I have always had health insurance. If cost is an issue, I would cancel all extras before going without it. Internet, cable, cell phone, eating out, etc. They would all go before I went without health insurance.

Too many things can happen and your health is so important.

I would never be without health insurance! It is too important. Luckily my dh has had really good insurance quite reasonably. But when my son was hit by a car and died, the hospital bill was over $100,000!!! some of that was covered by auto insurance, some by health insurance and a few thousand by us! When I had major complications with baby #6 and spent over a week in the hospital a couple of weeks before he was born the bill was ove $60,000! That does not include the actual birth. Yes health insurance is definitely a necessary evil!

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We didnt have health insurance for 3 months when dh lost his job (they paid 6 extra months as part of severance) and it was very scary, we crossed our fingers and got lucky but I would never do it again. Pay it, better to be safe than sorry. My dh is also a hemphliac so when he has a bleed the bill is always over $1,000 for cryle.

I always think of my mom when it comes to insurance issues...an otherwise very healthy looking woman is taken to the ER by ambulance b/c she is doubled over with cramps. Is admitted to the hospital, Dr's can't find what's wrong and in 4 days she is looking like she is 9 months pregnant, Dr decides to open her up and do exploratory surgery to find the cause. They open her and sparing you the details, most of her small intestine is removed and cannot be replaced. She comes out of surgery, only to fall into a coma and not awake for over a month (Spent in the ICU). By some miracle she does awake and spends another month and a half in the hospital. Her total medical bill...well over 1 million dollars. They never blinked at the cost b/c my Dad has great insurance, and it is a miracle she is alive and stress free from worry over how to pay those bills.

Granted we can't all afford medical coverage. There was a 1 month period DH and I went without it, b/c he changed jobs and the Ins wasn't effective immediately, the COBRA (Continuing coverage from ins company) was over $900 for that month. We couldn't afford it, so I spent the month attempting to wrap my kids in bubble wrap just to prevent accidents! It was a very stressful month. 6 months later, my mom was rushed to the ER, and I see the insurance suituation differently.

My take...if it is available and you can afford it, even making cuts here and there if necessary, I would do it. If not and you've been making it work thus far, you may be able to make it the 4 more months..you need to weigh your options carefully.

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I would definately pay for the insurance. I have my own and DH has his. Its cheaper for me to keep mine and not be added to DH. I would rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it!

Last year I had DD#2, I only had the insurance for the 6 weeks maternity leave, but I planned to stay out for 6 months. So I would'nt have insurance for 5 months and I didn't want to pay for Cobra(too expensive), so I was taking a risk. After being off work for 4 months, i had this nagging feeling like I should go back to work. Like SOMEBODY was telling me to go back! Well I did go back and after being back for a few weeks I started having severe back pains. I thought it was from lifting my girls. Well one night I couldn't stand the pain any longer so my DH took me to the ER. My back pain ended up being gallstones and I had to get them and my gallbladder removed. I had all kinds of test done, blood drawn daily, MRI, upper GI. I spent 4 days in the hospital and I can't even imagine what the medical bills would've been if I didn't have the insurance.

I think that SOMEBODY was God talking to me and I thank Him everyday for it!

Our insurance through DH's employer is awful but I can't imagine not having it. My DH had a few painful kidney stones and every trip to the ER was at least $1000. My oldest DD has broken her arm twice in the last few years, first time was $1500, the second time was $2200 plus physical therapy for a six weeks after the cast came off. My youngest DD was born with tracheomalcia, her hospital stay was about $200,000. All that happened during a 6 month period, if it wasn't for the insurance we would have lost everything we owned.

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This is a tough one...If I didn't have children I think health insurance wouldnt be nearly as important to me. You have been lucky so far, though. If you were to have some sort of accident the bills could bury you for a long time.

For 2 years while I was getting my masters I had no health insurance. I worked as a Grad. Assistant. - I got free room and utilities, 1/2 the cost of tuition and a VERY small stipend - like $4K a year. There would have been no $$$ for health insurance. I used a clinic for low income people. I had some blood work etc done thru there and I think that I only paid maybe $25.

Now, I rarely get sick - so that played a huge part for me. As well as it was only till I graduated and got a job.....

We have health insurance through my husband's employer and it has been worth it because we have multiple health issues. Plus my husband travels internationally so we nee SOMETHING if he got sick overseas. They have helped us out more than once on that front.

But your situation is different ... you're younger and you're healthier and you have a back-up care facility for the kinds of problems you might encounter.

The question you need to ask your insurance provider is, "If we don't sign up during the open enrollment period, will there be restrictions on what gets covered when we sign-up later on?" In other words, some employer-based insurance plans will cover pre-existing conditions only if you sign up for the plan when it is first offered. If you wait, they may put a restriction on what they cover and how much coverage they pay-out for a year or two.

And since you've been without insurance, you may find yourself waiting for full coverage anyway. Most policies require you to pay into the plan for at least a year until you start receiving full benefits. BTW, IF you opt-out, the employer may require you to prove that you have health insurance through another plan.

Lastly, ask the employer if the premium will be paid with pre-tax dollars - it usually is. If so, the $400+ financial hit may not be as great as you imagine. Let's do the math...

You'll be paying $235 extra a month for the next 4 months (April thru end of July). That comes to an extra $940 out of pocket that you might not use. However, that will also reduce your gross taxable income for 2007 by $940. If you are taxed at approximately 10%, the premium for 4 months is really costing you $846 out of pocket.

Depending on the answers to the other questions, you might decide that this is a worthwhile cost to pay. Either way, I'd definately buy into the insurance plan in August.

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I am chancing NOT having it right now. I can not afford the $450/month either and if I want to only work 2 days/week and be home w/the kids the rest, we can not afford it.
I am lucky in the fact of having my best friend who can treat us if sick and order us Rx's, and she just did my kids annual physical's for free. She can also tell us the cheapest Rx's to get for what we need. Plus we are mainly using Walmart's $4 per Rx thing for what we need. My dh is the only one w/insurance as he is covered for free by his work. I keep trying to get him to ask for us to be covered as his raise but he doesn't. I had insurance last yr. when I had my baby and still had to pay the $2500 freakin deductible! I am wondering though and will research online plans such as ehealthinsurance.com and see about getting just hospitalization coverage. MyA friend pointed out to me that she debated not having insurance for her kids since she can do their physicals and order their Rx's, but they have both been to the ER for stitches before age 4 so she opted to keep their insurance. Now as I see summer coming and my kids being rough w/each other and playing outside, I am debating it again. It's a big chance to take, but it's one I just have to do right now to be able to afford to eat and have my house.