7 ways to avoid "going naked" on health
insurance
By Paul
Bannister • Bankrate.com
The headlines are scary. One American
in six has no health insurance, and the numbers are rising.
Employers are dropping or reducing coverage for workers
and their families, laid-off workers can't afford to continue paying
premiums and young people go without any cover at all.
But the absence of a fully paid employer health plan
does not mean you can't protect yourself against financial disaster
if poor health strikes you.
The first lesson: Do not try to save by having no
coverage at all, a condition called "going bare" or "going
naked." A staggering 44 million Americans are in that situation
-- uninsured and risking their health, their savings and even their
lives.
Going naked: A bad idea
Most of those forced to "go bare" are early retirees,
the self-employed, workers in small companies that offer few or
no benefits and people with pre-existing conditions that can't get
affordable coverage.
Some people reason that "going bare" isn't
such a bad idea because you save all those premiums. But it's really
bad medicine.
"Going bare is cost effective only if you can
guarantee you'll never, ever get sick," says Gerry Goldsholle,
former CEO of MetLife Marketing Co., and the founder and CEO of
FreeAdvice,
an Internet consultancy for consumers.
"People ask why they should bother to carry insurance,
and the answer is simple: If through your whole life, you never
get sick, if you never need to see a doctor, you don't need insurance.
"The fact is, nobody can guarantee they won't
one day face a huge medical bill.
"My first wife didn't need a doctor except for
her routine, annual checkups -- until she got terminal pancreatic
cancer. In her final months, we ran up $50,000 in medical bills."
There are ways to protect yourself from crippling
health care bills, but your first option should be to get some insurance
-- the best coverage you can afford.
1. Get a job -- any job
Start with your employer. If you're unemployed, find a job that
provides benefits -- even if it's part time. Studies show that more
than 54 percent of women aged 55-64 are working full or part-time
jobs because they're nearing retirement without savings or insurance;
they even work at minimum-pay jobs for health benefits.
Caution: Part-time jobs that offer benefits are not
always easy to find, and you have to make sure they don't interfere
with your primary income.
2. Select from a cafeteria menu
If you already have a job, but it doesn't provide full benefits,
find out if a lesser plan is available. Many employers negotiate
basic corporate "cafeteria" plans that let you pick your
own level of coverage from a menu of choices and allow you to decide
just how to allocate the fixed amount of employer-paid benefit dollars.
You can opt for coverage ranging from "first
dollar," meaning the plan kicks in at the first dollar of expenses
and you pay out nothing out of pocket when you're sick, to having
a high deductible and a high co-payment. Your employer's cost is
fixed, so what you choose off the menu establishes what you pay.
The bigger the premium you pay out each month, the better the coverage
you get and the lower your deductible and co-pay amount.
3. Get coverage through associations
Try to get into some kind of group coverage. A trade, fraternal
or professional association -- AARP, AAA, your alumni association
or the local chamber of commerce -- may offer lower-cost health
plans. Check with groups you're involved with or join one to take
advantage of its access. Your state
insurance department can help you find a plan. But be cautious
-- some of these so-called associations are nothing more than scams.
The reason this can work: Doctors deeply discount
their fees when they deal with a group rather than with an individual.
The group hires the doctor by the year, not by the service, and
costs are spread across the whole group, not carried by one individual.
And, with a group policy, no underwriter checks for pre-existing
conditions.
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