VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[mcm]

Seems to me there was a discussion of this somewhere but I can't find it. It probably needs its own thread anyway.

I came across this source for media freelancers in the US. Joining AvantGuild costs $49/year and they offer health insurance for the self-employed. Although I didn't go so far as to get a quote from them, according to an acquaintance who did, one of their providers offers an HMO for under $300/month. Their dental insurance is $60/year for an individual and $84 for the whole household. Don't know what's covered, but at the very least it is worth looking into.

http://www.mediabistro.com/insurance/

You can also join mediabistro for free to use their various online resources for media folk, e.g. job searching.

[billelder]

Not having some sort of health insurance is a ticking bomb. At the least, you need a policy that will cover you if something major happens. You can, with a high deductible, have a reasonable monthly rate.

I called lots of people locally and even national "800" numbers and SAMS Club. They all had some very good plans with a huge range of deductibles and monthly payments. There are web sites you can use to get multiple quotes. I called friends who were in business for themselves and had to do the same thing. The biggest help was asking friends locally. A lady friend was searching for insurance for her daughter. She happened on a web site that was run by a local Blue Cross agent that had great rates and you could apply online. Bingo!

My other alternative was to move to the UK. As many times as I've been, I just knew I'd fall in love and marry a Brit. Didn't happen. I guess I'll just have to go back.

[Deirdre]

Here is a link to the thread that included the health insurance dicussion.
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[kitstern]

Deirdre, thanks for posting that link. I've left my day job (and thus my insurance coverage) behind as of June 30, so it's a hot topic in our household right now.
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Enjoy life, this is not a rehearsal.

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[mcm]

An article from the New York Times yesterday (sorry, it's long; I would have posted the link but it requires registration and eventually the article will be unavailable anyway):

July 10, 2005
Solo Health Insurance: Possible, Yes, but Not Easy
By J. ALEX TARQUINIO
GREG AND LINDA JOHNSON thought that they had allowed plenty of time to find new health insurance last year. They were losing coverage at the end of December, so they started looking after Labor Day. "We thought three to four months would be plenty," Mr. Johnson said.

They quickly learned otherwise.

The Johnsons - he is 57 and she is 58 - are both athletic. They often play golf together, and she's big on tennis. Neither has ever smoked. Still, one insurer after another turned them down, and the December deadline loomed.

The Johnsons, of Naples, Fla., were losing health insurance the way many Americans do: their Cobra coverage from a previous job - in their case, Mr. Johnson's - was ending. (Cobra is shorthand for the name of a federal law passed in 1986 that allows people to continue health insurance in a group plan - after a layoff or divorce, for instance, or when a college graduate no longer qualifies for coverage under a parent's policy.)

State insurance regulations do not lend themselves to easy overall solutions when coverage is lost. But a few basic guidelines can help. Whether you want to continue coverage under Cobra or select another plan, don't wait long to decide. If you let insurance lapse for more than two months, you will lose important consumer protections, allowing insurers to exclude certain medical conditions, for instance.

Cobra is often the best first option. In most instances, the coverage continues for 18 months after a job loss, or 36 months after a divorce. But it may come with sticker shock, especially if an employer was contributing to premiums. Under Cobra, you will have to pay the full cost, plus 2 percent for administration.

But first, check state insurance assistance programs. Sometimes having any health insurance disqualifies consumers for a state-subsidized program that may be cheaper.

This past spring, many college graduates stepped off stages clutching diplomas - and lost their health insurance, at least until they found jobs with benefits. It is not well known, but people bumped from a parent's policy can continue coverage under Cobra.

In New York, recent graduates may have a better option because they do not have to count their parents' income when applying for Healthy New York, the state's insurance program for low-income residents. The plan "is ideal for someone getting out of college," said Wayne Cotter, director of research for the New York State Insurance Department.

To keep rates low, Healthy New York is stripped of some coverage that may come with a plan sponsored by an employer. It does not, for instance, include mental health or substance-abuse treatment. But it may be enough for a typical, healthy 22-year-old. The plan costs $141 to $208 a month, compared with $309 to $648 a month for a health maintenance organization in New York. Prices vary by region, and by whether the plan has prescription drug benefits. There is a catch: applicants cannot already be insured. If you have begun Cobra payments, it is too late to apply for Healthy New York. And if you are self-employed and have been paying for insurance, you cannot qualify, either, no matter how little you earn. Applicants must have been without health insurance for at least 12 months, unless they lost coverage because of an event like a job loss, divorce or college graduation.

