I found a way to get health insurance ( I hope)

[keepsmiling]

Sorry for the repost but I think this will get lost in the Insurance Forum and since others may find this as helpful as I did, I want to be sure it gets seen.


One reason we have been stalling on BK is due to not having ins anymore. Had to finally let it go when our savings disappeared between that and cc payments, it was over 3500/mo we didn't have.

I recently learned that if I/we go back to college- even for a 1-credit class- we can get reasonably priced (for NJ anyway) insurance! Even with the cost of school this works out to a fraction of what we were paying before. Plus I can learn something useful, have free or cheap gym membership, etc. Plus I am hoping that maybe I will qualify for some kind of school financial aid.

Speaking of which--- according the Food Stamps page, scholarships count as income???? Does this make sense to anyone? How are you supposed to eat them??? And is this true in BK? My ds is going to college in the fall and I am wondering if this is going to be an issue, since we certainly can't pay for it and will be relying on aid.

Anyway, as far as the school insurance goes...I REALLY wish I had known this years ago, I would not be in the postion I am in today. This after MANY fruitless discussions with counselors and congress people, and finally came across it in a web search. Doesn't seem to apply to the local community college here, unfortunately... but it might in other people's areas and is certainly worth looking into.

Oh and btw in NJ there do not seem to be any options for joining groups either- not the bar, not the Chamber of Commerce, not AARP, NOTHING that other states seem to offer. In fact, if DH and I want to get some crappy high deductible, not- so- cheap insurance as a group ourselves, he'd have to put me on the payroll and probably hire an accounting firm, and we can't afford to pay me minimum wage. It's ridiculous.

If someone knows something I don't, please fill me in!

[beenvaker]

Almost all policies will cover "preexisting conditions" as long as you have either been continuously insured or have had their plan for a while. So definitely take the time to read the fine print on independent insurance programs.

[tobee43]

Sorry for the repost but I think this will get lost in the Insurance Forum and since others may find this as helpful as I did, I want to be sure it gets seen.


One reason we have been stalling on BK is due to not having ins anymore. Had to finally let it go when our savings disappeared between that and cc payments, it was over 3500/mo we didn't have.

I recently learned that if I/we go back to college- even for a 1-credit class- we can get reasonably priced (for NJ anyway) insurance! Even with the cost of school this works out to a fraction of what we were paying before. Plus I can learn something useful, have free or cheap gym membership, etc. Plus I am hoping that maybe I will qualify for some kind of school financial aid.

Speaking of which--- according the Food Stamps page, scholarships count as income???? Does this make sense to anyone? How are you supposed to eat them??? And is this true in BK? My ds is going to college in the fall and I am wondering if this is going to be an issue, since we certainly can't pay for it and will be relying on aid.

Anyway, as far as the school insurance goes...I REALLY wish I had known this years ago, I would not be in the postion I am in today. This after MANY fruitless discussions with counselors and congress people, and finally came across it in a web search. Doesn't seem to apply to the local community college here, unfortunately... but it might in other people's areas and is certainly worth looking into.

Oh and btw in NJ there do not seem to be any options for joining groups either- not the bar, not the Chamber of Commerce, not AARP, NOTHING that other states seem to offer. In fact, if DH and I want to get some crappy high deductible, not- so- cheap insurance as a group ourselves, he'd have to put me on the payroll and probably hire an accounting firm, and we can't afford to pay me minimum wage. It's ridiculous.

If someone knows something I don't, please fill me in!

nj is a planet within itself!!

before my daughter left......can you believe her company wanted to charge her over 850 dollars a month to add her 2 kids and her husband...and unemployed over qualified masters teacher who could not find a job in 5 years...(duel degrees in education and special ed).........so she put the kids on family care.....it was based on income...so at least the kids were covered for a cost based on their AGI @75 dollars a month....but not a thing for my son in law.....terrible!

i know many don't like hearing this...but GOD FORBID...you get ill......go to the ER.......claim property....(nj state hospitals use to have funds like Hill Burton to write off uninsured)...that's also why so many came from PA for medical help.....

anyway.....GO...if you need to.......meet with the social worker or patient avocate and get the bill lowered........and then list it on your BK.............THEN come visit us.... in the sunshine..

[keepsmiling]

My ds is on Family Care. We would have qualified but my dh insisted we NOT be without insurance for 3 months- a requirement to get on the plan----which led to our ultimate "demise"-- and we wound up not having any anyway. He's been a little head-in-the-sand about our finances for years..... meanwhile we ran out of money and Christie slashed the funding to make it almost impossible for anyone who actually works to qualify. Once ds turns 18 it will be a moot point for us as you must have children in order to qualify yourselves.

