Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with health and insurance

How to qualify my mom for long-term care insurance

mrstrotsky — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:51:47 -0800

My parents are considering long-term care insurance. The problem is that my mom may not qualify because she uses a walker. Is this legal? Any experience with long-term care insurance and pre-existing conditions? More details: She is 67, he is 65. She suffered from polio when she was 7, which left her mostly healthy but with a leg that has nerve/muscle damage. She started using the walker about 5 years ago. She also doesn't drive, due to peripheral vision loss (perhaps caused by some falls she had before she started using the walker). My dad would qualify, although he has had a heart attack.
I'm the only child, and I'm feeling overwhelmed about this. Any advice is appreciated!

How can I have a baby in NYC without health insurance?

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:12:36 -0800

We are having a baby! We are super excited, except that we are in NYC without health insurance and really scared. What are our options? To further complicate things we are both non US citizens (Swedish and Australian), freelancers, young and broke, and live here on non-immigratant visas. My fiance and I want to stay in NYC, but only if we can find a way that is best for mother and baby. One option is to return to our home country and benefit from free health care, but this is our home now. We will do this though if there isn't any alternative, but we hope to find a solution here.

I have called around to some OBGYN offices, but they quoted around $10k, and that doesn't include tests or complications. It seems too expensive, especially considering if there are potential problems. We would get her health insurance if possible, but from reading around it seems that pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition and wouldn't be covered? Either of us can't be employed because of our visa status and so company health care isn't an option either.

My fiance is 6 weeks pregnant and we are eager to see a doctor immediately, but we haven't had much luck so far. Have you been in this situation? How can we see a doctor immediately without a huge financial burden? Can we get health insurance in NYC even when pregnant? Thanks so much for any advice, leads or suggestions.

Humana Medicare Supplemental Insurance--is it any good?

I'm Brian and so's my wife! — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:07:34 -0800

Has anyone here had any experiences with Humana's Medicare Supplemental Health Insurance for seniors? My mother-in-law currently is paying $400 a month for her supplemental insurance with another insurance company. She recently called Humana and got a quote of $98 a month. Sounds a little too good to be true. Any folks out there have the supplemental health insurance with Humana? Have your experiences been good or bad?

She resides in Tennessee and is in her 80s.

Should I care that my UCSF doctor is joining Hill Physicans?

otherwordlyglow — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:09:34 -0800

All of UC-San Francisco's physicians will shortly end their affiliation with Brown & Toland and become members of Hill Physicians Group. What will this mean for patients? I have been bombarded with news that my primary care doctor, along with all of UCSF's doctors, will, as of 1/1/10, be switching affiliations to become a member of the Hill Physicians Group. Apart from having to switch my health insurance from Healthnet/B&T to Healthnet/HPG during Open Enrollment if I want to continue to see UCSF doctors is there some reason I should care? I guess Hill is part of the Catholic Healthcare West network. Is that significant? Does this switch have any benefits to the consumer or is it just some procedural paperwork that should be somewhat transparent from a user standpoint?

Relocating to the US, health insurance advice needed!

hibbersk — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:12:36 -0800

I'm relocating to the US (from the UK) in a couple of weeks and having concerns about health insurance. My husband's employer covers health insurance for him, but to cover me as well we must take out the 'family policy' for $500 per month (if we had 4 kids this would be a great deal, but apparently it's the same price for the whole 'family' even if that's just me. This seems crazy to me, not sure if it is normal!). Is my alternative plan crazy? Health insurance companies confuse and scare me! To simplify things, assume that I'll be there for a year, and I will not have a job that includes insurance. I'm on the H4 (nonimmigrant) visa. However the year will be split into chunks where I'll be back in the UK - for example a month from mid-Dec to mid-Jan, a couple of weeks in April, and a few weeks in June/July. So the chunks of time when I'll be in the US will be 2-3 months each.

