Don't need no medicines

October 4, 2010 1:42 PM

I thought I could get health insurance through my school. I can't. They don't offer it because they assume everyone has it through work or their parents. I can't afford COBRA. How do I shop for the best insurance for myself? What kind of insurance can I expect? How do I know which plans are useless?

I've spent the past month and a half stressing over being uninsured. I had thought my school offered health insurance, but it doesn't. I'm in my thirties and at a community college as a nontraditional student. My university and grad school had both offered group health insurance, and so I figured most colleges did.

I've been trying to shop using ehealthinsurance.com, and learned that no private insurer will cover pre-existing conditions until I exhaust COBRA benefits (which I can't even afford -- it's $700/mth). I was diagnosed with ADD and am paying out of pocket for my generic Adderall. My psychiatrist is working on a sliding scale with me until I can get this all sorted out.

I keep trying to "shop" and choose what the "help you choose" navigator offers, but I have a general distrust of insurance companies. I feel like even if I bought catastrophic coverage, they would try to weasel their way out of paying for any claim. I'm feeling extremely anxious though and paranoid that I'm going to get diagnosed with cancer or something.

I'm 30. Aside from the ADD, I'm generally healthy except for the occasional UTI I get treated for at MinuteClinic and gum disease (I COBRA-ed my dental because it was only $45 a month). I think I can handle paying for my ADD meds (it's about $71/month at CVS -- maybe it's cheaper at Walmart?).

What should I be looking for in insurance? What red flags should I look out for that make one policy better than another (I'm guessing I can only afford accidental/catastrophic/sickness insurance rather than anything that includes preventative care). Should I go with the accidental/sickness type plans from big insurance companies, like Aetna? Are there any resources out there for people who don't have decent health insurance? How do I calm down about the silly thoughts that suddenly I'm going to get extremely ill and have to die in my apartment without being able to afford hospitals or care? Or I'm afraid I'll get really ill and will be forced by EMTs to go to the ER where I'll end up with tens of thousands of dollars of charges. I know it sounds ridiculous, but the idea has been causing me a lot of stress and fear.

I live in Maryland (DC area, not Baltimore), if that might help someone recommend resources or even a specific insurance plan or someone to talk to. I'm not eligible for the Medicaid stuff or anything else Maryland offers residents because I have $10K in savings (my emergency fund -- I work part time for minimum wage in a job relevant to the field I want to get into graduate school for).

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

Have you considered looking for a menial part-time job that offers health insurance, like at Whole Foods (after 400 hours or Starbucks (160 hours)?
posted by halogen at 1:55 PM on October 4, 2010

While I'm not able to offer much assistance with regards to the larger purpose of this question, I can speak to the cost of ADD meds if you're near a Costco. The difference in the Adderall cost at retail from Costco vs every other pharmacy I checked is absurd. You'll make up the $45 yearly membership fee* in no more than two months worth of prescriptions.

* Also, and it is likely jurisdictionally different, but in some cases you are not required to have a Costco membership to get prescriptions filled.
posted by hominid211 at 2:27 PM on October 4, 2010

Health insurance is still one of the few areas where a traditional broker can be of much more assistance than the internet. Find a copy of the yellow pages and find an "independent insurance broker" (ie: not one that is attached to a single company (State Farm, etc) but one that handles policies written by a number of insurers) and talk to them. I think its possibly they'll be able to find you a policy that meets your needs at a (relatively) affordable price.
posted by anastasiav at 2:34 PM on October 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Years back when I was between jobs I found that a catastrophic healthcare insurance policy through my insurance agent (in this case, State Farm) was far less costly than COBRA. It basically didn't pay anything until a pretty significant out-of-pocket, but if something calamitous would have happened I would have been covered.
posted by Doohickie at 2:55 PM on October 4, 2010

Like anastaslav said, find an independent agent (ask some of the established adults in your life in your area, who does their homeowners, car, etc.. find someone who can recommend an established, trusted agent), let them do the work for you....
posted by HuronBob at 3:04 PM on October 4, 2010

nthing the "find an independent agent". For insurance purposes the worst possible pool you can be is a pool of size 1. An agent can help you find organizations that you can join who offer insurance to their members. I was in a similar situation once and the agent said that if I joined the local model railroad club for $5 I could save $$$ on my insurance. Turns out the local club had lots of such "members", who funded the true railroad geeks toys in exchange for a reduction in their insurance :-). Also look into the professional organizations catering to your particular field of study, like the ACM/etc.
posted by Runes at 3:23 PM on October 4, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm not familiar with your area, but google health insurance for your state or I guess DC if you live in DC via a .gov site. That should provide you info regarding companies that are legally allowed to provide you insurance, as well as what kind of assistance they provide for low income.

Hopefully that makes some sense.
posted by mbird at 9:58 PM on October 4, 2010

If it makes you feel any better, my friend who didn't have insurance got really sick (not chronically) and had to go to the hospital with no insurance. She paid $300 due to charity care. I have employer health insurace, got really sick, and had to go to the hospital and had to pay over $4,000 because the hospital charges the insurance over the maximum allotments for various procedeures which then have to come out of your pocket. So the grass isn't greener over here, you'll be screwed eventually, in both situations.
posted by WeekendJen at 9:11 AM on October 5, 2010

You might want to try Healthcare.gov. It lets you compare lots of policies at once. It also provides information on state "high risk pool" insurance plans.
posted by parakeetdog at 1:47 PM on October 5, 2010