Health Insurance

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Health Insurance
« on: July 28, 2006, 03:45:28 PM » by OnlyJesusSaves

Hi recently my husband quit his job to go work for his dad in his small business. We had to get our own insurance and we went throught Medishare (they are a christain insurance company). But we also have to up our accendental car insurance. It's not the best coverage and we are going to have to pay around $500 a month. We would only like to have to pay around half that. It's just me hubby and two small boys. I also looked into discount and saving insurances, but not sure about them. Please let me know of any good insurance plans that are cheap. Thanks NV

« Last Edit: July 28, 2006, 08:52:37 PM by healthybratt »
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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2006, 04:36:27 PM » by gusoceros

Quote from: OnlyJesusSaves on July 28, 2006, 03:45:28 PM

Hi recently my husband quiet his job to go word for his dad in his small business. We had to get our own insurance and we went throught Medishare (they are a christain insurance company). But we also have to up our accendental car insurance. It's not the best coverage and we are going to have to pay around $500 a month. We would only like to have to pay around half that. It's just me hubby and two small boys. I also looked into discount and saving insurances, but not sure about them. Please let me know of any good insurance plans that are cheap. Thanks NV

I used to sell health insurance, and I know how hard it is to get. Here is a solution that I would do if I didnt have corporate insurance- and I have done this in the past. It is a very rewarding thing, and has been around a long time:

http://www.samaritanministries.org/

G

« Last Edit: July 28, 2006, 04:38:40 PM by gusoceros »
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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2006, 04:52:31 PM » by AgainstTheGrain

I second Samaritan Ministries!! We've been members since 2000 and we love it!!

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Vanessa in Iowa
Mom to 5 boys and 1 baby girl ages Newborn to 12

Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #3 on: July 28, 2006, 06:27:28 PM » by WithLoveAndJoy

May I also suggest that Christian Care Medishare is a wonderful program as well? Both DH and I are covered at our own workplaces, but when we have children and I stay home, I suspect we will participate with this program.

Here is the link: medi-share.org

« Last Edit: July 28, 2006, 08:54:01 PM by healthybratt »
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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #4 on: July 28, 2006, 06:50:08 PM » by DawnsEarlyBirds

Quote from: gusoceros on July 28, 2006, 04:36:27 PM

Great ministry to be part of. We pay $248/month with a family share.

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2006, 05:27:36 PM » by OnlyJesusSaves

Thank you for the information. Hubby and I will have to look into these places. Any more places for cheap insurance welcomed. Thanks NV

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #6 on: September 03, 2006, 09:45:27 PM » by freckleswith4

???Well, Here is the deal. In Texas, where I live, my children have been on a health insurance plan called CHIP for the past 6years. It is a helpful plan for families that do not make enough $ to afford health ins., but cannot get medicaid either. It was such a great plan. Our Pediatrician is WONDERFUL, loves and supports natural remedies etc.. We were denied CHIP coverage now. Well, recently my husband became self employed with his job. Same employer, but now an independent; if that make any sense. Well, on paper it looks like we are making more, but unfortunately because of newly aquired bills, being self employed, kids growing and EATING more, gas, electricity, everything seeming to increase, we really cannot afford our own health insurance plan as an independent. I am curious to know your story. Does your family have insurance? I went 8 years without it, but now because I'm getting older, I guess, I feel the need and husband does too, to be on some kind of plan. I guess I need advice, or any help that you could offer. Thank you so much. Oh! I am also curious to know if anyone has ever used Medishare? What do you know about it? How did it really work? Thank you so much in advance! Steph

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #7 on: September 03, 2006, 10:33:34 PM » by mykidsmom

We like to say that God is our insurance right now. Grin

My husband left his job over two years ago to start our business and we've not been able to get health insurance to this point. Really we haven't gotten it for two reasons. Expense is the big one but when we did try to get insurance on just me I was rejected for coverage by 5 different companies. So at this point, I'm not even insurable. Embarrassed

What we've done up to this point is just make sure we're eating healthy and really taking care of ourselves and I have learned how to treat a multitude of things naturally. We do still take our kids to the doctor for ear infections (rare, rare, rare) and stuff. Our biggest expense is my husband's teeth (just did mercury removal) and my son's glasses (eeks!). But we pay cash for those things and just write it off on our taxes. Also, those are cheaper then insurance. We also use a naturapath as often as possible. Much cheaper. Our biggest concern is the big stuff. Major hospitalizations, etc. As soon as we possibly can afford it we will get just major medical coverage on my husband and myself because our age dictates that's the wisest thing to do. As we can, we will add our children. We have already decided to have a $10K deductible because we feel like we can suck that up if we have to. Wouldn't want to, but with our home, etc. we could do it. For a short time we had Mega Life and Health for self employed people. IT STUNK! Not worth the money.

