Blue Cross Blue Shield Carefirst as it is known here)is the major insurer here in MD. Also Aetna and United Healthcare.
We also have Kaiser Permanente which is an HMO type insurer. These are all well known. HTH

Thanks coop! :)

Checking out names now -- geez -- this is a frustrating maze to manage .....

((if it is raining on Tuesday then our price is ..... BUT if the sun shines THEN the prices change again .....))

Jan

I would probably get a policy that has the highest deductible that you could afford, but has good coverage for major things. The key is for you to have coverage for something that could bankrupt you, but not necessarily a lot of coverage for day to day preventive. I was self pay for a while and was spending $7000 a year at that point, and not really utilizing it in any way. It may have been better for me to have banked some of that money and paid for doctors visits out of my deductible as needed, with a cheaper policy and a higher deductible. I would have saved money if I had had to pay up to $5000 out of pocket, (IF I needed care) instead of the high policy price In Case I needed it. Does this make sense for you?

This is assuming that you will not be carrying your own insurance forever.

Pal: Excellent advice! Thanks for your thoughts! :)

And yes -- I would imagine that we will go for the higher deductible for a "crisis" situation.

Looks like we will indeed be paying for our own insurance for quite a while. sigh.

((trying NOT to be too terse with the salesfolk. sigh. must try to get more dark chocolate in the house))

Jan

We've been through this recently, and one thing I wanted to add... look for a high-deductible policy that includes preventative care -so you don't have to meet your deductible on those. i.e. 1 well-woman visit a year, 1 mammogram,
etc. It sounds like you have a similar profile to me -pretty healthy, so I don't typically even pay off my whole deductible, but I do go for my well-woman, my mammogram, etc.

bestyears: Thanks so much for more truly excellent thoughts on this subject! :)

Indeed -- the goal is to find a policy with SOME kinds of balance -- high deductible AND some visits .....

sheesh -- trying NOT to grind and gnash my teeth (thats from a very old funny story by Irish comedian Dave Allen) ..... can I mix a martini for anyone?

Jan

Jan I would check with your home and/or car agent. Even if they don't write health policies, they likely have connections to someone who does and that could save you a lot of headaches. Better yet, find a broker who is not tied to one company. For example, our health agent writes for 5 or 6 different companies here in IL. We are making some changes to our policy (DH is self employed so we are our own mini group with our one college age son) and he knows immediately that 3 of the companies he represents are potential candidates for the type of policy that we want. No need to waste any time deciphering what the others offer. A good agent can also tell you in basic terms where policies are similar and where they differ - you have to be the judge of which fits you better. Make sure the doctors you want to use are part of the network for any company you consider, unless you are willing to change.

Our current policy has a 100% coverage for any ER visits, something that was important to us with 2 active boys and DH in constr/remodeling - we used that a LOT over the years for broken bones, stitches and all kinds of boy things! But it costs to have that kind of coverage and since we haven't needed it in recent years it doesn't make sense for us to continue paying for that privilege. A good agent can help you clarify where best to put your ins dollars.

Do you or DH belong to any professional associations? They sometimes have group policies for members.

Only advice would be try to bind a policy asap. Being uninsured for over 30 days in our State causes insurers to charge a penalty in addition to high premium for being uninsured. I hope that is not the case for you.

We found our policy through a friend who writes business group health policies. It was easier than wading through all of the ins and outs of the different policy options.

Best of luck.

If it is about the same cost, you might want to think about an HMO like Kaiser since unemployment is an issue. I know with our insurance, we often end up paying hundreds of dollars for things not covered (we are about 7-10 years older than you and DH). From what some friends have said, that isn't an issue with Kaiser. It is a bit of a trade-off when it comes to choosing a specialist if you need one, but overall, my friends seem much happier than we are at this point and the husband has had tons of issues lately-detached retina and resultant eye surgery for one thing. He was very pleased with Kaiser. HOWEVER, I have to say I am an idiot when it comes to figuring out these policies and what is covered and what is not covered and what are exceptions and...

Good luck to you!!!

DLM; suero; work in progress and cyn:

Many thanks for adding those great ideas and thoughts!

Will ask DH about car/house insurance -- usually we simply deal with an online or 800-number type ....

No professional organizations .... knew that there must be some good reasons to read those emails! :)

Must check into any penalties here in Texas -- I certainly hope that is not the case! ((sheesh ....))

Will check with Kaiser!

Also -- will check out the AARP types tomorrow.

Thanks to all! :)

Jan at Rosemary Cottage -- and DH sends along his thanks too! ((now that we are both in better tempers!))

When DH started his own firm last year we had to find individual insurance. We ended up with Anthem, and have been quite satisfied. Fairly low monthly premiums (considering our history) and $5,000 deductible. We applied with 3 different companies, and they were the only ones that accepted us. We've had a very expensive year medically, and thought they might drop us, but they didn't.

Good luck.

Happy: Thanks for the recommendation -- will check them out today!

Jan