<p>We also would step in and not let our kids go without health insurance. A friend’s uninsured 23yo S needed a weekend ER visit for possible appendicitis. He was released less than 3 hours later (appy ruled out); cost of visit…$6000!</p>
<p>If you live in a state with reasonable regulations, buy an individual policy with a high deductible. As an earlier poster mentioned, eHealthInsurance.com is a good place to start. Individual companies like Humana also have websites that quote their plans. Agents can be very helpful in sorting out problems if you have a large claim or just routine questions. The National Association of Health Underwriters website has a utility that lists agents by geographic area.</p>
<p>Look for plans that are HSA qualified and cannot be canceled except for fraud or non-payment after a specified period of time (usually 2 years). Check for out of pocket limits both for in-network and out-of-network care. Avoid policies that have no out-of-pocket limits. Unlimited coinsurance can bankrupt you in the event of a really bad health condition that needs advanced care. Check to make sure that some emergency transport is covered and that the network will continue to cover your child if he moves around. Make sure that it includes regional treatment centers for bad stuff like cancer. Some US insurers are now offering networks that cover some cities in Europe.</p>
<p>Lifetime limits should be $3 million or more–your child might need that policy for a long time if he is paralyzed in an auto accident. (This is one of the major problems with school policies–some of them have such low annual limits that you could burn through them before you are out of the ER.)</p>
<p>High deductible plans are less expensive than those with first dollar coverage. Save the money from the lower premiums and stick it in the health savings account. After a couple of years with average expenses there should be enough stashed to cover the deductible. </p>
<p>For routine care find a practice that gives a discount for cash. If you ask, most will. For low income students it makes a lot of sense to save the money in the health savings account and use cash for routine care. Keep in mind that federally qualified health clinics are all over the place and offer heavily subsidized routine care.</p>
<p>Finally, everyone is insurable, though it may be expensive. Federal law requires that states have either an insurer of last resort or a high risk plan that accepts people who have been turned down for individual coverage or have a health condition that makes them uninsurable. These are easy to find on the web or you can call the state department of insurance. Most of these plans have waiting periods if you have been uninsured for more than 2 or 3 months (I don’t recall exactly) in order to discourage people from waiting until they become ill to purchase third party coverage. It doesn’t matter whether the prior coverage was group or individual. Apart from protecting your assets, this is one reason why is important to keep continuity in coverage and to arrange insurance before an existing plan lapses.</p>
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<p>Be careful. I read about a woman within the last year who did this. She ended up being diagnosed with breast cancer during the 6 months. They refused to renew her policy (it was stated in the terms that it was at the insurance company’s discretion) so they only paid for treatments during the 6 month period. Now she can’t get insurance, literally, to save her life, due to the breast cancer diagnosis.</p>
<p>Wonderfully informative thread. I know I caused my parent’s comprehensive health insurance to hit the ‘catastrophic’ point this last year… yikes! Thank goodness they are keeping me insured.</p>