I am buying medical insurance. This is some sort of milestone. I had a nightmare last night about it and decided that I didn’t care how much it would cost. The downside of it is that I now have to find out who was the doctor that saw Kid 2 two years ago for swimmers ear.
We have a corporate lawyer, an accountant, a life insurance policy, and we’re likely to have medical insurance soon. We are old.
I am kind of slightly horrified by that so I’m going to go and kill a bunch of fictional people now.
My husband had a heart attack a year ago. The hospital bill alone was over 108,000 – not counting ambulance, physician and surgeon fees, pharmacy, etc – thousands more. I am fortunate – I have insurance through my job.
This is what evens out the cost of living between the UK and the US.
I still don’t have life cover – well if I die my hubby will get a chunk of money, but it isn’t enough to cover the mortgage so I figure I’m safe
My new years resolution though is to sort that out and get a will written.
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The guy carries ours, thank God. Although it was a LOT of fun when I decided to get my life insurance policy a couple of years ago. Shudder.
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I have never really equated aging with having health insurance. I have never had an accountant, but I have always had health insurance first through my parents then through my university then through work. You might not need it as much when you are younger but if you do it is more likely to be catastrophic, i.e. car accident, broken leg etc, so insurance can pay for itself in one hospital visit. One of the top causing of bankruptcy is large medical bills. I can’t imagine not having health insurance.
I suggest checking out http://einsurance.com – we bought my husband health insurance there a few years ago as grad students & it was affordable, easy to pick different options (ie – amount of deductible, etc) and offered coverage through several different well known companies. Good luck!
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god bless the N.H.S. without whom I could never get proper health care.
Pre existing medical condition + birth defect + private health insurance = no hope.
I hate those moments when you realise your getting older. The ideas of morgages and the coming of age of children all around you. etc is crazy. I wrote my own will last year. that was a scary, scary moment. it officially ended the youth. I reccommend vast amounts of tequilla rose to make you feel young again. lol thats what I did
Clare, the tequilla only works until it wears off…then you feel like you just crawled out of a grave.
I wonder if anyone has ever done a study of US vs UK health care that did not have a political ax of some stripe to grind. My UK friends are as all over the place about NHS as people in the US are about private insurance. I have always thought it seemed that preventative care is better in the UK and major illness/trauma is better in the US based on highly unscientific anecdotal evidence.
As the German saying goes: Precaution is better than drawback. (” Vorsicht ist besser als Nachsicht.”)
But I can understand why spending tons of money on something like that can frustrate one.
I thought Nachsicht translates as hindsight?
I have been extremely fortunate to have had some type of medical insurance coverage all of my life. I would not be financially able to provide my own insurance, if my job did not. Plus with all my medical issues, I don’t think I would be as healthy as I am right now.
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I just picture you at the computer wearing the ‘I’m feeling stabby’ t-shirt that The Bloggess made, while killing off the fictional people. I am sure I am 100% wrong, but my mind likes to make me laugh.
I have no life insurance, but have always been covered by health insurance. Thank goodness for that. Otherwise, getting the wisdom teeth out would of set me back a very large chunk of change…and just when the student loans were paid off too.
I invested in additional health insurance last year. So, Ilona, you’re not old. Because that would mean I’m old, too and I’m not ready for that yet
Health insurance doesn’t make you old! I had major medical even at 22, paycheck to paycheck, deciding between ramen noodles for dinner or clean laundry. I always carried the highest deductible policy I could when I was self-pay. I figured $5000 out of pocket in one year wouldn’t ruin me forever, but getting run over by a truck and spending a couple of months in the ICU without insurance would.
Now I feel old because I’m starting to worry about things like cancer or chronic auto-immune disorders, which seem more likely than getting run over by a truck at my current age.
Paying for insurance sucks until or unless you need it. Smart move.
I spent most of my 20′s without any health insurance. I remember the first time I got a job that provided me with both health insurance and vacation and sick pay…AND it was still in the entertainment industry. I thought I had hit the jackpot. Now that I am a couple decades past my 20′s health insurance is no longer optional…sigh. It’s a good thing and worth the headache and money. Good luck with it all…and have fun killing off fictional people, I’m sure they deserve it.
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I have had health insurance since I started working. It’s great for the odd emergencies or sports injuries. The peace of mind is worth the cost! And, health insurance isn’t for the old, it’s a good practice. In my opinion, everyone should have health insurance.
I’m so over insured. Yes, I’m paranoid. I just hope my beneficiaries never find out how much I’m worth to them dead.
I’m with so many that have said health insurance doesn’t make you old, it’s only smart. Considering my lifestyle with the horses, it’s always paid off.
Happy Patron Saint of Bee Keeping day. Have fun killing people *sob*
And don’t forget, when you are self-employed, the premiums can be tax deductible, making it a little less financially painful in the long run! Check with your accountant.
You’ve probably already researched, but http://www.terryburns.net/Health_Benefits.htm has a lot of good links for the self employed and writers getting group insurance.
Don’t kill off Kate! or Curran! or Julie! or….the list could go on.
I hate dealing with insurance. My condolences.
