anybody have individual health insurance?

[KellyJef]

Now that I've lost my job after 36 years and taken early retirement, I have had to get private health insurance.

There are only 3 companies that offer individual, private coverage and the cheapest is Independent Health. The rate for single coverage for 2006 has been $463 a month (which I thought was really high). Well, the rate for 2007 will be $630. How in the world are people supposed to be able to pay those kind of rates

[rusty@saving]

the answer is...i have no idea. insurance in this country is ridiculous, and my wife and i got married early because of it.
our wedding is in june, but due to the fact that she works in a place that has no insurance, and we were paying $200/month(that was only for hospitalization) and couldn't afford it, we got married as soon as i got health insurance at my new job.
best of luck to you, i wish i could help, keep your head up!

[DayByDay]

We have individual insurance. It was a major reason for why we have had to sell our home, unfortunately.

[KellyJef]

Originally Posted by DayByDay

It was a major reason for why we have had to sell our home, unfortunately.

OMG, I'm so sorry -- that really is awful.

I forgot to say in my original post that I did check into the other two companies and one was over $800 per month for 2007and the other was over $1,000 per month! For a single person

[vsjhoc]

Try einsurance for more possible options.

[DayByDay]

Originally Posted by KellyJef

OMG, I'm so sorry -- that really is awful.

I forgot to say in my original post that I did check into the other two companies and one was over $800 per month for 2007and the other was over $1,000 per month! For a single person

Thanks. I'm okay with it now. The house closes in a few days. It will feel good to be able to breathe again, be debt free, and have some savings.

We are in our mid-40s, and our youngest child is 4. I don't even want to think about what the cost will be for all of us in 5, 10, or 15 years from now.

[fairy74]

I have individual health insurance and it is awful, high monthly cost, high copays, high deductible, minimal coverage, however it is better than having to declare bankruptcy if I or DH ever have a catastrophic injury. The insurance situation in this country is a complete joke.

[scfr]

Have you looked in to whether any organizations you belong to offer discount health insurance rates for their members?

[disneysteve]

I was going to make the same suggestion as scfr. If you belong to any professional organizations, check with them. Also, any service organizations, like the Masons or Elks or something like that.

I think a lot of people are going to find in the future that early retirement isn't possible due to the cost of health care. A lot of workers who would like to hang it up when they are 60 or so will find themselves forced to work until 65 when Medicare kicks in. That's a big reason why we save and invest so aggresively. Not just to cover living expenses, but also to cover health care costs when we retire, hopefully by age 62.

[KellyJef]

Originally Posted by scfr

Have you looked in to whether any organizations you belong to offer discount health insurance rates for their members?

Unfortunately, I don't belong to any organizations so this suggestion doesn't help me -- but I bet there are others who will find this suggestion very useful.

[ren]

My mother is going back to work just for health insurance coverage -- she's at $750 right now, but the premium is going up to $815 on 2/1/07. It's completely ridiculous.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by ren

My mother is going back to work just for health insurance coverage.

This is going to happen more and more. Hopefully, what will happen is more employers will allow part-timers to buy into the company plan. It will be worth if for some to work a few hours/week in exchange for the ability to purchase affordable coverage.

[MonkeyMama]

Our private insurance just went from $630/month to $875 for a family of 4. We have good coverage though. The reason we have it is because both when I Worked at a big company and now a very small firm, it cost about the same to keep private insurance than to go on their crappy plans. I have Kasier, on the west coast, and I love it. People usually love it or hate it but it has traditionally been a tad more affordable.

This year they restructured their rates. So though I turned 30 and expected an increase, we got slammed as we now pay the same at 30 as at age 49. We had actually planned to find alternate healthcare long before we turned 40 because of this. My boss is retiring in a few years (sole proprietor) and my husband will go back to work, we will both be looking for jobs with health insurance in mind. In fact, this year he may go to work PT just to get us some insurance. Costco and the government offer Kaiser to PT employees. To us it the health insurance ALONE would be worth him working.

It is insane. If you told me when I had my first kid 3 years ago that we would be paying $875/month for the same coverage, Oh my gosh, I Wouldn't have believed it. (Along the same lines of preparing for retirement). We got a lesser plan (but still better than a HDP) for this year and dh had a vasectomy. Since more kids will be pretty much out of the picture we will look into other options next year. For now we pay $675/month for lesser coverage and we lost our drug benefit. As long as there was risk of pregnancy I wanted to keep better coverage. I Won't care so much as we move forward. I Will probably keep the kids on kaiser and dh and I Will take my boss's crappy plan which may not save much money anyway. ???

I am grateful we have the money to swing it, but doesn't leave room for much else. I am pretty sure if we don't have a job change that we will have to go to HDP plan in 2008. Sure you save on premiums but one ride in an ambulance and you are out your deductible. I am saving my pennies because even as healthy people, with 4 of us odds are high we would use our deductible on something.

No advice here, just commiserating... I shudder when I look at the rates at private coverage for age 50, 60. I can't even think that far ahead, one year at a time I guess...

[MarianneJ]

I thought I read somewhere that Starbucks allows part-time workers to buy into their health insurance plan. Can anyone confirm?

[Ima saver]

My husband and I dropped our health plan when things got do high, a few years ago. I finally picked one up for just him alone and it has a $10,000 deductible. I am just hoping my good health hangs in there. I have never been in a hospital in my life.

[MonkeyMama]

Originally Posted by MarianneJ

I thought I read somewhere that Starbucks allows part-time workers to buy into their health insurance plan. Can anyone confirm?

I have heard that too.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Ima, your good health will indeed hang in there--up to the point it doesn't. You might want to plant for the event.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Oops, I meant plan for the event.

[Ima saver]

Well, I have never been sick or been to a doctor (except twice) so if I can hang on 3 more years i should be ok.

[katwoman]

Originally Posted by Ima saver

Well, I have never been sick or been to a doctor (except twice) so if I can hang on 3 more years i should be ok.

Every time you post about not having any health insurance my heart jumps!

Please do me a favor: ask your other friends and bankers for a insurance broker referral. Heck, get 2 or 3 names. Then explain your thinking on this matter to each broker. Listen to what each has to say. Just listen, that's all. Sure, a broker makes money by selling you policies but a really good one will take into account your tolerance level (or lack thereof) and present you with a product that suits you. In your case, you just may find that a policy for hospitalization only + a high medical payment option on your auto policy may be a cheap yet secure option.

I know that you've spent major money on insurance in the past but even so I can't understand your resistance on this matter. :