Comments on: Oh, health insurance. Why must you be so difficult?

By: Angela

Angela — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:16:43 +0000

If you know for sure your insurance is not going to cover something, ask the doctor’s office if they offer a cash discount. This means you would pay cash for the service at the time it was received. Of course this may not be an option for higher cost services where you will need a payment plan, but a doctor’s visit for an ear infection, etc may be doable. They give this “discount” because it means they don’t have to pay for the time, staff, etc to collect money from the insurance company. Many of the costs associated with your healthcare are because of the cost they incur dealing with insurance. I’ve used this several times with all specialties, it’s normally about 50% of the cost.

By: Corinne

Corinne — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:47:56 +0000

I feel your pain. My husband and I are both on private high deductible plans with an HSA. Even though we haven’t used our policy once in the year since we’ve had it, it still makes me nervous. Not to mention the lack of maternity coverage – and purchasing maternity riders costs about the same as a normal delivery, so we’re actually saving up to pay out of pocket for everything when we get pregnant! It seems ridiculous!

By: samantha

samantha — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:16:04 +0000

Depending on what state you’re in, you and your baby may qualify for Medicaid. It’s often called “SCHIP” (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) and premiums are based on household income. Coverage is available for moms during their pregnancy and babies as long as family income is at a certain percentage of the federal poverty level (I want to say 20%). Might be worth looking into and calling your state’s health department to inquire. My daughter is on our state’s SCHIP and my husband and I both work full time and have coverage through our employers — it was just prohibitively expensive to put her on either of our plans. The coverage has been AMAZING for her — no co-pays, no deductibles. We do pay a premium monthly, but it’s not too bad.

By: M

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:13:48 +0000

Not sure what is covered in well baby visits, but seems like babies are in and out of the drs office for ear infections, strep etc, and other minor things. Research shows that breastfeeding can really help with babies immunity. Health insurance is totally out of whack, but not having it is worse..

By: Mrs. Money

Mrs. Money — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:24:41 +0000

I think we’re on the same page as far as health insurance goes. I hate it. :(