While I have a bunch of not so nice words to say about the state of our healthcare sytem in the US, I am thankful every day for very good insurance through my job. The hubby was sick all summer into the fall and the hospital bills were well over $500k. I paid my $1000 co-pay/deductible and not one penney more.
If not wanting to feel grown up is what it takes to get you to kill more peoples… hey, you go for it!!!
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It’s not that we are grown up it’s that the health insurance can help with stupidity. On Sunday I was machine quilting and put the needle through my finger. It is healing but have been told I need a tetanus shot. It doesn’t scare me because I have the health insurance and can just make the appointment to get the shot. . So maybe I just need the insurance because I am a klutz. But piece of mind is worth it.
Worth it. If you don’t love the premiums on regular old medical insurance (can be very high if you don’t have employer to negotiate favorable rates for you), can explore just getting the catastrophic coverage, which will protect you from medical bankruptcy (the crazy inpatient / ER scenarios that run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars).
I have health insurance, a small life insurance policy and a million dollar baby. The health insurance decided to boot me out of the hospital after 72 hours when I was six months pregnant and my cervix was dilating. My son was born the next day and he is still one expensive little guy with multiple disabilities. But we get to keep him despite desperate odds. Without the insurance, we would have been totally devastated and Sam would not be here raising hell.
You aren’t old, you are smart. Pay the tab and sleep better at night.
I know getting your own health insurance is expensive if it is not through an employer. I don’t envy you the task. I know that my employer was paying almost $1000.00 a month for just me and my 10 year old. My boss cut me to part time just to get rid of the expense. So wish me luck on finding a new full time job with benefits and I wish you luck on your search as well.
I agree it’s worth it. However, it’s also a pain! Before I quit my job, both my husband and I had health insurance that covered ourselves and each other. Same health insurer, two different group plans. Although I’m no longer employed, this insurer insists that I have coverage other than my husband’s! There are no words that I can print…..We are still trying to straighten this out three months later. There are no lols here.
Health insurance doesn’t make you old, it makes you smart.
Getting a call today that some clown was trying to spend $250 at a Walmart in Houston with my credit card number made me feel old. And weary. So many accounts to change… At least I can give Chase props for catching it with a single transaction.
ouch! That happened to me a couple months ago right before Black Friday! Grrr…. missed all the sales because I was filling out forms to get refunds and account numbers changed… (and the guys were in Texas as welll!)
I agree with the rest of the gang, health insurance is necessary in the US, regardless of your age. Well-care/prevention is not cheap and is for the young as well as the rest of the population. You never know when an illness or injury will happen, and most things don’t happen only to middle-aged or older folks.
Thank you to Rebecca for the mention of einsurance as a source, and to RKB (even though I am not a writer, some of the sites listed provide services for non-writers as well). My husband has not retired, but started Medicare when he turned 65 in the fall. He is a partner in a very small business. When he switched to Medicare, I got dropped from the health insurance. I’m only 60, so not on Medicare.Still not sure whether my being dropped was an unintentional consequence, or he wasn’t thinking about what would be involved in getting health insurance for me. I waited a couple of months, assuming he was researching coverage for me. He wasn’t. I realized I had to do it, but it seems overwhelming. I have been procrastinating, while scared to death I’d break bones while bicycling (to loose weight, bring blood pressure and cholesterol down, prevent Diabetes type II, and get into shape), or tripping over something, being in a car crash. I’m over due on a bunch of tests. I can’t believe I’ve been putting it off, especially considering how annoyed I was to find out that he’d screwed things up and hadn’t followed up. I actually started to look at AARP’s website, which has a link with some insurance provider(s?), but was saved by an interruption. I was thinking I might need to go to an insurance broker, since I can’t continue without insurance. Seeing the links here, and with the example being set by you, Ilona, I am now motivated. I think. LOL. Thank you all.
I’m in my 20s and can’t imagine not having health insurance. I think it is actually more important when you are young because you are unlikely to have savings to fall back on to pay the huge medical bills should something terrible happen.
Speaking as a guy whose wife has MS and who had the odark30 conversation with doctors that if they didn’t operate she would die and even if they did she would probably die (she didn’t thank God) medical insurance is a necessity. Same as life insurance on BOTH you and Gordon. A lot of people make the mistake of putting most of the life insurance chips on the primary breadwinner. A buddy of mine was insured to the hilt, which made sense as the guy was a SEAL. Not so much with his wife…who was killed by a drunk driver after dropping off their kids at a sleepover. Thanks to friends and an extended family, he was able to cope till the insurance settlement came in, but had the scumbag not been driving rich daddys BMW, he would have not only had to deal with the grief and loss for him and his kids he would have had a heck of a time making sure his kids were taken care of and had money for college as they lived on his pay and her part time earnings were all savings for college and retirement.
On a high note, since you and Gordon are professional writers, I know a lot of professional associations have group insurance plans. Might be worth a look.
