anticipating the what ifs
My car is fully insured. I also have renter’s insurance. I called for a health insurance quote yesterday through my professional association. The quote was for the same kind of insurance you’d get on a job - co-pays for regular doctor’s visits, emergency and in-patient care, and prescription co-pays. The monthly premium they quoted me was slightly less than my car note - almost twice what I’m paying now, and I’m already paying too much because I’m a temporary employee. Here I am trying to get my monthly expenses as low as possible so that I can get through my upcoming bout with unemployment, and this health insurance premium would basically put my expenses back at "normal," as if I were still employed. That’s a lot of money, and the name of the game when you’re unemployed is to make your money last as long as you can by stretching it as far as you can. I’m healthy. I don’t regularly purchase prescription medications. The most my doctor charges for a regular visit is $60. I can afford that - IF I even need to go to the doctor - while I’m unemployed. I got an offer through my bank for $18-a-month emergency care insurance. I think I’ll take them up on that one. But I’m not sure about that other health insurance. I think I’ll pass on it. They don’t exclude applicants with pre-existing conditions, so if a chronic health problem pops up, I’ll do what I have to do to sign on at that point. The only other thing I can think about that I should have is disability insurance, which I haven’t had in about a year, anyway. I firmly believe that I should have it. But I’m going to wait - I don’t need to pull on any more bills if I can help it. I know that in the "what if" sense of this discussion, I am making the wrong decision. But it’s a gamble I’m willing to take for the sake of stretching funds now. Now, ready or not, here comes my last day of work, fast approaching.
Hopefully something will open up for you- soon. I hate Kaiser, don’t trust their level of care if you actually need care, but they seem to have a variety of options and price points.
We have a HDHP with a HSA. Its the same PPO my husband had at his last job. The price for him and the baby isn’t bad and the HSA rolls over. I went directly to the insurer. When I’m done having kids I plan to move back to that insurer, but their rate for policies that include maternity care are super pricey.
Comment by c2a — October 21, 2008 @ 9:00 am
Sistah,
I hope you don’t stay unemployed for long. I’ll be praying that you find something quickly
Comment by Debt Challenger — October 22, 2008 @ 7:21 pm
Can you go on COBRA for the same payments as you had with work?
I know that here (in NYS) we are a “must carry” state and that means that when Ryan was unemployed and looking for health insurance there were hardly any companies that offered it here, and the ones that did were massively expensive - even for someone 23, no pre-existing conditions, and healthy. The “must carry” law is a good idea, but a failed policy in action. I hope you have better luck than we did. (He got a job that offered insurance and didn’t get sick in the interim period)
Comment by L@spillingbuckets — October 23, 2008 @ 3:45 pm