We have looked into Samaritan Ministries but have a lot of concerns about doing a system like that. Especially considering that we're really only interested in major medical coverage and they're not set up for that really.

Not sure this was any help, but it's what we're doing right now.

Patti

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #8 on: September 20, 2006, 06:12:36 PM » by hedy

Can anyone explain any differences between Medi-share and Samaritan? Is one better than the other? My single sister is trying to find a good insurance option. Any other recommendations would be helpful too.

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #9 on: September 20, 2006, 07:50:53 PM » by Nickole

When we were researching Christian share programs such as this, there was a website comparing them all which was very helpful. I think there are about five. Anyway, you could probably search and find it. Samaritan's purse was ranked the best, overall, such as in timely payments, and less hassle. SO that would be our choice, but we prefer cheap high deductible insurance. Catastrophe insurance is much much cheaper. My husband had a $39 a month policy a while back, and I think the ded. was maybe $5,000? In the long run, if you rarely see a doctor (no ongoing medical issues) I think you save money paying out of pocket for eye exams, occassional visit, whatever, and have a cheap HIGH deductable policy. Soon, we may get another high ded. policy. We have nothing now b/c of money. Our children are on NC Health Choice which like mentioned above is a state-sponsored program for those who can't qualify for Medicaid. Except they just changed it where age 5 and under who qualify for NCHC are now under Medicaid, which is great! Free for the two, and the one on NCHC we pay $100 a year. We are very thankful for that, as that child has had stitches in his ear, staples in his head, and just broke his collar bone. Did you guess he's a BOY??? Grin

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #10 on: September 20, 2006, 09:34:57 PM » by Simply Kristen

There is also something called a Health Saving Account that Pres. Bush started. You can put in money and it grows tax free. The idea is that a family would buy private health insurance with a HIGH deductible (2,000 or 6,000). You pay the first _____ (annual deductible) of you healthcare, then your insurance pays 100% of the rest. You build up your deductible (non-taxed account) and use it for your health care costs.

If we didn't have HI... this is what we would be using.

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #11 on: September 20, 2006, 10:19:00 PM » by AgainstTheGrain

From what I understand, one main difference from MediShare and Samaritan Ministries (Samaritan's Purse is a completely different organization and deals with international relief programs Wink

, is that MediShare you pay your "premium" directly to the company. Samaritan Ministries you pay your "premium" or share as they call it to an individual person for their specific health needs. You are given the name/address and condition the person has each month so that you can pray for them as well as provide financially. To me this is awesome!! When we've had medical needs and gotten money from other members it's great to know that others are praying for you, AND when we send ours every month we pray for that person during "Circle Time" which we have at the beginning of every school day. This, I hope, is teaching our boys about praying for others even when we don't know them.

Their website is SamaritanMinistries.com you can request free information! Wink

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Vanessa in Iowa
Mom to 5 boys and 1 baby girl ages Newborn to 12

Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #12 on: September 20, 2006, 10:22:44 PM » by Nickole

I also just remembered that we have friends who were part of Samaritan's Ministry and one of them had to have his kidney removed which is NOT cheap and ALL the money came in to pay the bills. From several sources, like mentioned above, but there's a testimony!

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #13 on: September 22, 2006, 08:55:18 PM » by InEverything

Quote from: Nickole on September 20, 2006, 07:50:53 PM

. Catastrophe insurance is much much cheaper. My husband had a $39 a month policy a while back, and I think the ded. was maybe $5,000? In the long run, if you rarely see a doctor (no ongoing medical issues) I think you save money paying out of pocket for eye exams, occassional visit, whatever, and have a cheap HIGH deductable policy.

Nickole, do you have a high deductible insurance carrier that you can recommend? That might be the best option for us. Thanks!

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #14 on: September 22, 2006, 09:33:06 PM » by Simply Kristen

Quote from: InEverything on September 22, 2006, 08:55:18 PM

Quote from: Nickole on September 20, 2006, 07:50:53 PM

Nickole, do you have a high deductible insurance carrier that you can recommend? That might be the best option for us. Thanks!

this is what I was talking about... except with more than just Catostrophic Coverage (i.e. accidents)

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #15 on: September 23, 2006, 09:55:24 AM » by Nickole

Quote from: InEverything on September 22, 2006, 08:55:18 PM

Quote from: Nickole on September 20, 2006, 07:50:53 PM

Nickole, do you have a high deductible insurance carrier that you can recommend? That might be the best option for us. Thanks!

