My husband is self-employed, therefore, we have to purchase our own health insurance.
No employer splits the bill with us, and when we first started, it seemed like a horrendously difficult decision to make.
In working through your options about any plan, there is always a trade off of available benefits (what they pay for), monthly premiums (what you pay every month), and your costs and your deductible (what you still have to pay if someone gets hurt or sick).
Instead of just taking the first plan that comes along that you can afford however painful it may be. The smart consumer (which I wasn’t when I bought ours) makes a list of must haves, and compares it to what is offered.
Individual Health Plan in Akron, OH – a tiny checklist
ABSOLUTE Needs of a health plan? you decide:
- Really good prescription drug benefit? What’s the copay, will YOUR current medicine be covered?, or can you suffer with higher medicine costs with a lower monthly premium?
- Maternity Coverage! Did you know that maternity coverage is not automatic in a health plan? It costs more- fair or not.
- Dental- or, can you wait for Keep32 to be available on the market (end tooth decay forever- available in 2014 I hope!)
- Vision- Or, can you squint?
- Emergency Room Coverage? -How accident prone is your sporty or nerdy child?
- Office Visits? Does the thought of a big copay scare you?
- Well Visits?- Shouldn’t you try to be healthy?
The Expense of Individual Health Insurance
The Cheapest Monthly Premium can be great- but your benefits might be limited and your deductible may be SUPER high- believe me, I know!
This is insurance, so you do have to think of bad things -what if your husband got sick and you saw $100,000 in bills in 2013 -and you had to pay the whole deductible for that year plus 20% of the expense- could you afford $1000? $2000? $7,000 in hospital bills? Its all about betting the insurance company that you won’t get sick- and a risk. Either you pay more now monthly, or pay a crushing debt later. Its all about your comfort with risk, your health, your genes, and what vitamins you take.
How make a Good Decision regarding Heath Insurance
Homework! Set aside an hour at the kitchen table, -read through the infographic listed below and get accustomed to the lingo. The next step is to start seeing what plans are available and at what costs. You won’t know this until you start making some calls or filling out some forms on the web.
This is unfortunately the part of the process where independent sales people like to stake out a claim and help you find the right plan. Don’t worry, you don’t pay them out of pocket- the end insurance company pays them – but it does not affect the end cost- so might as well use them!
The infographic below was provided by www.GoHealthInsurance.com– they can connect you with a licensed health insurance agent to start getting some numbers.
