I'm trying to find some health insurance. I don't know why they make it so impossible to try and figure out plans and everything. Don't you think they can simplify? Anyway... anyone have any tips or suggestions for what works for them? My husband and I are self employed so we will not be going through a company. I'm looking for something affordable and, hopefully, something to cover maternity for the future.
Thanks!
Go see a broker. They can search a lot of companies for you. ANd they have to be trained and licencsed in life and health insurance so they can explain your options to you. Go in person if you can. You gain a much better understanding in person.
Also call Blue Cross Blue Shield. They have several cafeteria plans.
My husband and I are both self employed. If you want regular health insurance with maternity coverage be prepared to pay an arm and a leg. I have 3 children and we have a six figure income and can't afford it. So this is what we did. Buy just a catastrophic plan. This will cover you if something major happens. We have a 5000.00 deductible and the plan is under 300.00 per month for all of us. For everything else we pay out of pocket. If a kid gets sick we go to a family care clinic and pay 70.00. As far as maternity if you are healthy you don't need it. Hire a midwife and give birth at home. Safer and healthier for you and will only cost you around 3000.00. Or go to a birth center run by midwives. The midwife fee covers all prenatal care, the birth and postpartum care for you and the baby for six weeks.
I was in the exact place momof3 is a few years ago. Our plan sounds just like hers. Maternity coverage would have cost at least 900 a month. Heres what I did: Call all of your local hospitals and ask them the price to have a bay there if you don't have ins. They give you a very deep discount. Around here, it was between 1500-3000 for a three day stay. The earlier you pay for it in your pregnancy, the cheaper it is. Dr.s offices do the same for you. We were not charged a penny more than what we were originally quoted. For everything, hosp stay, Dr. visits, epidural, it was less than 5 grand. So much better than paying ridiculous ins premiums just so the delivery will be covered.
See if you can also get Aflac which is a supplemental insurance. Affordable and helpful to me here in New Jersey. They may have it in Florida as well it is definitely worth checking into.
Find a good insurance broker in your area.
In California, it only takes two people to form a "group" as far as insurance.
Since you are self employed, you should be able to get some pretty good insurance. The thing about group insurance is that you can't be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. Some plans offer maternity and some do not. If you are both employees of your company, your husband doesn't need maternity coverage. You do. You should be able to elect different plans. I'm not familiar with Florida insurance laws, but your best bet is to find a reputable broker, hopefully one with a financial planning background who can best advise you.
Best of luck!
Since you live in Florida you HAVE to go through a broker. I signed up for Aetna (no maternity there) and just did it online. They assigned a broker to me. If you want maternity be prepared to pay an arm and a leg. Seriously I spent a month doing this and I think the cheapest I found for me, my husband (both 30 non smokers) and my two year old with maternity was nearly 600 a month. Some companies (I think United health was one) don't even offer maternity to individual policy holders. We ended up with the Aetna Choice plans for the three of us it is 360.00 a month and it covers 24 visits a year, however the deductible is really high. I think 5,000. If you have any other questions email me personally I might be able to answer specifics. :)