The plan is for New York residents with incomes below $23,800. A family of five would qualify with income below $56,400.

Many people who have higher incomes, though, may still have trouble paying monthly premiums. But they may be paying more than necessary, said Fred Warner, an independent health insurance agent in Manhattan. In New York, a business with at least two employees can qualify for group coverage, but only one has to sign up for it.

Recently, Steven Forst of New York City was paying $539 a month for an individual policy. "I thought I had no other option," he said. He has worked for Murray Malinofsky C.P.A., an accounting firm in Manhattan, for 37 years. But after one employee died, and the boss turned 65 and qualified for Medicare, Mr. Forst was the only worker left needing insurance. So he got his own policy. But this year, Mr. Warner told him that he could buy insurance just for himself under a group plan. Mr. Forst now pays $160 less a month for substantially the same benefits with the same insurer.

In some ways, Mr. Forst was lucky because he lives in New York. It is one of the few states with guaranteed-issue laws, which basically ensure that all residents can buy coverage. In New York, the law means that if you have been turned down by the big national companies, any H.M.O. operating in the state would be obligated to sell you a policy. New York also has community pricing, meaning that everyone who applies from the same part of the state pays the same premium for the same plan, regardless of age or health. So it is easy to see why insurance tends to be more expensive in New York - at least for the young and healthy - than in other states. But the flip side is that some people living in other states cannot buy insurance.

Danielle Brown, an independent health insurance agent in San Jose, Calif., said that 40 percent of her clients who applied for insurance last year were rejected. Some were turned down because they were being treated for depression or were obese, she said.

Ms. Brown had to refer those clients to California's Major Risk Medical Insurance Program, in which the state becomes the health insurer of last resort for residents too sick to land another policy. Often, residents of the 33 states with such programs need to prove that they have been turned down for insurance at least once before they can participate. The plans generally charge rates that are higher than a reasonably healthy person would pay. Not all states with these programs are accepting new applicants, however.

VARIATIONS among state insurance laws can cause problems for families. If you do not do your homework before moving to another state, you may find that your insurer has dropped you - or raised your monthly premiums by hundreds of dollars.

Florida, for example, does not have a guaranteed-issue law, and the state's program as the insurer of last resort has not accepted new applicants in nearly 15 years despite legislative efforts to reopen it. That comes as a shock to many early retirees moving to Florida, said Wayne Sakamoto, a health insurance agent in Naples who is also president of the Florida Association of Health Underwriters.

After being turned down by nearly every company that offers individual policies in Florida, the Johnsons were worried. They said that they were basically healthy for their age but that they took some medications - Mr. Johnson for high blood pressure and Mrs. Johnson for arrhythmia - that were red flags for some insurers.

"You even start thinking, 'I don't want to go outside my house,' " Ms. Johnson said. Then they met with Mr. Sakamoto, who offered them a popular solution for Florida residents in such predicaments. They now have a policy with a high family deductible: $5,200 a year. After that, the insurer pays half of the medical costs up to $10,000, and all costs above that. The Johnsons pay $608 a month - about $50 more than they were paying for a comprehensive health plan under Cobra - and they have several medical exclusions.

But having a high-deductible policy allows them to make pretax contributions to a health savings account, up to their deductible. Any money they do not spend on health care can be rolled over to following years. As is the case with an individual retirement account, any withdrawals made before the age of 65 would be taxed - and hit with a 10 percent penalty. After 65, there is no penalty, but any withdrawals for nonmedical expenses would be taxed.

Still, the Johnsons wish that someone had warned them about this situation before they moved to Florida. "That's something they don't say in the ads," Mr. Johnson said. "We've got the orange juice, we've got the sunshine. But you'll have trouble getting health insurance."

[schaer]

Health insurance in this country ("the greatest on earth" according to many politicans) is a disgrace!! Don't get me started.....

Bernard
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