fighting rejection

While mrs. a-go-go sorts things (yes, like armloads of lobsters) and kicks up clouds of dust, I have been stuffing the keepers into boxes while shopping for things we'll need. The biggest pain in the butt is health insurance. Ak! I am quitting my job to walk off this cliff we are planning so we'll loose the half baked HMO insurance we've relied on from my soon to be former employer. We could ride the COBRA but that would cost $800 per month and would bankrupt us way too fast. Sorry to tear up the fantasy folks, but the new health insurance bill won't have any effect until 2014. Even then it's main accomplishment will be to make it more difficult for sick folks to be cut off. Don't get me wrong, that in its self is an accomplishment, but we're a long way from affordable medical insurance.

Figuring I had to look for some option to the COBRA coverage, I wrestled with the application forms for a high deductible plan from Anthem Blue Cross. That would have cost us about $190 per month and wouldn't cover much, but it would keep us from bankruptcy if we were hospitalized. Ah well, it seems our medical histories are too rich for Anthem. They turned us down, even for a plan that really pays very little until we spend all our savings to make the deductible and "out-of-pocket-maximum". In the event of hospitalization we'd be out about $12,000.

After being turned down by Anthem I found a "temporary" policy that can run for up to six months and costs $200 per month. The Anthem policy at least would cover some generic prescriptions (but none of mrs. a-go-go's asthma meds) while this temporary policy has no pharmacy coverage at all and a similar high out-of-pocket.

Harrumph. Well, it will at least cover our butts if we get in trouble. We'll have to find some kind of job with some insurance soon after the trip. What, me worry?