Anybody ever bought private health insurance?

[morgana]

I'm unemployed as of June 30, and trying to find affordable health insurance I can pay for myself.

Yeah, right.

Any advice?

[Seraph]

I had to buy private health insurance myself to cover me and the girls. Sucks. Badly.

Try going in to an office though, and talking to a person face-to-face, if possible. They are more willing to work with you, then, and will try and help out more than if you did it, say, over the phone or online.

[Victory Sabre]

I know about this well. I pay for my own. It's bare bones basic insurance, and it costs me $118 per month. It only covers catastrophic stuff over 5k. If you have an insurance agent for other types (auto, etc...) go to him/her and ask about it.

[KiaKat]

Some states have programs that are under the heading of medicare/medicaid, but are actually HMO/PPO structured. In NY, it's called either CDPHP (if you're in the capitol region), HIP, or HealthyNY. They're low-cost insurances, originally designed to cover kids under the age of 19 (for free), but eventually expanded to (paid) coverage of any qualified adult.

[Food Lady]

What about state/county insurance for low-income? Worked out very well for me.

[Aethian]

Try looking at http://www.zanderins.com/ they are brokers of all types of insurance and should be able to find a good deal for you.

[Kheldarson]

If you have any military ties, you might qualify with USAA. They just teamed up with a health insurance company and, while costly, it still looks better than other plans I looked at.