I have my own insurance as well. I mean, I pay for it on my own. Insurance, wow, you need to be a doctor to understand it. It has absorbed me dry at times financially. You are so right in what you say, you got that right. Check your insurance, read those books that come with it, even a bigger suggestion from someone who knows check the insurance with a fine-toothed comb before, during and after you pick it up, do this periodically. Another suggestion, if you get copies of ~~this is not a bill, explanation of benefits~~really, pay attention to it. And, with most insurances their are pre-existing clauses, which means, be really careful if you have a major illness and decide to change or cancel any policy. It is really important that anyone understands that some policies have a look back of at least 5 to 7 years, which means that anything seen during that period may not be covered. There are periods of what is called, open enrollment, which might give anyone with certain companies, a chance to change insurance within that company without penalty of a pre-existing clause. One other thing regarding testing, imaging in particular, know when your renewal starts and ends. Get the testing, if possible, at times within those 2 dates so, it best fits your health, and you still stay within their rules on it, so it is covered the best. Just one more thing, remember to keep tallies of the expenditures, keep your medical records organized for premiums, payments, etc, it can all be tax deductible if at a certain amount. With a major illness it racks up fast. Also, their are lifetime limits what a company will pay. It sucks, but, even with 5 dx's of cancer and an assortment of other pretties, lol, I am not thankfully, near it. The limits are usually pretty huge, but, just another thing to check into if it were me. I advocate eating right, excercise and getting to know your body. The reason is also to prevent running out of insurance. For example, I know when I need scans done, need to see the doctor, etc, by paying attention to my body. If I am unusually tired but, eating right, sleeping enough~~ then, my blood counts could be low. That might warrant having to pay for blood work. If I find a bump ( which is symptomatic of lymphoma or develop a blood clot ( I had one in my leg) then, that would warrant to move up my scans. I won't bore anyone with the rest of things, but, suffice to say, it pays to take care of yourself all the way around. Some companies offer seminars on health insurance and if anyone is lucky enough to have a company which does, I would suggest taking in one. Insurance is very very tricky. Sorry to be so long winded.
