employers health ins not sufficient..any advice

[juliedealer]

What is the name of your state? Indiana

Is it possible to buy a supplemental health ins plan? My employer provides health insurance, but appears to be seriously lacking, many of my co-workers complain about the plan. Can I buy a plan to supplement my employers plan?

thanks

 

[purple2]

Yes, a person is allowed to have >1 insurance plan. Use Google or the yellow pages to find carriers.

 

[ablessin]

You can purchase another plan, however - you need to weigh the cost of doing this:

gather/consider your medical bills/expenses.
Shop for another coverage - what is the monthly premium going to be?
Will they cover non-covered costs by your employers plan?

It may not be worth the added premium cost to purchase another policy.

Think of this :
If you have $300 a month in medical costs, and it's going to cost you $300 to pay for another policy, it probably isn't worth it, you know?

You'll have to call around, and ask how much a supplemental plan is, but unless you have high medical expenses, you could wind up shooting yourself in the foot in the long run!
good luck either way

 

[somarco]

At one time I felt that supp plans were a waste of money . . . but that has changed. Yes, there are supp policies out there not worth bringing home, but there are some good ones that dont cost an arm & leg.

Examples would be:

Lump sum critical illness. Policy pays a flat $10,000 - $50,000 on first diagnosis of specified illness.

Lump sum hospital/surgical. Pays flat amount on hospital admission, surgical schedule, daily R&B.

Hidden providers can eat up a lot of OOP in addition to deductibles & coinsurance. Copays can become quite expensive if you have something chronic or a medical problem that requires repeat follow up or monthly refills on meds.

In addition, many folks lack sufficient cash reserves/sick pay to cover missing a week+ of paychecks. These cash plans can help not only with OOP but paying the rent, utilities, food, etc.

A second major med rarely makes sense, but I can see the benefit in some of the supp policies.

 

[ablessin]

I agree if there is a chronic illness that a supp plan is a good idea.

That is what I wanted to be clear on - that the OP doesn't say, I have poor coverage and buy more, when in fact they probably don't really NEED it...

That's all!

Just making sure all bases are covered......... financially

Thank you!

 

[cbg]

Nothing in the law says that you can't buy a plan to supplement that provided by your employer, if that is the question.

However, as the other posters indicated, you will need to weigh carefully whether the cost of the plan additional plan is worth the additional benefits.