I was just wondering this same question today.
Thanks for the great advice.
What are you doing about health insurance?
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Re: What are you doing about health insurance?
#12http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/
It shows you what coverage is available where you live.
Definitely get health coverage. Even with a deductible on a PPO plan, you still pay LESS than if you didn't have any coverage, because your insurer negotiates with hospitals in its "network" so your rates are cheaper. That is, they don't cover your deductible in any way but the in-network hospital gives you e.g. 20% off because the Insurer made them agree to it.
People who have no insurance who DO pay get billed more to make up for the people with no insurance who don't pay. Health coverage is like paying union dues; large insurance companies have clout, unlike individuals.
Re: What are you doing about health insurance?
#13http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ It shows you what coverage is available where you live. Definitely get health coverage. Even with a deductible on a PPO plan, you still pay LESS than if you didn't have any coverage, because your insurer negotiates with hospitals in its "network" so your rates are cheaper. That is, they don't cover your deductible in any way but the in-network hospital gives you e.g. 20% off because t…
+1 to ehealthinsurance.
First, think of your health insurance plan as actual insurance, meaning something you will hopefully never have to use except in case of catastrophe. All your normal medical expenses will go through your HSA.
Search for HSA plans with high deductibles ($3k to $5k) and 0% co-insurance. Prices for such plans here in San Francisco are $75 to $110 a month. I chose the $75 option from HealthNet.
Then set up your HSA account. I use hsabank.com, but there are many options. Auto-fund your HSA account with $100 to $200 a month depending on your needs and pay all medical expenses from the account.
When the balance of your HSA account matches your deductible ($3k to $5k) then re-evaluate your monthly funding amount so it more closely matches your actual monthly expenses.
Re: What are you doing about health insurance?
#14I'm in the early stages of starting my startup and I'm interested to hear how others are obtaining health insurance.
Living in Europe. There are a whole slew of reasons why Europe is worse for startups, but this is a point in Europe's favor.
Re: What are you doing about health insurance?
#15I went with Assurant health (www.assuranthealth.com) because I need maternity coverage for my wife.
Re: What are you doing about health insurance?
#16I'm in the early stages of starting my startup and I'm interested to hear how others are obtaining health insurance.
Living in Europe. There are a whole slew of reasons why Europe is worse for startups, but this is a point in Europe's favor.
It is? I am in Germany and I was actually wondering if it would be possible to get insurance from a foreign insurance company. The "public health insurance" is REALLY expensive for me (500/month), but I don't see a way out.
Re: What are you doing about health insurance?
#17http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ It shows you what coverage is available where you live. Definitely get health coverage. Even with a deductible on a PPO plan, you still pay LESS than if you didn't have any coverage, because your insurer negotiates with hospitals in its "network" so your rates are cheaper. That is, they don't cover your deductible in any way but the in-network hospital gives you e.g. 20% off because t…
I also use ehealthinsurance.
Re: What are you doing about health insurance?
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Living in Europe. There are a whole slew of reasons why Europe is worse for startups, but this is a point in Europe's favor.
It is? I am in Germany and I was actually wondering if it would be possible to get insurance from a foreign insurance company. The "public health insurance" is REALLY expensive for me (500/month), but I don't see a way out.
Ouch... I guess systems change quite a bit from place to place. In Italy, health care is pretty much just "free" for everyone.
Re: What are you doing about health insurance?
#19I'm in the early stages of starting my startup and I'm interested to hear how others are obtaining health insurance.
If you live in one of the qualifying states (CA is included), http://www.tonikhealth.com has fairly reasonable quotes for "catastrophic" insurance -- $77/mo for their base plan.
I was going to do Tonik ended up being advised by a professional not to. The important thing with all these cheap plans (I have one now around a $100/month) is to make sure they don't just cover generic. If you get really sick and need special drugs--which don't have generics--you're out of luck.
If you live in CA, I'd recommend talking to someone at allhealthplans.com. It's free (the insurer pays them), and they have great information about all the competing companies--no bs, excellent help. I've sent lots of people their way.
Re: What are you doing about health insurance?
#20http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ It shows you what coverage is available where you live. Definitely get health coverage. Even with a deductible on a PPO plan, you still pay LESS than if you didn't have any coverage, because your insurer negotiates with hospitals in its "network" so your rates are cheaper. That is, they don't cover your deductible in any way but the in-network hospital gives you e.g. 20% off because t…
If you are young and relatively healthy, i suggest going w/ disaster insurance (really cheap insurance w/ a high deductible)
Get advice for small colds from med school friends, and get insurance only for those cases when you are hit by a truck because you were too busy writing code in your head to look both ways before crossing the street.
That is what I did. It worked out mostly. Had to pay for one thign out of pocket, but it wasn't too bad.