Health insurance can easily become a love-hate sort of thing. Having health insurance can be a great thing but paying for it isn’t as pleasant. This is evident by the fact that more than 50% of all bankruptcies in the United States are health related.
Knowing what options are available is especially important in the unprecedented times that we live in. Here are a handful of (sometimes) cheaper options that might make sense for you.
COBRA
The name of this coverage comes from The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act which allows employees to continue coverage under their employers plan for a limited time after they leave or get laid off. This can be a great option for those that are between jobs and would like to stay on the same plan for as long as possible.
The one major downside is the cost. Ex-employees are required to pay the full premium cost even if their employer covered a part of the premium during employment.
Short-Term Health Insurance
Short-term health insurance can also be a great tool to fill in the gaps between jobs. You can purchase a plan to last for 30-354 days. These plans are generally very easy to get into and very cost effective. The downside is that these plans rarely cover pre-existing conditions or maternity costs. This may make sense for those that are healthy but who don’t want to be caught without coverage between jobs or during a waiting period.
Spousal
When both spouses are working, they both may have a health plan with their respective employers. In some cases, it makes sense to both have individual plans but many times, it will be cheaper to just use one as a family plan. You’ll have to look at the numbers of rules of both plans to see if this makes sense for you.
Parental
Thanks to The Affordable Care Act, individuals up to age 26 are able to stay on their parents health plan. And in many cases, it doesn’t cost the parents anything to have the child on their plan. But if the child is married or has kids, the spouse and kids are not covered.
For example, a 25 year-old can be covered by his parents plan but the 25 year-old’s wife and kids are not covered.
Healthcare Sharing Programs
With rising health care costs, this option has become much more popular in the last few years. Typically organized under ministries or other religious organizations, healthcare sharing programs are not traditional health insurance. Because of this they are able to be more picky about who joins their programs which helps to keep their costs low. Some of the more popular programs are Christian organizations that require participants to live by certain standards.
The general idea is that a group of people pay in a certain amount every month and when you get sick, you can dip into the pooled resources to pay for expenses.
One of the huge advantages to this option is the cost. It is generally much cheaper than traditional insurance. That being said, because it is not traditional insurance, there is much less regulation and no legal obligation for the program to pay for your expenses. And while many people speak highly of the programs, I would do very thorough research to understand the ramifications before choosing this option.
Some of the most popular cost sharing programs are Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM), Liberty HealthShare, Medi-Share, and Samaritan Ministries.
Conclusion
There are many things in life that we should take lightly but your health and wealth are not one of them. Having good insurance is exceptionally important and so is being financial secure. Doing the research to pick the right health insurance option can make a world of difference in both these areas.