Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Health Insurance

I'm in the market for health insurance. I'm self employed and Mrs Vache Folle is probably going to become self employed in the near future. COBRA from her job will cost more than a grand a month and will be short term only. What I'd like to get is something with low monthly premiums and a high deductible that would kick in if something catastrophic happens. We can handle routine office visits and prescriptions out of pocket and still come out ahead. It's the hospitalizations and scary diseases that we have to protect against, not the routine care.

But I'm finding it really hard to shop for individual insurance. Other insurance is easy to understand and compare and get quotes. Health insurance is a morass. Maybe the health care reform bill will help by making health insurance more transparent. It could happen.

I read the summary of the House bill, and it looks pretty good unless you're a health insurer. Apparently, one problem with the public option that many opponents have is that it is too good and will drive private insurers out of business. Seeing as how the public plan has to pay for itself with premiums just like the other plans and seeing as how private companies are said to be better than government agencies, I don't see what the private insurers have to worry about from the public option.

2 comments:

b-psycho said...

As many times as I hear in response to Republican "Free market! Competition!" opposition the fact that many areas have regional insurance monopolies, I wonder why I haven't heard a Dem propose breaking them up...

Really. If one advocates more intervention to clean up the result of past intervention, why not cut to the chase?

Juile said...

Healthcare costs can be astronomical, especially for those of retirement age. And upon retiring, you’ll face not having employer-provided health coverage and suddenly be relying on Medicare, which doesn’t cover everything.

Many Americans must navigate COBRA benefit rules and regulations following job losses or retirement. COBRA benefits allow former employer-based group health insurance coverage to be retained for several months following job separation. But the benefits are expensive as the employer no longer pays any portion of the premium, and it can also be very difficult to keep.

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