Guest guest Posted June 8, 2007 Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 Check with the Health & Human Services Dept in your state about getting your daughter on the insurance policy they offer for special-needs people that cannot get other insurance. I know a few families that have had to do this so that the rest of them could get insurance. I think the program is called CHIPS but I may be remembering it incorrectly. It's a national program that offers a safety net for kids who don't have insurance that is administered by each state. Gaylen ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 8, 2007 Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 Hi Shanna, We, too, are self-employed, but signed up for our BCBS policy long before we had kids, and now feel " married " to it. It helps with some expenses, but not all because many of the 'expert' doctors (like Goldberg) don't take any insurance, which leaves you to submit the bills yourself, and BCBS seems to be selective about what they will cover and what they won't. We also have a $1500 deductible per family member per year, plus after we meet that we have a share of cost, so the last 4 years have cost us $25K-$30K on top of what we pay for premiums ;-( Since you already know what it's like to pay for a lot out of pocket, maybe you could have just the minimal insurance for your child (I'm not saying this right) because you could get any policy the rest of your family feels comfortable with, and insure yourselves separately from your child. You may be able to get state aid for your child, depending on where you live. My son also has CP, so he qualifies for Medi-Cal. The Regional Center and his doctors helped us get the proper forms filled out for Medi-Cal (it was a lengthy nightmare to get it set up, and continues to be so at times, but has helped a lot). I think that eventually the Combatting Autism Act passed recently will eventually help us in regard to treatment for autism, but I'm not sure the pieces are in place yet. You could check out the National Association for the Self-Employed. We met with them at one time, and their plan seems good, and the agent told us they don't check pre-existing conditions for children (not sure if this is true or not, but might be worth a shot). NASE has low deductibles and covers a lot of other benefits, too, like other types of insurance and travel plans. Good luck! Kristy self insurance Hello all, Recently my husband accepted a job that (for now at least) would require that we find our own insurance. He has been looking forward to this change for a couple of months now (as have I), but today he's truly discouraged. Because we've had to pay out of pocket for almost everything we've done for our daughter, we are looking for an insurance plan with a high deductible and an HSA. Basically we're looking for a little coverage for catastrophic care. Buuutttt...we're beginning to find that any prior treatment for anything labeled 'autism' automatically disqualifies us. Has anyone on the list found insurance for those who are self-employed or otherwise looking for anything besides company-sponsored group insurance? It looks as if this will determine if my husband will be able to take this new job. Thanks in advance for your responses, Shanna Philipson http://shannaphilipson.typepad.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 8, 2007 Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 I am self-employed and have my son insured through our state's (TX) risk pool. It's underwritten by BCBS, so it's good coverage. Maybe do a search for " health insurance risk pool " for your state. It's made for people who can't otherwise get insurance. My son is 10 and I think it's about to go up to $238/month, for a $2500 deductible. I just have a separate individual policy for my other son and myself. Good luck! > > Hello all, > > Recently my husband accepted a job that (for now at least) would > require that we find our own insurance. He has been looking forward to > this change for a couple of months now (as have I), but today he's > truly discouraged. > > Because we've had to pay out of pocket for almost everything we've > done for our daughter, we are looking for an insurance plan with a > high deductible and an HSA. Basically we're looking for a little > coverage for catastrophic care. > > Buuutttt...we're beginning to find that any prior treatment for > anything labeled 'autism' automatically disqualifies us. > > Has anyone on the list found insurance for those who are self-employed > or otherwise looking for anything besides company-sponsored group > insurance? > > It looks as if this will determine if my husband will be able to take > this new job. > > Thanks in advance for your responses, > Shanna Philipson > > http://shannaphilipson.typepad.com > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 8, 2007 Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 You may want to join the autism_insurance group on . They may be able to help you. I know there are some laws stating that if you don't have a gap in coverage they can't deny you coverage but I don't know when they apply and when they don't. You may also want to look at your state's Dpt. of Insurance website. There are also some laws that limit the amount of time they can deny you for coverage but again, I don't really know what they are. Preexisiting conditions can be *horrible* to deal with when looking for insurance. It does seem that you should be able to get catastrophic coverage, though. Cheryl On Jun 8, 2007, at 6:08 AM, we3philipsons wrote: > Hello all, > > Recently my husband accepted a job that (for now at least) would > require that we find our own insurance. He has been looking forward to > this change for a couple of months now (as have I), but today he's > truly discouraged. > > Because we've had to pay out of pocket for almost everything we've > done for our daughter, we are looking for an insurance plan with a > high deductible and an HSA. Basically we're looking for a little > coverage for catastrophic care. > > Buuutttt...we're beginning to find that any prior treatment for > anything labeled 'autism' automatically disqualifies us. > > Has anyone on the list found insurance for those who are self-employed > or otherwise looking for anything besides company-sponsored group > insurance? > > It looks as if this will determine if my husband will be able to take > this new job. > > Thanks in advance for your responses, > Shanna Philipson > > http://shannaphilipson.typepad.com > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 8, 2007 Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 Hi- We looked on Dave Ramsey's site for endorsed providers when we were shopping for insurance during a job change. I was surprised by what was available thru what he endorsed. I've had tons of medical billing experience so I truly knew what I was looking at, and I would have gone with either of the two policies I found. We ended up not going w/them because in the end we hoped my DH's employer's costs would go down which was a good call on my part because they did w/in 2 months. Some policies may reject as pre-existing " autism " therapies or attach a 1-2year waiting period ... you could consider those options. In the meantime, immune dysfunction is a medical diagnosis over the psych dx of autism, so perhaps some things (after a waiting period) would be covered at that time. Did you check the price of Cobra? Also, some states? I think may " sell " Medicaid now for some groups w/a price based on income, allowing a few more people who wouldn't qualify at the poverty level to still buy some coverage. In Al, our BC has what's called " Allkids " for insurance but I don't know what the income qualifications are. Ultimately, if you are able to get coverage for him separate from the remainder of the family you may save overall if you can find resources for special needs. If you can get basic medical care w/ a long waiting period for " autism " , then you'd at least have coverage for basic medical care and emergencies. Hope you find a good policy. --- we3philipsons <we3philipsons@...> wrote: > Hello all, > > Recently my husband accepted a job that (for now at > least) would > require that we find our own insurance. He has been > looking forward to > this change for a couple of months now (as have I), > but today he's > truly discouraged. > > Because we've had to pay out of pocket for almost > everything we've > done for our daughter, we are looking for an > insurance plan with a > high deductible and an HSA. Basically we're looking > for a little > coverage for catastrophic care. > > Buuutttt...we're beginning to find that any prior > treatment for > anything labeled 'autism' automatically disqualifies > us. > > Has anyone on the list found insurance for those who > are self-employed > or otherwise looking for anything besides > company-sponsored group > insurance? > > It looks as if this will determine if my husband > will be able to take > this new job. > > Thanks in advance for your responses, > Shanna Philipson > > http://shannaphilipson.typepad.com > > ________________________________________________________________________________\ ____ Take the Internet to Go: Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. http://mobile./go?refer=1GNXIC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 9, 2007 Report Share Posted June 9, 2007 Gaylen, You are filled with well-needed info. Thnks a bunch. Michele Davies. " Ms. Michele " ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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