My idea is to get premier single trip travel insurance through my regular provider STA Travel, for £134 (2 months) to £172 (3 months). The coverage is outlined on the link above and is all quite standard as far as travel insurance goes. The policy is single entry, so I'd buy a policy with each return flight to be covered for all the time I am in the US. This is clearly much better value than the $500/month policy offered through husband's employer. I assume the travel insurance wouldn't cover routine checkups etc and I'm ok with that; I can get those done when I'm back in the UK every few months courtesy of our wonderful NHS. Worst case scenario, the savings we'd make from not going with the $500/month policy would easily cover a flight home for a non-emergency, non-covered but necessary medical consultation. The travel insurance has other benefits too, such as emergency dental treatment (dental isn't covered at all in the employer's policy), legal costs, theft, etc. But I'm also totally paranoid about the US healthcare system, and don't want to be caught out or bend the rules to such an extent that the travel insurance policy wouldn't pay up in an emergency because I'm classed as being a US resident or something, because if insurance companies can find a way not to pay out, they usually do in my experience! So mefites, is this a sensible plan of action or am I missing something?

Insert worried question about U.S. health insurance here.

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:54:34 -0800

Best U.S. insurance company for a pre-existing condition (depression) - advice please! Yet another question about U.S. health insurance. I'd like to have some basic health insurance that's not tied to an employer - I'm unemployed and don't know when I'll find work. The catch is that I have a pre-existing condition (well, two - chronic unipolar depression, and ADHD, both of which I've had since my teens). It means for me (at least) that I go through periods of unemployment, including right now. My coverage (under my ex-husband's plan) is about to end, and I'm panicking. AskMe has been invaluable about the topic, but I'd love some actual 'I have x company, and they're good/bad/good enough' testimonials. I've seen Tonik mentioned a few times on here and will be looking into them, although they don't cover mental health.

I'm primarily looking for basic physical health coverage (i.e. catastrophic, so that if I get hit by a truck I have *some* kind of coverage). While I'd love to have a plan to include mental health, I know that's going to be hard to find. I'm worried about even finding any basic physical coverage considering the pre-existing condition thing. I'm on medication (Zoloft and Adderall - prescribed through a psychiatrist covered by ex-husband's coverage) and am otherwise healthy (a few minor surgeries as a kid) in my mid-30's. The past year has been hell (for a number of reasons - let's start with divorce, death of a parent and losing my job), but hopefully qualifying for insurance won't be...impossible (she says, crossing her fingers hopefully).

I'm in California, a permanent resident (if it helps) and am willing to look around for community therapists etc. and already go to the local NAMI affilated support group, do the 'exercise, eat right' etc. etc. thing and have a therapist I'm willing to pay out of pocket for - and maybe get the meds via Walmart etc., if I have to. What I want is the basic coverage, since waiting for the folks in Washington to decide on health insurance is NOT an option. Basically, is there a way to have the physical insurance and mental health insurance be separate? When do I have to tell them about my mental health history?

Has anyone had any experience trying to get group insurance via things like the Freelancer's Union or AIGA? I'm a designer, and I'm open to suggestions. What about going through an individual insurance broker - any good experiences? Any advice is appreciated. I'm going through all the info I can find (on AskMe and elsewhere) and really appreciate any help, as my head is spinning and I'm worried to death.

How to manage my debt and life as a whole

thegreatcokeolympics — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:34:41 -0800

How do I get my life on track with high debt and a chronic medical condition? So i'm 26 years old and have been completely on my own since i was 18. I come from a working class family who lives in a small dying town with no jobs. I knew if I was going to make something of my life in any way, I had to get out of there. Being so young and inexperienced, it's not like I could get a well paying job to support myself. And it's not like my family had any money to give me.
So 5 years ago, I took out many many loans and used that money to move myself across the country to " the big (and expensive) city" to attend college and hopefully start a new life there.

I also used the student loan money to pay for everything I would need to live on (mainly rent because the dorms were more expensive than studio apts, food, and school supplies) and even then it still wasn't enough, so I also worked full time in addition to going to school full time, just to make ends meet.

On top of this, to make matters more complicated, I also have a chronic medical condition. I have had it mildly since I was 10, but never had it addressed, or even diagnosed as to what it was, since my family lacked health insurance.

