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Hey. Please somebody help me. I am employed but don’t get any health insurance. I am 27 and single and need a good health insurance but cheap. I live in South California. Can somebody can help me with that?

Try this site

http://insuranceq.notlong.com

Here you can compare quotes from different companies

I am a non-US citizen and need this information to do a case.

Specifically:
1) Is health insurance compulsory for everyone?
2) What happens if someone cannot afford it?
3) In the event that a medical procedure needs to be done, does health insurance cover all the bills? Does the patient need to pay anything extra?
4) Does the patient have any say over what kind of procedure he can take? Say if 2 treatments are available for his condition, can the patient choose the more expensive treatment? And if so, is it covered by the insurance?

Thanks for reading this. Your help in answering any part of the questions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks to those who have responded so far.

I would like to further ask:

Does a health insurance contract state that it will only cover the "normal" rates for a procedure? For eg. if there are 2 possible treatments for a disease, 1 of which is more expensive but more effective than the other, will the patient only be covered by the LESS expensive one?

Or is it a case in which the patient can opt for the more expensive one and "top-up" the difference?

This is a crucial question to my understanding the case. Thanks!

You’ve asked a very broad question. There is no simple answer.

In truth, health insurance works a little differently in each state.

To answer your specific questions:
1) No, health insurance is not compulsory for everyone. If you’re lucky, you are able to join a group policy at work. (If you’re really lucky, it’s a good policy and the employer pays at least half of it.) Some states have recently made it compulsory, but that’s such a recent change that there’s no clear cut answer yet for how that’s going to work.

2) What happens if someone can’t afford it is… they don’t get it, usually. Except if your income puts you below the "poverty level", in which case you qualify for Medicaid. (In some states there are programs that typically provide assistance with insuring children, though they are few and far between for covering adults.)

3) Health insurance rarely covers all the bills when you have a procedure done. Most plans cover 50-80% after you meet your deductible. The deductible amounts vary widely (but the trend is that the deductibles are getting higher and higher to keep the premiums down.) If you’re really, REALLY lucky, you don’t have a deductible (which is only an option on group plans), and you may only have to pay 10% of covered charges. (These plans are few and far between. As in, you might have them if you’re in Congress.)

4) Yes, the patient has some say over procedures. However, if the patient opts for an "experimental" procedure, or one that isn’t deemed "medically necessary", then health insurance may refuse to cover any charges at all.

In the end, as with most things, the middle class takes the brunt of these costs. This has become such a problem that more than 50% of all bankruptcies are as a result of medical bills (and of those, more than 75% had health insurance.)

** Edited to add:
It’s not ALL about the money when a procedure is involved. If it is, the state keeps track of complaints filed on behalf of consumers with "managed care" (ie. any type of network arrangement including Preferred Provider Organizations, Health Maintenance Organizations, and Point of Service organizations — also known as PPO, HMO, and POS) and may very well revoke a company’s charter to do business in the state should the company be turning down too many legitimate claims.

However, insurance companies are sticklers for following the "standard" for medical care. This is what makes it difficult to answer your question. Because they should not deny anything that’s considered standard for care in the given circumstances (should not and will not being two completely different things, of course.) And there may be several options that would be considered "standard." If the patient wants treatment that isn’t yet considered "standard", they would balk. Period.

What types of health problems are needed to qualify to have gastric bypass surgery? Do you only qualify if you have severe health problems caused by this or could you qualify if you have smaller health problems like knee arthritis & breathing problems? Most of my family is obese and have heart disease, sleep apnea. Would they take that into consideration? My sister had gastric bypass surgery with a starting weight at 208 and is down to 128. I don’t think she had any medical problems due to her obesity.

Usually you have to have a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 40 or more to qualify for gastric bypass. If you have a BMI of over 35, sometimes you can qualify if you have significant co-morbidities such as diabetes or sleep apnea. First and foremost, "they" look at how morbid obesity is affecting you, however, your family history may be taken into account, if close relatives are morbidly obese and have health problems relating to obesity.

I lost my job in December and lost health insurance. In August I will be able to get health insurance through a program at a state college I wil be attending. Is this too long of a lapse to cover pre-existing conditions? PA BTW.

The magic number, is 63 days, and that only counts when you go from one group policy to another.

So yes, preexisting conditions can be excluded once you get on this program through school.

Ok so im still writing this essay on how the health systems in france. However I do not understand how their health insurance works. So could someone explain it simply please. I understand that most of their Health expenses is covered by the state- but that is all i get.

I’ve lived here in France for 9 years and am not an expert…. but….

Salaried employees pay tax as does their employer on their income, which is called ‘Social Charges’ this covers health and retirement among other things. However it doesn’t usually cover 100% of health/medical costs!!!!

Normally the standard contributions cover about 75% of the medical costs. People who are in the French health system have a ‘Carte Vitale’ (Health Card) which has a chip with their ID on. This allows them to get discount when they go to the Chemist for a prescription and allows the Doctor to access their records.

Many people take out a private health insurance or ‘Top Up health insurance’ to take care of the final 25% medical fees.

Normally if it’s a serious illness then the standard state covers 100%, things like Broken legs, cancer etc.

Good luck with the essay!

How is it legal for health insurance companies to discriminate against people with disabilities (I mean, medical disabilities), but other companies are not allowed to, like grocery stores are not allowed to? Or maybe it IS legal for other businesses to discriminate against people I am really just curious, that’s all. About the legal process. Health insurance companies kind of make me mad, because of this issue. I know I am expressing a political opinion, but I ask you not to troll. If you have a different opinnion thatn me, you can argue for it, but please don’t start trollin.’

You mean in writing policies? That’s one of the reasons we need health care reform, the insurance companies exclude people with pre-existing conditions. Which kind of ruins the whole concept of insurance, which is based on pooled risk.