My quest to find affordable health insurance coverage continues. I’ve lost count of how many times I have attempted, and failed, this particular quest. My hope is that the research I did today will actually result in a quality, affordable, health insurance plan this time. If not…. perhaps I’ll move to Canada.
Last year, my husband and I tried to find health insurance coverage. We thought we’d found it, but it turned out that the plan we purchased wasn’t what we were led to believe it would be. At the time, we were looking for a health insurance plan that would cover both me and my husband. We got quoted a price, but, after the physical, that changed.
Anthem Blue Cross increased the cost of our premiums because it said that my husband was three pounds over their limit for the plan that we originally agreed to purchase. They went ahead and signed him up for one of their health plans that had a more expensive premium than what we wanted.
I had an incredibly difficult time trying to figure out what our combined health plan actually covered. Eventually, I realized that it covered almost nothing at all, and I canceled the policy. It turns out that insurers get really confused when you call to cancel a health plan in the short timeframe between when you are approved for it and when it actually takes effect. I guess they don’t expect people to investigate the details of the plan.
This year, my husband has started the process that is involved with getting Medicaid Part B. He already has Part A, because he is legally blind. He has filled out the required paperwork, and sent it back. All we can do now is wait.
I, however, am almost completely without health insurance coverage. I have something called Family Pact that is available for low-income people in California, but it only covers birth control and some other types of women’s health care. If I end up in the hospital, Family Pact cannot do anything for me.
Today, I decided to see if HealthCare.gov could help me find affordable health insurance. To my great surprise, it seems to have found me what could, potentially, turn out to be a health plan that I can afford. Details remain to be seen, of course.
I was given a phone number for an insurance company called Celtic Insurance. It was nearly 5:00 in the afternoon when I called, so I ended up leaving a message. Today is Friday, so I figure I might hear from the insurer sometime on Monday, (if I am lucky). In the message I left, I stated the specific health plan that I was interested in. I have hope that someday, I might actually be able to afford to see a doctor when I am sick.
Image by Jorge Franganillo on Flickr