It was still fairly mild even when I moved here, but through the years got much more serious and I am now in constant daily pain and have some serious breathing issues. I tried to get health insurance on my own, but no plan would cover me due to the pre-existing condition. So I had no choice but to pay out of pocket for all medical expenses. Of course I had no out of pocket money to spare, so I used credit cards to pay all my medical bills.

And I never had enough credit to pay for anything medical that would truly diagnose me, so I resorted to many expensive pain management treatments only to be left with my condition progressively getting worse.

Now flash to present day, 5 years later, and I am $60,000 in debt from school, $10,000 from credit card debt. The job market is scarce and no one is hiring on staff. I've been taking very low pay freelance gigs which don't even amount to half of my expenses.

Currently, my bare minimum expenses amount to $1150 per month.

One of them being a health plan I pay 400 a month for after puting myself on a long waiting list for a government health plan that teams with private insurers to give coverage to high risk people. With this plan I was also able to finally get the tests I needed to diagnose me, only to discover (upon confirmation of 6 different doctor opinions to be sure) that I need a surgery that will cost a minimum of $30,000 depending on where I get it done, while knowing full well my insurance plan will most likely not cover because it is not a common surgery, though results are typically favorable.

I also pay 400 a month to see a physical therapist who I have been seeing for a year and a half and is the only source of pain relief I have found to help me (Insurance only covers 25% of 12 sessions a year, which I have already maxed out) Then pay 300 a month for my credit cards and 50 for my cell phone. And every 3 months, pay 150 forbearance fee for my student loans. That is it.

I had to leave my apartment and move in with a friend who is letting me stay there rent free until I figure something out. They are also fortunate enough to make a decent living and have been loaning me money to help pay my bills, eat their food, and use their computer. If anything, they've almost become my surrogate parent and it makes me feel like shit for puting them in that position, but I simply don't know what else to do.

I would get a second job anywhere I could find, but not only have those jobs even been hard to come by, but my health simply won't allow it at this point. I am extremely distressed, depressed, and hopeless. The biggest issues of all is the health and everything else seems to stem from it to make all the other problems worse. I don't know how much more bare minimum I can get in terms of cutting my budget when I'm already miserable and in so much pain.

I have considered going on disability, but I don't know if I would count since I still have been able to work, so long as the work isn't strenuous and I don't have to be on my feet all day.

I've considered welfare and bankruptcy but I'm not too sure how they work or if I would have to give up making enough money to pay for everything I need just to qualify. Or if bankruptcy will just ruin my credit enough to never be able to rent again.

I want to be responsible and make the best choice that will benefit me in the long run, but I don't know what that is or where to go. I really need some advice or clarity on this, so anything anyone has to say, please I'd love to hear it. Thank you.

Health Insurance for a Newborn/Pre-born?

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:38:14 -0800

I'm confused about how to go about providing health insurance for my unborn baby upon it's birth. I am on Medicare, so the child is not covered. I do not qualify for Medicaid/SCHIP, and most individual plans will not cover a newborn from day one. My job provides medical insurance for me only, not my dependents. And actually, not me, either because it does not provide coverage for those already qualifying for Medicare.

For the record, I am on MEDICARE, not Medicaid. Yes, this is the old people's insurance. No, I am not too old to have a baby. I'm on it because I have a disability. But this precludes me from qualifying for every "family plan" I've ever tried to apply for.

My other two children each have their own individual BCBS plans. Our children are also not covered under their father's plan.

The problem is, I cannot seem to apply for an individual plan for this child until he is born. Then, most individual plans have 1 to 6 month waiting periods before a newborn can be covered. If the baby has some kind of pre-existing condition in that time (even something as simple as prematurity or jaundice) he may not qualify for a plan (or the premiums could be astronomical.)

I can't seem to find any sort of coverage for him from day one. (He is due in three months.) This scares the shit out of me.

For one thing, the hospital wants a name of a pediatrician and I can find no one that will take him without insurance. If I leave the "pediatrician" line blank on the hospital registration will a ped come and see him?

