Re: Health insurance rates

[Kat Nagel <KatNagel -at- AOL -dot- COM>]

Ellen Adams <ellena -at- TOLSTOY -dot- SC -dot- TI -dot- COM> wrote:

>We all know how important insurance is. But the recent comments
>regarding independent insurance is frightening.
>  (long quote from Kat Nobische deleted)
>I feel like I'm getting ripped off. I got five quotes from various folks,
>   (more stuff deleted)
>I guess I should ask other folks on the list: is Kat's figure of
>$172 typical? Does living in Houston make a big difference? The
>lowest quote I got was $282, the highest, $416.

The range of quotes you got in Houston looks a lot like the range I found
here in Rochester, NY about 5 years ago (the last time I looked around).  The
only difference was that the high quote was closer to $600, and many of the
HMOs didn't want to KNOW about freelancers.  I finally gave up, and tacked
myself on to my husband's policy for only a few hundred $$$  _per year_.

Around here, rates change every few months (lots of competition).  If there
is enough competion in your area, it might be worth checking around again.
 Sometimes if you find better rates with a new company, you can negotiate a
compromise with your current company.  This would avoid losing coverage for
'pre-existing conditions,' as well as the common waiting periods for
maternity benefits, etc.

@kat                                                        katnagel -at- aol -dot- com
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