Does anyone have advice for startup founders with pre-existing conditions?
I am very close to taking the startup plunge but my Type I Diabetes makes it really hard to give up my current (awesome) healthcare.
I am very close to taking the startup plunge but my Type I Diabetes makes it really hard to give up my current (awesome) healthcare.
On the down side, you have to have insurance or pay a big fine every year. And healthcare, just like everything else in MA is expensive. But probably cheaper than CA.
I believe the consensus amongst health care economists is that MA made the right choice in pushing for universality first and tackling cost growth later. And that's exactly what they're doing: MA has now started some very aggressive cost control plans, plans that are much easier to enact because of the regulated exchange and mandates that MA created.
I applied for and managed a two-employee policy from Blue Cross for our company and it all worked fine, apart from the murderous 30%-a-year increases, of course. You still have to apply with medical history and so on, but it's a formality since you will always be accepted and charged the maximum rate.
One of us also had dental; its premiums ran 10%-20% of the health insurance.
I got it through a local broker because we knew someone who recommended them, but I think you can do it all online too.
If you want to compare plans, there are broker sites that will quote small-group rates online but I can't remember which of those I used.
As long as you jump from group plan to group plan, the pre-existing stuff won't matter. I would never, ever go to an individual plan if I were you.
How much does it cost to treat Type 1 Diabetes anyway?
$60 /mo for co-pays $15 /mo for doctor visits $40 /mo ~ for misc (lab tests, new equipment)
But as I'm still pretty young it only gets more expensive from here...
In both cases this would be a lapse in my US coverage so there would be no going back to the way things were before moving.
Call your current provider and ask them what they'd charge you if you quit work and wanted to pay on your own.
Pre-existing conditions are not an obstacle to getting coverage IF you don't have a break in coverage.
Note that you probably want to know how this works even if you don't take the startup plunge - quitting isn't the only way to become unemployed.