Private Healthcare Ins. - Help needed

[mickeysaver]

I am in the middle of a negotiation with my employer and part of that negotiation includes healthcare insurance. Currently I have insurance through my workplace which is around $250/mo from my boss + about $90/mo out of my pocket, but that is for pretty great coverage with really low deductibles. I just need to cover me. I don't mind a huge deductible. A few office visits at a copay rate would be nice and prescription medication coverage would be almost completely necessary because my hypertension medication has no generic and is far from cheap.

I am now in a position of needing to know more about private healthcare insurance companies with decent deals. I went to ehealthinsurance.com and have a couple of quotes pending. I am just curious about what kind of rates others pay out of pocket for private healthcare insurance. Would anyone here mind sharing what I might expect? TIA

 

[tinatark]

family coverage for our family of 4 - high deductible plan ($5k deductible) around $500/mo. Traditional plan is over double that.

 

[windycitymom]

You only pay $90 a month for pretty great healthcare with low deductibles? You should be doing the happy dance! Is hypertension considered a pre-existing condition? If so, a private insurance company won't even insure you. If I were you, I'd be happy with your current employer provided health insurance. Health insurance isn't any cheaper on the open market. I don't think you realize how good you have it.

 

[mickeysaver]

I know that I currently have it good/great. The problem is that I am moving out of state for family reasons. In order to continue to work for them, I will need to work as an independent contractor. That means that I lose my benefits. No healthcare is a deal breaker and would make seeking work elsewhere a necessity. I have worked for these people for 15 years and the fact that they are even considering keeping me on as a work from home contractor is extremely generous and very much appreciated.

I am looking to see what my out of pocket expense might run on this. At some point, it would become prohibitively expensive. In order to negotiate the best salary possible and keep their cost down I have to know as many facts as possible in the next 36 hours. So, you can see why I sought the wisdom of the DIS.

 

[crisi]

Blue Cross Blue Shield will give you an online quote by just putting in your age and some other information. Other health care companies will do the same. I'd google search and come up with a few that you could run to give you an idea. Try ehealthinsurance.com to get some comparison quotes. However, it may not be accurate with the hypertension.

 

[Colleen27]

family coverage for our family of 4 - high deductible plan ($5k deductible) around $500/mo. Traditional plan is over double that.

Same here for our family of 5.

 

[bettymae1121]

I have a zero deductable plan through my employer, we just pay small co-pays for prescriptions, doc's visits and ER ($10/$20/$50 respectively). For me and my husband the premium is about $1700 a month, I pay about 10% of that, or $170 a month. We're very lucky to have such great insurance!

 

[snowywhite89]

I am in the middle of a negotiation with my employer and part of that negotiation includes healthcare insurance. Currently I have insurance through my workplace which is around $250/mo from my boss + about $90/mo out of my pocket, but that is for pretty great coverage with really low deductibles. I just need to cover me. I don't mind a huge deductible. A few office visits at a copay rate would be nice and prescription medication coverage would be almost completely necessary because my hypertension medication has no generic and is far from cheap.

I am now in a position of needing to know more about private healthcare insurance companies with decent deals. I went to ehealthinsurance.com and have a couple of quotes pending. I am just curious about what kind of rates others pay out of pocket for private healthcare insurance. Would anyone here mind sharing what I might expect? TIA

Why not keep this plan and pay the part your boss would pay?

 

[mickeysaver]

Ok, so I think that I have found a pretty good deal as long as I can keep my AFLAC too. $129 a month for decent enough coverage including a drug plan.

 

[GoofyBaseballMom26]

A word of warning... don't think your initial quote represents what your policy cost might be a year from now.. insurance companies are notorious for drawing you in with a good deal then increasing your rates. We had to buy private insurance for several years. They raised our rates 3-4 times and we had not even made any claims.

I hate the insurance business. They have you cornered everywhich way you turn.

 

[mickeysaver]

Well, now there is another issue that has come up that may make keeping me a real employee instead of a contract worker a necessity for liability reasons. I have offered to cover half of the actual cost of my health insurance. Will have to wait and see what happens from here.

Thanks for the advice, it has been appreciated.

 

[mickeymaker2003]

Ok, so I think that I have found a pretty good deal as long as I can keep my AFLAC too. $129 a month for decent enough coverage including a drug plan.

Can you PM me the information about this plan? I am about to lose my insurance and will need to get private coverage.

 

[HLDisney]

Coul you please PM me the info you found, too? I'm currently doing the COBRA from my previous employer (was laid off over the summer) but that will run out at some point.

Thanks,
Helen

 

[allyphoe]

A word of warning... don't think your initial quote represents what your policy cost might be a year from now.. insurance companies are notorious for drawing you in with a good deal then increasing your rates.

Yep. We can count on about a 25% bump every single year.