What will the hospital do? Will they take us and care for him if he is uninsured? Will we be charged thousands of dollars for his care? What if something IS wrong with him? Will he be treated or will he be moved to a "public" hospital? (I'm planning on going to a private (Catholic) hospital now because I see a perinatologist (high risk OB) and that is where he practices. I'm supposed to have a C-section so cannot safely just go to any ER when I go into labor.) If he has something wrong with him, will he be uninsurable forever? (or at a very high premium, or with his "something wrong" not covered?)

Is there a way to get an as of now unborn child insured from the get-go? Who knows about this stuff? I can't seem to get any answers.

This is so confusing. I just want to go to the hospital and know that my baby will receive the care he needs and we will not go bankrupt because of it.

Not that she's planning any accidents, but...

rmd1023 — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:49:41 -0800

Massachusetts Health Insurance Filter: Is there a way to find some kind of bridge coverage for the time between 9/9, when the old insurance goes away, and 10/1, when the new insurance becomes effective? I'm posting for my girlfriend. Her COBRA insurance expires on 9/9, but all of the insurance options she can find won't start until 10/1. It doesn't matter too much what the insurance is over those 3 weeks or so, as long as it's not "no insurance". it would be nice to have *some* kind of insurance in case a meteor hits her or something.

None of the insurance options on the Mass Connector website seem to start before 10/1.

Unfortunately, we don't have access to a time machine, so she can't fix this so that her new insurance starts on 9/1.

It's there until you need it

yclipse — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:11:27 -0800

How often does it really happen that a health insurer will raise an employer's premiums when a high-demand illness occurs? I saw this on another site:

Go sit in a pediatric oncology ward and talk to the parents. You'll find that most lose their jobs and health insurance when their kid gets sick. This is because the insurance company raises their rates until the employer has to chose between the health insurance for everyone or the employee with the sick child. Most parents with a seriously ill child go bankrupt at some point.

This suggests that high-demand users are targeted and that rates are raised for those employers in the hope and expectation that this will squeeze the user out of the group - the employer. This would seem to be something that could happen more frequently with small employers, of course.

Has anybody seen any research or investigation as to whether this happens on a regular basis? (vs. anecdotal descriptions)

What qualifies as a prexisting condition?

Tsuga — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:29:20 -0800

What exactly qualifies as a preexisting condition? Do/did I have one? I've been hearing a lot on Mefi and elsewhere lately about how health insurance companies sometimes deny coverage because of a preexisting condition, and I'm trying to get a handle on how pernicious this practice is. Fortunately for me, I'm part of a group plan provided to graduate students at my university, which two years ago paid for my surgery to have a nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (a benign growth that was blocking up my nose) removed. The doctor told me that the mass had likely been growing for many years.

1. If I had started on a private plan during that time the mass was growing, could I have been denied coverage because this was a preexisting condition?

2. I've had several check-ups since the surgery. There is no sign of the mass returning, and my doctor says it is very unlikely that it ever will. Could I be denied private health insurance or have to pay higher rates because of having had the growth? If something else unrelated goes wrong with my nose, how likely would it be that I would be denied coverage because of having previously had this mass?

I know it's unlikely that others have had the exact same medical condition; I would be curious to hear what conditions you have had that lead to denial of coverage (or not) by private insurance companies.

(Needless to say, I'm an American.)

Shopping for Someone to Shop for Something

nomad — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:10:20 -0800

How do I shop for an independent health insurance agent in Philadelphia? My current job situation does not provide health insurance (I'm a contractor), so I would like to obtain personal independent insurance. From what I've read in books and online, it's not a bad idea to get an agent that knows what is available in my area and can help me find the best plan for my specific needs. I'm having a hard time, however, figuring out where to start shopping for an agent to help me shop for a plan.

