Goodbye Health Insurance

[CantAffordMAC]

I just found out that since I'm not a full time student in college, my health insurance is gone in one month (on my birthday)

I need a breast reduction. I have to have health insurance. I work two jobs. I don't know what I should do right now. My jobs don't offer health insurance for me. Everyone keeps telling me to enroll in college full time to get insurance. I really don't want to do that--I made my choice that i didn't want to go to college, and even if they can give me financial aid and everything, I'm not sure if I'm willing to do that. There has to be a better way to get insurance for myself...

Does anyone have any suggestions, advice, anything??? I don't really know what to do.

 

[urbanlilyfairy]

oh gosh I have no idea ..man that sucks ..im so sorry that you have to deal with that ...I know not having health ins is not good ..i grew up without it ..and my father just recently passed away and we had no ins on him ..he was in a coma for a week ..and now my mom is just starting to get the bills ..so far her biggest one has been 3000 bucks ..but she has a bunch that are adding up to about 12 thousand =( ... luckily my dad has life ins ..so my mom will be able to pay up the bills ..but its a horrible situation.

I luckliy have wonderful ins through the military ..my hubby is active duty ..we have tricare ..and they paid for 20k surgery for me with no questions. I dunno if TRICARE has civillian ins ..but if they do ..they are great ...

umh ..marry an active duty military man ? or join the military lol ...no but seriously i hope you find a solution hun =/

 

[ZoeFerret]

I am so sorry that this is happening to you. Depending on where you are you can get private insurance- you just have to contact the difference insurance companies ( or agents ) and get quotes. The thing is- it's probaly going to be really expensive. When me and my DH looked into this a while ago- in Washington State Blue Cross Health insurance it would have been about $500 a month for the both of us with not that great of coverage might I add. High co pays- high deductibles. But it's one of those better than nothing deals. Could you possibly find a job that offers health insurance for part time work? I heard that Starbucks is a awesome place for that.

I know you don't want to go to school full time but could you do that for a bit and get your surgery? It might be worth it. Sometimes you just have to do things you don't want to. I have to tough it out and go back to work even though I want to stay home w/ my baby. ( Mostly b/c my job offers awesome insurance and we need to save money for a house. )

Good Luck!

 

[hello_kitty]

Private health insurance is indeed expensive, and can have crazy loopholes and deductibles. My mom and I had it when I started college, and we had a $5000 deductible, and for some bizarre reason they wouldn't cover me for any pregnancies, but they forced my mom to pay for pregnancy coverage for herself... even though she was over 50 and had a hysterectomy so she didn't even have the parts to have a baby with! This was Blue Cross Blue Shield. And every cycle they kept raising the premium more and more, and we never used the insurance. So finally when I graduated, my mom dropped the insurance because by then we had a $20,000 deductible and she was still paying $500 a month for the two of us. I feel bad, because now my mom is 55 with no health insurance because she can't afford it.

That's definitely not good to be at that age in life with no insurance.

Is there a way you can try to get a job with beneifts? It would suck to have to quit a job just for benefits, but benefits nowadays are soooooooooooo important to have with the way health care is so expensive. That's about the only suggestion I have unless you go for private insurance.

 

[_su]

Private health insurance is very expensive, and also kind of tricky. They deny A LOT of claims.

I'm wondering: is either one of your jobs a retail one? Where you stand up for long periods of time? Because that really adds to back pain (along with the boobs--I know where you're coming from, girly!) If so, maybe you could talk to your employer, explain the situation. They could look into some other possibilities for you.

Another option: do you currently have a good PCP? My doctor is very considerate of me and my financial standings. She's always thinking of new ways to help me out with specialists visits and the like.

If you're considering private insurance, please rent that Michael Moore documentary "Sicko" -- very informative. Insurance companies are very good at finding loopholes for denying claims.

 

[*KT*]

Do either of your two jobs offer ins coverage for full time employees? Usually if they do, they'll allow part-timers to buy in, just at a higher rate.

If you do end up buying insurance privately, check into whether they have clauses regarding "pre-existing conditions". If something has been medically documented in your patient record (ie patient interested in breast reduction, patient experiencing back pain due to....) then sometimes there is a waiting period as to how long you're on the insurance before they'll let you treat a pre-existing condition. Especially when it's a voluntary surgery.

Good luck!

 

[komischkatze]

I suggest that you look into COBRA for the time being. That's what I did right after I finished undergrad and was no longer eligible to be covered by my parent's health plan. You're only eligible for a certain number of months (and of course there are some eligibility requirements but it's usually an easier guarantee than some of the private options) and it's probably not as cheap as whatever coverage you had before (but also not terribly expensive - it was cheaper than the private insurance I picked up from Humana when COBRA ran out).


Whatever you end up doing (I was on COBRA, then Humana One, and now several years later have a job with group insurance through Blue Cross Blue Shield), keep an eye out for a pre-existing conditions clause (ur... like the person above me said). They do indeed usually run out after a certain number of months but a lot of people overlook them and end up with mega bills.

