Health Insurance Consumer Information

Insurance for the self-employed and others on the individual market can be expensive and difficult to obtain, as reported by Julia Appleby of USA Today.

Unlike group plans offered by employers — which provide coverage to everyone, no matter how sick — there is no guarantee in most states that individuals can get insurance. Even if they can, their policies may not cover existing medical conditions such as hay fever, depression or pregnancy.

The article cites a 2001 study from the Kaiser Family Foundation, authored by Karen Pollitz of Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute.

In a 2001 study by Karen Pollitz of the Georgetown Health Policy Institute, researchers submitted applications to 19 insurers on behalf of seven fictitious applicants, who had medical conditions ranging from HIV to allergies. Of 420 applications, 37% were rejected.

“What we have shown is there are carriers who will turn you down if you have hay fever,” Pollitz says.

Read the USA Today story: Individual health policies leave many behind

The Kaiser Family Foundation’s report, How Accessible is Individual Health Insurance for consumers in less-than-perfect health? is available as a free download from the KFF website. You can read the four page executive summary, or the 62 page full report.

It turns out that 7 percent of Americans would, and that they might be making the right choice.

Freelancer Michelle Goodman has written for ABC News about her own adventures in obtaining health insurance, and the sad news for her and others is that as an independent contractor, the price of buying an individual policy comes to thousands of dollars per year. As a result, some couples are rushing to the altar so that the one with employee benefits can bring the other onto their policy.

Even sadder are the stories of those who get divorced, or choose not to get married, so that a child or a sick individual will be able to qualify for a low-cost health care policy available on a low-income basis.

Goodman’s story offers several resource links for those who decide not to let their health insurance status determine their love lives, though she acknowledges that the choices are few and usually quite expensive.

Read the stories of the dental-care elopement; the 21st-century married “friends with benefits,” as in health benefits; and the Medicare divorcee, on the ABC News website: Getting Married for Better Health Coverage and Other Tales from the Insurance Mess.

Debt-Free on $32,000 a year? Why, yes!
… But there’s a catch: it’s only if you’ve got employer sponsored health insurance.

Have you been clipping coupons, cutting up credit cards, resetting the thermostat? All are great ways to save money.  And, as Parade magazine reports this week, one of the single most-effective ways to eliminate debt and take control of your financial life, is to get a job that has a generous employer-sponsored health plan.

Reporter Lynn Schnurnberger follows two families who are so frugal they let their lawns go brown, cut each others’ hair, and don’t own cell phones.  Jim Schenke, his wife Shauna and their two daughters are even living on an income of $32,000 per year, in large part because:

Jim picked his job at a university because it pays 90% of his family’s health insurance.

But not everybody, unfortunately, has this option. If you’ve been downsized, or gotten a divorce, or recently graduated, you probably can’t rely on an employer’s health insurance package right now.

So, what should you do? Where to turn entirely depends on where you live, as each state offers different protections for health insurance consumers going it alone or working for a small employer.

On this website, you’ll find valuable, clear information to help you get or keep health insurance, even though you won’t be saving money like the Schenkes can.

From the healthinsuranceinfo.net front page, choose your state from our map, and you’ll be taken to the FREE online Guide to Getting and Keeping Health Insurance where you live.

We’ve also got a great, FREE series on Managing Medical Bills which you can download here. The guides cover:

1. Private Health Insurance
2. Medicare and Medicaid
3. Medical Debt