Under 30 years old? Then you have a few different options when it comes to getting affordable health insurance.Â
Being young and healthy doesn’t mean taking it for granted and having health insurance can help protect you from catastrophic injury costs or financial ruin due to medical bills without insurance.
Accidents can happen to the best of us and considering the insane cost of healthcare in the United States without insurance, you’ll want to get health insurance one way or another. Let’s see your options.
Get or Stay on Parent’s Plan
This will be the most straightforward way to get health insurance under the age of 26 but there are a few stipulations.
- You can only go on your parent’s health insurance until you turn 26 years old, then you are on your own for buying or getting health insurance.Â
- You have parents or guardians with employment-based health insurance
- Your parents are willing to put you on their insurance plan
Let’s be clear, just because your parents have health insurance through their employer, it doesn’t mean you’re automatically receiving it. You have to be added to your parent’s plan, if this hasn’t been done yet, you only have up until 26 years old to take advantage of this law.
Get Health Insurance Through Your Employer
Many employers will offer full-time employees a health insurance plan, either partially or fully paid by the employer. If your company offers a health insurance plan and you cannot stay with your parents (or don’t have that option), be sure you take advantage of it. Even if you have to pay half of the health insurance plan, it is worth it. Not having insurance could create serious financial
Get Help Buying Your Own Health Insurance
If you’re on your parent’s health insurance plan, the day you turn 26, you’re kicked off of it! Even if they want to keep you on their insurance plan, they can’t, and it’s up to you to find your own health insurance. Today that doesn’t have to be too difficult. Depending on your income level you may qualify for government programs like Medicaid or other forms of supplemental health insurance health.
If you’re unemployed or underemployed you likely qualify for these programs. Head over to HealthCare.gov and get over to your state’s marketplace. You can easily choose from plans that suit your budget and medical needs. Individuals making less than $18,000 a year (individual) or under $24,000 a year (married couple with no children) can pay little or nothing per month for health care.
These government programs exist for a reason, so be sure to take advantage of them if you don’t get insurance through your work and can’t afford private pay insurance.
Buying Your Own Private Health Insurance
If you’re 26 or older, have no employer-backed healthcare options, or make too much money to get government assistance, you’ll be on your own to buy health insurance. You can do this through your state government’s open marketplace at HealthCare.gov, or you can go directly to private insurers. You’ll pay more but you’ll be protected.
Student Health Insurance Plans
If you’re attending college you will need health insurance. Usually, students arrive at college on their parent’s health plans but this isn’t always the case. If you’re not on your parents’ plan or don’t have the option you’ll have to get your own health insurance before school begins. You can do it on your own privately or you can purchase health insurance through the university. The school will offer greatly reduced healthcare rates to their enrolled students. Typically you can get a full 6 months of coverage for $600-700 depending on where the school is located.
These university ran healthcare plans are usually offered through large medical insurance companies like United Health Care or Aetna and will offer a high quality of care for a greatly reduced student rate. Considering how expensive going to college can be, a cheap healthcare plan through the school could be your best bet. You may even find it’s far cheaper than the private insurance you’re paying for so many students in that case will drop their private plan and go onto the school’s plan.
I’m Healthy, Do I Need Health Insurance?
Let’s look at it this way. Let’s say you’re walking to your car during winter and don’t see the black ice at the bottom of the stairs leading to your apartment building parking lot. You slip and you break your forearm badly in the ensuing fall. Two things can then happen:
- You have health insurance, go and get the care you need (ER visit, surgery, physical therapy, pain medication, etc) and you only pay your co-pay and deductibles.
- You have NO health insurance and the entire bill for all the medical care falls on you, considering the ER visit, surgery, physical therapy and prescriptions, would be nearly $20,000 or more all told.
So, you can either have health insurance and be protected or not have health insurance and take your chances. Sure if you never get sick and never get hurt, then you’re fine. But a simple thing like a sprained finger can cost thousands, a single ambulance ride can be thousands, and on and on it goes.
Be smart, get health insurance.
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