You know, I'm sorry, but I forgot the name of the company, and where we found it, the search site has changed. It is www.insure.com which USED to be just great - you do a search, even can do a catastrophe search. And then you do the application and everything online. Don't have to talk to a rep. which I hate to do, nor do I have the time. Now, you can't apply online anymore. Shucks.

Oh, I just remembered it was temporary insurance - BUT even though it is 6 month insurance you can renew it once more if you have not made any claims. Then our plan was to hop around the different temp. insurance companies (there are only a few) and renew once each time, until we can't anymore, then suck up and get reg. ins. but still catastrophe. (Is this wrong?) Just to save money for a few years. So that may be why it was so cheap - temp. insurance. The only thing is if you have some long term issue come up, then it may not continue to cover it and then you've got a preexisting condition that will make it hard to get permanent insurance. We thought about that later.

We still don't have insurance. I just don't know if it's worth it, to pay anything at all every month when we are so tight in case we have some freak accident. That's the only thing that concerns us really. Then again, he is at his job most of the day, so any accident would be covered by workman's comp! And I don't skydive to the grocery store or anything... Grin

Nickole

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #16 on: September 23, 2006, 11:45:58 AM » by JoyInHim

This would be useful if your income is well below the median and the deductions are helpful in your particular tax bracket. If you have many children, you already have more than enough deductions, and it probably wouldn't help.

We did this for 2 years, and I can tell you it is a pain! You must pay the dr. first, then send in an invoice, to get reimbursed from your OWN money which you must pay into it monthly. It is a LOT of paperwork and you end up paying twice with your own cash, anyway. The idea is to use pre-tax dollars. An accountant finally pointed out to us that with a larger family, and mid-range income, we already had tapped out all the deductions and using this plan provided no further tax savings in the long haul. I was very happy to quit! So make sure the numbers work before you sign on. Also, you can only change annually (withdraw or change amounts) and if you don't 'use' all YOUR money in the account, you loose it. All! So near November we always had to make up reasons to spend OUR money - glasses or extra dental cleanings, etc. We usually had other priorities.

Quote from: KristenA on September 20, 2006, 09:34:57 PM

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #17 on: September 23, 2006, 11:49:39 AM » by Nickole

That's why we would not go for a tax savings plan. Unless you have ongoing medical issues it may not be worth it b/c you lose the money if you don't use it, and we can't afford that.

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #18 on: September 24, 2006, 09:54:54 AM » by Simply Kristen

Quote from: Nickole on September 23, 2006, 11:49:39 AM

That's why we would not go for a tax savings plan. Unless you have ongoing medical issues it may not be worth it b/c you lose the money if you don't use it, and we can't afford that.

I had no idea that you lost the money.... I thought it just kept growing. The Health Savings Account is what I'm talking about.

I know there are other accounts in question that end at the end of the year (for example through your work). One can spend the money on DayCare Tongue

, and other things.

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #19 on: September 24, 2006, 01:53:43 PM » by Nickole

That's what I was talking about too - Health Savings Plan. Sorry - taxes? What was I thinking? Huh

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #20 on: September 26, 2006, 01:13:56 AM » by Connie

Hello guys, Im from Minnesota, I just turned 20 last April and my health insurance has been cancelled, I got a physical to check things out before then and my alt and ast liver enzyms were up so I got a ultrasound of my liver, nothing found.. got another blood test a couple days later and they were normal, then I turned 20 and my insurance cancelled..
But recently, I have been having this pain in my upper middle back down through my right side, it hurts when I stretch out and it hurts when I take deep breaths, the pain on a scale of 1-10 is about an 8 when I take deep breaths and about a 7 when I stretch the wrong way. I have some trouble swallowing too.. I am concern because if something happens to me my life is not insured.
I have been surfing the net for good health insurance, i came into http://www.insurancepaylite.com has anyone tried online insurance? how effective is the online quote system? can i depend my money on these?

thanks in advance.
Connie

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #21 on: September 26, 2006, 02:14:16 AM » by mykidsmom

Connie,

Did your health insurance cancel you because you had some stuff checked out? Since we've been trying to get insurance on me for a couple of years I think I can impart a little wisdom.

First, don't go to another doctor until you have health insurance. You might have a hard time finding it now just because you had elevated blood test results. Unfortunately, everything goes into what's called a medical information bureau. Kind of like a DMV for health insurance. If you are diagnosed with anything you will not be able to get health insurance from that point on. Most insurance companies will allow no more then 30 days without insurance before calling something pre-existing. So if you were to switch between companies but have like 15 days without insurance, then you're still fine. They give "credit" for previous insurance.

