CANCEL YOUR INSURANCE!!!!

Trust me, having just gone thru losing my DH to cancer and seeing how quickly these bills add up you NEED to have insurance in place.

Is there anyway you can move in with your fiance? Find a roommate? There has to be options out there for you.

 

[Ava]

Echoing what others have said - do not go without insurance. With your income level & expenses, you may qualify for free or low-cost health insurance through your state or for Medicaid. Also look into food stamps, WIC (if you have a child), or other state programs to help you reduce some of your bills so you can afford to keep insurance. I would do everything I could to reduce my bills & make extra money before I would go without health insurance.

Also like others have said, an ER will treat you without insurance but it will cost a LOT. My partner went to the ER once for an allergic reaction when she didn't have insurance, and they billed her over $500 just to give her a shot of Benadryl and write her a prescription for a steroid cream.

 

[goofy5]

I would try and keep & drop something else. My mom has no health insurance due to my dad's company went under and she got really sick last year over $100K in bills hospital wrote some off still owed about $30K after that. they took her to court and put a lien on her house. She is making payments but my dad is still out of work from Dec. Has applied for lots of jobs He is in his mid 50's (I think there is some age discrimination going on ) because he has been well quailfied for jobs & not even a call.


Long story short -I would try and keep the insurance because something could happen health wise then you could loose everything

 

[bumbershoot]

don't mean to thread jack here....but how do you go about getting your own insurance?

Hubby's currently a contractor, and their insurance for spouses is ridiculously expensive, so we're looking into it currently.

I started with my car insurance guy....allstate doesn't offer health insurance. so I called my old agent, but state farm doesn't offer health insurance in my state (WA doesn't allow insurance companies to deny for pre-existing conditions (or something like that) so a bunch of companies bailed from WA), but she suggested a certain insurance broker. So you could find something like that.

Before I got that info, I went to regence, grouphealth, and UHC dot coms, and each of those big insurance companies has individual plans.

Actually, this is the type of insurance I have. It is $100.00 per month, which doest seem like alot...

No, it isn't a lot. It's actually astonishingly LOW.

What if you became pregnant?

At $100 per month it probably doesn't cover maternity anyway...

If you only make 900/mo and have expenses that are that high you should apply for medicaid.

Go to your countys social services department, whats the worst they can say.. no?

It's worth looking into!!!!

Can you just get married? Even if you're saving for a big wedding later, you could go to the courthouse and get married and not tell anyone, have the big party later. Over 15 months that could save you a ton of money.

For the poster that this pertains to, I agree.



OP, we paid $100/month for 1.5 years to pay off just OUR PORTION of an hour long ER visit for DS. If you don't pay, your credit is affected. And we were LUCKY that they allowed such a low amount to be paid per month.

Don't drop it. Do absolutely everything you can... I went for a significant amount of time without insurance, but I was lucky I didn't break a bone, didn't get into a car accident that cost more than the health coverage on my car insurance), etc etc etc... Get a roommate, sell plasma, do something, b/c paying for years on medical bills is NOT fun.

 

[RAINA12345]

DON'T DO IT!!!!

a hospital ER room is only required to STABALIZE your condiiton.

so, say you do get cancer...they would get you stabailized and send you home. They would NOT have to treat your cancer after that!!!

 

[Nicholfamily5]

<<Can you change to a catastrophic-type policy? A higher deductible? .>>
Actually, this is the type of insurance I have. It is $100.00 per month, which doest seem like alot but i just work pt( 2 pt jobs) and am a student and am trying to keep a roof over my head and gas in my car and food on the table so i dont have the $100.00 extra per month any more.
__________________

does the school you attend offer student insurance? It should be much more affordable and cover more than just catastrophic

 

[GoldieSaysMeep]

I am by all means young and healthy. okay, lol,maybe middle aged and healthy... but still I'm 33, healthy weight, no ongoing conditions, no med problems, I walk 4-5 miles up to 3 times a week to stay fit etc.

Last month, I lost a week's pay at work and was in pain for a month. I pinched a nerve in my neck. For the first week, I was useless. Bedrest and nothing else. My right arm was barely moveable due to nerve paid. Even bedrest hurt. I ran up over $1000 in xrays, tests, office visits. IN ONE WEEK. Now I'm in PT 3X a week. Thank god I have insurance. I would be broke and unable to function because believe me, that pain was like nothing I have ever felt.

Do NOT give up your insurance. This hit me out of the blue. Out of nowhere. Things can happen at any time.

 

[Tink-aholic]

With that little coming in, I don't think the OP can afford to go to school. Unless you can go full-time with financial aid, as a previous poster mentioned, I think you should be looking for more work. If your rent is $600 and you only make $900, you aren't making enough.

It is the end of the semester at school, so you can try to find a third job and keep the insurance. Even Cha-Cha or watching neighbors' kids would help you, but maybe you'll find something with more hours or benefits.

Good luck.

 

[tasha99]

I think I have a pretty good perspective on the OP's position because I only made about $900/month during the school year this year. I think the OP has to pick one or the other, and if she's only made $900/month, she's in a great position to go to school full time with scholarships, loans, and a Pell Grant. If she works her butt off to get the money to eventually be able to go to school full time, she won't qualify for much because "she can afford it" (sad, but true.)

I went to school full time this past year and worked part time, and it was a real struggle even with financial aid because I wasn't fully funded. The difference this coming year will be amazing--I did get full funding and am quitting my job. I will actually have access to more money not working than I did trying to both this past year. Of course, I'll have to pay it back eventually, but my income will be so much more that it's worth the loans. I don't think the OP should rule out school because of her finances, because there are a ton of programs to help lift people out of dead end jobs and poverty. I think it's likely that more school rather than more work would make for a brighter future, so long as the schooling is in a practical, money-making field.