I was chatting with one of the ladies on a local board and the subject of health insurance came up. She is looking for new health insurance. What do you ladies who do this full time do for health insurance?



-- Modified on 10/7/2003 9:05:27 AM

That's an excellent question. Until a Houston lady was kind enough to stress the importance of health insurance, many of us didn't make the effort to get it. I went to www.humana.org as she suggested and am now insured.

There are still many providers who do not want to spend $200 + monthly on insurance because they think they can wait.  For those men who see a provider regularly, I would suggest that you consider helping her with something like that before buying other gifts.  The security that health insurance provides is something that we all need. We owe it to our friends and families to look out for ourselves when it comes to healthcare.

Kelly FunHoustonDate

Hi there,

I use a company called unicare.  www.unicare.com  They are only available in about 23 states but they are great.  Since I am a healthy, non-smoking 28 year old woman with no children I have catastrophic insurance.  It costs me $78 a month, 100% dental, $5000 deductable and 80/20.

Tell her to check them out.  That's really nice that you are concerned for her.

Good luck.

I'm an independant consultant. I'm a member of the local chamber of commerce. I can get great group rates. Just a suggestion.

Say the two of you entered into a long term friendship and she asked if you would carry her on your medical insurance for a year, would you?

In California you can get individual insurance from Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Kaiser Permanente and probably a few others.

I'd carry my ATF, she's already a close friend. She'd probably get a much better rate and much better coverage to boot. But she wouldn't ask, so I'm making an empty statement.

For those with a family plan it probably wouldn't even change the premium (step daughter, niece, other obscure relative anyone??).

But the danger you run into here is: what happens if, after the year is up, she asks to stay on another year (and another, and another...). This could be one of those things that causes resentment and ruins a friendship. As I'm so fond of saying, you've got to communicate.

Ask yourself these questions: Whom among your circle of friends would you carry for a year? Where does your ATF fall with respect to this circle?

Yes,

In my case I am able to add as many people as I want to my policy. I would add them as a 1099 employee. So for me it is no problem.

As a matter of trust, if I trust them enough to be in a long term friendship, yes.

Consult a lawyer BEFORE adding someone who does not have any legal rights by employment, domestic partner relationship or marriage to your health insurance (medical, dental etc.) or health benefits package. It's not worth the legal hassles if something goes wrong in the relationship. My two cents.