I am probably being Dramatic...

[mrsklamc]

Generally that's true; There are other factors (dependency status, loan eligibility) that could affect OP though.

 

[Floridagal23]

They'll treat you, but you will have to pay the bill. Hospitals and dr offices are starting to get pretty strict with people now who drop or lose insurance, come in for treatment, and then don't pay (not saying you will do that, but people are getting sent to collections left and right).

 

[lillygator]

They'll treat you, but you will have to pay the bill. Hospitals and dr offices are starting to get pretty strict with people now who drop or lose insurance, come in for treatment, and then don't pay (not saying you will do that, but people are getting sent to collections left and right).

that's right, we now put liens on houses for all those who choose not to pay.


OP, how much is your insurance?

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I am 21, fairly healthy, I don't make a lot of money and I don't have health insurance.

It makes me as well as my family nervous that I don't.

I have looked into it a few times and I have signed up through Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield. Shortly after signing up though, I discontinued the insurace. I didn't know what I had signed up for and I still don't know where to go for it.

I don't know what a lot of the terms mean exactly. I want to be able to know, if I get this and something happens... what do I pay?

Does anyone know where a good place to research buying health insurance? And what about dental and vision!!! Can't there be a place to go to help?

 

[Microcell]

I know how OP feels, and my DH lost his job and our family of four was staring down the barrel of no health insurance. I called Blue Cross and they had a plan for catastrophic to get us by during the job hunt. It was a 3 month short term self insured plan and it was $345 TOTAL and would not cover regular exams or anything like that.

It was good peace of mind to have with kids especially.

 

[sameyeyam]

3 years ago I was diagnosed at age 41 with breast cancer. No family history, I was in excellent health and it hit me totally out of the blue. Think something like this can't happen to you? Think again!

The good news....I had medical insurance, very good medical insurance and ended up only paying about $2,000 out of pocket for my entire cancer treatment.

Here's is what my treatment cost:

Mastectomy - $45,000
Chemo - $18,000 x 8 rounds - $144,000
Radiation - 36 radiation treatments - $75,000
Reconstruction - $80,000

These costs also don't include lots of smaller things, doctor visits, 8 shots to raise my white blood count ($300 each) and prescriptions (at one time I was taking over 20 pills a day).

If we had not had insurance I can guarantee you we would have lost our home and declared bankruptcy.

There are many things I will go without, but medical insurance would not be one of them. You just cannot predict when you will become ill.

If you don't have a group policy, can't afford an individual policy...then please check with your state and see if you can qualify for a state health plan where you pay based on income. At the very least get a catastrophic policy or one with a really high deductible. Wouldn't it be better to owe $6,000 or $10,000 in medical bills then to be facing what I have described above.

 

[bethy]

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.

Uhm . . . how about getting married? Maybe I'm being too simplistic. I just know I wouldn't want myself or my daughter to be that vulnerable without the security of legal marriage and all the protections it provides both me and her.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I guess I am being kind of idiotic, but I AM COVERED under the school policy, but I don't understand what it really covers....and this is what I got off of my school's website. I feel like a total idiot, but no one ever really explained this to me, and when I questioned the nurse about it on the phone she said "come here to get treated" but if the doc is only there 2 days a week...then what?

"Student Health Insurance: New Jersey law requires all full-time students to be enrolled in a health insurance program. For this reason, all full-time students will be automatically enrolled in a basic medical (illness and accident) plan offered by the university. The illness portion of the plan may be waived by signing an insurance waiver form and submitting a copy of a current insurance card to the Bursar.

The university's medical plan for the 2008/2009 academic year includes coverage of $3000 for each illness or accident, payable at 100% (usual and customary charge) with no deductibles. This includes a maximum of $200 coverage for prescriptions per illness or accident. Most illnesses and accidents qualify for an additional $7000, payable at 80%, for a total $10,000 benefit. (Please note that a $100 deductible applies for an emergency room visit if the visit is deemed non-emergent.)"

