Re: OT: health insurance for individuals?

[voxwoman <voxwoman -at- gmail -dot- com>]

The best thing to do is get the insurance while you are still covered under
another policy. Otherwise you've got a waiting period where pre-existing
conditions are not covered at all (sometimes as long as 2 years). Continuous
coverage, even with different companies, lets you carry over your
preexisting condition (I think that's a Federal law - maybe part of COBRA).

The second best thing to do is to make yourself a business and get small
business insurance. It's generally cheaper than individual insurance. If you
have to go through individual insurance, look into insurance you can get
through a professional organization, such as the STC (I know the IEEE had
group health insurance, as do other groups).

Be prepared to pay higher deductibles and copays than you're used to.

It also depends on what state you live in, as health insurance is regulated
by the states and each state varies significantly in coverages and costs.
Also note that competing plans have calculated things so that your total
costs (premiums plus deductables) wind up being within dollars of each
other. With lower premiums/higher deductables, you're betting that you
aren't going to be needing services, and if you don't get really ill, you do
wind up slightly ahead.

For me, small business insurance seems to have a lower monthly payment than
the COBRA I'm carrying, but the overall annual expenditures (if I "use up my
deductable") are pretty much the same.

-Wendy

On Wed, Aug 27, 2008 at 5:16 PM, Rob Hudson <caveatrob -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> This is slightly off-topic, but still of pressing interest to
> contractors and consultants, I imagine. Where is the best place to get
> health insurance as an individual if you have a few pre-existing
> conditions?
>
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