So I'm getting out of the Navy next month, and I need health insurance! I can continue my plan with TriCare, but it is extremely expensive (like $900 per quarter). I don't really use healthcare. My only medication is birth control. I just need coverage in case of an accident, or if I get strep throat and I need some antibiotics. I might go back to school in the fall, in which case I can buy student health care (the university is in Germany and their health plan is 80 euros a month)

I'm young and healthy and I don't want to pay a million billion dollars to fund other people's diabetes drugs. What do you guys suggest?

12/27/2012 11:06:26 AM

Health savings account and a relatively high deductible plan that will cover emergency care or catastrophic events.

[Edited on December 27, 2012 at 11:10 AM. Reason : asdfsdf]

12/27/2012 11:09:26 AM

don't get an HSA

12/27/2012 11:17:56 AM

Why not?

12/27/2012 11:41:13 AM

yeah i'm looking for Health Insurrance as well and wondered what the issue with a HSA is?

12/27/2012 11:41:42 AM

Just get catastrophic coverage from BCBS if you're in NC. Coverage starts at about 65 bucks a month with a 10k deductible.

12/27/2012 11:48:54 AM

I'm looking at a plan through USAA that is $116 a month with a $2500 deductible.

12/27/2012 12:12:00 PM

Mine is $89/month with $5000 deductible through ConventryOne

12/27/2012 12:14:46 PM

Yeah, that's probably about what you should be looking at.

I really am not sure why you wouldn't want to have a HSA, it's yours... they don't expire, they're tax advantageous, I really don't see a downside. Hell, you can even manage your HSA like a retirement account and get a decent return. Furthermore, they're a pretty nice way to shelter income if you don't need it.

12/27/2012 12:18:06 PM

WTF I have a clean medical history except for I had to go to urgent care in 2010 for a panic attack. Have not had any since but had to answer yes to "have you ever been treated for anxiety/panic attack/depression/suicide etc. in past 5 years" This quadrupled my rate quote from $85 to $240 for a $5,000 deductible BCBS Saver 2 plan.

This was the only "yes" i answered to in medical history yet this knocked me into the Basic-5 highest risk category. There is no way I am in the bottom 18% of candidates receiving insurance. I work out, eat healthy, have no past surgeries, cancers, heart issues, etc.

I went to the doctor twice this year and one time was just for a check-up at that rate i'm better off just being uninsured especially given a $5000 deductable. Two months of insurance premium i could pay the doctor out of pocket if i needed to make an office visit.

[Edited on December 27, 2012 at 12:28 PM. Reason : l]

12/27/2012 12:26:33 PM

Probably has to due with the potential for large amounts of prescription coverage.

12/27/2012 12:28:39 PM

If you know for sure you are going to be getting insurance in the future there exists short term health insurance which will provide really cheap insurance, I've seen as little as $35 a month for a $1000 deductible, but the insurance has a maximum term of something like a year. As such, every year you must re-apply with a fresh start. As such, it would cover you fine for a car accident you recovered from. But get cancer and within the year you'll find yourself uninsured and uninsurable.

12/27/2012 11:43:56 PM

Quote :

" I really am not sure why you wouldn't want to have a HSA, it's yours... they don't expire, they're tax advantageous, I really don't see a downside."

The downside is the monthly maintenance fee that will slowly drain your account if you don't meet minimum balance requirements.

12/28/2012 11:28:48 AM

Those short term 1 year policies didn't count as credible coverage when I was looking into them. That's a huge problem if you want to have pre-existing conditions covered in the future.

12/28/2012 9:43:18 PM

^+1
That's huge if anything major comes up that should have covered before such as a disease prognosis or pregnancy. My wife let hers lapse by accident a few months before we married and the CS rep said any 'extraneous' labwork or tests going through BCBS are scrutinized (more) closely to be sure there's not a possible pre-existing and undocumented condition. I believe they called it a probationary period and it lasted 6 months or so. They don't want to lose money by signing someone up with an undocumented pre-existing condition just to file insurance straight away and plow through all the benefits with minimal cost.

12/30/2012 10:11:37 AM

i thought obama passed obamacare... doesn't that give everyone cheap access to healthcare????

12/31/2012 8:10:43 AM

You mean the conservative-created plan introduced by the conservative Heritage Foundation in '89 that the republicans tried to introduce a few times? No, that plan is just more of the same government subsidized private healthcare.

Fucking dumb ass.

12/31/2012 8:32:00 AM

Teh republicans think you do not need insurance in between jobs you deadbeats, get a job for a fortune 500 company if you want insurance, otherwise hope you do not get hurt and bankrupted.

[Edited on December 31, 2012 at 5:31 PM. Reason : .]

12/31/2012 5:30:55 PM

After grad school while I was looking for a job I got insurance through Assurant to tide me over to make sure I had no gaps in coverage. I don't remember what it cost, but it seemed reasonable for the brief period of time in which I was covered.

12/31/2012 6:19:45 PM

holler at P Nis BCBS

12/31/2012 6:41:55 PM

I need some insurance for school....its 700 bucks for 8 months through the school.

stuff is confusing for me.

1/1/2013 11:48:11 AM

USAA will give you a good recommendation. that's how I got Fortis way back in the day

1/1/2013 6:20:06 PM

WTF, I only pay about a hundred bucks a month for tricare.

1/1/2013 6:50:02 PM

i've also found most dental insurance is more expensive than paying for 2 checkups a year, assuming you take care of your teeth

though i did have to get x-rays the last time i was at the dentist and that was an extra 70 bucks or so

1/1/2013 7:46:53 PM

Woo! Coventry reduced my individual premium to $66/month!

Dental insurance with security life is $18/month...probably worth it given my need for a bunch of crowns in the near future

1/5/2013 4:24:11 PM