Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Stung by the COBRA.
Holy cow. I just got my COBRA election forms. My monthly premiums alone would be more than Ragsy's monthly childcare. And this is better than NOT having insurance, how? We'll get insurance of some sort, whether through COBRA or my husband's benefits - maybe even through a high-deductible individual plan (for which I would invariably not qualify - thank you, seizures!), but, damn, I have no idea what we would do if I hadn't been saving for this. I'm not sorry I quit, but I've never seen premiums so freaking high. It's ridiculous. I'd much rather just pay out of pocket. I'd save almost $12,000 a year.
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2 comments:
Insurance coverage is one of the reasons that I am still working, and the only reason that I work as much as I do. My job provides our insurance, and with Trystan's medical issues we're not taking any chances with dropping coverage. $12k a year would be much better than the $500k+ (maybe closer to $1million..I quit counting...) that he cost our insurance plan his first year of life (and better than my $20k c-sections, etc).
I was happier at 3 days a week than my current 4+, but at 32.5 hours, I pay no out-of-paycheck premium for excellent coverage. Less than 32 and I pay a % of what my company pays (which makes the paycheck even smaller than the drop in hours makes it).
Insurance sucks, and I'm sorry to hear that you're dealing with it. Unless your husband's benefits are really really bad, the premiums might be less than the COBRA, and certainly less than an individual plan would cost. Whatever you choose, good luck!
I can't even imagine what that must have been like! We'll probably just take my husband's coverage for a few months, then if I get a typical job (i.e., probably not consulting), I imagine we'd move to mine. Given how Ragsy reacts to something as seemingly-simple as a cold - you know, lungs closing up - and my propensity to lose bits of my fingers, it isn't smart for us not to have insurance. Who would have thought that my seizures would be so much less dangerous than me in the kitchen when I'm lucid? Given my ratio of seizures to kitchen incidents, I'm far more dangerous to myself in everyday life than I thought.
I wish that insurance were just that - insurance for unexpected situations, kind of like what you experienced with Trystan. I'd happily pay out of pocket for my doctor's appointments and drugs if it meant super-cheap premiums. I'm thinking that next time I have the opportunity I'll move us to a consumer-driven health plan/HSA format insurance unless some experience (other than eclampsia) tells us otherwise.
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