Getting health insurance??

Does anyone have any ideas on how to go about price checking health insurance? I've never had it (haven't even been to the doctor in 10+ years) but I have to have it when I start school in January (I know, I should have done this a month ago). There's a program through the college that offers it but it's apx $800 for 8 months and I just hate the thought of spending all that money when I'll never use it. I don't even know where to begin!

you can do a search on line for it.I went to Blue Cross and Blue Shield,and I think there was an option to compare others to them.

go to esurance.com - there you can compare quotes for a lot of different companies, tailored for what you need - I have used them before a a few times for both auto and health, they always gave me the true quotes...
Now, you will NOT get anything better than the one offered by your college... I would jump all over it!! $800 for 8 months is EXCELLENT! And college plans tend to be pretty good too... mine was... So, I strongly advise you to take a hard look at this one.

I've never had to buy insurance.....with my job I just have to pick out a plan and they take it out of my paycheck. So I'm not really sure how to go about buying private health insurance.

But I do think $100 a month is probably the best price you'll find. Even with my employer paying most of the premium, I don't pay much less than that.

100 a month is Awesome... does it have hospital coverage?

Yep, the university plans are usually pretty cheap. Since most of the students tend to be in their early 20's with few health problems, they tend to be really cheap. We've got a clinic at our school and with the school insurance plan you can go to the clinic for free with most routine stuff.

At the company I work for we have a 25/75 policy. I pay 25% and the company pays 75% Come Jan I will be paying $230 per month for DH and my insurance through work. And that is UP from $97 per month! That is about 237% increase!!! The company pays $690 per month. Everyone is upset over this, especially when we didn't get our raise in October. I priced other insurance policies, and I can't beat what my company offers. I would take what the school offers.

Originally Posted by sharky

100 a month is Awesome... does it have hospital coverage?

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Yeah, usually you use the university hospitals, which usually are the best ones... out of town if I recall correctly works like any other insurance...

Honestly...yes 100 dollars a month is good coverage, but in the long run (and this is true with most people and most companies) you are going to pay more than you would have ever paid for any emergency or regular doctors visists combined.

This may just be my opinion, but I would rather go to the doctors out of my own pocket and set up a payment system with them rather than paying some backwards insurance company to take all the money I would probably never use...and THEN ask me for a co-pay on top of that!!

When I go for a checkup, at MOST it's 50 dollars. I think 50$ every 2 or 6 months is quite a fair trade compared to 100$ a month for supposedly cheap health insurance.

Do you really have to have health insurance? It seems bogus to force somebody to pay for something that they don't want or need.


Edit - The only reason I see getting health insurance as beneficial is when you have a detrimental, extremely expensive chronic health problem. But...Good luck getting any insurance company to cover you at that point because they don't want to pay for sick people, only healthy ones.

Originally Posted by Nekomania

Honestly...yes 100 dollars a month is good coverage, but in the long run (and this is true with most people and most companies) you are going to pay more than you would have ever paid for any emergency or regular doctors visists combined.

This may just be my opinion, but I would rather go to the doctors out of my own pocket and set up a payment system with them rather than paying some backwards insurance company to take all the money I would probably never use...and THEN ask me for a co-pay on top of that!!

When I go for a checkup, at MOST it's 50 dollars. I think 50$ every 2 or 6 months is quite a fair trade compared to 100$ a month for supposedly cheap health insurance.

Do you really have to have health insurance? It seems bogus to force somebody to pay for something that they don't want or need.

Edit - The only reason I see getting health insurance as beneficial is when you have a detrimental, extremely expensive chronic health problem. But...Good luck getting any insurance company to cover you at that point because they don't want to pay for sick people, only healthy ones.

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I agree, $100 a month when you'll likely never spend that much otherwise, ugg!
The college says it is required, but it seems pretty unfair, what if someone doesn't believe in doctors (hey, to save $100 a month that I don't have I could totally lie).
Thanks everyone : )

Originally Posted by Nekomania

Honestly...yes 100 dollars a month is good coverage, but in the long run (and this is true with most people and most companies) you are going to pay more than you would have ever paid for any emergency or regular doctors visists combined.

This may just be my opinion, but I would rather go to the doctors out of my own pocket and set up a payment system with them rather than paying some backwards insurance company to take all the money I would probably never use...and THEN ask me for a co-pay on top of that!!

When I go for a checkup, at MOST it's 50 dollars. I think 50$ every 2 or 6 months is quite a fair trade compared to 100$ a month for supposedly cheap health insurance.

Do you really have to have health insurance? It seems bogus to force somebody to pay for something that they don't want or need.

Edit - The only reason I see getting health insurance as beneficial is when you have a detrimental, extremely expensive chronic health problem. But...Good luck getting any insurance company to cover you at that point because they don't want to pay for sick people, only healthy ones.

