Question about health insurance: COBRA vs. buying on your own

[crispini]

So I get the basic information about my COBRA health care from my FORMER employer (asshats) today, and the COBRA payment is over $400 a month. Holy mother of pearl! So I got online and checked out eHealthInsurance.com and they have a variety of high-deductible plans to choose from for around $150 - $250. Not bad! Stuff like an Aetna PPO (with my doctor), etc. I will of course read the fine print very carefully before I make any decisions. Also, nobody but me to worry about, and I can certainly live with a high deductible for awhile as my health is generally pretty good (knock on wood!). Has anyone ever done this before? Any thoughts?

Thanks DU. You guys rock. :hug:

[OhioChick]

1. I'm sorry to hear that you lost your job...

$400 for a Cobra extension? Shit, mine was $1800 a few years ago. Nothing special....just an average PPO plan with deductibles. At the time, I had no choice but to get it until my next policy kicked in.

[TZ]

2. Are you healthy

If you are and mostly go in for routine check ups than the stuff you get on your own might be okay.
But if not..If you have any kind of chronic illness that stuff is worse than useless as you will get hit with pre-existing condition rules. And remember, most of those high deductible plans also make you pay a VERY high percentage of the overall bill. I stuck with COBRA because of my chronic condition.
I am very wary of the cheap prices for the individual plans. If something happens, it could lead to nasty surprises.

[Lars39]

3. iirc, having COBRA ensures that the next policy you get under

a new employer has to take you, pre-existing conditions and all. Not so if you self-insure. My memory's fuzzy on this, so investigate COBRA thoroughly before not going that route.

[TZ]

4. Yep.

I'm dealing with that shit right now. They definitely were looking for previous GROUP coverage proof from me.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. I went with a high-deductible plan, and now I regret it

I'm basically giving the insurance company thousands of dollars a year for NOTHING.

If I had to do it over again, I'd go for a lower deductible, but my company won't let you "back pedal," so to speak.