My husband and I have been trying to find affordable health insurance. It is completely frustrating! There were several months when we gave up even trying to get it. Recently, we started again. The struggle continues!
This all started when I lost my job in 2009. I had health insurance from this job that covered both myself and my husband. In the blink of an eye, that was gone.
Our first attempt to find health insurance coverage was through COBRA. This was supposed to allow us to extend the health insurance coverage that I’d lost. Unfortunately, the cost of COBRA was way higher than we could afford to pay. This was not an option.
Later on, we got a letter from our insurance company to let us know it was time to renew my auto insurance policy. My husband and I went in and spoke with our insurance agent. It was really easy to renew my car insurance policy. We went through a much more lengthy process to get life insurance, (one policy for me, an another policy for my husband).
Health insurance, however, still proved to be elusive. We were given a ball park figure about what our insurance company would charge us for health insurance premiums.
Unfortunately, the price was still much higher than we could afford to pay. We were given a suggestion about another insurance company that we could try and get health insurance from. At the time, I think we were both just too discouraged to go through all that again.
Recently, I got a letter in the mail that was basically an advertisement. A health insurance company appeared to be offering me a rate that I could actually afford.
Upon further examination, it seemed that the rate that appeared on their ad was basically a “bait and switch”. The nice, low, affordable price was only being offered to people who “were in good health” and who were 29 years old or younger. I’m 38. Thanks for nothing, insurance company!
My husband is employed, and his company does offer employer sponsored health insurance. We looked into the possibility of getting health insurance through his job this time around. His boss was very nice about talking with my husband about what their insurance plan offered, and around what it would cost.
The problem is that my husband is legally blind, which means that he is considered to be disabled. As such, he gets disability benefits. There was the possibility that the number of hours he would need to work in order to be eligible for insurance through his job would be more than he can physically do.
So, my husband did some searching online, and found an insurance company that appears to be offering health insurance for a price we can actually afford. He spent two hours filling in their online forms. Now, we just have to wait and see if we are approved, or denied.
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