Comments on: Health care plans?

Question: Health care plans?

BrodieShadeTree — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:55:27 -0800

Please help a small business owner find an insurance plan that covers maternity and isn't 700 a month. What have you used?

In AZ, if it helps.

By: SeizeTheDay

SeizeTheDay — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:01:38 -0800

Have you called the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce to see if they offer insurance for small business owners in the city?

By: BrodieShadeTree

BrodieShadeTree — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:13:47 -0800

Yes, basically they offer the same hmo's as we find at the broker.

By: curie

curie — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:26:56 -0800

I worked for a small business (3 employees) in AZ about 2 years ago and we had the same problem finding an insurance plan. We ended up going with Humana and, while I can't remember the exact cost, I know it was less than $700 (I'm thinking it was more around $300). We went through an agent at Stuckey Insurance.

By: ilsa

ilsa — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 08:31:40 -0800

Ok, you mentioned having an insurance broker. And that's good. But the broker who specializes in property/casualty or directors malpractice might not know more about health insurance than "Blue Cross is good."

I had this situation. I solved it by calling the nice Allstate guy who takes care of my homeowners and automobile insurance. I explained my situation with the business and he gave me the number of "a friend of mine who does that kind of thing." In short, two bits of advice: troll around for a second broker; sites like ehealthinsurance.com (which amounts to a cyberspace insurance broker).

By: Imperfect

Imperfect — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 09:19:46 -0800

Do you really need maternity covered on your insurance? If it's something you know you'll need (i.e. you're planning on it), then it's not really an unexpected expense and something you need to pay insurance for. Rather, it's something you should be putting money towards now.

By: BrodieShadeTree

BrodieShadeTree — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 11:06:20 -0800

imperfect. I totally agree on this point, HOWEVER, it is a known need to be c-section. As such an outlay of 17k is expected, hence, insurance.

By: ilsa

ilsa — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 11:32:42 -0800

/me takes a moment to send happy thoughts and wishes of wellness to BrodieShadeTree's entire office.

By: Imperfect

Imperfect — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:06:55 -0800

Koff, ouch. 17k? So glad to be a Canuck just now.

Still, you want to double-check and make sure that any insurance you do go with doesn't have a clause that will disqualify you for registering with known upcoming claims. Some get testy about that.

(For instance, I know that most credit card insurances won't cover you for "impending unemployment".)

By: MarkAnd

MarkAnd — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 18:47:35 -0800

$700/month for a family plan isn't that expensive these days.