eliquid
( Jason Brown )
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- May 29, 2013
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I went through a lot of this, just trying to reduce premiums and also because my situation changes sometimes and I like to be informed.
Anyways, the only options I ever was able to find ( for someone that makes money ) was:
1. Medi-share type plans ( religious or not )
2. Marketplace/Obamacare type plans
3. Private insurance ( basically catastrophic )
4. Insurance from a job
5. COBRA - If you had a job and lost it
6. Travel Insurance, Travel Health Insurance - if you travel outside the US
7. Direct provider - you pay a Dr a monthly fee, although this is hard to find
8. Medicare/Medicaid/CHIPS/Medi-CAL - You have to have some special qualifications to get into these
So if you are not traveling, didn't just lose a job, make enough to not qualify for help/assistance, and trying to go on your own, the only real options are:
1. Medi-share
2. Marketplace
3. Private plan
I would have gone Medi-share myself, but right before I elected into it my wife had a colonoscopy and we found a polyp. A large one.
That was enough to keep me on my Marketplace plan. A private catastrophic was looked into with some riders, but it was damn fishy I ended up passing on it. It was like between Medi-share and Marketplace for my specific situation.
If I was single or married with no health issues, I'd prob do Medi-share though. The private catastrophic can be good too actually, depends on plan and the riders you get.
One tip though, buy for the marketplace coverage.
Meaning, you buy into the insurance for the discount they provide, not really what they "cover".
I'll give you an example ( making some numbers up here, but this actually happened to me ):
My wife went in and did her colonoscopy. This was fully paid for as routine ( yeah! ). They found the polyp and scheduled her back again after a sample was taken to have it removed.
The lab that did the testing on the sample was not fully covered. The removal of the polyp was not fully covered. The anesthesia was not covered.
But we paid almost nothing for it all. Not because the insurance covered it, but because what the doctors charge and what they contractually get paid are 2 different prices. They might have charged us $12,000, but contractually they were only going to get paid $800 total for everything.
The insurance paid 80% of that, which left us only paying $160.
That's what's important about insurance. The discount in the network. Not what they pay/cover, although that is a huge help too.
Anyways, the only options I ever was able to find ( for someone that makes money ) was:
1. Medi-share type plans ( religious or not )
2. Marketplace/Obamacare type plans
3. Private insurance ( basically catastrophic )
4. Insurance from a job
5. COBRA - If you had a job and lost it
6. Travel Insurance, Travel Health Insurance - if you travel outside the US
7. Direct provider - you pay a Dr a monthly fee, although this is hard to find
8. Medicare/Medicaid/CHIPS/Medi-CAL - You have to have some special qualifications to get into these
So if you are not traveling, didn't just lose a job, make enough to not qualify for help/assistance, and trying to go on your own, the only real options are:
1. Medi-share
2. Marketplace
3. Private plan
I would have gone Medi-share myself, but right before I elected into it my wife had a colonoscopy and we found a polyp. A large one.
That was enough to keep me on my Marketplace plan. A private catastrophic was looked into with some riders, but it was damn fishy I ended up passing on it. It was like between Medi-share and Marketplace for my specific situation.
If I was single or married with no health issues, I'd prob do Medi-share though. The private catastrophic can be good too actually, depends on plan and the riders you get.
One tip though, buy for the marketplace coverage.
Meaning, you buy into the insurance for the discount they provide, not really what they "cover".
I'll give you an example ( making some numbers up here, but this actually happened to me ):
My wife went in and did her colonoscopy. This was fully paid for as routine ( yeah! ). They found the polyp and scheduled her back again after a sample was taken to have it removed.
The lab that did the testing on the sample was not fully covered. The removal of the polyp was not fully covered. The anesthesia was not covered.
But we paid almost nothing for it all. Not because the insurance covered it, but because what the doctors charge and what they contractually get paid are 2 different prices. They might have charged us $12,000, but contractually they were only going to get paid $800 total for everything.
The insurance paid 80% of that, which left us only paying $160.
That's what's important about insurance. The discount in the network. Not what they pay/cover, although that is a huge help too.