Health insurance for a college-student married couple?

My wife and I are both in college.

We can both get jobs, of course, but these jobs may not necessarily offer health insurance.

Are there any feasible options outside of 400-dollar a month plans? We're in NY state, and I haven't found anything outside of plans which don't support students.

Any secrets I might not be aware of? Outside of the bull**** bill they're pushing around in the Senate bathroom?

Your school(s) may have plans available.  Blue cross/shield and other companies often have some basic insurance plans that will cover catastrophic events that are much cheaper.

hi!

i recently switched from working for a large corporation [full health insurance benefits] to a small privately owned business with not many employees [no health insurance offered].

i purchased an individual PPO through a website. i don't know if i am allowed to post websites on here, so i will send you a message with the link.

i have basically the same coverage as i did at XYZ Corp. and can see my same doctors as before. my premium is ~120/month. you can select from different choices with higher or lower premiums based on the benefits you want.

with this type of insurance, the risk is that you could get dropped at any time or they can reject your application if you have preexisting conditions, etc. also, no maternity coverage (but i think you can add it on if you pay extra). it was easy for me to get because i am a young (mid 20s) healthy person.

hope this helps. :)

What do you want the insurance for?

If you're young, healthy, and mostly concerned about major catastrophes, then IMHO your best option right now is a catastrophic coverage plan (defined as high deductible, usually $5000 or more) combined with a medical savings account.  The MSA is like an IRA; it accepts tax-deferred contributions, and you cannot withdraw them until retirement.  The exception is that you can withdraw them anytime to pay for medical expenses.

There is no reason to pay for a comprehensive insurance plan if you don't have comprehensive health problems.

Thanks for your replies. I think I underestimated my school's resources for this, but..

The benefits and costs of the GHI/CUNY Student Health Insurance Program were designed with the student's budget in mind. The quarterly premiums (every 3 months) for this program are listed below.

Single $665.10 Family $1,895.58  

Okay, so there goes the college option. lol@the preface.

And thank you for the link, ilovedietcoke. The price there is fairly reasonable, whereas GHI comes to 631 a month, the plan for the PPO was 350.. And yet, only covers for emergencies.

I guess we should have stayed in Germany? My wife has a few medical conditions that require check-ups, like her Hypothyroidism. Bloodwork comes to over 200 dollars, and the last specialist we went to charged 200 dollars for 15 minutes.

Maybe I'll go to my college's wellness office, and ask more about options there, though. Thanks for the advice.

Also check out local health clinics and find out whether you qualify for a medical coupon under your state's Medicaid program.

Are you in poor health?  Why would you want health insurance at your age?

Original Post by harrislittle:

Are you in poor health?  Why would you want health insurance at your age?

 

You've got to be kidding me. This is your first post? This line of thinking is what prevents you from getting insurance, in the first place - justifications and rationalizations for why you yourself don't have it. Guess what? In nearly any industrialized country in the world - people don't need to make that justification for themselves. It might make you feel better about yourself and others being uninsured, but it doesn't improve the abysmal state of health for anyone less than rich in the US.

My mother, insured, can't afford the medicine that prevents her cancer from recurring. Also, her finances have been destroyed by copays.

Okay - so why do I need insurance? Because I'm not in poor mental intelligence. Here's a newsflash: young people that don't go to the doctor when they need to/go for regular check-ups become adults that die early. The claim that only 'old, sick' people need full insurance is absolutely **** and ridiculous.

In any case, I am looking at clinics in my area which cater to the poorest of the poor in south Mount Vernon. It's an interesting and enlightening experience to be in the same position as people who can barely afford food and rent.

I assure you I'm not kidding you.  And you, like many people, confuse health insurance with health-care.  It is a simple question of dollars, I can tell you have never considered the fact that maybe it would be cheaper for you to simply pay for regular doctor visits as you need them as opposed to buying health insurance.  If you are young and in good health you may not need health insurance.  Further, if you are hell bent on insurance then consider catastrophic care insurance instead.

