Ask YC: Startup healthcare and dental?

[spencerfry]

I'm only 24 and (thankfully) still covered under my parents' healthcare and dental until I'm 25. I can’t say the same for my two partners who are without coverage at the moment. That being said, it's time that we start looking into healthcare and dental for our startup as and I was wondering if anyone out there in the YC community had any thoughts on the matter? Does anyone know any good small business healthcare/dental services that are affordable? Is it a waste of money? Should we not be worried and go without coverage? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[edw519]

1. DO NOT go without coverage.

2. Get a catastrophic health insurance policy ($5000 deductible) for $100 to $200 per month. (Mine is with United).

3. Pay cash for dental (unless someone knows about a great policy I'm unaware of)

4. Eat right, exercise, quit smoking, don't take drugs, wear your seatbelt, don't ride a motorcycle, and don't do anything stupid for thrills, so that...

5. You probably never have to use your policy.

6. Keep your policy paid up. This is a necessity, not a luxury.

[jsjenkins168]

I recently passed 25 and also quit my day job to work on a startup, so had to enlist my own heath coverage. I did it as an individual and used Blue Cross Blue Shield. I dont know if its the best available in terms of cost, but considering all of the factors it seemed like the best choice at the time.

Unfortunately, individual health insurance is expensive. So it will definitely increase your burn rate. Regardless, I dont advise skipping on health insurance. Even if you are not a particularly active person, you just never know what can happen. ~$100 a month is not worth risking your life over.

[spencerfry → jsjenkins168]

I'll have to look into Blue Cross Blue Shield.

What do you do about dental? Do you just pay that out of your pocket?

[utnick]

http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/

Tell them to buy their own plans. High deductible.

I pay 150 a month for aetna. So its not that bad. I'm lucky to have no chronic health problems and I am young,single, and live in a low cost area.

If you don't have insurance a freak car accident or disease can really ruin you financially for a long time.

They really need to get universal health care in this country so that people with diabetes or kids can afford to start startups.

[Prrometheus → utnick]

Good advice in the first part. Bad opinion in the second.

[icey]

<Disclaimer> I work tangentially in the health insurance industry.

I'd highly recommend getting a broker to help you find the right insurance for you. They can take care of all the comparisons for you, etc. It won't cost you any more to use a broker than it would to go directly with the carrier.