Health Insurance Question for fulltime players

[slavic]

Do a search for health insurance plans offered in your state and then look at their disaster insurance policies. IF you are sufficiently bankrolled what you will find are relativly low cost policies that cover nothing until you spend 10k and then they kick in.

This likely won't cost you more than a few hundred a year, and if you get hurt or sick, it will save your hide. In the past year I have racked up a very high 6 figures hospital sum for two health issues, and 18 months ago I would never have even guessed I would have had a problem. The point is that you never can tell and this is not an area that you really want to gamble.

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

Not having health insurance is very dangerous. While you are unlikely to have a severe or costly injury/illness at a young age, if it happens you can be financially crippled for years to come. Add to this the financial disincentive for seeing a doctor when you should (and thereby missing a serious problem that could have been caught early) and this one's a no-brainer.

[Stellastarr]

Move to Canada.

[SirArthur]

Call Blue Shield and ask them to send you some information, an application etc.

I have an individual PPO plan with Blue Shield, it costs me around $100 per month. I chose one of the cheaper plans; thus I have a deductible of $2000.

Came in handy though, because while playing football last December I broke my ankle, tore ligaments, and amassed a few thousand worth of medical bills with tons of X-rays, a bone scan, physical therapy, etc.

Get health insurance now, anyway you can.
Or you can sue to gain the rights of an illegal alien, and get your health care for free like they can.

[otctrader]

[ QUOTE ]
Get health insurance now, anyway you can.
Or you can sue to gain the rights of an illegal alien, and get your health care for free like they can.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah isn't that great; we have to shell out thousands for insurance yet illegals and convicted felons enjoy top-notch care for free.

[naschburger2]

Let me clarify a few things. First, the health insursance on an HSA works just like a high deductible health insurance plans and therefore otc is incorrect about paying higher doctor and hospital chages. As long as you opt for the preferred provider option and go to docs and hospitals on the list you pay the same rate as the insurance company until your deductible is met.
There are different deductibles available and they are higher for families than for singles. You pay the deductible and then the insurance company pays up to 100% after that point each year. You can contibute up to your deductible each year to the health saving plan which may be offered by the health carrier or by an independent bank or security firm. The health savings plan works like an IRA all deposits are fully deductible and can be taken out for income after age 59 1/2. The big advantage is that the funds can be used at any time for paying medical, dental, vision benefits and the health insurance premium is less since it has a high deductible. You are usually given a debit card or check book to pay for these bills from your HSA and those for health insurance should first be repriced by the carrier at the preferred provider rate but just use it directly for dental and vision. The change from MSA to HSA made this plan available to all workers and I think it works great for poker players that delare income since you are gambling a smaller premium that you will remain healthy but if you do have a major illness it won't bankrupt you. Also, with an income that is very variable you can deposit to the HSA when you are doing well and just pay the health insurance premium when things are not going well. Sorry about the ramble.

[jasonHoldEm]

Hi naschburger2,

Thanks for your answer, one more question though...can you pay for your health insurance premiums out of your HSA or is it for medical bills only (i.e. doctor hospital, etc)? Perhaps that's a stupid question, but I wasn't sure. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Thanks,
J

[naschburger2]

no it cannot be used to pay for your health insurance premiums. I believe premiums for certain other policies like long term care can be paid with the HSA funds. Keep in mind you can use the HSA funds for many items that aren't covered by your health insurance policy such as dental and eyeglasses. If you shop and have any questions feel free to pm me or post here.