Does anyone speak insurance?

[smurfalicious]

So, I'm trying desperately to exhaust my FSA funds before the end of the month, and I'm trying not to look at the "outside premiums" fund because it will kill me with guilt. My employer is pretty small, so they give us something in the neighborhood of $200 a month to distribute into our FSA or premiums accounts as we see fit. I need to get my happy butt some insurance, but it's soooo overwhelming.

One of my coworkers got some plan through Blue Cross aimed at youngins called Tonik but uh, I don't need cute marketing, I need coverage. For $100 a month you get a whole 4 office visits a year. Hmmm, last time I did an office visit and paid cash it was maybe $60-75, so $100 a month x 12 = $1200 - 4 office visits at $75 = $900 + 4 copays = $980. Not seeing where this is a benefit unless I end up in a major train wreck.

So, before the changes to my allotments happen, I need to figure out this insurance thing. I've always just had insurance through my employer. T-Mobile's insurance was off the charts awesome! I've tried to do it on my own, and I want to cry. My weight disqualifies me for a few which boggles my mind. Yeah I've got a little chub, but last summer I dropped weight for a few weeks, and then started to maintain or drop just a little while fitting into smaller clothes. I currently have pants I bought last summer that fit in the waist and hips, but are tight in the thighs and there ain't much fluff on my thighs. Yay bikes!

What I need, is to visit the doctor on occasion. My annual exam has really been the only thing I go to the doc for in recent years. I think I might have asthma, and I'd like to check on that. I should probably get an eye exam, and I'd like maybe a dinky little dental plan that I can tack on. I don't want to spend $40 every time I go see my doc.

I don't want falling off my bike and breaking my arm to cost so much I have to sell my bike. That's where I get scared. The whole "deductible" thing. It makes it sound like they won't do crap for you until you've spent $3k yourself. I'm so lost.

None of the plans I've found cover my IUD, which royally sucks because I'm due for a new one in less than a year, and that's like $500. Just wish I could have found a doctor when I had good insurance that would have done a uterine ablation for me. Boggles the mind that I'm not old enough to decide I don't want kids, but I'm old enough to have them. Oh well, at least my awesome doc gave me an IUD without having had kids. w00t to that!

Right now I'm tempted to put the whole chunk of money into the FSA and deal with it as it comes. I know this isn't the greatest idea, but it has a certain appeal. So if any of you are experts in this, and can help me find a plan that would be awesome. Not sure how to go about it, but maybe we could IM and shop together?

[Mr. Bloom]

... I need to figure out this insurance thing.

There's NO figuring out the insurance thing... It's a mess, with a language all its own.

If it wasn't for the risk of catastrophic illness or injury, I believe that it would be cheaper for us to pay out of pocket and not carry insurance. I think this is the principle behind HSA's- Healthcare Spending Accounts.

Don't do the math as you did and figure the cost/office visit...the reason you have insurance is in case you DO get in the train wreck...

I recommend you go for as high a deductible as you can afford, save the difference in premium in an HSA for a really sick day...

[sfa]

An HSA makes a lot of sense for someone young and generally healthy. You spend a small amount each month for an insurance plan with a high deductible that covers catastrophic care, then a bit more each month goes into a savings account and you draw from that account for routine care. You'll still spend $40 every time you go to your doctor (really? Just $40? Our doctors pretty much start at $100 a visit. Or are you talking about a co-pay? With the HSA you'll pay the full price of the visit from your account, not a smaller co-pay for visits, because the insurance plan you're paying for doesn't cover these things). With the HSA, you don't have to "use it or lose it" each year. The money in the account is your own and any unused amount rolls over to the next year.

The only thing I'd worry about is the possible asthma. HSA's are great, as I said, for the young and generally healthy. But they suck for people with chronic conditions that need regular care. If your asthma is mild (as it sounds like it is), it's probably not an issue, but it's something to think about.

[Grog]

Forgive the thread hijack here, but when I read this thread first I let off a big sigh of relief for being in Canada.