Angles I've tried or am trying:
* I know about eHealthInsurance.com but think I could still use the assistance of an agent
* I've contacted the Pennsylvania Insurance Department and they refused to give me a listing of licensed agents and suggest that I use the yellow pages (what is this, 1962?)
* I've contacted the Association of Health Insurance Advisors and they sent me a list of all agents registered with them in Pennsylvania including their certifications. I've whittled this down to three people that are Registered Health Underwriters and are located in and around Philadelphia, but I have no idea what level of credibility the AHIA has and whether there are other (possibly better) agents out there that I'm missing out on by going this route.
* I know that the best way to do this is through recommendations, but I have no friends or contacts that have independent health insurance in the area (and I ask basically everyone I meet).

Does anyone have any resources I could use to shop for agents? Should I just forgo the agent and shop directly for an insurance policy myself (since I'm already spending so much time on this)? I have many questions that I feel would not be answered if I buy the policy directly.

I need health insurance (me and everyone else...)

greta simone — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:10:37 -0800

Ohshitfilter: Temporary health insurance options in NJ? I just moved from NC to NJ five weeks ago, after finishing a Masters program. My student health insurance ends on August 14, and since I have not been successful in finding employment (as I had hoped) I need to come up with a plan.

I have heard of COBRA, but I also heard that the State of New York does not accept COBRA. This is a problem for me, because my residence in NJ is temporary and I plan on moving to Manhattan or Brooklyn in the next few months. Secondly, I can not prove residency in NJ as I am not on the lease and have no bills in my name (staying with a friend). Am I screwed? I cannot seem to find the information online that I need.

I need the the cheapest health insurance I can get that will also cover prescriptions in some form (I have allergy and asthma and BC meds I must take).

What are my options? Please point me in the right direction or to a place where I can at least get more information.

Help!
Thanks.

The Health Insurance In-Out Network shuffle

Raze2k — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 06:55:45 -0800

Health Insurance snafu. The In-Out Network shuffle. Am I borked? I was recently experiencing a number of health related issues that came about suddenly and seemed to indicate the possibility of something significantly more serious than the actual cause turned out to be. To make a long story short, I saw a number of doctors in a very short period of time, all recommended by a new general practitioner who had been recommended highly by a coworker.

The new doctor was a member of my health insurance network and with each doctor that he referred me to, I first checked with the online health insurance web site to see if the doctor was listed as being In Network. Every doctor seemed to check out and up until this morning, all seemed to be well; every claim had been processed perfectly, listing only my copay as responsibility.

This morning I checked and noticed that three of the claimed had finished processing with the entire cost being forwarded to me, each stating that the health care provider was not in-network. I cannot afford the amount being billed to me and I immediately checked the website again to see if the doctor was listed as being in-network.

He is, however, upon calling my provider the friendly woman I spoke to on the phone mentioned that the claim might have been rejected because the address listed on the website differs from the address at which I actually saw the doctor (he has office hours at a different location). She forwarded the claim back to the health insurance network and said that I should check back in two weeks.

Am I screwed because of the different address on file? I was under the impression that a doctor was in- or out- of network.. the location of the procedure and service by this doctor were all at a location listed as in-network as well (since he was using the offices of my general practitioner). I asked what my options were in the event that the claims were rejected again and she said that I could file an appeal. Has anyone dealt with anything like this in the past?

Help my friend get the surgery she needs without going into massive debt!

JaiMahodara — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:12:53 -0800

My friend needs surgery but has no insurance. She thinks she can be covered if she goes on her parent's insurance in another state and has the surgery done there. Is this true? What kind of paper trail can the insurance company find? Health Insurancefilter: Please help me solve this insurance issue for a friend. Sorry about the length...it's complicated.

A couple months ago, my good friend 'D,' currently living in Oregon, had a cyst on her tonsils, which was removed at her own expense as she does not have health insurance (a couple hundred bucks). After leaving the hospital, she came down with a pretty bad staph infection, which is common after a minor surgery as staph tends to thrive in hospitals. Because she doesn't have insurance, she went to several free clinics to get treatment, and was given various diagnoses and antibiotics, etc.

