I am probably being Dramatic...

[HARVEYSGIRL]

When I was 27 I had 2 heart attacks and had to get a stent put in my heart. I had just changed jobs and it was a day before my probabtion was up. So i ended up with $60,000.00 worth of bills. I swore I would never be without insurance again. Keep it!! If you have one major incident it is worth paying the premiums!!

 

[secretpantssam]

I would try to get any health insurance you can. Just like everyone else said, you really never know when you might need it and not having it can be very costly.

 

[tasha99]

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

It's not crappy insurance; it's more like insurance for healthy people who don't get very sick. It's fine if it's cheap, and it should be cheap because the risk to the insurance company maxes out at $10,000. Catastrophic insurance that doesn't even kick in till after 10,000 wouldn't save you from everyday type bills, but if you really needed insurance due to an extended illness or a hospitalization, you would be glad to have insurance that pays more than $10,000. I'd look into some kind of secondary coverage.

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.

Nah. In America, anyone can afford to go to college so long as they don't screw up and fail their classes. The time will pass whether the OP goes to college or not. I think it's better to improve her situation by getting a skill than to waste time in a job that doesn't pay benefits and a living wage.

Hopefully the OP is studying something practical. Engineering, Pharmacy, Nursing etc rather than something like Philosophy. You do have to pay those loans back, and it's a lot easier to do that as a Chemical Engineer than as a cab driver who knows a lot about Kierkegaard. (I do think liberal arts programs are just fine for younger students whose parents are helping them out. You just don't want to get out with a huge debt that you'll have trouble repaying).

 

[Debbie7452]

Please keep your insurance. My beautiful, vibrant 17 year old DD who is Captain on her dance team has suddenly become ill and it looks like it's a form of Scleroderma, an incurable auto immune disease.

Things happen and it's not always to someone else! At lease we have decent insurance...

 

[DebMcDonald]

The #1 reason for bankruptcy is medical bills. An ER bills for something minor can run in the thousands. I'd keep the medical insurance. Here in mass it's illegal not to have it and you can get fined on your taxes at the end of the year. Also, without it if you get diagnosed with something it could then be considered a pre-existing condition and not covered by the new insurance when you get it.

 

[Befferk]

Check out ehealthinsurance.com

My DH lost his job after 15 years a few months back. We opted for COBRA through the end of the year, since the company is paying the whole amount for the 1st 3 months. After the end of the year, we will be buying our own. DH is going back to school full time this fall, so he won't have access to employer health care.

So to get an idea, I checked out the above site, and it gave a good idea at what we're looking at for premiums. It checks and compares different companies. I also check with our house/car insurance agency (they deal with a lot of different insurance companies) and Security Health came back the cheapest, and you can get a quick quote right on their site. Don't go without. I was without until we got married and I was very lucky. Now that we have a young son, no going without for us for sure. I did decide that we will be going with a high-deductible plan with a Health Savings Account.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

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.

Thank you, I looked into it, but they do not offer student select in my state...bummer.

Fiance and I are currently talking about having a small wedding in June or Aug 2010, which is when my crummy student insurance will expire. Hopefully we will figure something out.

 

[LKHomemail]

Call your car insurance agent and ask them for the names of some companies that offer "major med" health coverage. you are only covered for catastrophe / surgery type of claims. regular health care , health well ness you will pay out of pocket.

is there a doctor through your school ? a medical clinic thorugh the college ? ours had such doctors that were private doctors that volunteered . is was 10 dollars to see a Doctor.

i have heard walgreens / cvs offers medical clinics for really low prices. you see someone who can prescribe an antibiotic if you need one.

if at all possible try to keep your health insurance or get medicaid , if it is not possible, you can make payments if you have a big medical bill. alternatively, you can do a bankruptcy in the worst case scenario. both are hard things to go thorugh and can impact your financial future/plans. try to avoid this if possible.

take care .... good luck.

do not quit college to pay for health care. go to college and get your degrees so you can get good jobs to get out of the working poor class.

soon, we will have more health care options , i'm not sure they will be good ones , but , it's coming.

