Health Insurance

[GeoHiker]

Im planning on a thru starting this march, and was curious what people did for health insurance? Im quitting my job, so i wont have insurance through them, but did not know if the ATC or anyone covers the whole trail. thoughts please

[wrongway_08]

Havent ever had any. Didnt have any for the hike. Didnt need it.

Heard of some people buyn short term ins. (6 months) but thats money that could be spent on food.

[SGT Rock]

You could just have some money saved in case. I imagine what you would pay for just the coverage or 6 months would pay for a few doctor visits as you need them.

[TrippinBTM]

My health insurance was a baggie of ibuprofen, common sense, and a prayer. I guess it still is, since I still can't afford it. But I'm so fed up with the whole medical-pharmaceutical complex that I'm almost against the whole idea of insurance.

[TnSlowPoke]

The first time that I went on any hike I got health insurance from the people that had my car insurance. Righ It was a big rip off .... and I did not need it.....

[garlic08]

Or do a web search for cheap major medical with a large deductible. For a 20-something, it might be pretty cheap.

[fiddlehead]

This subject has been debated hot and heavy on WB many times.
Try a search on the subject.

[J5man]

Everyone needs some type of very basic coverage to cover any catstrophic event that might happen. Mainly to cover any hospital visits. Get the cheapest thing they have that woud cover a bad accident that woud send you to the hospital. Anthem, United, etcc....the major players will have these types of policies. THey will not cost that much. Just keep the bells and whistles off. I am sure if you needed to see a doctor somwwhere along the trail and you offered to exchange his care for somekind of labor, you could work at a deal. A trip to the doctor's office wont' break you but a trip to the ER could.

[DavidNH]

Im planning on a thru starting this march, and was curious what people did for health insurance? Im quitting my job, so i wont have insurance through them, but did not know if the ATC or anyone covers the whole trail. thoughts please

First, look at going on COBRA (in this program you keep the health insurance you had through your company for up to 18 months, only trouble is you have to pay full fare---probably about 300+ a month). This is what I did for my hike.

Beyond that, you could look at individual plans (BCBS and others) or pick up a six month temporary plan. The cost is dependant on whether you are healthy and not overweight. If you are a smoker, forget about cheap plans.

The last option is to take your chances in going on a five to six month hike with NO health insurance plus how ever long it will take to get a job and health insurance again. This is VERY risky. you can get injured or sick or any number of things. It wont take much of a hospital stay to wipe you out. We are probably the only major democracy in the world where this is even an issue. Every one else covers their citizens. I hope we can fix this soon but for now, this is a sad fact of life in America.

David

[Desert Reprobate]

Check on the price of continuing your current insurance thru COBRA when you leave your job.

[Panzer1]

If you can afford health insurance get it. If you can't afford health insurance, don't get it. Its that simple.

Panzer

[bigboots]

I am probably going to do Cobra through by employer (even though I am "quitting"). It comes out to just over $800 for 6 months.

[sbennett]

I am probably going to do Cobra through by employer (even though I am "quitting"). It comes out to just over $800 for 6 months.

That actually sounds like a pretty good deal in light of how much HI can cost for an individual plan.

[Nest]

Yeah. That's close to what mine would have been a month when I quit my job to thru last year.

I just went insuranceless last year. Actually I am still uninsured since I am only part time. Then I will hike uninsured this year on my thru. I think insurance is just a pessimistic way to live. Not really but that's what I tell myself.

[Sue_Bird]

Felt like I should chip in...

Seems to me you'll be fine...unless you break your leg/ankle/get so dehydrated you go to the ER.

Here's a little example: As a registered nurse, when I push any IV medication (ANY IV medication which mostly I feel like I do all day long...), that's an $80 "nursing medication administration" fee on your hospital bill. NOT $80 for the medication, that's $80 for having the privilege of having me, your nurse, adminster the medication. And, let's just say as another example, that you had really bad belly pain for a day or two and went to the ER. Giargia? maybe. But some ER doc might think to himself, "let's do a CT scan, just in case to make sure it's not the appendix." that's in the ballpark of $1500. Even if you had a little unplanned trail romance and went to the ER for a morning after pill, that's generally about a $500 visit.

My point? Sure, the most common things that probably come in from the AT are sprained/broken ankles/legs etc, which are relatively easy to fix. That's still at least, at LEAST, a few hundred dollars, out of pocket, if you have no health insurance.

I'm planning on getting a barebones plan for my upcoming thru, which you can get as cheap as around $50 a month. No primary care, but it's only 6 months. And you can come find me if you have any primary care questions.

-SueBird-

[wrongway_08]

$500.00 for a morning after pill? Condoms aee only $10.00 for 12??? Whats going on there?

[TrippinBTM]

damn good point, wrongway.

[Monkeywrench]

I will be getting a high deductible, low (relatively) premium policy. The idea is to avoid being wiped out in the case of some catastrophic illness that lands me in the hospital for an extended stay. I expect -- and hope -- that I will never collect a penny on it, but it would be foolish to risk losing my life's savings because I had no insurance at all.

[Speer Carrier]

Everyone needs some type of very basic coverage to cover any catstrophic event that might happen. Mainly to cover any hospital visits. Get the cheapest thing they have that woud cover a bad accident that woud send you to the hospital. Anthem, United, etcc....the major players will have these types of policies. THey will not cost that much. Just keep the bells and whistles off. I am sure if you needed to see a doctor somwwhere along the trail and you offered to exchange his care for somekind of labor, you could work at a deal. A trip to the doctor's office wont' break you but a trip to the ER could.

Don't count on a work exchange for medical care. Your chances of running into that kind of a deal are very slim.

[Panzer1]

I will be getting a high deductible, low (relatively) premium policy. The idea is to avoid being wiped out in the case of some catastrophic illness that lands me in the hospital for an extended stay.

Just watch, if the deductible is too high, you can still be wiped out by the deductible.

Panzer