getting independent health insurance?

jsteine1 · Aug 29, 2005

Does anyone know of any good health insurance companies out there that cover a lot of states?
I would have to cover myself, husband, and 2 children.
Is it any cheaper to go this route, and not fool with what the company you work for offers? I just worry in between assignments that i will have to pay cobra price (through the roof!). Plus, If i want to take more than a month off in between assignments, i hear that the companies drop your insurance. I cant afford to not have anything- I don't live that dangerously
Taking a couple months off a year kinda sounds good already....
Any suggestions, companies, or rates for family coverage you can share???
Thanks a bunch! :wink2:

I'm with you on COBRA. The family rate is outrageous and when you are in the worst possible position to pay for it!

Blue Cross has a product for individuals and families. I do not know the rates, but it sounds like you do travel nursing and need a carrier with national coverage. Try their website for detailed information.

SarasotaRN2b · Aug 29, 2005

great suggestion! i was just about to do the same. if you are with a travel company, check what they have...if they have some good insurance program, it will be less even if it is just saving pretaxed dollars...could be a 10% or so savings. unfortunately, insurance has gotten way out of control...best of luck!

i'm with you on cobra. the family rate is outrageous and when you are in the worst possible position to pay for it!
blue cross has a product for individuals and families. i do not know the rates, but it sounds like you do travel nursing and need a carrier with national coverage. try their website for detailed information.

jsteine1 · Aug 29, 2005

great suggestion! i was just about to do the same. if you are with a travel company, check what they have...if they have some good insurance program, it will be less even if it is just saving pretaxed dollars...could be a 10% or so savings. unfortunately, insurance has gotten way out of control...best of luck!

the deal with maintaining insurance with almost any employer, travel or local institution, is that you have to maintain an average of 32 hours worked per week, usually measured quarterly. so i think the concern was that her hours worked stats would be wrecked inbetween assignments. lets use the fourth calendar quarter of 2005 as an example. october '05 has 20 working days, november 05 has 22 working days, december has 22 working days, all asuming you work 40 hours per week. this means that october is a 4 week month, nov and dec are 4.4 week months. total 12.8 weeks in that quarter or 512 working hours. she would have to be actively working 409 of those 512 hrs to maintain insurance eligiblity. if her assignment ended before the end of the measurement quarter, and lets say she couldnt renew and there wasnt another assignment to begin immediately, the timing of it all could cause her to lose coverage. personally, juggling that, considering that each quarter has different numbers of working days, this would make me crazy!

also, it sure wouldnt be condusive for her to take any family time inbetween assignments.

RN2travel · Aug 31, 2005

Does anyone know of any good health insurance companies out there that cover a lot of states?
I would have to cover myself, husband, and 2 children.
Is it any cheaper to go this route, and not fool with what the company you work for offers? I just worry in between assignments that i will have to pay cobra price (through the roof!). Plus, If i want to take more than a month off in between assignments, i hear that the companies drop your insurance. I cant afford to not have anything- I don't live that dangerously
Taking a couple months off a year kinda sounds good already....
Any suggestions, companies, or rates for family coverage you can share???
Thanks a bunch! :wink2:

I got tired of the insurance the companys were offering and covering my spouse was very expensive (500-600 a month). Some of the insurance was not accepted in states I traveled to! I bought my own coverage with BCBS, it is on the expensive side but at least its accepted everywhere! I did learn though that you have to be careful picking your provider. Sometimes finding a prefeered provider is not easy and you pay more!

lcavacini · Sep 1, 2005

Go to ehealthinsurance.com and they have some good quotes. and reasonable.

eddy · Sep 12, 2005

Just thought I would throw this out there. COBRA is generally the EXACT amount that the policy actually costs, though I believe a few states allow some small "processing fees" to be tacked on. In other words, when you pay COBRA you are paying the full amount that is normally shared between employer and employee. You often get a really good idea how much your employer was paying for you when you get your COBRA info. If you get sticker shock.... well... that typically means that your employer was paying a very generous portion of your premium.

Insurance costs are unreal right now. They are only going to get worse. Any way you slice it, you "pay" for it one way or another anyway.

Monica RN,BSN · Sep 12, 2005

Go to ehealthinsurance.com and they have some good quotes. and reasonable.

YES that is exactly what I was going to post. They have several plans with very good prices. You can choose the type of copverage and deductible as well. Most are written by Humana but there are several other plans available.

Take care.

directcare4me · Sep 12, 2005

Golden Rule is another possibility. They have a web site. They've been good for us.

jsteine1 · Sep 12, 2005

Just thought I would throw this out there. COBRA is generally the EXACT amount that the policy actually costs, though I believe a few states allow some small "processing fees" to be tacked on.Insurance costs are unreal right now. They are only going to get worse. Any way you slice it, you "pay" for it one way or another anyway.

COBRA is actually higher because of the administration fees paid to the cobra administrator and it is also higher as you do not entirely benefit from the group discounts associated with being an employee of a good size company.

I would also check the timing requirements when talking about using COBRA between travel assignments. There is some minimum employment requirement in terms of time, check it out first. It may exceed the typical terms of a travel assignment.

Littlewonder · Oct 25, 2005

I am in the exact same situation right now and I found an interesting key phrase to put into google "short term health insurance." It brings up much less expensive insurances for those between major insurance coverage (like, between jobs, just leaving home, etc.) But, it will cover for up to a year and seems to be much more reasonably priced. Check it out.

eddy · Nov 3, 2005

COBRA is actually higher because of the administration fees paid to the cobra administrator and it is also higher as you do not entirely benefit from the group discounts associated with being an employee of a good size company.
I would also check the timing requirements when talking about using COBRA between travel assignments. There is some minimum employment requirement in terms of time, check it out first. It may exceed the typical terms of a travel assignment.

Actually COBRA is often administered by the company itself. In it's most simple fashion the company continues to pay your premiums and you reimburse the company for the exact amount. COBRA periods and limitations are written into the policy.