I just ran across this (you're in New Jersey, right?):

Health Insurance for College Grads - Kiplinger.com
"States to the rescue. Although most group and individual health-insurance policies cover children only while they're full-time students, some states are extending coverage beyond graduation day. Colorado, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Utah have such laws on the books. Some laws require adult children to live with their parents or to be unmarried in order to remain on a parent's policy. Others allow insurers to charge a higher premium for the additional coverage. Bills that extend health coverage to adult children after graduation are being considered this year in California, Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri and New York."

No idea what the details are, but I imagine you could find out via contacting your local dept. of health and hospitals (or whatever your state calls it).

 

[SparklingWaves]

Even with insurance, the majority of the bill may be due from you for the surgery (especially if you have not met the deductible for the year). With that in mind, I would save my money for the entire cost of the surgery and find insurance for myself in the mean time.

You may know this already, but do a lot of research on finding a doctor that does breast reductions and ask for patient references. Ask how many they do per year.

Here is a link for more info on the surgery.

Breast reduction surgery: Decrease breast size, ease discomfort - MayoClinic.com

 

[MxAxC-_ATTACK]

I have no health insurance, and I have been to the E.R twice. It really sucks because hospitals are expensive. I have stayed 3 days in the hospital and it was $30,000,Luckily the lady in billing told me to look into some programs that would cover most of it, and now I only owe $1,500, which is a HUGE step down from 30,000 ! Second Time to the E.R the bill was 900 bucks, I called the billing desk and said " I don't have health insurance and I can't pay for this right now" and she said "Oh , I can give you a discount if you are Cash pay, and then said " OK I can lower the bill to $250 if you can pay it all at one time" and I said "DONE!"

A lot of doctors give "Cash Pay " discounts, although probably not for something like Breast Reduction. Perhaps you could find a job with benefits, like a grocery store?

 

[SparklingWaves]

I was still thinking about this and did some more research online. I found this link about help paying for surgery, lasik, etc.

Is CareCredit For Me? Financing for Treatments and Procedures Insurance Doesn’t Cover

I don't know how low the interest rate is. A bank may have a lower interest rate. I just wanted to give you another option on this. Also, I believe there is a link on there to see if your doctor is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

 

[quinntastic]

Out of pocket personal coverage will be very pricey, like Blue Cross and Blue Shield. How soon do you need the surgery? Is it a health issue, like chronic back pain?

Some doctor office offer payment plans, you can call around and look into it.

There's always topless dancing. I didn't say that to be mean or disgusting, but people can make a lot of money that way. Use 'em before you lose 'em, ya know? Eh, it's a personal choice.

When I worked at a bank full time, my health coverage began the day I was hired. Is it an option to try to get a full time job so you don't have to work 2 part time ones?

At any rate, good luck honey. Health insurance is a big issue for us all. :-(

 

[CantAffordMAC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by quinntastic Out of pocket personal coverage will be very pricey, like Blue Cross and Blue Shield. How soon do you need the surgery? Is it a health issue, like chronic back pain? Some doctor office offer payment plans, you can call around and look into it. There's always topless dancing. I didn't say that to be mean or disgusting, but people can make a lot of money that way. Use 'em before you lose 'em, ya know? Eh, it's a personal choice. When I worked at a bank full time, my health coverage began the day I was hired. Is it an option to try to get a full time job so you don't have to work 2 part time ones? At any rate, good luck honey. Health insurance is a big issue for us all. :-(

LoL I can't believe you said that. No thanks..thats not for me.

Anyways, yes my surgery needs to be done. Not just for my looks, but because of the pain its causing my body and even my mind. Its stressing me out/depressing me so much...I'd rather just get the surgery and then owe the damn money, thats how bad I want it done.

Anyways everyone, thanks for all the suggestions. I'm really confused when it comes to this sort of stuff...I don't even know where to start! But I will definetly look into some of these things.

 

[bebs]

.. I'm sorry to say it.. but I would really just bite it and go to school.. it isnt that hard to do, I know you say that you don't want to but.. think about it this way for right now.. you get the health insurance you need .. you can do your surgery over the summer.

if you go to a jr. college the price is only about 300ish for classes.. plus 150 - 200 for books.. thats maybe a month or two for health insurance .. I dont know about you but thats what I would do.

but if you really have your mind dead set against it, instead of two part time jobs look into getting a full time one somewhere that offers the insurance that you need

 

[quinntastic]

Yes, lol, I'm sorry I had to suggest it. It was an option. lol Wouldn't be for me either.

But good luck to you and hope that something turns up soon.

Play the lottery. You never know!

 

[Switz1880]

Did you ever look into working at Starbucks? It's one of the few companies that offers full health care benefits to part time workers and is known to treat their employees quite well.

 

[lainz]

When my insurance ran out after i graduated college my parents bought a supplemental insurance through kaiser and i had to pay around $200-something a month. luckily, i was able to get on my boyfriends insurance as a domestic partner and now i pay $20-something a month.

do you have roommates with insurance??? lol... look into kaiser. most of the time you can get the most minimal coverage and that will be enough to keep you going for a bit. i dont know how it will work out with a surgery, so i would recommend you saving for it :/