Self-employed.. Hate individual Health insurance..any alternatives?

Question

Just got off the phone with our health insurance company who charges our family $400/month (4 of us). They basically cover nothing, and have raised our co-pay for Dr. visit. They said after my $3000 deductible, they cover 100%. BUT the $335 that I have to pay for 1 Dr. visit will not have a penny go toward my deductible, so I would never reach that anyway. Is there any way to get better benefits for about the same amount? I have Unicare. I hardly ever go to the Dr. and only my kids go for check-ups. Help If you can! Maybe through state farm?

Answer 1

State Farm sells car and house insurance.  State Farm sells ONE other company's health plan for 'convenience' to their clients, but a broker can show you that same company and a half dozen others.  So, call SF for car and house insurance, but nothing else.

Unicare is a good company and very popular in Texas.  Unicare would be BlueCross if BlueCross wasn't already represented in Texas (their parent company is BlueCross in a handful of other states....VA, CA, CO, NV, etc...)

I'm not sure why your doctor visit wouldn't go towards your deductible AND I'm not sure why you didn't get a network discount for the visit unless you're not using network doctors.  It sounds as if you're either using your plan incorrectly OR you bought the wrong plan.  A good broker could help you avoid the mistake of picking the wrong plan or using a plan incorrectly.  There's not enough info to determine which you are doing.

In short it's not the company, but it could be the plan.  Another option in Texas is either United Healthcare or Aetna.

You can get quotes for all three from my site and it requires no personal information (other than dates of birth) to get the quotes.  And keep in mind that using a good broker is invaluable.  You pay NOTHING for their service but they can help you avoid the problem you're having now - whether it's using the right plan wrongly or picking the wrong plan with the right company.  All companies carry lower tier "saver" or stripped down versions of their plans.  If you choose one to save on monthly premium you can't expect them work as good as the more expensive plans when you make a claim.

Oh, and $400/month for a whole family is good....so that's not the issue.

http://www.InsurancePickle.com  

Answer 2

You might look into opening a Health Savings Account - basically what happens is you get a high deductible health insurance plan with catastrophic coverage.  Instead of the $400, you would pay maybe $200 and put the remaining $200 into the HSA...that would give you $2400 a year ($200 x 12) to spend on health care.  Since you rarely go to the doctor and the kids only go for checkups, that should cover you.  Anything left over is rolled over into the next year and you continue to make the same payments.  You can build up an unlimited amount in the account.

BTW, you might talk to your doctor and see if he/she will give you a discount for paying cash.  Doctors hate the paperwork of insurance and many give discounts if you pay by check or cash and they don't have to do any paperwork (some HSAs offer what is essentially a debit card and makes it easy for you and the doctor).

Answer 3

Where do you live?

Best to talk with an agent doing business in your state.  Paying approx $100 per person is a reasoanble amount to to expect - a little more for the parents and a little less for the children.  The rub is to make sure you are getting good benefits for the price.

We offer a site where you can quote many health insurance plans side by side:

http://www.ohioinsureplan.com/index.php/...

Answer 4

based upon your situation,I think you should find something useful here.http://health-insurance.expert-tip.info/...

Answer 5

there are some health insurance companies that are offering group health insurance plans. I know one ( http://www.rghins.com/ ) here in CA that offers good policies.  

Answer 6

State Farm does have some health plans.

But do you have employees?   If you do you can join a group plan even if you have only one employee and that employee can turn down the coverage, but they still count as a group.  

You can also try a PPO or Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Kaiser and a few others.  

Answer 7

UniCare is a pretty solid company in Texas but of course they are not right for everyone.

It sounds like you want a plan with a copay for Doctor's visits (w/ a copay for Doctor's visits when you go to the Dr you usually just pay a set amount of $25 or $30 and then that is it - the insurance company pays the rest).

Of course, everything else being equal a plan with a copay will cost more than a plan without a copay so be sure and shop around. Here is some more information on self employed health insurance and then specifically on Texas health insurance: