a lot to talk about

[fnord_too]

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fnord, you are giving me a lot to think about. If I obtain insurance out of pocket, am I liable to have it dropped? what causes one to get dropped or rates to raise? do you know how self-employed people handle this? do you have a rough idea about how much it would cost on a monthly basis to support a family? ... I don't think I would be willing to undergo this endeavor if it meant the potential loss of health insurance. Any chance you could expand on this?

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I do not have a lot of answers here. I don't know what health insurers can/can't do, nor what they actually do/don't do in practice. I am probably overly cautious on the issue, but you should be able to get good advice on this. (In fact, if and when you do, please post it.)

Edit - for me, (on COBRA right now, which my new employer is picking up) I think it is about 1200/month, but I don't know if that is high or low.