As a PP notes, if you drop coverage for a few months, then your next insurer can deny you coverage for a pre-existing medical condition for a 6-12 month period (or whatever the new policy provides the waiting period is). I think that under federal law you can have a gap of coverage of around 60 days but any more than that you can be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, although, as noted by PP, that will change in 2014. Agree that trying to raise your deductible to lower your premium may be the best way to go for now.

Look into catastrophic insurance.

It sucks OP. I have to keep raising my deductible nearly every year b/c they keep raising the premium. I'm scared of what it will be next year. Call your current provider and ask what it would cost at higher deductibles. I pay for an individual parent and child plan w/ BCBS and it is my highest bill each month aside from my rent.

I'm covered by the Maryland High Risk Pool because I got denied by every other plan because of a history of lovenox use during pregnancy (though the plans I applied for did not include maternity and have taken permanent birth control measures). Its reasonably priced for a decent plan, if you are a MD resident.

To the PP, they can continue to deny for preexisting conditions until 2014 except for kids. Even still, my 11 month old has a rider on his plan because he was on *gasp* reflux medication for 5 months. I really hate insurance comapnies.

I am sorry, OP. We were there a few years ago and borrowed money to pay our premiums for a few months. It sucked.
Is there any chance you can get a pt job at Starbucks? Once you work so many hours you are eligible for health insurance as a part-timer.

Try ehealthinsurance.com to find a plan. Call and talk to someone and see what they recommend you do. We've used them and you can see all your options online.

Also, I thought they can't deny you just make you pay more. That's what we've had to do since DH had to have both hips replaced. We pay a ton, and get basically no coverage - everything is out of pocket.

Heathcare is this county is pathetic but that's a whole other thread. Practically every other industrialized country and many "developing" countries have decent national care available to all citizens.

OP I feel for you. We are basically in the same boat.

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid my parents only had insurance for hospitalization - it covered nothing else no doctors visits, etc. Maybe they still offer it in some form?

I believe they are called indemnity plans, they basically cover catastrophic events. I personally think that is what health insurance is for. My car insurance doesn't cover gas, oil changes, and other basic services - it's there in case I get in an accident. But more and more we want health insurance to cover breast pumps and other things and that is why more people like OP can't afford it. Couple that with increased costs due to more expensive treatment options (fewer people are dying of cancer because we have better but more expensive treatments) and our poor health (increased obesity causing chronic diseases, etc.) and the costs are really unsustainable.

So people drop their insurance, then end up in the ER and costs go up for everyone.

Sorry OP - it's a sucky situation. Try to hold on to it if you can, it's harder to get insured if you've been without insurance for a while.

When I was a kid my parents only had insurance for hospitalization - it covered nothing else no doctors visits, etc. Maybe they still offer it in some form?

My income recently went way, way down and at the exact same time my health insurance premium went up by over 20%. I simply cannot afford it right now. I tried applying for a couple of less expensive plans offered by different insurance providers but was denied for each of them. I have asthma and have had an ACL issue, which health insurance companies apparently don't like, which is why I ended up with Kaiser in the first place (denied by everyone else).

I was thinking of dropping it for a few months, but... are there any other options that I am missing?

Thanks for any input.