Insurance Question?

[Irulan]

What you refer to as "gold plated" is really pretty minimal compared to what everyone had 30-40 years ago. It's pretty minimal compared to what a lot of people had 10 years ago.

And it may be the only thing that's available to someone who's coming over from COBRA or another policy. To be eligible for open enrollment, you have to have been uninsured for a certain period of time. Not everyone wants to take that risk.

well, I don't know about that. I looked at some self insure plans that had a premium for one person between $800-1200 a month, that had a $100 deductible, $1000 out of pocket maximum, $10 copay, full prescription coverage. In my book, that's pretty gold plated IMO, and if you can afford that, great.

I've never had a plan ( even prior to self employment) that didn't have some sort extensive PPO list to go off of, so I don't consider that a deal breaker. My primary care guy is contracted with every plan in the region. I've also never had a plan that didn't have a maximum of out of pocket expenses. Even my son's gold plated plan has a $1200 maximum out of pocket.

We have been self insuring (self employed) for years now that having to deal with COBRA is way in the dark dark past.

It's important to have something, even if it's just a catastrophic plan. I have an acquaintance who chose to not insure and then had to mortgage her house after a road bike crash. That would be great if you were taking that money you might have spent on a premium and put it aside, but even if you did do that, it's not going to cover the huge expenses that can occur in a serious situation.

well whatever. Shop around, talk to qualified broker, don't go with fly by night stuff advertised on the web/tv and educate yourself.