Not everyone can get health insurance. That will change in 2014, but what can you do until then?
If your health history is preventing you from getting a major medical insurance policy, there are a few things you can do. These options are not ideal — they won’t provide catastrophic protection (a ceiling on your potential expenses), but they can provide a pretty decent little hedge of protection and help for you.
Let’s look at a few options here, in order from most to least expensive:
- Limited Benefit Plan. A limited benefit health plan pays according to a schedule of benefits. So it pays $x for a doctor visit, $y for an outpatient procedure, etc. Cost could range from $100-500 or so depending on how high the benefit levels are.
You can quote and enroll here (look at “Flex Health Pro” plans).
- Accident plan. An accident plan (often called “supplemental accident coverage”) pays a lump sum up to a pre-determined maximum per incident to reimburse you if you’re injured due to any kind of accident (you fall down the stairs, hurt your knee playing tennis, whatever). The cost varies – a $5,000 benefit costs around $40 or 45 for an individual or a family.
You can learn more and enroll here.
- Virtual Care. Telemedicine is an increasingly popular service that can help you save hundreds (or even thousands) on medical costs. Among the benefits Virtual Care offers is access to doctors via a phone call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Doctors can diagnose and call in prescriptions for a lot of basic conditions, saving you the expense of a visit. Cost is $9.99 per month for your whole family. (Seriously, for that price why not?)
You can check it out and become a member here.
Obviously some people will find that more than one of these is appropriate. For example, combining the accident coverage with the freshenies service could prove to be a pretty useful approach. After all, we’re essentially trying to simply get you through 2013 because in 2014 medical underwriting goes away and all health insurance plans will be available (then we’ll just have to talk about price…).
As always, you’re welcome to contact us with questions or for more info — just use the button to the right.