Health Insurance Question

[lu_hawk]

I've always had health insurance through my parents or through my job but I quit my job recently and will need insurance on my own. I really don't know anything about it and all the HMO and PPO things don't mean anything to me. Basically, I want a plan where I will pay out of pocket for normal doctors visits and such, but that will cover something catastrophic like a car accident. I figure a lot of the gamblers on this site have similar plans so can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks.

[jba]

how recently did you quit your job? if it was recently (i think <60 days) call HR for your old company and ask about COBRA it will probably be the cheapest and you get it for like a year and a half. basically you keep your old health plan but have to pay for it yourself -- but under your old company's pricing structure.

[rmattman]

If you are young and otherwise healthy, a Health Savings Account (HSA) may make sense for you. Basically you couple a high deductible insurance policy (up to $2600 deductible for individual coverage) with a tax-deferred savings account into which you deposit the amount of your deductible each year. You can use the money in the account to cover medical expenses such as MD visits but also for medically related expenses not always covered by insurance (think plastic surgery). If you don't use the money in the account, it will remain in the account until retirement age at which time it becomes like any other IRA and will be taxed on withdrawal at your tax rate in retirement. You can deposit up to the amount of your deductible each year. I would recommend getting a policy with 100% coinsurance meaning that you pay nothing after the deductible is met.