And still, the infection persisted. After the most recent culture, she learned that the infection is MRSA, an extremely antibiotic resistant strain, and poses the risk of death. The doctor believes she needs her tonsils removed, as they may be feeding the virus, and may have to be on an intravenous antibiotic drip. But again, she has no insurance.

However, she thinks she can get on her parents insurance, who live in Florida (she is in her early twenties, and apparently there is a law in Florida that would allow her to do this?), in which case she could have the procedures done in Florida under her parents health insurance, if she claims that her permanent residence is still in Florida.

So here is the trick. She just signed a lease, along with someone else, which goes into effect August 1st. The lease is a sublet in house owned by a man who is leaving the country for the year. Its a pretty informal, personal thing, but he does have paperwork with her signature. She is wondering if the insurance company could somehow find the lease and thereby revoke her claim. Does she need to take her name off the lease? What about the fact that she's been paying Oregon state income tax? Wouldn't the insurance company find that first?

Neither of us know anything about this really, so any advice would be extremely, extremely helpful.

Thank you Hive Mind...you save lives.

I really want to pay my bill, I just don't know how much or who to give the money to

theichibun — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 17:16:59 -0800

The wife got a bill in the mail (then lost the bill) from either Blue Cross/Blue Shield of South Carolina or the South Carolina State Department of Education. She can't remember which, but does remember that it's a health insurance bill (which for some reason the state department of education has sent to them before, possibly due to the mother in law being a teacher in South Carolina) for roughly $500-600.

To make things more interesting the mother in law is keeping the wife on her health insurance until the wife gets her own or is covered by mine. However, the bill is in the wife's name.

Obviously we don't want to just ignore it until they send another one with late fees.

I've looked on both websites. State Department of Education has contact numbers for general information, the superintendent, office of communications, and education certification. Blue Cross/Blue Shield has numbers for buying insurance, getting information, reporting fraud, and looking for a job. None of which seems like it's the right number to call.

What can we do to both find out where the bill was from in the first place, and then convince the right people to send us another one so we can actually pay it (and possibly get an extension on the payment date if sending stuff through the mail would make it difficult to have the payment get there on time)? However, at this point we'd also settle for just learning the amount and paying the bill online.

Health insurance?

djduckie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:52:16 -0800

Can anyone suggest insurance coverage for a student? I am 27 and about to stop working full time to finish my BA. Living off of loans and working part time i should be okay, but I would like to have insurance coverage. Any ideas? I've been looking online but not really happy with what i am finding ( cost a lot for very little benefit). Has anyone else lived this or have any suggestions?

my many missing minerals

parallax7d — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:31:47 -0800

How can I get tested to see if I'm missing any trace minerals or vitamins in my diet without health insurance?

How can I arrange for bulletproof independent health insurance?

rr — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:47:00 -0800

How can I arrange for bulletproof independent health insurance? It may be the case that very soon I will need an health insurance policy, not company specified, for me and my wife. In light of stories like this one, I am very concerned that even if I answer about my health history and my wife's history even to the extent possible, I will forget something and get hosed if I ever come down with anything.

Since the health insurance isn't likely to change in the US in the nearterm, I want to somehow insulate myself from this. Given that, is there any way to have the HI company pre-vet the policy in some way so that this isn't a risk later on? Or some other way to do this -- service or whatever?

I've lived with extremely active jobs for the last 15 years, so to be honest a lot of "I went to the doctor because I had a cough" kind of stuff doesn't readily come to mind even when I think about it. I would much prefer an active investigation.

Have we really lost our coverage?

xenophile — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:19:55 -0800

Help! My COBRA health insurance ended recently for a sketchy reason and I don't know how to get any answers and I need health care. I live in Nevada. Our state has few options for health insurance. Individual premiums are sky-high and are routinely denied for pre-existing conditions. When my spouse got laid off in December, we signed up for COBRA. Every month we paid his old company for the policy. A week ago when he went to drop off the check there, he found that the company was in the process of being closed. The HR person there told him to pay our insurance company, Anthem, directly for the COBRA premium. He called Anthem and they told him the policy was closed because the company went out of business and the person at Anthem tried to get him to buy an individual policy instead. We tried that route before, but he was denied an individual policy due to pre-existing conditions. We are spinning our wheels trying to figure out what to do. Meanwhile, a family friend said that by law, we are entitled to COBRA for a certain period -- 18 months, I think -- regardless of whether the company went out of business or not. But I can't find any info out about this online. Can anyone please help clear this up ASAP as we are both dealing with some health problems and I do not have insurance from work? Thanks!

