Everything is changing around here. We are changing jobs, and income levels. And insurance. I am just learning about health insurance, as we have always had military insurance and it was FREE and EASY. Turns out not all insurances are like that.... We have lost our insurance through the military. DH is still active duty, (working 6 days a week, no less) but they are breaking up his orders every month so that they do not have to give us insurance.

In September he is going to be working a lot less, and off orders, so he can go back to school. We are basically going to be cutting our income in HALF. even with me working Full time, and him part time. I am back at work in a full time position (yea, that per diem thing didn't last long...) and I am eligible for insurance, at quite a cost though.

I have a few options, and I am looking for some input.

1. I can get insurance for our family, at $417.00 a month. This is A BIG chunk of my check, and really would make things IMPOSSIBLE as far as money goes.

2. Take the higher deductible insurance at 30.00 a month. with all well visits covered and shots and such. no hospital stays or er visits. no prescriptions. basically if something big happened we would be in a HARD place.

3. Attempt to get state insurance. I think we just might qualify as a family of five, but I have no idea. It is something I might look into.

TIA

First I have to say that it stinks that his insurance is going to be cut off. I think military familys should be taken care of for life, after all, they have offered thiers in times of need.

$417 isn't bad (relative terms) for family insurance. We pay $680 (and am not happy about it). That said I wouldn't down grade to your #2 option. It is for emergencies that you have insurance and everything could be gone in a second should something happen.

I would absolutely try to get some kind of state insurance if you are eligable and possible get a bit of supplimental insurance to offset it if need be.

More and more people are finding themselves in this kind of bind. That's why this is one of my first priorities when picking a candadate for the upcoming election. We need some healthcare reform!

Id opt for Medi-Cal. Thats what we call the state insurance here in California. I think everyone qualifies, the only difference are the share of costs based on your family size and income. You just may be suprised. Make sure you have everyones ss cards and birth certificates.

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Definitely see if you would qualify for state insurance first before looking further!! I can'tbelieve people pay that much for insurance!! Holy crap, $680 a month!!! I thought it was bad that ours went up to $100. Guess we have it good.

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Definitely check and see if you qualify for state insurance. Hopefully they will be able to do something for you b/c of dh's military. Insurance is expensive. I really hope you can get something worked out.

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I would see what you can get through the state. My employer pays my premiums, and my DH's employer pays for 1/2 of his per month; and we still pay $800 a month for our two kids and 1/2 of DH - so $400 sounds amazing to me.

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We were paying around 400/month untill dh switched jobs recently. We were forced with making some hard choices regarding insurance a few years back. This is my advice:

Check to see what is available through the state. Here I could have gotten coverage for my kids, but not for us. If you can get coverage for your kids, then you may be able to cut your premium cost by just covering you & spouse.

One more thing to consider. We have friends who chose a less expensive insurance plan (in premiums) but it came with a large deductible and they have basically been paying full price for office visits. You don't want to be in the position of trying to decide if you should take your kids to the dr because of the cost. I even debated this with a $25 copay and didn't like it.

Also, I was tallying up our flexible spending account claim yesterday, even with the large premium, we still have around $400 just in copays so far this year! Imagine what this cost would have been without insurance!!

In our family insurance is not an option. We make huge sacrifices to be able to afford insurance and it is taken into consideration whenever a job opportunity comes along!

I would choose some option that provides hospitalization & ER visits. You can't afford to take the risk.

In addition to the state insurance, see what medical insurance is available through your husband's college. I was talking with a group of women yesterday and we all agreed that college medical insurance is possibly the best around.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

Thanks for this post as it reminded me to call and get the application for our state assistance! for me and the kids on dh plan it cost over $400/month so we have no coverage, his is free. I just called and I can get a plan Aetna for $38/month for each kid with DENTAL included! I'd go with the state plan if you can!

I was going to suggest the college insurance as well. It was a good deal when I was in school. I am appreciating ours at $125 a month now even more!! Gotta love working for the government!