Insurance Recommendations

Well, the cost to provide a lower deductible policy to you and your kids may run you more that you think. If you want maternity coverage it could easily run over $600/month for a $500 deductible and 80% coinsurance (after your deductible you have to pay 20%, still). Plus, there may be some pre-existing condition clauses. Plus, you will be medically underwritten and run the chance of being declined.

So, at that cost ($600/month), you will pay $7200 a year before you even start paying your deductible. That would be with Blue Cross Blue Shield which is a very good company. You may find lower rates elsewhere, but not much lower.

If you would like to talk further, please feel free to call my sister Michelle Meier at ###-###-####. I work in the insurance field (and have for over 15 years) but I don't do health insurance. My sister does primarily health insurance.

Good luck.

T.

1 mom found this helpful

Can you open a Health Savings Account to help with the high deductible plans? HSA's are set up to provide untaxed $$ for medical costs when people have high deductible plans. I'd get advice from an insurance professional and consider an HSA for you and your son.

J.

Hi Lara,
I work for Ameriplan USA. They are the largest discount health benefits company. You can get a plan for $39.95 a month. Please check out wwww.mybenefitsplus.com/vedmon to learn more. Or call me at ###-###-####. Good luck!
V.

Lara, I agree with Toni. The likelihood that you will find a plan where you can go to whatever Dr you want for less than you are paying at your husbands work is very unlikely. Since you have a child you could look into the State of Illinois plan http://www.familycareillinois.com/ but if your combined income is over 60k or so I don't think you can be covered as a family as the premium is only $40/month They do also have a kids only plan that is cheaper and the income levels are higher. The caveat with the state plan is that there are not alot of Doctors that accept it.
If that does not interest you check and see if your husband's employer offers a Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account. While this does not change the plan his employer offers, the money you would normally spend on doctor bills before your deductible would be put into the plan and those funds are not taxed, just like a 401k contribution. Although it won't change your medical costs it will reduce your taxes.

I work for a hospital in the insurnace department and I talk to all kinds of people with all kinds of insurance. Assurant Health is one that I see a lot of people use because you can basically pick and choose the benefits you will need and chose not to have the ones that you don't need and be stuck paying for them. They are part of the PHCS network which is pretty big.

i don't think you can get state plan unless you proove you have no other way of getting insurance (denials). Be careful and makesure you get on a group plan, cuz if you don't they can deny coverage on certain medical issues and then later if you get on a group plan they can denie due to pre-existing conditions. i think that's how it works anyway.

I have Unicare for my kids. I have not had any problems and the premiums and coverage are reasonable.

I did a quote with Destiny Health insurance. Lower than BC/BS and you earn healthy rewards back on hotels, airline tickets, health club memberships, etc. This company encourages you to be healthy and rewards you for it! They have a an office in downtown Chicago. If you go to their website and ask for a request, someone will call you within two days.

I know that sounds like alot but How much does your husband pay for your insurance each week? Our sons insurance is separate for my husbands and I and we were paying through Unicare over $100. per month. He is healthy! The insurance did not start up that high but the increase it every year and there is no cap to what they can increase it. We now have insurance through American Family for him at about $250. every 3 months. ($500 ded.)
May I make a suggestion? Take a little bit each month and put it away in a savings account till you reach the deductible, that way you will have it if you need it.
Another thing you can do is check into a supplemental insurance that is not a large policy but has a small deductible and keep you husbands insurance. Your husbands policy is really set up for if you needed to go to the hospital. $4000 would be a drop in the bucket if you had to stay in the hospital.....
One last thing to think about. If you need maternity insurance, You will be paying a lot of money to have maternity insurance from a private carrier. Some will not even offer you maternity insurance because they don't sell it because of the liability factor. Like our family Dr. who stopped delivering babies a year ago because of the liability factor.

Good Luck on your search but really think long and hard before making that change.

S.

Lara - there are a lot of great options available to you and your son. BCBS has some pretty competitive rates and offers plans with $500 deductibles. They have advised us that rates will be increasing soon by at least 9% over the quoted rates available right now. Humana and Aetna also offer some good choices and do provide coverage for some pre-existing conditions if that is a concern for you. I would be happy to give you some quotes and expalin the options availble. I can be reached at ###-###-#### or at ____@____.com.

Sincerely,
Jessica

Mother to a wonderful 3 year old boy and a beautiful 1 year old baby girl! Partner with W Financial Services.

Hi Lara,
I am a licensed agent and co-own an agency in Chesterton. If you are interested I can quote your family plan a couple of different ways with a couple of different companies: Sagamore, Affinity, Anthem... I will need some additional information so please feel free to give me a call. Office - ###-###-####. In addition to health we also write home, auto, life, and business so we can look at a variety of things for you if you would like.
I hope to hear from you soon.
A. Boedeker