I’m looking for individual health insurance and it is very confusing. Can someone explain what things like deductible, copay, and coinsurance mean? Also, what’s the difference between a PPO, Network, Indemnity, and a HSA-qualified plan? Lastly, how do I know exactly what is covered before I apply? People have sent me things in the mail and I’m looking online and I was given a list of things covered, but then it says that this isn’t everything and once I sent in my payment I will get a full list of my policy and coverages. That seems shady, and these are top companies like Aetna and Health America, so I don’t think they would rip me off. Plus, how come these companies aren’t offering a bundle plan, where I can get health insurance, vision, and dental all in one plan with one monthly payment?

We don’t have dental insurance. We have health insurance though, but I’m not sure if you can use that on wisdom teeth extractions? Anyway, I really need to get mine removed (well, I need an evaluation first too!) but I’m worried about the cost. I know I and my parents can’t afford it straight up. I think our health insurance is with a company called Medcost Preferred, or that’s what I can gather from my card. It also says Principal Financial Group and Caremark. That being said, what are some good companies to look into? My mom keeps forgetting to check into it.

I am a stay-at-home mom (in Arizona) and I need to get health insurance. My boyfriend (and our toddler) have insurance through his employer but it’s like 0/month for just the two of them and it doesn’t cover much. To add me to his plan we would have to get married first and it would be over 0/month more than he’s already paying now. So that’s over 0/month for insurance that doesn’t cover much. It doesn’t seem like a very good deal at all.

So I’m looking for a health insurance plan that would take all three of us as an unmarried family, for less than 0/month. So far I don’t see any that cover maternity, and we do want to have another child within the next year or two… We don’t get sick often, but our baby needs her regular checkups and vaccinations, we need our regular checkups, vision and dental, and of course catastrophic coverage in the event something really bad were to happen.

I don’t see much purpose in me having insurance for myself, a young woman, that doesn’t cover maternity or birth control, other than for the sake of catastrophic coverage. But if need be I could get my own insurance plan for maternity/birth control/whatever if I could find an affordable one, and they can be on their own plan that doesn’t cover maternity.

Blue Cross Blue Shield has some cheap rates but they don’t cover maternity. Neither does Aetna. Cinergy is too expensive for just me, let alone my family too.

So my question(s) to you specifically are:
Can you suggest any health insurance companies that cover maternity?
Can you suggest any that are affordable?
Can you suggest any that would insure us as a family even though we are unwed?

I found out my global health insurance only covers emergency dental procedures here in the USA. Now i’m looking for a dental plan to make trip to dentist affordable. I will probably need a filling or two. What is a good dental plan to buy? (I’ve been looking at USAdentalcare.com)

I am 60 yrs old and have high blood pressure. My spouse is 62 and smokes. Under COBRA, we would pay 6 a month for medical and dental. That coverage started in February but I have until May to decide if I want COBRA or not. At this point, if I choose COBRA, I have to pay for the months of February and March which have already passed. It’s a federal law which makes no sense. But anyway, that’s 72 out the window. Am I better off using my money to get individual health insurance? My concern is that I don’t know how having high blood pressure and my spouse being a smoker will affect things. Also, I recently had some dental work done and told them they may have to file a claim through COBRA if I do get it. The billing lady told me that they have problems with billing to COBRA because it’s taking COBRA 60 to 90 days to pay a claim which will incur interest for the patient. Has anyone experienced this? I’m just so confused about all this. I’d appreciate any advice.

I’ll tell you. In the 1940s Truman continued wage and price controls well beyond WWII - - not that they worked anyway, as anyone familiar with J.B. Say knows.

It was illegal for most employers to give many of their employees a raise!!!!!!!

So guess what those employers did?

They figured out a way to get AROUND that restriction, and compensate their employees MORE, in order to KEEP them. How? "Fringe benefits" that included health insurance, dental insurance, etc….

Because a group of employees usually is a good pool - people at least functional enough to have jobs - and because it offered the chance to sell policies to hundreds or thousands of people at once - the insurance companies considered this a great idea.
Uh, Mez, don’t let me be misunderstood here - - - STARBUCKS pays health insurance.

In January, my employer is making me pay for 100% of my health insurance. They also dropped vision and dental. I am one of the only young people in the firm, and I don’t want to be forced to pay a higher premium for reduced coverage. I quoted the most comprehensive plan I could find for me as an individual (including vision/dental), and it’s 0 less a month. Can I drop the firm’s insurance and just get my own?

What is a refundable 5000 dollar tax credit for health? To get any half way decent health insurance it will cost upwards of a thousand to fifteen hundred dollars a month. I pay 150 dollars a month for two, and that’s with a group discount, and no dental, and my wife pays 100 dollars a month for medicare.

I am looking for individual health insurance that would cover basic things such as a regular hospital visit, eye exam, dentist, etc in the short run for at least 6 months. As well as cover minor accidents like having a twisted ankle. I’m not really looking for something that would cover me if I had cancer or a major health problem. I’m looking for something with medical, vision, and dental. Pretty much preventive care and maintanence. I am looking to switch jobs since benefits are not offered where I work.

Seventeen years ago, a stray baseball hit me in the jaw and fractured it in a dozen places. Consequently, I lost many teeth, and others did not settle properly. After exhausting my finances on root canals that didn’t take, I’ve lost several more. Those that remain are discolore.

My teeth have really taken away from my life, socially and career-wise. No one wants to hire someone with this type of smile, much less date them. I have been distraught over this for a long time. I’m bright, but I work in a blue collar job, doing work way below my skill level. Obviously, I would like to get my teeth fixed, but the last estimate for a full mouth fix was K — a year’s salary for me, and totally unaffordable.

Because jaw problems remain, I have strong gag reflex. I have an upper partial, but constantly have to take it out. I can’t wear a lower partial at all. Because of this, the thought of dentures (8K) scares me. Are there any affordable options?
I have no real health insurance, only a discount plan offered by work. All the insurance plans I’ve looked at cap dental at 00, and covers nothing "cosmetic."
I am in St Paul, Minnesota.