Health Insurance: NASE

[phoenixx]

I've been researching health insurance options over the last 4 months (nothing inspires health insurance like a car wreck and 4 months in a recliner) and had narrowed it down to 2: Anthem and Cigna.

Cigna was out (they denied coverage because of my Asthma), so that left Anthem, or so I thought.

I got a call from a salesman from the NASE (National Association of the Self Employed) the other day, and decided to hear him out (honey and I are both self employed).

I am so glad I did! For the same price as Anthem was just for health, we now have health, dental, vision, prescription, life, accidental death/dismemberment and disability insurance. It starts May 1.


Woot!

That does not include a bunch of other incidental benefits from the NASE itself related to running our businesses.

I will have to report how the insurance is to use once I get it, but on paper I'm very pleased.

(For those of you who are number crunchers: Anthem was 498 a month for the two of us, he is 34 and I am 35, without maternity or any of the other insurance offered by NASE. NASE? Is 469 for all the listed services.)

[amykhar]

cool

[emeleel]

Great! I'm so happy for y'all!

[pippadaisy[$]]

Holy crap. What does that cover on each of them? That's WAY less than what my gf and her husband pay.

[phoenixx]

It uses Chesapeake for the Health, Vision, Dental, Prescription and Mega Life and Health for the Life/Disability.

The health is $2500 deductable, $25 copay, $15 generic scrip/25% off name scrip, the deductable drops to $1250 if you are hospitalized for injury, coinsurance maximum is $2500, Life time max is $5M. Covers 80%: in hospital services, intensive care unit, cardiac unit, misc inpatient svcs and supplies, surgeon benefit, outpatient surgery facility, hospice care svcs. Covers 80% ground ambulance per trip. Covers 80% durable medical equipment and prosthetics, with artificial limb or eye replacement not subject to the maximum of $3000. Covers 100% transplant procedures in a designated transplant facility plus $2500 in travel per procedure and 80% transplant in non-designated transplant facility. Benefits covered not subject to the deductable: 80% physician visits in hospital assuming one per day of stay, $75 copay then 80% of ER treatment, 100% second surgical opinion. In NH it covers 100% mammogram, 80% reconstructive breast surgery, 80% nonsprescription enteral formula, 80% diabetic services and supplies. They offer additional discounts off prescription cost if you get your scrip by mail.

There's a bunch more, but here are a few of the listed non-covered items:

Fertility treatments OR contraceptives. They came down as not covered on both sides of the issue.

Hernia, tonsils, adenoids, appendix, varicose veins, or any disease of the reproductive organs is not covered until you have had the policy 6 months.

In my plan I declined maternity benefits, which lowered the cost considerably.

Pre-existing conditions previously diagnosed by another physician must wait 6 months after policy inception for coverage.

They don't cover those hose people wear for circulation for some reason (it doesn't say why).

Oddly enough, Anthem also did not cover contraceptives or fertility treatments. I'd never heard of that before.

The way the vision and dental works is it covers a sliding percentage of the cost for various precedures, and office visits are coverd under the non-deductable copay. There are two denied procedures: LASIK and certain dental work, like gold crowns, that is strictly cosmetic with no dental benefit.

[thinkerlady[$]]

Good for you. We had Cigna up to last year. I was glad to see them go away. Everything was always a battle. We have United now.

My daughter will be off our policy at the end of May. Her insurance doesn't kick in until she starts work 2 weeks later. To keep her on our policy it will be over $500. for 1 month. We are looking for something just a bit cheaper! Just medical. Let me know what you think of your insurance Leslie.

[pippadaisy[$]]

Even $500 is cheap. The last time I had to do COBRA was back in 1999, and it was over $700/mo.

[theworm[$]]

Yay! So you have insurance!! I'm so glad!!!

[thinkerlady[$]]

pippadaisy said

Even $500 is cheap. The last time I had to do COBRA was back in 1999, and it was over $700/mo.

But that is for 1 person. Just medical. No prescriptions, dental or vision.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

I'm with Pippa. One person, one month, no dental/vision, no frills would have cost me $1200 two-three years ago.

[pippadaisy[$]]

That was just me, Angie! No dental. No vision, no frills.

[frazzledspice]

Congratulations. It's hard to comparison shop for health insurance, because there are so many variables--age, health history, state you live in, etc.

But thanks for showing us all that it can be done.

[logjammin87]

it is important