Is this any good?

 

[PrincessSarah314]

I
" The illness portion of the plan may be waived by signing an insurance waiver form and submitting a copy of a current insurance card to the Bursar.

The university's medical plan for the 2008/2009 academic year includes coverage of $3000 for each illness or accident, payable at 100% (usual and customary charge) with no deductibles. This includes a maximum of $200 coverage for prescriptions per illness or accident. Most illnesses and accidents qualify for an additional $7000, payable at 80%, for a total $10,000 benefit. (Please note that a $100 deductible applies for an emergency room visit if the visit is deemed non-emergent.)"

Is this any good?

OK..Assuming you DID NOT waive your right to illness insurance at the bursar's office during registration your insurance is sufficient for a generally healthy young person.

100% of your first $3,000 will be paid if you are ill or are involved in an accident. They will also pay UP TO $200 for prescription for each illness/accident. If your hospital bill is over $3,000 they will pay UP TO 80% of the bill OR $7,000, whichever is less.

For example:

You need an operation. It costs $8,000. The first $3,000 will be paid by the college insurance. They will also pay 80% of the remaining $5,000, which is $4,000 for a total insurance payout of $7,000 leaving you with a balance of $1,000 to pay the hospital.[

FYI--I gave birth to a child and spent a year in the hospital afterwards getting 4 surgeries in the first 3 months alone I ran up over $85,000 in medical bills. They are still on my credit report and I still have bill collectors calling me. My son is 10 now and thankfully we both have insurance.

It's an important thing, but if you incur hospital bills you will get by. I have an apartment, a cell phone, even bought a new car last year. My unpaid bills from when I was 19 haven't haunted me that badly. I simply explain to whomever is checking my credit before they run the report that there will be unpaid medical bills. They almost always say that medical bills are not factored in the same as say late mortgage payments or utility payments.

 

[Aliceacc]

3 years ago I was diagnosed at age 41 with breast cancer. No family history, I was in excellent health and it hit me totally out of the blue. Think something like this can't happen to you? Think again!

The good news....I had medical insurance, very good medical insurance and ended up only paying about $2,000 out of pocket for my entire cancer treatment.

Here's is what my treatment cost:

Mastectomy - $45,000
Chemo - $18,000 x 8 rounds - $144,000
Radiation - 36 radiation treatments - $75,000
Reconstruction - $80,000

These costs also don't include lots of smaller things, doctor visits, 8 shots to raise my white blood count ($300 each) and prescriptions (at one time I was taking over 20 pills a day).

If we had not had insurance I can guarantee you we would have lost our home and declared bankruptcy.

There are many things I will go without, but medical insurance would not be one of them. You just cannot predict when you will become ill.

If you don't have a group policy, can't afford an individual policy...then please check with your state and see if you can qualify for a state health plan where you pay based on income. At the very least get a catastrophic policy or one with a really high deductible. Wouldn't it be better to owe $6,000 or $10,000 in medical bills then to be facing what I have described above.

Minus the chemo, that's pretty much what I was going to write.

A year ago I found a lump in my breast. Turns out it was a fairly rare phyllodes tumor. My oncologist has only seen 3, ever. There's no rhyme or reason to how or why they develop; so my lack of any sort of a family history and general good health didn't mean I was "safe" from developing one.

Since then I've had 3 surgeries and 6 weeks of radiation. I'm in the process of scheduling the final round of reconstruction. Related or not, I've also developed a goiter and will lose half my thyroid.

Up until this time last year, I had been to the hospital 3 times in my life: to give birth to my 2 daughters and for stitches when I fell off my bicycle when I was 12.

Fortunately we have good insurance, with a $2000 per year cap on our expenses. So far, we've paid a total of $4000 for all that treatment-- those 2 remaining surgeries this summer won't cost us anything.

PLEASE, all of you who are thinking about dropping your medical insurance: Drop the cell phone, drop the internet service, do what you must. But keep your medical insurance.

