health insurance?

[Horseradish99]

Hey guys,

I just found out my health insurance expired yesterday! Yikes. As the sibling of someone who had a major traumatic injury and who would have put our family into complete destitution had he not been insured, I see the need to get some insurance quick!

Does anyone know if med schools can offer health insurance to students the summer before they start school?

Anyone else experiencing this and have good solutions? The job I'm working at this summer offers some health insurance, but its way overpriced and since I'll only be working there for another 6 weeks, it seems pointless.

thanks!

scott

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[steve007]

no insurance for about 1 1/2 years, the trick is not to get sick/hurt.

 

[loyen]

I haven't had insurance for the last year and its been a struggle (got sick a few times, etc) - what you need is what I finally found to be the solution. Make friends with a pharmacist that will give you antibiotics.
I say tough it out for two months - just don't go outside with wet hair or any of those other things your mother warned you about.

 

[DarkChild]

f- insurance in general and in particular health insurance!!!
after i was laid off - my insurance premiums went from $120/month to $250/month. come on now. if this is the kind of crap they are going to pull on me now as a healthy 23 y/o... what are they going to do to me when i get older?
and then about a month ago i found this article in the WSJ about this guy who had worked for some manufacturer for 30 years. his insurance premiums were ~$200/month. he retires and his insurance premiums go to $2000/month. and the dude had some kind of heart disorder so its not as if he could really avoid getting insured. him and his wife managed to save $20K over the 30 years. and in less than a month it would be gone in insurance premiums.
so i've avoided the scam that is health insurance. if i get sick, or badly mangled while riding my bike - fine. sometimes you gotta stand up for what you believe in

 

[Sunnygirl]

I'm not sure where you live, but check out Aetna's Individual Advantage Plan -- if you are a single female between 19 and 24, you can get a plan for $139/month (w/ $20 copays) or $174/month (w/ $10 copays), though this is in SouthEastern PA. If you are a single male between 19 and 24, you can get a plan for $88/month (w/ $20 copays) or $110/month (w/ $10 copays).

Try calling 1-800-IAP-5939 for more info. And good luck! Having health insurance is really important.

 

[Iron Horse]

For primary health care needs you can use a free clinic or chc. Some even give free/discounted meds -- if not, be assertive and pursue an indigent drug program offered by the pharmaceutical companies. The real risk, as you've noted, is catastrophic coverage. Not sure what you can do other than purchase coverage for that.

 

[thezero]

Whoa sunny girl good looking out. That almost seems to good to be true, personally, I have been living by the don't get sick/hurt paradigm myself.

-0-

 

[thezero]

Whoa sunny girl good looking out. That almost seems to good to be true, personally, I have been living by the don't get sick/hurt paradigm myself. How ironic for med students

-0-

 

[lattimer13]

i'm a 24 yo white male and pay $89/month for cigna hmo.

health insurance is a joke nowadays. it's a joke because insurance companies are mostly now "for profit" organizations vs. years ago when they weren't. they keep on raising premiums for patients while cutting back on reimbursements to physicians. might explain why physicians' salaries keep on going down.

either way, until the US gets this issue figured out, you got to have health insurance in case of you get seriously sick or injured. you're screwed if you don't have it and something drastic happens.

 

[avhart]

I had to get short-term health insurance after my parents' stopped covering me...this is what they found for me, it's not too expensive and is super easy to do...(see link at end)

DO NOT go without health insurance. It's a wise investment or you'll risk getting stuck with big bills. I had a professor who told us this story about how she went without insurance for the summer in between her undergrad and grad programs and during the 2 months she got into a bike accident, hit her head, and ended up paying insane amounts of money...it's worth it to spend the couple hundred bucks.


http://www.etdbw.com/fh/fortishealth/index.jsp

 

[numinous]

The U.S. is the only industrialized country which doesn't have a national health program, yet we pay more per capita than any other country in the world. Over 18,000 people die each year from lack of insurance while medical reasons and large medical debt are responsible for almost half of personal bankruptcies. I believe that we can make meaningful change if we implement a public health insurance. As physicians, we will have important roles in reforming our corrupt health care system!

Check these out!
Physicians for a National Health Program
Coalition for a National Health Program

 

[doc4sure]

Try Fortis Insurance. They are the big fish in short term insurance.
I think their website is www.temporaryinsurance.com, and if that fails try 800-892-6444.
Stay healthy dude

 

[avhart]

Originally posted by doc4sure
Try Fortis Insurance. They are the big fish in short term insurance.
I think their website is www.temporaryinsurance.com, and if that fails try 800-892-6444.
Stay healthy dude

The link I gave above is for Fortis. You can get it in a hurry and for a short time (like the summer).

 

[Horseradish99]

thanks...

forbis it is!

scott