For Florida residents without insurance

[marley2003]

http://www.coverfloridahealthcare.com/

Here is an insurance program through the state for those who have lost their coverage and don't qualify for medicaid or can't get coverage due to pre-existing conditions etc. I believe they do require that you not have insurance for six months first, but it's better than nothing!

[marley2003]

I know exactly what you're saying, and obviously the cost/benefit analysis is different for everyone. Of course, if you're hospitalized without coverage or need diagnostic tests, unless you have lots of spare cash... well, you know what I mean.

[JadedSweetheart]

I looked at the United and the BCBS.  The United plan you are talking about covers up to $500,000 lifetime.  Which someone could easily use in a year of actual catostrophic illness.  It differs from a PPO in that for most services it only covers in-network.  With a PPO you can see anyone in-network or not with less coverage out-of-network.
With the United plan, for instance, for the basic and catastrophic, either individual or group, the average monthly premium is about $100 for basic and $300 for catastrophic.  The basic plans cover up to $450 a year in doctor visits and the catatstrophic covers $1000 a year after a $500 deductible, so basically $500 a year with a $10 and $20 copay.  
The basic plan would cost an average of $1200 a year and still cost $800 out-of-pocket for one appt monthly and the catastrophic would be $3600 in premiums yearly and still cost $750 out-of-pocket for a monthly doctor's visit at $100 a visit.

So the thing is, you're paying about $4400 a year for the United catastrophic insurance for just doctor's visits.
If you were to pay out of pocket it would be $1200 a year.  Same $100 doctor's visit.  Then if you were to get any prescriptions with the insurance, let's just say total monthly prescriptions cost $200 a month self pay, which I consider to be a low cost.  The total out-of-pocket wihout insurance would be $2400 a year.  With insurance it would be $1900 a year.  So now the total cost of medical care with United catastrophic insurance is $6300 and uninsured out-of-pocket cost is $3600.
The costs of outpatient procedures and other things are generally comparable to that and I'm not going to bother doing the math on them as I'm not familiar with the costs there.
So overall, for just basic doctor's visits and prescriptions you are paying more in premiums than you would for basic health care and it only covers the very basics anyway.  It would really depend on what services someone uses, though, and the cost analysis is different for everyone.  I was just using general costs.

I hope I didn't get too confusing with my sad math skills, and I may have figured things wrong but that's why I've never bought into one of those plans.  

[marley2003]

Here it is...

http://www.coverfloridahealthcare.com/docs/United%20Health%20Care-Individual.pdf

Look at the one on the right under catastrophic... It covers more or less what a regular PPO plan would cover.

[marley2003]

Check out the United plan. They have one that seems to cover everything up to half a million dollars. They have a plan with catastrophic & regular coverage. Some of the other plans like BC/BS don't cover anything. Of course, they cost much less... but what's the point?

[JadedSweetheart]

Thanks for the info, Marley!  
It is most likely better than nothing for someone who sees one doctor every other month, takes inexpensive prescriptions and gets one test or outpatient procedure a year.  I have looked into it for my husband, but even the catastrophic wouldn't be practical for me as in some cases it is more expensive than paying out of pocket.