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But what happens if you have an accident then and have to be hopitalised? I know that costs a fortune in the States.

Originally Posted by pushylady

But what happens if you have an accident then and have to be hopitalised? I know that costs a fortune in the States.

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It does cost a fortune, but I still think it is better then all the money you will waste for years going without an accident. Even hospitals will let you set up payment plans which will be just as much, if not less, then what you are paying your insurance company every month.

The only problem with not getting insurance is if when you go get your check ups, they discover that you have cancer or some other illness that needs expensive treatment.
Then you're screwed because you can't get insurance at that point, no company will give you insurance if you have a pre existing condition, and they can deny you treatment if you don't have the money to pay for it. The only time they won't deny treatment is if it's an emergency and you're at the ER- there they have to save your life no matter how much it costs. But if it's an illness that progressively gets worse and you have no money to pay for the treatments and you have no insurance they will simply not treat you unless you can pay $100 per month is definitely pretty cheap. My insurance is about $200 per month, plus $25 co payments and $250 deductable every year which you have to pay in full even if you just go get your yearly check up. I think that's total BS because everyone should go to the doctor for a check up every year even if nothing is wrong, by making you pay this $250 deducatble they are encouraging people not to go unless there is an emergency...It makes me really mad.

The good thing about my health insurance, it covers prescription drugs with a co-pay. I just figured out how much we paid and how much the insurance company paid this year...

We paid a total of $825.48 for DH and my medications

The insurance paid a total of $6,121.89!!!!

If we did not have prescription insurance, we would have paid $6,947.37 to date!! That is $578.95 a month!!!!! That verses $68.79 average which we paid.

I do not have a deductable for office visits. Depending on the doctor, it is $45 or $25

And folks, this is the basis of much of the problem and discussion on the Health Insurance debate in our legislature right now.

Young people think they're indestructible, so they don't buy insurance. Then they find out that one visit to an ER for a broken wrist runs them $1500, and they expect to get it for free.

The only way insurance can work is for everyone, both the good and bad risks, to be in the pool.

For what it's worth, $100 per month is a very good price, depending on coverage, of course. And you don't really want to sit in your room, watching an infection spread and hoping it doesn't get too bad, just because you don't have insurance, do you?

With the company I work for,I work in HR and deal a lot with the insurance we carry,which is Blue Cross/Blue Shield.If you can get a monthly premium of $100,and the coverage is pretty decent and includes a pharmacy benefit,go for it!I have noticed a trend this year different from last year,which was last year,a lot of the younger people didn't want to think about insurance,didn't want to spend the money,didn't think they'd need it.This year is a whole new ballgame.Not only do they want it,they were asking more questions than ever during open enrollment,and even if they took a higher deductible to be able to afford the premiums,they knew that they had some medical coverage as opposed to none at all.

I would give anything to have the opportunity to get insurance for $100 a month.... God... Why not me????
That would give me that chance to go to the doctor for a check up... to get my medicine from here instead of importing from Brazil every time I need something, and having the peace of mind to feel safe!
When I was employed I was paying this amount, and I know my company was paying a good $300-400 on the top of it for my insurance.
As a single woman, my age, last quote I got, NO MATERNITY (for some reason in Texas it is almost impossible to find individual policies that cover maternity!! - unless you get it through work you are out of luck!), BIG deductible, monthly was over $500!!
So... $100/month would be nothing short of a dream.
I absolutely hate not having health insurance.

What about medicare I thought anyone making below a certain amount is allowed to get it??
I know I am not eligible because I am a student and my parents have me as a dependent but those of you who are unemployed or making below minimum wage: isn't that an option??? I was under the impression that medicare is for those who don't make enough $ to afford health insurance...

ETA: at my school we have a health center on campus and they have urgent care there and they treat basic cold/flu and do routine check ups. We have a health fee included with our fees and it is about $500. But I still have to get insurance separately because it doesn't cover anything they can't do at that specific health center, which means doesn't cover going to hospital or doing any type of lab work or other tests.

Originally Posted by ut0pia

What about medicare I thought anyone making below a certain amount is allowed to get it??
I know I am not eligible because I am a student and my parents have me as a dependent but those of you who are unemployed or making below minimum wage: isn't that an option??? I was under the impression that medicare is for those who don't make enough $ to afford health insurance...

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Not in Texas, unless you are disabled or elderly, so I am out of luck. California was like that... Texas on the other hand..........

Originally Posted by carolinalima

No medicare in Texas, unless you are disabled or elderly, so I am out of luck. California was like that... Texas on the other hand..........

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that is just sooo scary, because I know there are so many people who can't afford health insurance...
I was under the impression medicare was in all states...wow this just shows how badly the US needs a healthcare reform.