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HEALTH INSURANCE -
Factors To Consider When Buying Health Insurance (continued)
10. If you are required to pay the full cost (or almost full cost) of the health
insurance you receive from your employer, and you are fairly young and in good health,
consider shopping for health insurance on the open market to see if you can save.
The employer’s group health insurance rates are often based on the average age and
average health profile of the entire work force. If you are young and in good health
your cost to buy insurance on the open market may be considerably less. Just make
sure you buy a policy that cannot be canceled if you become ill. Also take into
consideration if opting out of the employer’s plan will preclude you from getting
back into the plan if you so desire at a later date. And finally, when evaluating
your overall cost, take into account the fact that your cost of employer sponsored
healthcare plans is in pre-
11. Take whatever precautions are necessary to ensure that you do not become uninsured for medical expenses at any time. If you are between jobs, consider using COBRA if need be to maintain coverage. Or see if temporary coverage can be purchased until you are covered by a group plan in your next job.
a. Keep in mind, when starting a new job, there is often a waiting period before you are covered by the employer’s plan, or there may be only certain enrollment dates when you can join the plan. Perhaps buying a catastrophic policy will be affordable, and at least protect you from very large losses while you are waiting to be covered by another plan.
b. As a side note, if you utilize COBRA, the rules allow you to delay premium payments for about three months, and still be covered from the first day you are out of work. During those three months, if medical expenses are incurred, you can pay the premiums retroactively at that point and still be covered for the medical expenses. If no major medical expenses occur during that three month period, and you have since arranged new coverage, simply let the COBRA coverage lapse for lack of premium payment. This is a handy way to have coverage essentially at no cost for a ninety day period when you are between jobs and medical coverage.
12. Often, when both spouses work for different employers, coverage is offered by both employers to families and dependents. Consider the following factors:
a. Having the same family member covered by two different healthcare plans (duplicate coverage) will generally not provide better coverage. It generally just causes problems. While it is true that sometimes costs not covered under one plan will be covered by the other, insurance companies do not like duplicate coverage, and will probably squabble over who pays for what. In addition, the existence of duplicate coverage will need to be disclosed to the insurance companies. Therefore, duplicate coverage is very rarely worth the extra cost.
b. Make sure to evaluate the cost and type of coverage provided if the entire family is covered under one plan, or if spouses are under separate employer plans, with the kids covered under one of the plans. There will usually be a best way to go, given the premiums charged by the employer under different options, and the type of coverage provided.
c. However, do not make your decision based just on amount and types of coverage
and cost. Also evaluate how long you are likely to be working for a particular employer.
If one job is very steady, and the other job is likely to change in the future,
you may want to consider getting all of your insurance through the more stable employment
relationship. Keep in mind, if you or your family members do not initially enroll
in the employer’s plan at the initiation of employment, it may be difficult to get
into the plan in the future, due to pre-
13. If planning on enrolling in a group plan, make sure you know when the next enrollment period is for the plan, and what you need to do to sign up.
14. If you have adult children you may be able to continue to insure them under
your health insurance coverage. Generally, children are dropped from their parents’
health insurance coverage when they are eighteen or nineteen, or graduate from college.
But sixteen states now require insurers to continue to cover dependent children
until they are in their mid-
15. The Consumers Union web site has a worksheet for comparing health insurance policies. It can be found at ConsumersUnion.org. Click on “Health Care” at the bottom then on “Health Insurance” then on “Individual Policies” and finally on “Consumer Reports: Plan Cost and Coverage Worksheet.”
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