MA Health Insurance

Elsie — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:16:47 -0800

Anyone know about Massachusetts Health Insurance? I'm between a rock and a hard place. I'm about to move to MA from overseas. I sent off application for the low-cost insurance, Commonwealth Care, but it may be weeks after I arrive to hear whether I qualified. I do not want to go one minute without coverage in the U.S. so I thought I'd get a short-term policy. However, as I understand it, if you have any prior health insurance at all in the U.S., including short-term, you can't qualify for the Commonwealth Choice low-cost option. The other available insurance, a high deductible polict or Health Savings account is $500 a month. Any advice on how to proceed? Based on fruitless calls to MA Insurance Dept. it seems to be a Catch 22 situation unless I'm missing something. Any advice?

Help me get a cheap prescription!

thankyouforyourconsideration — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:10:35 -0800

I am in a temporary position of having no health insurance. I think I have strep throat for the second time this year. Where is the least expensive place for me to go right now to get diagnosed and prescribed medicine? I'm in Portland, Oregon. Thanks!!

How to appeal termination of COBRA benefits?

Macbeth123 — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:43:21 -0800

The company that administers my COBRA benefits terminated me because, they said, of an NSF check, which my bank had told me would clear. But it didn't because the check was put thru literally hours before a hold on a $500 check was released. Apparently the bank rep was figuring that either A) the bank would pay the check (they have before) or B) the hold release would happen before the check came thru. My cyber-statement even shows that the check was paid; then the next day it was sent back. (So when I checked my cyber-statement to confirm the info from the phone rep, the check was shown as having been pd.) Q 1) How and to whom do I appeal? Q 2) Is it worth the effort?

I want to add my wife who has serious pre-existing conditions to my health insurance plan at work. How do we make sure her condition will be covered?

Anonymous — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:24:47 -0800

I want to add my wife who has serious pre-existing conditions to my health insurance plan at work. How do we make sure her condition will be covered? My wife needs orthognathic surgery but her insurance (HMO) will only cover a portion of it under a doctor she does not trust and will not address all symptoms involved. I have a much better plan at my work, but have noticed that when adding someone to the plan, there is a waiting period of 6 months for anyone with pre-existing conditions before they will start to cover them.

My wife is in constant pain everyday and doesn't think she can wait any longer, nor do the doctors she would like to be treated by, as her condition gets worse everyday. My first question then, is there anything that can be done to shorten the waiting period?

If we must wait the 6 months before she can get the surgery, so be it. It's too costly to even attempt to pay it out of pocket right now, but we absolutely can't have her go without medication and physical therapy to help relieve the everyday pain. But on the new plan, would these treatments be considered part of the "pre existing" condition?
Is it possible for her to keep her current plan just for these things WHILE she is on the waiting period for my plan?

Also, in terms of other things that would not be covered due to the pre-existing mess, would these things also include consultations with surgeons? MRI's? any testing she would need for the eventual treatment she would receive after the 6 months is up?
Or are these "tests" going to be excluded as well even though they are just tests and not actual treatment?

Help me pay 12 months of premiums for 3 months of coverage

Nothing — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:11:27 -0800

I live overseas for 10 months a year. I am finding it very difficult to get health insurance. No preexisting conditions, no smoking, not obese, but I am only barely a resident of California, and this seems to be a tripping point. All I want is a basic, high deductible plan for emergencies. I am currently covered in Virginia (from a while back, never told them I moved), but since my residency is California now, they probably won't cover me. What are my options? I just spent 4 hours on applications and was turned down every time. Everything else I see on google looks dodgy.