Health Insurance Suggestions

I know health insurance can be very frustrating. I have cancer in my health history, and so none of those individual plans will take me until I am at least 10 years in remission. I have coverage, but it is really expensive. I would consider doing an HSA (Health Savings Account), they can have very high deductibles, but cost less per month. Much more affordable than COBRA. If you all rarely go to the doctor, you will still have the security you need in case of a major illness, but because of the high deductible, will have to pay out of pocket until you would reach the deductible. It might make sense until you can get on a group plan with an employer. Also, you might investigate Christian Care MediShare. I won't take the time to explain it here, but could be another option for you guys.

I'm so glad someone mentioned Healthy Start. Here's a link to the income guidelines - http://jfs.ohio.gov/Ohp/consumers/HSHFIncomeGuidelines.pdf

If you qualify, this would be a way to get your insurance for your kids, while you can hopefully find something affordable for you and your husband.

Marcia,

Look into individual health insurance, there are many companies out there that you can find individual health insurance through, as long as you are not currently pregnant you should have no problem finding coverage http://bit.ly/VIqMY. I am self-employed and we use Anthem - it's an 80/20 plan and to keep costs low we have a high deductible since my husband and I and kiddos are pretty healthy and do not need to go to the doctor's that often. Also since it's individual insurance - I am not paying for maternity coverage which also helps the monthly costs.

If you are still using your husband's health insurance from his previous job, I'm assuming that you are on COBRA, COBRA is very, very expensive and is only meant to be coverage for between jobs.

I hope that you find something soon.

God Bless,
M.

First of all if your husband was laid off, you all are eligible for government assistance for paying your COBRA benefits, i think they pay up to 65% of the premium so you should certainly call the Ohio Department of Job and Family services to figure out if you all qualify for that program. Second, your daughter may qualify for the state sponsored health insurance for kids, its like medicaid but the income qualifiers are a lot more broad so that families that do not qualify for medicaid may qualify for SCHIP (or known in Ohio as the "Healthy Start" program) this is run through the Ohio Medicaid office, but the people at the Ohio Department of Job and Family services can also help with whether or not your daughter qualifies for this. Once you get her covered it should be easier to find health insurance for you and your husband. My other half found pretty good health insurance on-line at ehealthinsurance.com.

good luck!