• Office visit: 75 dollars
• Blood work (partial): 140 dollars
• Specialist office visit: 200 dollars
• Vaccination/Test: 60 dollars + 50 dollars
• Office visit from that: 100 dollars

• ER visit for unexpected complications for throat infection: 200 dollar copay, 200 dollars for the prescribed non-generic medication

That comes to 625 dollars without the ER visit, roughly, which we paid during the last three months of last year. You, like many people, misunderstand health costs and confuse real health insurance with useless catastrophic care insurance. With something as simple as a thyroid condition, you require quarterly blood work (full, which is more than 200 dollars), and non-generic synthroid (30 dollars a month). This also excludes gynecologist costs as well as yearly check-ups. Let's forget dental, or any other weird problem that might come up, such as a rash.

We're familiar with 'the simple question of dollars,' and poured hundreds of dollars into these costs, working part-time during college. I'm a student, entering a health profession. I guess my own health isn't important to anyone else.

You're partisan, I assume? Or just ass-backwards?

Original Post by harrislittle:

Are you in poor health?  Why would you want health insurance at your age?

 

Seriously? I'm 23 and if I didn't have health insurance, I would go bankrupt from dr bills. My husband has been in the ER several times (he has a condition in which his jaw dislocates, usually in the middle of the night, and requires an ER visit each time), and I have lots of issues as well. CT scans, physical therapy, spinal injections... Neither one of us had ever really had medical problems before we got health insurance. You NEVER know what is going to happen. We reached our deductable within 2 months of having health insurance.

Given that there's a pre-existing condition, I don't see why an insurance company would cover that.  Insurance is essentially a gamble.  They're betting that they'll make more money off of you in the long run then they'll have to pay out.  With a pre-existing condition there's a minimum amount that they/you are going to have to cover no matter what.  You're betting that you'll mitigate what you do have to pay so that you won't have to pay as much overall.  It can be a mutually beneficial situation (although it rarely is) when you end up with a reduced rate resulting in savings to you and they end up being paid more than they pay out to the providers.

At best, I think you might be able to get the insurance negotiated rates.  Alternatively you might be able to negotiate in advance with doctors and labs to get the same rate as the insurance companies, especially since you already know what tests and consultations you expect to need.

Until there is a nationwide health care plan in place you can't expect others to help subsidize your healthcare.  With group plans, the insurance companies make money on the average individual so group plans are frequently less expensive when more of the group members are healthy individuals.

Original Post by harrislittle:

I assure you I'm not kidding you.  And you, like many people, confuse health insurance with health-care.  It is a simple question of dollars, I can tell you have never considered the fact that maybe it would be cheaper for you to simply pay for regular doctor visits as you need them as opposed to buying health insurance.  If you are young and in good health you may not need health insurance.  Further, if you are hell bent on insurance then consider catastrophic care insurance instead.

 

 Riiiight.... because it's not smart to have health insurance when you're young and "invincible!". Here's a list of health issues my SO and I have had in the last three years...we're both 26, we both exercise and eat healthy. We don't smoke, we drink occasionally, never to excess.

Me:
- reproductive cancer
- ovarian cyst (8cm - burst)
- wisdom teeth taken out
- 2 ear infections
- bronchitis (because people don't stay home when they are sick so they don't lose their jobs) that was so severe, I had to be put on steriods before my lungs would be strong enough to heal
- sinus infections
- endocrine disorder (that I'm dealing with now)

SO:
- threw his back out (this was at work, so they paid for it)
- four teeth knocked out (playing sports)
- hernia (surgery this past Friday to repair it)

In the last year, I have paid $1700 out of pocket, after insurance, after my $500 HSA. On top of my premiums. But it doesn't even compare to the amount I would have had to pay if I didn't have insurance (basically, that's 20% of my medical bills because I put my HSA towards my $500 deductible).

You're right, though. Young people are invincible! *sprays fairy dust everywhere*

We don't need annual check ups, we don't need preventative health care.