Health Insurance Help - Non-Employer?

[Texanadian 10]

ehealthinsurance.com

Compare different health care plans and see if it's better to choose one outside your employer provided one. Just don't forget that employer health care is pre-tax while your own separate plan probably won't be. Look into Health Savings Accounts too.

The short term health insurance plans will be cheaper and are usually good for 12 months (most can be renewed). BUT and this is the big but, anything that happens to you while on a short term plan will count as a pre-existing clause if you go for regular insurance in the future. If you're on regular insurance the whole time, this won't/shouldn't happen.

The trouble I have with high deductible/low cost insurance isn't the deductible. I can live with a $3,000-$5,000 deductible. It's the lack of MRI/Xray insurance that they typically don't have. A simple MRI can cost thousands of dollars paid out of pocket.

We have 4 different insurance plans to choose from at my work. The cheapest one has the following rates every two weeks: $80 single/$140 couple/$190 family....... We pay 25%, the company pays the other 75%. So using the family rate that I'm on, I pay $190 and the company pays $570 bi-weekly. That $190 I pay is not taxed.

My wife's old health insurance plan at her job is $900/month for single coverage. Worker pays $85 bi-weekly (not tax deductible). To add me would have been $725/month out of my pocket. And her plan was a 3K deductible. Our/my plan is $200 deductible. (I work for a hospital, hence pretty good coverage)

I almost wish our coverage was worse and cheaper. Some sort of "lite" plan. I could live with a $1000 deductible if it meant I was forking over $100 instead of $190 every two weeks.

Edited April 17, 2010 by Texanadian

[Bern. 3]

Wow...that's crazy that you all have to pay that much. :| It makes me kind of want to turn and head right back to Canada lol;;