Health Insurance For Full-Time Poker Player

[Harris]

Yeah, basically a higher deductible is for younger people who are in better health, while lower deductible plans are for those who better for those who are a little more lileky to be ill/require surgery. As far as coinsurance goes, it covers different things from office visits to prescription drugs. Some plans will have it, some won't.

A good plan for a young, healthy person is probably a $5k deductible for hospital stays, a reasonable copay for office visits and emergency room visits (mine was $30 for office visits, $30 for outpatient surgery, $50 for emergency room), and like 50% coinsurance on prescription drugs. That's pretty general, and people might want to tweak some of the figures to fit their pricing and medical needs.

[Rhone]

[ QUOTE ]
I see. So a plan with a $5k deductible and 0% coinsurance would be ideal for youngsters who just wanna be covered in freak accidents, and a plan with a $0 deductible and 30-40% coinsurance would be ideal for oldies who go to the doctor often?

[/ QUOTE ]

yes, this is a pretty good way of thinking about it. Also, copayments are better than coinsurance usually. A co-payment is a flat (as opposed to a percentage) fee you'd pay each visit. If you don't expect to go to the doctor often, but want catastrophic coverage in case something really bad happens, higher co-payments and lower-coinsurance is for you, since 20% of the costs for a lengthy hospital stay or major operation will still be pretty hefty.

[PokerintheI]

Get a high deductable health insurance plan with a Health Savings Account. That this the best possible choice for someone matching the information you provided. My wife and I were quoted for insurance along these lines a year ago (28 and 29 years old) Price was around $120 for the two of us each month, with a $3000 deductable.

[grandgnu]

[ QUOTE ]
Get a high deductable health insurance plan with a Health Savings Account. That this the best possible choice for someone matching the information you provided. My wife and I were quoted for insurance along these lines a year ago (28 and 29 years old) Price was around $120 for the two of us each month, with a $3000 deductable.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the advice everyone. It's like pulling teeth to get any information on the health insurance sites that service Massachusetts.

They have brochures that don't provide rates, and they have stupid naming schemes for all their plans that don't make it easy to know what plans are actually HDHP.

I've got emails into some of them, hopefully their support staff will be semi-helpful.

[octop]

i Live in ny and will get assfucked when I get insurance

[schwza]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Get a high deductable health insurance plan with a Health Savings Account. That this the best possible choice for someone matching the information you provided. My wife and I were quoted for insurance along these lines a year ago (28 and 29 years old) Price was around $120 for the two of us each month, with a $3000 deductable.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the advice everyone. It's like pulling teeth to get any information on the health insurance sites that service Massachusetts.

They have brochures that don't provide rates, and they have stupid naming schemes for all their plans that don't make it easy to know what plans are actually HDHP.

I've got emails into some of them, hopefully their support staff will be semi-helpful.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm sure you've found this out already, but a lot of places won't insure you in mass, esp the real cheapo plans. i have it through the national association of the self-employed (i think the provider is called mega) for 182/mo. it's very bare bones but would be good in an emergency.

[J-Mac]

[ QUOTE ]
i Live in ny and will get assfucked when I get insurance

[/ QUOTE ]

Jesus, you're not kidding.

I'm a 22 yr old recent grad non-smoker and they only offered two plans. The first doesn't cover office visits (wtf?) and the second is 600+ a MONTH! Could some young new yorkers chime in with new york health insurance suggestions? (bolded to stand out in the thread.)

[PokerintheI]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Get a high deductable health insurance plan with a Health Savings Account. That this the best possible choice for someone matching the information you provided. My wife and I were quoted for insurance along these lines a year ago (28 and 29 years old) Price was around $120 for the two of us each month, with a $3000 deductable.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the advice everyone. It's like pulling teeth to get any information on the health insurance sites that service Massachusetts.

They have brochures that don't provide rates, and they have stupid naming schemes for all their plans that don't make it easy to know what plans are actually HDHP.

I've got emails into some of them, hopefully their support staff will be semi-helpful.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm sure you've found this out already, but a lot of places won't insure you in mass, esp the real cheapo plans. i have it through the national association of the self-employed (i think the provider is called mega) for 182/mo. it's very bare bones but would be good in an emergency.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you can't get the cheapo companies to write you a policy, another alternative is to start a company. It doesn't matter what it is. Call it the "Billy Bob NLHE Consulting Company". Then join the local Chamber of Commerce. You should be able to file the businesss name for like $5 -$25. Then you can get insurance through the Chamber of Commerce. Alternatly, other various business associations will take memberships from just about anyone and you can get access to the policies that they have.

The policies you can get through these associations tend to be the Blue Cross Blue Shield type, and thus a bit more expensive. But they are still way more affordable than not having any. In Michigan it was going to cost me $250 per month to join Blue Cross through the Chamber of Commerce with a HSA.

Also, make sure you get quoted for a policy with prescription drugs excluded. Having them included in a HSA policy will add like an extra 125-150$ per month to the premium.

www.daveramsey.com is a good site for a referral to an insurance broker if you need one.