My daughter needs to purchase health insurance...

[snacker]

just temporarily until she finds a job with benefits. She's 25, nonsmoker, and healthy. Any advice? I asked her what type of health insurance her friends have(if they don't get it through their work) and she said "they don't have any." Don't really want her to go that route, but don't know what to tell her about the size of deductible, etc.. She doesn't have a lot of money saved right now.

[loveable liberal]

1. get major medical and a high deductible...

maybe $1000.00 , then single payer with a $50 co-pay or something like that... shouldnt be that much for a healthy youngin..... (It would probably be free by now if dipsh&% wasnt in office.......)

[RedEarth]

2. Might want to look at Blue Cross....

They have a number of plans that can be purchased on a month to month basis. I'm sure you are aware, none of them are cheap.

[Sapere aude]

3. Make sure that where she wants to go for treatment accepts the insurance she wants to purchase.

There are lots of cheap insurance plans out there and many pay the provider less than medicare pays so the providers do not accept the insurance or make the patient pay the difference out of pocket.

She should call her doctor or health clinic and ask them what insurance they accept.

[Xithras]

4. Emigrate?

:)

But seriously, most major insurance companies offer high-deductible short term policies for reasonable amounts of money. My brother in law had one when his COBRA ran out, and I think it cost him about $75 a month. $75 is not exactly cheap, but a comparable long term HMO plan would have set him back $500+ a month.

There are a few kickers to these policies though. First, they typically have a maximum plan limit of 1 to 3 years (the higher the limit, the more expensive it will be). Second, his plan had a $1,000 term deductible, so he still had to pay for all of those doctor visits himself. It's a major medical plan, so it's primarily intended to provide a financial backup for MAJOR health problems and accidents. Third, they typically offer no coverage for pre-existing conditions and require a health checkup as a requirement for coverage.

They are intended to act as short term insurance gap coverage for major emergencies. It's not perfect, but he liked the fact that no matter what happened, he'd never have to spend over $1000 to cover his insurance bills. Nowadays, that's a couple of doctors visits.

Other than that, she's looking at spending several hundred a month for a more conventional policy. IMO, the lower cost of these gap coverage policies makes them worthwhile IF you can afford to pay up to that term deductible.

[Fridays Child]

5. Has she exhausted any COBRA benefits that she 's entitled to?

That's the first thing to consider. Then, the main thing is that she can't have a gap in her coverage. So, if she is healthy, etc., and she expects this to be only a temporary situation, she should look for the least expensive coverage with the highest deductibles. When she's completing applications, tell her to give not one syllable of information that is not strictly required by the company.

I won't recommend a particular company because I think they're all bastards but she should Google "individual health plan" and review plans from all of the major companies--United Healthcare/Pacificare, Blue Cross, Aetna, etc.

[Warpy]

6. Women generally get screwed six ways from Sunday

because unless they purchase family policies, they're not covered for pregnancy related matters, not even life threatening ectopic pregnancy. The safest course would be as high a deductible as she can manage plus the family Blue Cross. Remember, even with family coverage, she'll have to pay for her own contraception. Tell her to inquire very, very careful about what Gynecological issues are covered and what are not.

Nothing is more sexist than health insurance.

They may have changed the terminology by now, but they still try to punish women for having sex organs.

[Broadslidin]

7. In determining coverage, What is her Total Financial Asset Net Worth, PLus.....

Has your daughter submitted recently to
a credible, well documented exhaustive physical examination
enabling her to prove without any question,
in all future judicial litigation actions,
that she is not nor never has harbored knowledge
of a pre-existing physical defect(s)
and/or present or past disease(s)
or any history of a family member(s) having a medical defect(s)?

[rox63]

8. Could she possibly qualify for your state's Medicad program?

If she's just out of college and looking for a job, she might.

[Vinca]

9. Go to your state's insurance commission web site and get a list

of providers and do some research. Plan B, find a trustworthy insurance agent to help her find something. Good luck.

[soothsayer]

10. ehealthinsurance.com will get her some good bc/bs plans