Think You Can Afford To Skip Health Insurance?

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The number of uninsured young adults continues to increase. Thirty-eight percent of high school graduates have no health insurance, and 34% of college graduates lack coverage. The figure is even more for people in Florida seeking health insurance.

Even when young adults are able to secure a job with benefits, those often don't kick in until several weeks, or even months, into employment. The result is a lapse in coverage that could wreck a person's finances for years in the event of catastrophic injury or illness.

"One of the reasons young adults aren't covered is because they think it's too expensive," says Robert Zirkelbach of America's Health Insurance Plans, a health insurance company lobbying group. "Individual health care coverage is more affordable and accessible than is widely known." According to Zirkelbach, 90% of young adults who apply for insurance are offered coverage, and the annual premiums average $1,359 for ages 18 to 24 and $1,534 for ages 25 to 29.

What is too expensive: bills that aren't supplemented by insurance. Medical bills have the power to bankrupt you fast. Even if you are the picture of health, one false step could land you in financial ruin. "A lot of people feel invincible at that age, but I would never tell people not to have insurance," says Dave Hernandez, and founder of Wealth Engineering LLC in Scottsdale, Ariz. "It's the last thing someone at that age thinks about because they're in top mental and physical shape with the whole world ahead of them," he says. "But accidents happen."

Short-term insurance policies can last a couple months to a year with an option to renew, helping people in need of intermittent coverage. "Short-term policies generally have low monthly premium, but tend to have more exclusions like pre-existing conditions," says Zirkelbach. "If you have an extensive history, it will be difficult to get coverage. But health care coverage is more accessible and affordable than is widely believed, especially for that young age group."

One option for young workers in good health is catastrophic insurance like Blue Cross's Tonik and Core 5000 plans. Tonik offers bare-bones plans with high deductibles ranging from $1,500 to $5,000. For as little as $73 a month, depending on age and health, your care will be covered (after you meet the deductible), including emergency room and hospital stays. Catastrophic plans often have a lifetime cap -- Tonik's is $5 million -- so make sure it's high enough to cover a major medical crisis. Also: They rarely include maternity benefits.

Online resources such as ehealthinsurance.com are good places to compare the premiums, deductibles, prescription benefits (as well as important caveats on mental health and maternity coverage) from all the major insurance companies. Student specific coverage is also offered, as long as you're under age 29 and either a full time undergraduate or graduate student.

Medical bills can mount quickly, either leaving you with a future of debt, or burdening your family with a large liability. So get health insurance . "For a couple hundred bucks a month," says Fernandez, "it's worth it."

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Crist Signs Law Helping Make Florida Health Insurance more Affordable

May 31, 2008

Crist signs bill aimed at making health insurance affordable

By JIM SAUNDERS and ANNE GEGGIS
Staff Writers

TALLAHASSEE -- Some employees of Bruce Rossmeyer's Daytona Harley-Davidson are losing a lifeline.

Like millions of people across Florida and the nation, they face the possibility of going without health insurance because soaring costs caused the motorcycle dealership to cut benefits, effective Sunday.

"What happened with the insurance is that it became astronomical in the (price) requote," company official Julie Maenza said. "They (employees) are much better going out on their own instead of coming under our group."

The number of workers who will lose company-backed coverage is a matter of debate. The company says the changes will affect a handful of people in one store, while employees say it will hit at least 100 working in Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach.

Regardless, the employees are now part of what has become one of the biggest issues in Florida.

Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill this month that he argues will take a huge step toward making health insurance in Florida more affordable and available. The plan, in part, is aimed at helping uninsured people buy stripped-down policies for $150 a month or less to cover basic health needs.

"This is a giant step for health care," Senate sponsor Durell Peaden, R-Crestview, said during a bill-signing ceremony. "It's a giant step for the people of Florida."

But while Crist and his supporters have touted the plan, others say questions remain about how it will work.

Insurers are waiting to see guidelines that will play an important role in determining the types of policies they might sell and whether they will even participate.

Part of the challenge is meeting Crist's $150-a-month vow, while also providing enough benefits.

"I think we all agree that something has to be done," said Pam Mims, an administrator with the Holly Hill-based Florida Health Care Plan Inc. "But I don't know if this is the fix for it."

At least one major insurer, Humana, said it likely will not take part in the program, though it wants more details before making a final decision.

But business groups hope the bill, which also includes a new program targeted at small businesses, will help deal with an issue that has led to painful decisions for employers faced with spiraling insurance costs.

"We see this legislation as a significant benefit, especially to the small-business community," said Jim Cameron, a vice president of The Chamber, Daytona Beach/Halifax area.

Florida has one of the highest rates of uninsured in the nation, with more than 3 million residents lacking health coverage. That has wide-ranging ramifications, including people unable to get preventive medical care or relying on crammed emergency rooms when they need to see doctors.

Rep. Dorothy Hukill, a Port Orange Republican who has long worked on proposals to make insurance more affordable to small businesses, said people are struggling to come up with solutions to health costs that far outpace inflation.

"This is such a huge problem," Hukill said. "There doesn't seem to be a magic-bullet answer on the horizon."

Crist seized on the issue this year, pushing lawmakers to pass the bill that calls for offering low-cost coverage to people ages 19 to 64 who have been uninsured for at least six months.

Under Crist's program, people would be able to choose between two types of policies. One would focus heavily on offering preventive care, such as screenings and doctor-office visits, while the other would be more comprehensive and include hospital care.

The program is expected to reduce costs by allowing insurers to offer policies that don't cover dozens of treatments and conditions that are mandated by law in many current health plans.

Also, it would allow insurers to limit services, such as possibly limiting covered hospital days.

But some insurance-industry officials said they're waiting for more details about how the plans might work. The state is supposed to release information by July 1 as part of the process of negotiating with insurers.

While Crist is targeting individuals who are uninsured, another part of the bill focuses on small businesses with one to 50 employees. That part of the bill, which House leaders pushed, will set up a corporation to serve as a sort of clearinghouse for small businesses and employees to buy lightly regulated insurance and other health products.

But questions also remain. Rep. Joyce Cusack, D-DeLand, said she worries that people will buy largely unregulated policies and find out later their medical needs won't be covered.

"I don't think that's going to be good for people," she said.

The employees losing coverage through the local Harley-Davidson dealership, however, have more immediate concerns.

The Ormond Beach wife of one employee was diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks before the company made the announcement. Under a conversion package being shopped to employees, she will have to pay $800 a month with a $1,500 deductible that would cover only her.

That's about $200 a month more than she and her husband paid before the cancellation to cover them both. She's tried to find more-affordable insurance but had no luck.

"No one's going to take me -- I have cancer," said the woman, who didn't want her name used because of concerns her husband could be fired.

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