I’m currently paying for my own coverage. Thanks to what are now 3 chronic conditions that could at anytime turn into active problems, but for now simply require monitoring, I must have coverage and it sure doesn’t come cheap. However, it is much better than being in a situation where I get a cancer diagnosis, am severely injured, or have one of my issues become acute and I have to pay all the costs myself. Considering the fact that your livelihood is also dependent on the other person being able to work, you should look into disability insurance to help out if one of you should be temporarily or permanently be unable to work due to illness or injury. As self-employed people this could be a challenge as you do not have a salary on which to base the payments. I was in the midst of applying for this insurance when my most acute condition was diagnosed and am now uneligible for coverage. Good luck finding a good rate!
I went back to work (half-time) after having baby #1 just so we could have health insurance. When we had baby #2, we quickly realized that paying over $700 a month (work paid half and I paid half) into the group insurance plan, combined with child care for two kids (2 and brand new) was actually costing us money out of pocket each month. We decided to (gulp) self insure with just catastrophic coverage and I quit work. We ended up saving $200 a month on this. Someday, when the kids are older, I’ll probably go back to work so we can have comprhensive insurance for the family again, but for now, we’re pretty much in the dark ages and just hoping no one gets hurt or ill.
I just had a rough month with dental surgery (partially covered still cost almost $800 with the joke they call dental insurance) and a bunch of medical tests. (Thank goodness I have ins. through work, though it will still run almost two grand). I am only 41 and the first question they asked before either sedation was if I had a will and a living will. All of the sudden I am feeling old like I need to start worrying about things that seemed very far off and now… well not so much. Especially since I realized my mother died at 47. Oy!
Good Luck with insurance shopping. You are not old – you are “bona fide”
Please make sure you have wills (guardians named for kids and trustee for assets ’till they are old enough). That was an item we almost missed when moving from one state to another. Then you can kill things AND blow stuff up. : )
yay being an adult!!! ok maybe not really, it kinda sucks, but I feel better knowing you’ll have insurance. Hopefully your accountant can come up with a fancy way to write it off for the business or something.
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Noooooo! Not the fictional characters.
Not trying to be a sale sperson, but United health group is very egnerous as far as pre existing conditions and medical history for minors. if you go with them, kids ear histroy wont matter
OK Lots of people have been diplomatic. Because you can’t prevent me from buying your next book, I’m going to be honest… You’re not OLD, you’re Middle-Aged. It happened to me, too. (All right, maybe just Gordon is middle-aged. Ilona is still a young whipper-snapper. Still, it’s coming for her, too.)
We have been lucky. Hubby has a good job with excellent insurance. Still, I tend to vote as if that wasn’t true, because think it’s not fair to not be able to help yourself or your child. I wish the best to you. Good luck with insurance!
I love you guys!
I had a thought last night on my way home. I wondered if you could join with other authors and publishing professionals in some sort of organizational or incorporated capacity so you could take advantage of better pricing for health insurance and other benefits. Just a thought….
That’s a big difference with Europe, I guess. Here, nobody is uncovered. I can’t really conceive life otherwise, but going to the doctor without caring what it will cost (no matter is it is a cold or a lung transplant)… well. Less stressful.
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Something that sounded suspiciously responsible and eerily like my mother emerged from my mouth yesterday. I stopped and became utterly alarmed. I now know that growing up blows and owning a house is a lesson in “This sucks!” I told my father so, he laughed. Evil man…
I really thought growing up sucked…..then I a couple of things: 1.) my kids will always and forever think of me as old (yeah, totally the best part of being a parent) 2.) though I have more responsibilities I can also afford better toys:)
Health insurance is definitely a good investment when you have children
It doesn’t make you old. It makes you smart. During an uninsured patch my *then* husband got smacked by a car while riding his motorcycle. $178,000+ later & he still wasn’t right.
Most of the jobs that I have worked since 1979 have provided medical insurance. Now that I am in my 50′s I am so, soooo glad that I have good health insurance. I’m in reasonably good health but you never know…That’s what insurance is for
*getting up on her soapbox* (now really, has anyone really stood on a soapbox in recent memory? But I digress)
I work for a state agency, yes, the dreaded public trough. We have decent health insurance. Not cadillac, but decent. I’ve had folks get in my face (MY face!) and tell me how state employees are getting such a sweet ride and we don’t deserve it, we should have crappy health insurance like so many private employers are giving their staff.
I gotta tell you, this is full bullshit. EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE HEALTH CARE. No one should have to hold a bake sale because their kid is dying from leukemia. No one should get dropped from coverage because the kid’s cancer treatment is inconvenient for some middle manager at some mega insurance corporation and their balance sheet. It’s just plain unconscionable. Bring everyone up to a reasonable level (even and especially the self-employed), don’t tear down the ones who can still benefit from a health care insurance that doesn’t bankrupt even the careful ones who plan to cover themselves.
*dismounts the soapbox, the judges give her a 9.9! the crowd goes wild!* I feel so much better.
In Aus once we hit 30 we get taxed if we don’t have health cover and the longer we put it of the more it costs. On that note i have only used my health cover for the dentist in the last 2 years and each time it would have just been cheaper to pay then pay every month for health insurance. I’m thinking of cancelling mine then only getting it again when I am 30 as I only have the basic level of cover which our hospitals cdover anyway.