[Hett]

We will be landing in North Carolina on 2 August and although we are a healthy family (for eg: my husband worked at Goodyear for 27 years and never took a day off sick), I would like to take out health insurance as soon as possible.

First prize is to land a job where this is part of the remuneration package, but until such time I do not want to take any chances and would rather have the assurance of a medical plan should anything happen.

The plans that I have been looking at are very pricy, they talk about deductables, co-insurance, etc. Most of this makes sense but from what I understand you first have to pay out of pocket until you reach the 'deductable' which in some cases can be as high as $5000 to $10000 before the health insurance will cover anything and then to top that off your co-payment can be as high as 20% of the total medical bill.

So if you land up in hospital in a serious state, the bill would probably finish you off!!

Any suggestions?

Tx
Hett

[Spokie]

Hett, Health insurance is expensive.

We have private insurance with Unicare.
We have a deductible of $2000 and a maximum Out of Pocket (mainly your percentage of the co-pay) of $3000 per person ($6000 max per family) - meaning should something BIG happen like landing in the hospital, we have to pay the $2000 deductible but as soon as our co-pay reaches $3000, the insurance companies covers 100%. Thus our total cost would be $5000.
We pay $30 per doctor visit, and the insurance company normally covers the rest, except for lab and x-ray which falls under the $2000 deductible. Our premium is just below $400 a month for 2 adults and a toddler.

Just be careful when looking at all the different companies, some insurance policies are only supplements to major plans. So, if it is too cheap, that is normally the case. There is also lots of fine print, so do your homework with all plans.

The biggest two companies in my area are Unicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield

[gman]

try keep discovery (or sa med aid) going for as long as possible - i think it's 3 months.

[Deedz]

I work for a health insurance company. I've forwarded your questions to a very dear friend of mine here at the office who manages the private insurance side of the business and asked her to elaborate on some of your questions and hopefully direct you in the right direction.

Very smart move. I went without insurance for 9 months when I first came here and within 2 months my youngest broke his ankle. Took me a heck of a long time to pay that off.

[Hett]

Thank you, I cannot imagine our lives without medical health insurance. I am a 'BANG JAN'. Would rather have the insurance than be without it. Tx All!!!

This post has been edited by Hett: 03 July 2009 - 11:59 AM

[TheNelsons]

Please post your friend's reply here, Dee, I would also like more information. Or email me too?
Tx
Yolande

[caligal]

You can also look at Amex insurance, they will cover you for the length of you plane ticket, so if you are buying a return ticket, you should go for the max and then buy the insurance for that. Thats what my mom and dad use when they come out here for their 6 month stay.

[Malamute]

You can also look at Amex insurance, they will cover you for the length of you plane ticket, so if you are buying a return ticket, you should go for the max and then buy the insurance for that. Thats what my mom and dad use when they come out here for their 6 month stay.

Just be very careful to read the small print. American Express specifically excludes tickets purchased for emigration purposes - even if a return ticket (General Exclusion 26 in their policy), as do the other card insurances in SA (there are only 2 or 3 underwriters in SA, and they all have this exclusion.
The burden of proof - i.e. to proof you have not emigrated, - is up to you, the insured.

With big claims, they go through EVERYTHING with a fine toothcomb.

[caligal]

Thanks Malamute, I didnt know that

[Mart]

Hett, I work in the Healthcare Environment, and my husband is an independent contractor with NO benefits. One of our biggest expenses over the years was for self-employed healthcare. (I currently have a job which has the benefits... and I value that more than my salary!) I am sorry to say, but there is NO cheap health insurance in this country, unless you are a citizen and qualify for medicare(mostly senior citizens) or medicaid (low income families). The cheapest you get is the ones with the highest deductables. It's either that or taking the risk. The benefit of having Health Insurance is you do not need to pay the balance of the bill (except for co-pay and co-insurance): after Insurance has paid their part, or while you still work on your deductable, you only pay the amount that the Insurance allowed. If you do not have any health Insurance, they can charge you whatever they want to, with maybe a 20% discount if you pay upfront/in full.

I am not sure what to advise you, since I see the same problem on a daily basis. It's heartbreaking. I do not know the North-Carolina Healthcare at all, but 2 companies that I have personal experience of, and do not hesitate to recommend, is Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Golden Rule (United Healthcare). The one I personally like the best (costing us an arm and a leg at the time), was Golden Rule, because they have a HSA (Health Savings Account) attached to it, it's an acoount where you save a portion of you premium to pay your deductable. That money rolls over at the end of the year, and it's is your money, even if you leave the plan. We are still using our Golden Rule HSA to pay for co-insurance and deductables and even over the counter medicines, although we left the plan in jun 08. The other benefit (sjoe it's hard to talk about a benefit at that price! LOL!) is once you have met your $3800/5000/10000 deductable, they pay 100%. We have never met any of those high deductables, but we got the benefit of lower prices and the Assurance of an end to the cost, if something bad would happen. Gosh, I can go on and on.... I hope it helps a little bit?

[Hett]

Mart, you are a darling heart!!

Thanks for the info, it is so appreciated.

[Hagar]

Get in touch with State Farm Insurance. They have a catastrophic plan that is not too expensive. Deductible is high, but at least it will not bankrupt you for something serious.

Three years ago both my sisters came to visit me, and took out medical insurance in SA. My brother in law totalled my Audi A6 stationwagon with all 4 kids in it by turning right in front of an 18 wheeler, thankfully the Audi protected them well. All of them had to go to the hospital though, and one of them had to stay for 7 days with concussion, and had to have surgery on his skull and jaw. The total medical bill for the 4 kids was over 100 grand, and their insurance paid all of it.

When I met my wife, she moved out to AZ, and got Blue Cross insurance. Three months later she was complaining how expensive it was, and that she was going to cancel it. I convinced her to keep it, even though she was healthy as a horse. Not 3 weeks later she developed acute pancreatitis when she passed a gallstone. They took her gallbladder out, and the liver ducts tore and she ended up with Septicemia, almost died and spent 2 more weeks in extensive care. You don't even want to know what the bill was, and her part was only $500. Things happen..

This post has been edited by Hagar: 10 July 2009 - 12:13 PM

[Hett]

Hagar

Thank you, this is exactly what I meant by my 'bang jan' comment. One never knows when you are going to need medical insurance and agree with you totally to be prepared. I will look into the first plan that you suggested as well.

Tx Hett

[lambg]

Hi there

Can anyone tell what the difference is between the deductible and the co - pay? How does this all work?

[oscar]

Refer to the following link to explain the difference between a co pay and a deductable
A deductable is almost like a threshold you have to cover before your benefits kick in.

http://www.wisegeek....-deductible.htm


Also with healthcare benefits (medical aid)some service providers are cutting back on approving diagnostic procedures. For instance you slip and injure you knee playing basketball. You see your doctor and he gives you an order to get a MRI. Your service provider can decline payment for the procedure. They may suggest a less costly diagnostic like an x-ray or CT scan. Either way it involves a lot of back and forth discussions between your doctor and medical aid.

This post has been edited by oscar: 05 September 2009 - 09:02 AM