 

[Tink-aholic]

Call your car insurance agent and ask them for the names of some companies that offer "major med" health coverage. you are only covered for catastrophe / surgery type of claims. regular health care , health well ness you will pay out of pocket.

is there a doctor through your school ? a medical clinic thorugh the college ? ours had such doctors that were private doctors that volunteered . is was 10 dollars to see a Doctor.

i have heard walgreens / cvs offers medical clinics for really low prices. you see someone who can prescribe an antibiotic if you need one.

if at all possible try to keep your health insurance or get medicaid , if it is not possible, you can make payments if you have a big medical bill. alternatively, you can do a bankruptcy in the worst case scenario. both are hard things to go thorugh and can impact your financial future/plans. try to avoid this if possible.

take care .... good luck.

do not quit college to pay for health care. go to college and get your degrees so you can get good jobs to get out of the working poor class.

soon, we will have more health care options , i'm not sure they will be good ones , but , it's coming.

I'm sure you mean well, but did you just advise bankruptcy over quitting college? Do you have any idea how many degree-holding college grads out there are unemployed or underemployed? In this economy, health insurance is a much better bet to stave off financial disaster than many college degrees.

Of course, it depends upon which field OP has decided to study.

I am a teacher and I think education is of the upmost importance...but not more important than the basics.

 

[BoardWalkBelle]

Hi,I am the OP again. Thanks for the advice about
what to do about the insurance. I am attending college for Hospitality management. People say to quit school and find another job with insurance but there are not any jobs out there,(recession, remeber) i am lucky to have the two pt jobs i have. Find a ft job with befnefits?? Doubt it is possible. Plus i live in FL where getting a ft job with beneifits is even harder. I figure I am better off staying in school with this economy. I am also an older student, in my 40's, am not 20's anymore, unfortunately! Plus i have other major financial diificulties so I have alot to figure out these days.

 

[mamalle]

no you cannot be refused care but on the same note if it turns out be to something that can be done as a outpatient like a broken bone that needs plaster casting, etc after the initial splinting- than that doctor can refuse since you do not have any insurance for the further follow up or ask for self pay.. Its alot of money so I would really be sure its something that you can live without compared to going without something else like cellphone,etc. It truly is becoming a epidemic in the US for uninsured patients.. sad to say.

 

[harleyquinn]

Hi,I am the OP again. Thanks for the advice about
what to do about the insurance. I am attending college for Hospitality management. People say to quit school and find another job with insurance but there are not any jobs out there,(recession, remeber) i am lucky to have the two pt jobs i have. Find a ft job with befnefits?? Doubt it is possible. Plus i live in FL where getting a ft job with beneifits is even harder. I figure I am better off staying in school with this economy. I am also an older student, in my 40's, am not 20's anymore, unfortunately! Plus i have other major financial diificulties so I have alot to figure out these days.

Basic question: Are you paying for your classes or getting student loans?

If you are getting loans, by all means stay in school, but you need to find somewhere cheaper to live or get a roommate. You are paying way too much for housing on that income...

If you don't have loans covering all school costs you need to step away from school and alsofind a cheaper place to live.

Your money problems are only going to get worse if you continue to pay that much for housing vs your income.

 

[bumbershoot]

Hi,I am the OP again. Thanks for the advice about
what to do about the insurance. I am attending college for Hospitality management. People say to quit school and find another job with insurance but there are not any jobs out there,(recession, remeber) i am lucky to have the two pt jobs i have. Find a ft job with befnefits?? Doubt it is possible. Plus i live in FL where getting a ft job with beneifits is even harder. I figure I am better off staying in school with this economy. I am also an older student, in my 40's, am not 20's anymore, unfortunately! Plus i have other major financial diificulties so I have alot to figure out these days.

Especially since you're in your 40s, you really have to have that insurance. I'm approaching that, and while I was cavalier in my 20s, I'm not anymore, just b/c I've seen accidents happen, etc etc.

As for jobs...hubby's department recently closed. They were given 2 months before it closed. More than half of the people in the dept said there were "no jobs" out there...the other half GOT jobs. Hubby got his offer just a week or so before the dept closed, it was for a month-long contract with a large company...the contract has now been extended, and being directly hired is a possibility in the future. There are jobs, even when you think there aren't jobs.

Bummer it isn't early April, Monster just had 3 job fairs through Florida in that month. Darn!

