Tonik Insurance?

May 20, 2005 9:28 AM

Has anyone applied for and used Tonik Insurance?

I have several friends who freelance or do contract work, including a younger sister. I finally landed a job with amazing benefits, but know lots of folks who would benefit from basic, healthy-20-something catastrophic coverage with some preventative care options. Are there any drawbacks to this plan? It looks pretty good to me.

posted by hamster to Work & Money (2 answers total)

if they have kaiser available to them I'd pitch in the extra $40 or so a month to get on their personal plan. I pay $5 or whatever for blood tests/x-rays/crap like that, which aren't included in the Tonik plans (until you meet your deductible, which is what, $1500 if you go with the most expensive plan?). It mostly looks more like something that would save your ass/keep you from going bankrupt if you needed serious medical care. It doesn't sound like it would be worth it for the preventive care.*

That said, ANY health insurance is better than no health insurance. I and many others have learned this the hard way.

'course i don't know that much about health care; just personal anecdotes, so hopefully someone else will come along and fill you in.

* Also, I should mention that I've had really shitty experiences with bad doctors on the Blue Cross plan (which I used to have at work). The first doctor I had barely spoke english -- not that I think this is necessary for basic medical care, or speaks to his competence at all, but discussing my health care with my doctor is an important part of practicing medicine. The second doctor told me "he didn't believe in vicodin", and that "i needed to eat sick food" when I came to him with a gall bladder that eventually had to be removed (by Kaiser, once I transferred out of the Blue Cross plan). This is *after* telling him that the doctor at the emergency room was of the opinion that my gall bladder probably was causing the trouble and needed to be removed. Of course, I know people who've had bad experiences with Kaiser too, so YMMV. I personally like being seen in a hospital setting, rather than someone's crappy medical office that's nowhere close to labs, x-ray techs, etc.
posted by fishfucker at 11:24 AM on May 20, 2005

Another question: does anyone know of something like this that covers New York?
posted by thomascrown at 12:05 PM on May 20, 2005