Samayeam: best wishes for your continued good health!

 

[tasha99]

OK..Assuming you DID NOT waive your right to illness insurance at the bursar's office during registration your insurance is sufficient for a generally healthy young person. . . .

I pretty much think the opposite. An insurance that paid nothing of the first 10,000 would be much better than one that stops paying right when things get catastrophic. Nobody really needs insurance to pay for routine expenses--we've gotten into the habit of thinking of insurance that way, but it isn't a requirement. What insurance does need to do is step in when bills get completely unaffordable. This insurance seems to run out just as it reaches that point.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I am wondering how the fiance contributes to the household? The monthly run down of pay/bills were the OP's only if I'm not mistaken. Where does he figure into the equation?

It seems kind of strange to me for him to be left out completely.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I am wondering how the fiance contributes to the household? The monthly run down of pay/bills were the OP's only if I'm not mistaken. Where does he figure into the equation?

It seems kind of strange to me for him to be left out completely.

I am unsure if the OP even mentioned a fiance?
I was the one who mentioned my fiance, I am unsure if you are getting the posts mixed up?

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I pretty much think the opposite. An insurance that paid nothing of the first 10,000 would be much better than one that stops paying right when things get catastrophic. Nobody really needs insurance to pay for routine expenses--we've gotten into the habit of thinking of insurance that way, but it isn't a requirement. What insurance does need to do is step in when bills get completely unaffordable. This insurance seems to run out just as it reaches that point.

So you're saying this insurance is pretty crappy? What should I do?

 

[OceanAnnie]

I am unsure if the OP even mentioned a fiance?
I was the one who mentioned my fiance, I am unsure if you are getting the posts mixed up?

You're right. Thanks. I got mixed up.

 

[ajk912]

I think your priorities aren't quite in order. College is a want, not a need. Health insurance is a need. You don't go to college till you can afford it.

 

[Leader of the Club]

My son fell at POR on our last visit. After screaming in pain and holding his stomach for an hour, we took him to the ER. We spent 9 hours at Celebration Hospital. He had x-rays and a CT Scan, IV Fluids.

The cost: nearly $10,000. Our cost: $30.

Do anything to keep your insurance. People fall everyday. You could be next! (How is that for dramatic!?)

 

[dlyn88]

I work in registration in an ER but our hospital's policies are the same hospital and clinic-wide. For our uninsured patients, they are given the option of getting financial assistance which, based upon their income, saves them a percentage off their bill. The cut-offs aren't even that low and for us the percentage goes up to a 100% discount! So if something terrible ever happens, just ask about financial assistance or maybe research area hospitals prior to anything bad happening to find which one may make the most financial sense if anything were to happen. Also most clinics will offer a sliding scale payment for uninsured patients again dependent upon income.

 

[bumbershoot]

I have looked into it a few times and I have signed up through Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield. Shortly after signing up though, I discontinued the insurace. I didn't know what I had signed up for and I still don't know where to go for it.

I don't know what a lot of the terms mean exactly. I want to be able to know, if I get this and something happens... what do I pay?

Does anyone know where a good place to research buying health insurance? And what about dental and vision!!! Can't there be a place to go to help?

Someone has given a link to a site that gives other links to places to learn about insurance. I gave my story of how I found an independent insurance broker. THOSE are the people you want to talk to, to find out what is what.

Insurance can be very hard to understand! My husband doesn't understand it at all, and tends to get things backwards. Thank goodness I'm around.

The key, however, is to have continual insurance (or as continuous as possible), because, just like with car insurance, big gaps between being insured ends up raising your premiums and causes a big delay in covering things that could be considered preexisiting, so it behooves you to get your questions answered, and sign up again asap.

So you're saying this insurance is pretty crappy? What should I do?

Get independent individual insurance, as has been discussed by a few of us on this thread.

 

[bumbershoot]

Timely advertisement...just saw an ad for Assurant Health. They are one of the options that the independent broker sent me, and it looks like they have special student insurance.