

Ask HN: Startup Health and Dental Insurance? - niggler

What are people doing for health and dental insurance?  I'm turning 26 and won't be able to leverage my parents' insurances soon ...
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thejteam
A little more information is required to be helpful. For example, where are
you located? Health insurance varies greatly by state. Are you the owner of
the startup? If so, are their cofounders? Usually group insurance is a
possibility and if all the cofounders are young and single it is usually
pretty inexpensive. If it is just you then do you have any expensive pre-
existing conditions? If not, then individual insurance is pretty cheap if you
are young and single. Although that can vary by state.

Or you could just risk it until January when mandatory insurance coverage goes
into effect.

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niggler
Based in New York, owner of the startup, have two employees that are in a
similar position (under 26, covered under parents' insurance) and we are
trying to decide whether it makes sense to individually continue an extra year
using COBRA or just dive into a group plan now.

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rdouble
If you are mostly healthy, in New York I would suggest a basic emergency care
plan from Blue Cross and a membership to One Medical. The main reason for
comprehensive health coverage at your age is if you have chronic conditions
which require expensive medications. With an emergency care plan, you are
covered if you get hit by a bus, and with One Medical you can easily pop in to
see the doctor if you get the flu or just want a checkup for whatever reason.

<http://www.onemedical.com/nyc>

~~~
niggler
You bring up an intriguing option. Since none of us have kids, this is a great
stop-gap measure before scaling up.

~~~
Suraj757
Did you end up choosing something? I fall under the same boat - turning 26 in
a few days. Startup founder in NYC but no one else currently needs insurance
on my team.

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logn
Dental insurance is usually worthless. Check the yearly max benefit. I usually
find it's $1000 and I would pay $35/mo. So I'm gambling $400 that I'll spend
more than $400 in a year, in hopes of winning at most $600. No thanks.

For medical, I like shopping on <http://www.ehealthinsurance.com> . They have
pretty good rates but it's usually worth to double-check with the provider's
site after you settle on one.

Also don't bother getting maternity coverage. Plans have a 12-month waiting
period and by that time, Obamacare will have mandated coverage for everyone.

