Insurance?

[legacy]

So I'm self-employed and looking to see if I can find any decent insurance that is affordable. I currently have SelectHealth and pay about $450/month for me, my wife and 2 kids.
I've looked at Mega, which I decided is not a great company. I've also looked a little at HumanaOne and Assurant.
So, my question is for any of you who are self-employed. What health insurance do you have and how well do you like it?

Thanks.

 

[MortgageMan]

I have IHC Select Health and see to like it. It just went up this year and now I am paying $350 a month. I checked Blue Cross and Altius and they were very competitive too.

 

[overton]

I use Healthnet. I'll let you know in a few more weeks how well I like it. Some big costs coming up from a helicopter ride, intinsive care and trama care. One thing I can tell you is that while at the hospital alot of people came in without coverage and of course couldn't be turned down for emergency care. That tacks quite abit to the rest of our bills.


Ransom

 

[legacy]

>I use Healthnet. I'll let you
>know in a few more
>weeks how well I like
>it. Some big costs coming
>up from a helicopter ride,
>intinsive care and trama care.
>One thing I can tell
>you is that while at
>the hospital alot of people
>came in without coverage and
>of course couldn't be turned
>down for emergency care. That
>tacks quite abit to the
>rest of our bills.
>
>
>Ransom

Yeah, Insurance blows until something like this happens. Hope you're doing okay. People who don't carry insurance really piss me off.

 

[overton]

The pain pills help alot.

I took a 18 foot fall from my office building landing on my back. Broke the pelvic bone in 3 spots. The soft tissue damage was extensive but all my organs were unharmed thank the lord. Have to spend 3 weeks in bed then gain my stength back. I feel really bad for everyone here at Mm because now that I have way too much time on my hands and find it hard not to pop off here and there.

Ransom

 

[legacy]

>The pain pills help alot.

>
>I took a 18 foot fall
>from my office building landing
>on my back. Broke the
>pelvic bone in 3 spots.
>The soft tissue damage was
>extensive but all my organs
>were unharmed thank the lord.
>Have to spend 3 weeks
>in bed then gain my
>stength back. I feel really
>bad for everyone here at
>Mm because now that I
>have way too much time
>on my hands and find
>it hard not to pop
>off here and there.

>
>
>
>Ransom


If it makes you feel any better, I hurt just thinking about that!

 

[doityourself]

Not to get off the subject but my buddies and I have had this discussion many times before, we as a group pay anywhere from $350-$900 every month just for health insurance!!!!!!

We are seriously thinking about putting that money in whole-life insurance or some other "investment" that is liquid enough so we can access the money if we need it. I've often wondered why not become my own bank and/or health insurance company with the money I make simply by being smart with it?

I've only been to the hospital twice in my life and I know that the amount of money I have spent or insurance far exceeds the cost of the visits. Sure there is risk involved but many times I feel like it is well worth it.

 

[kilowatt]

Ransom,

Another HealthNet member here and let me tell you, I hope that you don't go through I did last fall with them people. You might have a bubble burst on you if they have the insurance screwed up in anyway.

Not only that the people don't own up to their own screw ups by the people they have working for them.

I just hope that your insurance is right and have the coverage you are paying for. I was withour insurance for 5 months and never even knew it as the premiums were being deducted from my retirement pay through the company I worked for before. What a bunch of losers, just a thing in the mail today for the wife, it doesn't look right either and will have to call Monday and see what the hell they are talking about.

Brian

 

[overton]

Brian

Thanks for the heads up. Maybe a Healthnet Manager would like to fly off the roof too.


Ransom

 

[264X300]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-09-08 AT 00:08AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Aug-09-08 AT 00:05?AM (MST)

DIY

Your idea about self insuring is not a bad idea if you stick to the plan and seriously put the $$'s in an investment account each and every month. Since human nature is to cut where we can when times get tough, those deposits (not making them) become and easy target.

You could modify your idea by purchasing a much lower cost policy to cover only serious medical issues and self insure smaller doctor visits and any minor emergency room visits for small cuts that need sewing etc.

Set the policy limits to pick up medical coverage say above $2,000 per occurance (or some other amount you are comfortable with) and your premiums should drop a lot. You are still self insuring, but have coverage if something big hits you. I looked into this type of policy with Blue Cross Blue Shield once and it was fairly inexpensive.

The hang-up might be prescriptions as they can get pretty costly.

Another thing to consider is if you are self employed, you should have a workers comp policy that covers work related injuries (first dollar) and an auto policy that would cover auto related injuries to some limit. Above that, colds, flu and scope ring cuts would be your responsibility.

Just a look from a different angle.
264X300

 

[Packout]

We have IHC SelectMed Base. It runs around $550 a month, for a family of five. While I hate paying the bill every month, it has saved me. In the past 6 years I have received more from the Plan than I have paid into it. My family has had a hard run with the odd medical issues, but the IHC has been great to work with and we have never been denied care or procedures. It is tough to afford at times, but it would have been catastrophic for my family if we hadn't had the coverage.

The best part of health insurance (and also a poor part of the health care system) is the bills are knocked down for clients. Say a Dr charges $100 for a visit, he submits the bill to the insurance and the insurance says they can only charge $55. It just saved you $45. I know that this saves me over $1,000 every year with 3 kids doing "well child" and sick visits.

Health insurance is a necessary evil, unless you are an illegal..... but we won't hi-jack the thread down that path.

-------------------------
www.sagebasin.com
-------------------------

 

[legacy]

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[257Tony]

How the hell are you guys getting yours so cheap? I pay $726 a month for me, the Wife and 3 kids, and that's with ZERO maternity coverage!! We started this plan 2 years ago at $450/month and they have raised it every six months by a large figure, and we never use it for anything but scheduled checkups.

I finally used it for an emergency when I thought my Appendix was going to rupture or some other internal organ, I was in the emergency room for less than 3 hours, had 2 shots of morphine and one CT scan. Well, the bill was over $4000, $750 of which is my responsibility. So I $8000 a year so I can pay those bastages over $300 an hour to sit in their bed??????

 

[elk_horn]

The self insurance plan is a bad one you cant put enough into a whole life plan that would work... one trip to the hospital and you are screwed. We have IHC Select. My wif was out of town and had some problems ended up in the hospital for a few days and the cost was 53,000 dollars. Keep the insurance for major hospital stuff and pay for the small stuff yourself.