Teenager With a Big Health Insurance Question ... Posted: 07-19-07 15:14pm
I was talking with my mom today about the
financial aid for my upcoming year in
college, and one of the reasons she
claimed that she couldn't afford any
parent loans was because she has been
paying nearly $30,000 a year (almost 2500
a month) on our health insurance.
Apparently we are covered by Assurant
health and having been paying well over
$20,000 a year for our health insurance
for over a decade.
My family had no real chronic diseases,
and my father recently died of alcohol
abuse but I do not think it had any
influence on the cost of our insurance (he
only started receiving care in the past
2.5 years).
So I'm baffled as to why a family of 3, my
mom, myself (college student), and my
3-years younger brother would ever need to
spend $30,000 a year on health insurance.
I keep suggesting that we change, but my
mom says that she is afraid that she will
be given a physical and they will find
something wrong with her and our insurance
costs will skyrocket.
Like I said, my brother and I are as fit
as can be, no tobacco use in the family,
and while my mom has been avoiding
doctors, she seems to be in good health
(56 years old) but keeps worrying that any
physical that would discover a condition
like high blood pressure would cost her
too much. So she won't even consider
switching plans.
I recently went to the
eHealthinsurance.com page and got quotes
for our family, and none of them even came
close to the $2500 monthly marks, even
Assurant Health had a $350 monthly quote
with a plan that seemed quite similar to
our current one.
So I'm just wondering, are we paying a
ludicrous amount of money for our health
insurance? Should we be switcing? And are
my mother's fear of doctors and physicals
warranted?
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Fairy Godmother
Supporter
Joined: 11 Oct 2003 Posts: 1486 Location: , Georgia USA
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Hi Posted: 07-19-07 15:20pm
This does sound like an awfully large
amount of money.Hard earned money you
,your mother and brother could be using
somewhere else. I would keep looking on
the internet to compare prices. Check out
Blue Cross & Blue Shield, I am sure
there are other companies. Mom need to
break down and go get a physical while she
is on insurance she has now....it is
alwasy better to find out somehting when
its just beginning than to wait, find out
and then pay out hte yeng yang to repair
hte damage....Kinda like a cavity. Make
sense? I'd keep looking and compare
prices! Good luck Sweetie. You are good
daughter!
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monkeygirl22
Moderator
Joined: 20 Nov 2006 Posts: 2399 Location: ,
Thanks: 9
Thanked:1
Posted: 07-19-07 15:35pm
Okay, first where are you from exactly? No
one's health insurance should cost that
much. If you pay that much then you should
just drop it and pay everything out of
pocket. Most people don't have $30000
worth of medical bills in one year.
I'm not trying to be mean, but maybe your
mom doesn't want to sign her name to a
parent loan for your schooling. My parents
didn't want to but that was okay with me.
There are ways to get your own loans where
you don't have to involve your parents.
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ForcefulCJS
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 19 Jul 2007 Posts: 2
Posted: 07-19-07 16:42pm
Well I know that she doesn't want to sign
on for the parent loan, but her main
reason was the she couldn't afford to
because of health insurance costs that
were breaking us down.
When she told me how much it was costing
us per year I was appalled, but when I
suggested that we change she got defensive
saying that if they discovered anything
wrong with her we would have to pay even
more than we are now... and we would be
denied to another other health insurance
if we ever tried to switch.
Basically she thinks if we try to switch
then they will find something wrong with
her, even if it's minor issue, and our
premium will skyrocket and we will be
denied from any other insurance that we
would apply to.
I'm trying to convince her to change, and
I think it's the right thing to do, but I
need some more support and evidence before
I can persuade her.
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Birch
Moderator
Joined: 07 Nov 2005 Posts: 4037 Location: Bliss,
Thanks: 141
Thanked:13
Posted: 07-23-07 21:30pm
ForcefulCJS
wrote:
Well I know that she doesn't
want to sign on for the parent loan, but
her main reason was the she couldn't
afford to because of health insurance
costs that were breaking us down.
When she told me how much it was costing
us per year I was appalled, but when I
suggested that we change she got defensive
saying that if they discovered anything
wrong with her we would have to pay even
more than we are now... and we would be
denied to another other health insurance
if we ever tried to switch.
Basically she thinks if we try to switch
then they will find something wrong with
her, even if it's minor issue, and our
premium will skyrocket and we will be
denied from any other insurance that we
would apply to.
I'm trying to convince her to change, and
I think it's the right thing to do, but I
need some more support and evidence before
I can persuade
her.
Uh, goddang, for her to be paying out of
pocket $2500 monthly for health insurance
must mean that 1. She has a fantastic job
and therefore 2. Her job is so fantastic
she is compensated enough to afford her
own health insurance, which means then why
are you getting loans to pay for school?