Most of the web insurance quotes are fine. I checked out the site you listed and the quotes are from well known companies (I used to be a licensed health insurance agent) except for one that seems small and rinky dink. Stay away from companies that are not well known. You can also check out www.ehealthinsurance.com. They are the most well known and only give quotes from reputable companies. That's how we attempted to get health insurance for our family.

After you get health insurance - get thee hence to a doctor!! Sounds like you need to find out what's going on. You can treat stuff naturally but first you need to know what to treat. One thing I've learned in two years of dealing with a blood cancer in our family is you can't treat the symptoms and not get a cure. You've got to treat what caused the disease in the first place. So find out what's wrong - then aim for it's core with as much natural remedies as you can find. And juice, juice, juice.

Take care.

Patti

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #22 on: September 26, 2006, 11:50:47 PM » by mamabear

We have been in business for about 7 years now and I recently changed insurance plans. We have Blue Cross Blue Shield. We had an HMO and were paying 700/month. We switched to a PPO and are now paying 201/month. With the PPO there is a HSA associated with it which allows you to write off a portion of what you pay as far as the deductibles go. We have a 2500 deductible and have to pay a 30 copay for each well visit. The deductible only kicks in if you have an emergency or go outside of your well visits. You only pay a deductible on what you use. For example, my husband went to the doctor for his yearly exam. The total amount that the doctor was paid by my insurance was 45 plus our 30 copay. If he were sick we would have had to pick up the other 45. So, it is not like you are paying full price anyways if you had to pay. The other thing I really like about the PPO vs the HMO is that you can go to any doctor in the network without a referral.

Hope this helps.

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #23 on: October 13, 2006, 05:01:32 PM » by Simply Kristen

CORRECTIONS!

Okay, I was doing a little research. I need to correct a few things on this thread.

1. The Health Savings Account (HSA) does not "empty" at the end of the year. AKA it is not a "use it or lose it" insurance plan. On this type, you have a very high deductible. That deductible is (ideally) kept in the HSA. If one does not use the deductible it continues to grow (the money is PRE-TAX). When you take the money out for medical reasons it is NOT taxed. If you never use all the money it continues to grow and grow. You get to take it out at retirement age (but it IS taxed then----growth is only NOT taxed when used for medical purposes).

2. The Medical Savings Account (MSA) IS a "use it or lose it" account. Do not overfund this account!

Like I said a few weeks ago.... If we did not have a normal health insurance plan through my husband's company. We would go with a HSA with about a 6,000 annual deductible with 100% coverage after the deductible is met. We would fund the HSA about 500/month the first year. If in the second year we did not meet the 6,000 deductible.... then we wouldn't fund it anymore.

Any questions? Wink

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #24 on: September 19, 2007, 08:16:42 AM » by Nickole

In case any of you who homechurch are wondering about Samaratin Ministries' requirements on the application about attending church 3-4 times a month, and being accountable to a pastor, I got an email in answer to my questions that said this:

"As long as you’re in fellowship with other believers, home church is an acceptable option. We look forward to serving you."

Oh, and he means fellowshipping even OUTSIDE of church (my questions were very specific) - so even if you homechurch just with your own family, having accountability with someone, any Christian family you know, is acceptable.

I was pretty impressed with their consideration regarding this.

« Last Edit: September 19, 2007, 08:31:55 AM by Nickole »
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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #25 on: September 19, 2007, 10:13:59 AM » by joyful expectation

We had a medical savings account a few years ago at my husband’s former employer. This was in addition to the health insurance provided. It covered any out of pocket expenses that were medically related including deductibles, over the counter medicines, even band-aids if you wanted to keep track of the receipts. My husband was hesitant to sign up due to the “lose the money at the end of the year if you don’t use it” thing, so we started it as a sort of experiment. We only funded it with $10 a month (I think) which came directly out of his paycheck before taxes. Well, I had a baby and used up the money quickly. We were scheduled to pay $120 in by the end of the year and when a bill came up we were “given” back the full $120 even though it was early in the year and we hadn’t actually paid in that amount. My husband ended up leaving that job shortly after and we never actually paid that money in. I questioned this but that was just the way it was set up to work. Worked out great for us but I have no idea how the employer takes care of that in the accounting department. I don’t remember it being difficult to get the money but it may depend on how the employer sets it up. I believe this type of account has to go through an employer and that you can’t just open one on your own.

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Re: Health Insurance
« Reply #26 on: July 07, 2008, 12:27:28 AM » by biecmom

We, as a family of six, are attempting to find health insurance. My DH does not like the kids and I "uncovered". We are hoping for a moderately high deductable, but since I have only taken one child once in the last year to the Dr., I am having a hard time dishing out the $$$. However, the same child was in the hospital for a week a year ago with a ruptured appendix. PTL he was covered then!!!!

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