USA/FL – Quit job that (sort of) had company provided insurance, started my own business & looking into options for family of 3. Several questions.
I've been doing tons of research the last few days and it's exhausting tbh.
I worked for a family business (construction field, 16 years there) that had fully paid health insurance. Wife is a SAHM with our 2 y/o. About 2 years ago they sold the company to a big conglomerate / corporate holding company. We were sort of grandfathered in with fully provided insurance, until they next policy period rates went up and they didn't cover that additional cost. After that – and just so many other reasons – I just recently quit to run my own company.
Just got our Cobra info in the mail yesterday and it's $1,700/month to continue on my old policy (employer was paying the majority of that). Haven't gotten a chance to shop around other policies yet but was curious what kind of other options there would be out there. If I use that as a baseline I'm looking at over $20k/year (almost $30k oop PER YEAR before insurance kicks in, like wtf?). Between health, home, and auto insurance I'm kissing $30k in premiums for insurance policies alone and it's ridiculous.
I won't qualify for any assistance or CHIP. I feel like I'd be better off w/o insurance and investing $20k/year into a separate account and use that as a medical fallback. But I don't want to be irresponsible for my little guy's sake.
I've got a few scripts but generally healthy. My son is healthy, just a toddler so regular visits & check ups. My wife is generally healthy but does ERP (was covered by insurance) and sees a therapist (does not take insurance, so it'd be OON and have to claim for reimbursement). Is there any specific policy or type that I should look for for her needs?
Related, I'm curious about how Good RX works. It sounds like if I have insurance – or at least a policy that covers prescriptions – it's mandatory that I use it and pay my policy prescription price. But if I don't, or my policy doesn't cover pills, I tell my that to my doc, she sends my script to the pharmacy, I print a Good RX coupon for that pill, present it to the pharmacist and just pay that price?
I'm meeting with a buddy who brokers insurance soon, but figured I'd be best off having options and ideas ahead of time so I can ask him the right questions going in.
TL;DR – US Health Insurance sucks but looking for best "affordable" options for self-employed family of 3.
submitted by /u/RhoadBlock
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