 

[LKHomemail]

yes, i do mean well and think that if I was the OP, based on what she has shared , i'd go for my degrees and take a chance on living without the insurance for a couple years rather than quit college. i would explore getting major med insurance to protect myself from huge bills , but, if i was unsurable or just couldn't afford it at all , i'd gamble and go bankrupt if i needed some major surgery that i could never pay for. yes, there would be financial and credit consequences to that decision, but, there will be financial and other consequences to the OP not finishing her educational goals right now. this may be the last chance, she has to finish. now or never. i think she also risks not being financially prepared for her old age without an education / skill set to earn more money. health care choices will be completely different in the next decade. medical bills are not even considered in the credit application for mortgages these days. the lenders advise that it can't count against people because they can't help it if that got sick / couldn't pay. morally, i think people should pay their medical bills but if that bill is 1 M dollars and they won't be able to pay that back with interest in their lifetime, this is what our legal right to bankruptcy is all about. fresh start. i wish the OP the best and hope she finds a solution. i would not for anything quit college though. she did not indicate what her major is / if she has plans to go on to grad school ?

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I work as a paralegal at a law firm and they don't offer any kind of health insurance. I actually have not had a job pay for or offer any kind of health insurance since I was 19 (and I've had 4-5 jobs since then). I didn't have health insurance for awhile (I work out 4-5 times a week, don't smoke, don't drink, etc. but I was lucky nothing happened to me). I recently purchased a health plan through Anthem (through ehealthinsurance.com) that I pay $70 a month for ($2,500 deductible, $20 co-pays, no maternity~on another note it's almost impossible to find anything with maternity coverage for a semi-reasonable price which I think is ridiculous as most employer sponsored plans offer maternity, so I'm just supposed to a) pay the thousands of dollars it costs to have a child, b) pay the hundreds of dollars a month it costs to have maternity coverage just in case I get pregnant, or c) never have a kid, but I digress~). I work on ChaCha (underground.chacha.com) 2-3 hours a day and make about $100-150 a month that I use to pay for my health insurance as I certainly can't afford it with my pay from my full time job and all of my other bills.

 

[mrsklamc]

yes, i do mean well and think that if I was the OP, based on what she has shared , i'd go for my degrees and take a chance on living without the insurance for a couple years rather than quit college. i would explore getting major med insurance to protect myself from huge bills , but, if i was unsurable or just couldn't afford it at all , i'd gamble and go bankrupt if i needed some major surgery that i could never pay for. yes, there would be financial and credit consequences to that decision, but, there will be financial and other consequences to the OP not finishing her educational goals right now. this may be the last chance, she has to finish. now or never. i think she also risks not being financially prepared for her old age without an education / skill set to earn more money. health care choices will be completely different in the next decade. medical bills are not even considered in the credit application for mortgages these days. the lenders advise that it can't count against people because they can't help it if that got sick / couldn't pay. morally, i think people should pay their medical bills but if that bill is 1 M dollars and they won't be able to pay that back with interest in their lifetime, this is what our legal right to bankruptcy is all about. fresh start. i wish the OP the best and hope she finds a solution. i would not for anything quit college though. she did not indicate what her major is / if she has plans to go on to grad school ?

She might not ever have a chance to go bankrupt on the medical bills. If it's something major like a transplant and they know you can't pay, they may just not perform the surgery.

 

[ajk912]

She might not ever have a chance to go bankrupt on the medical bills. If it's something major like a transplant and they know you can't pay, they may just not perform the surgery.

Or cancer. Instead of treating the cancer, they may send you home with a prescription for vicodin to manage the pain.

 

[Aliceacc]

Is there no middle ground?

OP, can you drop down to part time at school?? Transfer to a community college until you get your Associate's Degree and then transfer? Either way, you would be paying less and could apply the savings to health insurance. Sure, it would take longer to get your degree. But in the meantime you would be covered.

 

[harleyquinn]

Is there no middle ground?

OP, can you drop down to part time at school?? Transfer to a community college until you get your Associate's Degree and then transfer? Either way, you would be paying less and could apply the savings to health insurance. Sure, it would take longer to get your degree. But in the meantime you would be covered.

That's a great idea! And I should stress, I really think the housing is the biggest problem, not so much school.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

Or cancer. Instead of treating the cancer, they may send you home with a prescription for vicodin to manage the pain.

That is just the saddest thing I have ever heard.