At any rate, I did go back to school for a one credit class, and now have insurance, admittedly not very good but better than nothing and at least I can go to the dr. now. Now it remains to be seen if a trustee will buy the tuition as an allowable expense. Sigh.

[Clabbergirl]

Good luck with that. I'm a student and the insurance premiums for me through my school would be nearly $1300/mo with terrible copays.

[keepsmiling]

Ouch. That's not just for you, is it?
Are you at a University? I am in the priciest state in the country and mine is around 90/ mo for me only. But it's a max of 50K per illness/injury so I have to not have open heart surgery...... another school has much better insurance for slightly more, but is much bigger commute--- I will be investigating for the fall.

[Clabbergirl]

$90/month! That's cheaper than my health insurance through my employer (and I work for the gov't!). Yes I attend a University, a private one, no less. That price would've been for a 42 yr old non-smoker, and a 16 yr old female. Eh, whatever. If that's the deal you've got, sounds like a great one!

[chrisdfw]

My insurance through my employer is 350 a month for one person, I believe family coverage is 900/month.

Lets face it, insurance is expensive. In my case worth it since I easily chew through 100k of medical expenses a year. The reason we have insurance is to spread the risk, I got injured so it paid off for me, but others don't and that is how they can afford to pay out on my claims.

The reason it is so expensive is because medical treatment is so expensive. I go to the doctor for 15 minutes and its $300. I don't have the answer but its not an insurance problem, the problem is medical costs.

[tobee43]

My ds is on Family Care. We would have qualified but my dh insisted we NOT be without insurance for 3 months- a requirement to get on the plan----which led to our ultimate "demise"-- and we wound up not having any anyway. He's been a little head-in-the-sand about our finances for years..... meanwhile we ran out of money and Christie slashed the funding to make it almost impossible for anyone who actually works to qualify. Once ds turns 18 it will be a moot point for us as you must have children in order to qualify yourselves.

At any rate, I did go back to school for a one credit class, and now have insurance, admittedly not very good but better than nothing and at least I can go to the dr. now. Now it remains to be seen if a trustee will buy the tuition as an allowable expense. Sigh.

it will be ok...i'm sure...and i'll be wishing a wonderful kind trustee for you..

[keepsmiling]

Thanks Tobee! <3 <3

[tobee43]

Thanks Tobee! <3 <3

when are planning on filing????

[keepsmiling]

We are going to see some new attorneys over the next few weeks. We originally rushed into a decision when we hit panic mode last summer and had second thoughts after she told me to stop reading this forum and she sort of disappointed us with the house comp she came up with--- and took way too long to return the one lousy phone call we made.
Trying to save up some more money. Our cars keep breaking, had to pay tuition, and money is tight. Not in a huge rush, no one is suing us yet. My guess is they know we are self employed so no they can't garnish. We should be getting a nice tax refund from EIC and other credits- so hopefully we'll have a good chunk of it then.

[Pandora]

Keepsmiling

have you checked into the sliding scale provider services for NJ? All states have full service health clinics / hospitals that provide this type of care.

Here are some links to help you

http://www.state.nj.us/faqs/health/index.html

http://www.state.nj.us/health/fhs/cphc/index.shtml

http://www.njpca.org/FQHC/default.aspx

[tobee43]

Keepsmiling

have you checked into the sliding scale provider services for NJ? All states have full service health clinics / hospitals that provide this type of care.

Here are some links to help you

http://www.state.nj.us/faqs/health/index.html

http://www.state.nj.us/health/fhs/cphc/index.shtml

http://www.njpca.org/FQHC/default.aspx

those are GREAT sites....keepsmiling......pandora gave you some great sites.....i know it will work out.

[keepsmiling]

Oh yeah, I am pretty resourceful, called them last MAY for a dentist appointment and still waiting for one lol. They had a shortage of dentists and were supposed to call me when they got more.... honest! They were also unforthcoming about qualifying- had to take my chances on an unknown payment amount according to a mysterious scale (wasn't yet contemplating bk back then)...not in great neighborhoods either.
Finally got the doh involved around Christmas because I was going round and round with the office. It's not so cheap- I can do better with valpak coupons for the dds-- and I need to bring in P&L's, which we don't keep, or the taxes, which only yesterday got done.


But thanks!