I am starting to look into alternatives to employer-sponsored health insurance as our situation will be changing about a year from now. Are there any insurance brokers here that would be able to help me compare, and eventually, purchase options?

I'm also open to cost-sharing services as opposed to insurance, but I think there is a lot, in general, that I don't know, and that I have some learning to do.

Thanks!

I can't help you. I just want to say I'm impressed enough to say I admire people like you who like to plan things like this a year in advance instead of waiting in the last minute and acting surprised like it bit them in the ass.

One simple method is to check on pricing from the health insurance portal. Here you will find gold, silver, bronze type groupings, various conglomerates plans, and ways to access the details. This allows you to get some sense of coverage vs. price.

Employer-provided plans can be 3/4 employer and 1/4 employee cost. So, be ready for a dollar shock.

Most often you must secure insurance from a licensed agent in your locale.

I can't help you either. I am life/health/variable contracts licensed in Missouri.
Like 4MUL8R says, you need to talk to someone local.
Best wishes and keep us posted.

I'm not an insurance broker, but wanted to make sure the OP considered a Health Share Plan. It's not traditional insurance.

There are several, but the only one I've heard about from church acquaintances who use it is the one for Christians called Redeem Health Share

One of the YouTubers I follow is the first I had heard of it and then maybe once a year I'll hear it mentioned from someone at my church. It used to be called Samaritan Ministries Health Share Plan, and that is what it's called in this video which is kind of an interesting account from somebody who had a major event not too long after leaving his Corporate job to do YouTube full time.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
I can't help you either. I am life/health/variable contracts licensed in Missouri.
Like 4MUL8R says, you need to talk to someone local.
Best wishes and keep us posted.

Ok, I didn't realize there was specific state licensing involved... Though, that is a factor in the overall issue as well. Though I am currently in California, when I am in need of this product, the world is my oyster. In reality, we can choose a new state of residence as we plan to be on a year-long (ish) roadtrip with no plan to return to CA as home state.

And researching the health share plans are on my list too.

quote:

Originally posted by thumperfbc:
a year-long (ish) roadtrip with no plan to return to CA as home state.

I can't help you with the insurance question, but I will suggest you consider reversing the order (land somewhere to establish residency somewhere else and THEN take the road trip) as if you do that and are careful about where you have your retirement funds placed (i.e. NOT in CA), you may be able to skip paying CA income taxes for that year on the road.

This is of course assuming you would like to stop subsidizing the Sacramento crazies soonest.

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:

quote:

Originally posted by thumperfbc:
a year-long (ish) roadtrip with no plan to return to CA as home state.

I can't help you with the insurance question, but I will suggest you consider reversing the order (land somewhere to establish residency somewhere else and THEN take the road trip) as if you do that and are careful about where you have your retirement funds placed (i.e. NOT in CA), you may be able to skip paying CA income taxes for that year on the road.

This is of course assuming you would like to stop subsidizing the Sacramento crazies soonest.

I'm trying to see if my job will let me be a resident of another state for the last few months of my employment so I can terminate my residence here before actually "retiring". Then I could sell the house, sever all the legal ties to the state, establish residency in another state (likely SD), and then hit the road with a clean slate. We don't know where we want to land eventually, though it is safe to assume that it likely won't be SD, FL, or TX, the three most likely places for the temporary legal residence. More than likely we'll be CA residents through the end of my employment (April 30), so we'll owe them income tax for those 4 months. Probably. If I could arrange it all to happen in December of this year, that would be great, but we would need a place to live for about 5 months still... might be possible. Several moving parts I am looking into... the health care stuff being one of them.

One of the important goals of the road trip is to actually find the place we want to be. As of now we have a few general regions in mind that seem like good fits, on paper, but we haven't been there... We don't know what we don't know, though.

Back to the focus of this thread....

Obviously my employer sponsored healthcare will come to an end... COBRA would be about $2500. Looking for alternatives. California says my wife and I could get obamacare for less than $400 and they'd happily enroll the kids in Medi-Cal, but that isn't going to happen. So, I'm looking at alternatives.

I have a good friend who is a MD and is willing and able to support us through the transition period with some 'telecare" stuff for routine/small, no emergent needs... plus there are affordable options for telecare... Amazon seems to have one now and that might be a good option for flexibility while traveling the nation... So the MD Friend + Amazon health membership + cheap catastrophic plan to cover things like injuries from car accidents or a broken bone from a stumble would be the remaining concern.

This is just an idea I used in the past.

I became a small business and bought small business health insurance.

There are several groups and organizations that all they do is sell health insurance policies to small businesses.

It was years ago, so I can't point you in any direction for good current coverage.

But at the time it worked well for me.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
One simple method is to check on pricing from the health insurance portal. Here you will find gold, silver, bronze type groupings, various conglomerates plans, and ways to access the details. This allows you to get some sense of coverage vs. price.

Employer-provided plans can be 3/4 employer and 1/4 employee cost. So, be ready for a dollar shock.

Most often you must secure insurance from a licensed agent in your locale.

Aren't there group-based plans that allow some risk sharing and consequent premium reductions? I'm sure that any competent broker could point these out if they fit the OP's situation.

WRT broker/agent recommendations, be aware that the good ones are not cheap. E-mail me and I can provide you a specific recommendation for a freelance broker who is more than competent (not that I can claim any expertise in this field).

It is a very complicated equation, especially when Medicare is dragged into it. If you are eligible for COBRA upon leaving your current employer, it can get even more complicated. Any gap in coverage can trigger ruinous price increases and/or denial of coverage, so be prepared with your new plan well in advance of losing your old one, and document, document, document.

Be careful with plans like the health share plan noted above. Unless I’m mistaken they are not regulated in most states by the Insurance Commissioner office.

You think mainstream insurance companies can get crazy, imagine in an unregulated environment.