Self employed and switching insurance, post diagnosis

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Footsox2
Footsox2 Member Posts: 11
edited November 2015 in Employment, Insurance, and Other Financial Issues

I have been self employed for over 25 years. I had United Health Care when I was diagnosed with BC 8 years ago. Went through chemo, surgery, etc. My health insurance premiums are now over $10,000 quarterly with a deductible of almost $2000 per year. (I haven't reached my deductible in a several years, so I pay for office visits and any tests out-of-pocket too) I am now just seeing a General Practitioner for check ups, and basically normal stuff for a person my age. No more cancer. When Obama care came into being, I was skeptical to leave my United Health Care plan, so I have kept it. Now, I would like to try to get a better insurance rate, because quite frankly, the $10,000 quarterly is going to really squeeze our finances. Is it possible for a self-employed person like me, who has had cancer to get a better rate? Can anyone suggest a different company or different plan? Is anyone else self-employed and not paying such high rates? Thanks for any insights or suggestions.

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  • rainnyc
    rainnyc Member Posts: 1,289
    edited November 2015

    Are you saying you're paying $40,000/year for insurance? Because that is not okay!

    Are you in a state that uses the federal healthcare exchange, or one that has its own exchanges? (Assuming you're in the U.S.) In any case, because of the Affordable Care Act, insurers are not allowed to charge you a higher premium or deny you coverage because you've had a particular illness. You should be able to get a much more reasonable rate from the exchanges, whether federal or state. You might want to check the hospital where you've been treated for BC as well as check with your GP to see which insurance they take, then see whether you can get any of those on the exchanges or as an individual customer.

    The issue I've had is that the plans on the exchanges are often very narrow in terms of their networks of hospitals and caregivers. So it may be a trick to get both your GP and BC hospital on another plan. But I can't imagine that you wouldn't be able to pay far less by switching plans.

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  • lisa-e
    lisa-e Member Posts: 819
    edited November 2015

    The open enrollment period for individuals on the exchanges is 11/1/15 through 1/31/16.

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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited November 2015

    We are self employed too. We were in a CPA association group pre Obama care, then jumped to an individual plan, recently BCBS notified us they were canceling our plan. We worked with an agent and she is getting our old plan back through a group which consists of my husband and me through our LLC. No preexisting condition clause of course but it is age rated. DH is 60, I'm 55. We'll pay $1800 a month for the two of us. It is by far our largest expense.
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  • Footsox2
    Footsox2 Member Posts: 11
    edited November 2015

    Hi farmerlucy - Thanks for the reply. I didn't know that they could cancel you. (Their reason was because of breast cancer??) I think I have a lot to learn about insurance.... I am located in Florida, and my husband is old enough that he is on Medicare plans, so it is just me as self-employed for the insurance. I think I need to check the professional associations and see if I can find something good. Can anybody recommend one? My industry specific ones are either non-existent or really poor. Someone had recommended to me that I check out Chamber's of Commerce in my area. I am not sure that I can get Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Florida. I have also heard there might be some associations of women executives I could join and then get insurance through them. Thanks for all the replies so far. I really appreciate it!

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  • proudtospin
    proudtospin Member Posts: 5,972
    edited November 2015

    pre ACC and the cancer stuff, I stayed on my job with no change purely due to the fear of not being able to get health insurance

    but I had looked at my alma mater and all my professional orgs, I would suggest you may want to start there

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  • WinningSoFar
    WinningSoFar Member Posts: 951
    edited November 2015

    Dear footsox,

    ACA (also known as Obamacare) was written for you! Please go to the federal website and shop there. Your preexisting condition cannot be used against you, and the premium for age is capped. If you qualify for a subsidy, that's where you get it. But you don't have to qualify for a subsidy to use the website. I would think that you'd be paying somewhere between $800 - $1000 a month based on your age. Maybe somewhat less.

    I've never understood what happens if you circumvent the federal website and go directly to other insurors. Can they charge whatever they want and also charge you for pre-existing conditions? I really don't know.


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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited November 2015

    they didn't cancel us in particularthey just decided not to renew the plan for 40,000 of us. It is the new insurance work-around if they're not getting enough profits from that particular plan.

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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited November 2015

    I'm not saying this with anger or sarcasm. It is the absolute truth.

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  • Footsox2
    Footsox2 Member Posts: 11
    edited November 2015

    Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate it. I have started looking at the Obama Care website and will probably choose a plan with them. I get a little nervous about Obama Care. There are far fewer people signing up, and I think the low numbers of people are not supporting the insurance companies like they had thought. I had heard that one of the big insurance companies (United Health Care, I think) was pulling out. Not to be political, but it is possible Obama Care may still be changed. I had kept my expensive plan, and not gone with Obama Care, because I thought it was wise to wait. Now, with my high premiums, I don't have much of a choice, but to change to Obama Care and hope it all turns out. It certainly is sad, that we all have to worry about our cancer, and also worry about our health insurance. Oh well, it is what it is I suppose. Thanks for all the replies and help. You guys are great.

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  • rainnyc
    rainnyc Member Posts: 1,289
    edited November 2015

    Footsox, you'll do better on healthcare.gov. I really do think the ACA is a force for good. Being self-employed, if I'd been diagnosed a few years back, I don't think I could have gotten insurance, and even if I had I would quickly have been up against lifetime maximum amounts of money. I agree with you that aspects of it will change, but I am unspeakably grateful for the legal protections that allow me to get insurance, that will pay for surgery and reconstruction both, and so forth. It's true that it means every fall I have to drop everything and renew our plan or, likely, look for a new one, keeping in mind not only my needs but those of DH and DS.

    But I completely agree with you that it stinks that we have to worry about our cancer AND about our insurance!

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  • crabbiepattie
    crabbiepattie Member Posts: 108
    edited November 2015

    I've stayed with United Healthcare in Colorado since my diagnosis 5 years ago. I have an HSA plan, PPO 100% with a deductible of about $3000 for around $675 a month plus HSA contributions. I'm in my early 60's and expect to tough out big premium increases each year till Medicare kicks in.

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  • Footsox2
    Footsox2 Member Posts: 11
    edited November 2015

    Hi crabbiepatty, Mine is with United Health Care also. I am going to call them and rant! I'll post back here and tell you what happened. Crazy.

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