Health Care... where do I start?

So as a couple of you know I'm a newly minted civilian, and man.. "transitioning" is a pain in the ass.
Well, it's come time to look at our healthcare options and holy shit it's like trying to pick a needle in a pile of needles.
USAA offers health insurance (I had no idea until yesterday) and they've proven to be the best option with numerous things in the past, so I'm tempted to avoid the headache and just go with them, but I know that line of thinking can often lead to even worse headaches. I haven't and don't want to even bother with the damn VA, especially not in an area that must be as overloaded as mine, but I will for me to save money... my (pregnant) wife is my main concern here.
I've also been hearing about people paying $800+ a month for relatively low coverage options and we certainly can't afford that. And apparently if we wait too long we'll get some form of slap on the wrist from The O.
Where do I start? What has worked for you?

Start in the exchanges. They can give subsidies. Get a feel for what they are charging - then start calling private companies.

^^ Yeah, that's what I'd do. As much as I despise the exchanges and what it means for the country it's probably the best place to start. You can create kind of a baseline for cost and go from there.

http://connectforhealthco.com/

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Originally Posted by jhood001

http://connectforhealthco.com/

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I just went there and browsed plans. $298 per month was the cheapest for my age, non-tobacco user. Thank God my wife and I have great coverage through her employer. It doesn't even cost that much for the both of us for one of those so-called "high-end" or "Cadillac" plans. I don't even pay a co-pay for office visits to the doctor...just found that out today. I'm sure O-care will put an end to it soon enough, though, one way or the other. We certainly don't want some people to have more or better options than others because that wouldn't be fair.

Good luck, mcantar.

your employer does not offer anything?

The exchange is where you should start. If you are self employed (depending on income) you may be in for some high costs.

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Originally Posted by sportbikeco

your employer does not offer anything?

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Originally Posted by mcantarc18

I'm a newly minted civilian, and man.. "transitioning" is a pain in the ass

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Just a guess, but our freshly liberated Patriot may not have an employer yet?

Good luck in your search.

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Originally Posted by crays

Just a guess, but our freshly liberated Patriot may not have an employer yet?

Good luck in your search.

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No VA availability ?

I talk to my troops all the time and it falls on deaf ears. I pay over $500 per month for the wife and I. That gets us $200 payments to the ER, 20% of an Ambulance ride and $250 per day in the hospital. I pay $6K per year and my employer pays the other $12K. Welcome to the other side. I also pay another $1200 per year for dental because the above policy only pays for a cleaning and check up, nothing else.

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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

No VA availability ?

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Does not cover the wife. Have a baby and a job and wait for the bill collectors......

The problem with USAA is that many of their plans are not available in CO. I found one for $75/month and it was an 80/20 deal: very simple. When I hit ENTER the page said "Plan not available in your state."

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Originally Posted by mcantar18c

So as a couple of you know I'm a newly minted civilian, and man.. "transitioning" is a pain in the ass.
Well, it's come time to look at our healthcare options and holy shit it's like trying to pick a needle in a pile of needles.
USAA offers health insurance (I had no idea until yesterday) and they've proven to be the best option with numerous things in the past, so I'm tempted to avoid the headache and just go with them, but I know that line of thinking can often lead to even worse headaches. I haven't and don't want to even bother with the damn VA, especially not in an area that must be as overloaded as mine, but I will for me to save money... my (pregnant) wife is my main concern here.
I've also been hearing about people paying $800+ a month for relatively low coverage options and we certainly can't afford that. And apparently if we wait too long we'll get some form of slap on the wrist from The O.
Where do I start? What has worked for you?

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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

No VA availability ?

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Originally Posted by mcantarc18

I haven't and don't want to even bother with the damn VA, especially not in an area that must be as overloaded as mine,

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He touched on that in OP

I'd kill for 800 per month. Crappy ass Kaiser runs me 1400 per month for the 3 of us, and that's after my employer contribution.

Holy crap! $1400 month? That's just scary.

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Originally Posted by Madeinhb

Start in the exchanges. They can give subsidies. Get a feel for what they are charging - then start calling private companies.

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Originally Posted by Bailey Guns

^^ Yeah, that's what I'd do. As much as I despise the exchanges and what it means for the country it's probably the best place to start. You can create kind of a baseline for cost and go from there.

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Now what exactly are the exchanges?

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Originally Posted by jhood001

http://connectforhealthco.com/

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When I click on their "browse plans tool" I get an empty page...

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Originally Posted by sportbikeco

your employer does not offer anything?

The exchange is where you should start. If you are self employed (depending on income) you may be in for some high costs.

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Nope, not until they bump me up to official payroll from "independent contractor" status. But then once I move back to CO I'll be doing something else entirely (still haven't figured out what... finding a job in a location you aren't physically in is a challenge) and who knows, maybe they'll offer something.

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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

No VA availability ?

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For me, sure. Not for family.

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Originally Posted by jerrymrc

I talk to my troops all the time and it falls on deaf ears. I pay over $500 per month for the wife and I. That gets us $200 payments to the ER, 20% of an Ambulance ride and $250 per day in the hospital. I pay $6K per year and my employer pays the other $12K. Welcome to the other side. I also pay another $1200 per year for dental because the above policy only pays for a cleaning and check up, nothing else.

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That almost makes me miss Army healthcare. Almost.

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Originally Posted by speedysst

The problem with USAA is that many of their plans are not available in CO. I found one for $75/month and it was an 80/20 deal: very simple. When I hit ENTER the page said "Plan not available in your state."

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That really sucks. I'll call them after work tomorrow and see what they say.

The state exchange is where you shop for the O-care healthcare plans. You should be able to click "Browse Plans", enter your zip code, month/year of birth and check a box or two and be directed to the plans.

pm sent

Costs me over $500 a month out of my paycheck for wife and daughter for Kaiser. People either love Kaiser or hate it. If you don't want to pay out of network prices for prescription drugs with Kaiser, you MUST go to their pharmacy at the clinic you go to; which means standing in line with EVERYONE else that showed up that day instead of everyone just going to their local Walgreens. I thought I was doing us a favor by getting Kaiser. My wife was mad I didn't get another plan because it was so expensive and was barely better than the cheaper plans. Then we followed their advice for a recent pregnancy and ended up killing our perfectly healthy baby. That didn't make my wife (or me), any happier; as I'm sure you can imagine. Thanks Kaiser.

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Originally Posted by Rooskibar03

I'd kill for 800 per month. Crappy ass Kaiser runs me 1400 per month for the 3 of us, and that's after my employer contribution.

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I work for Kaiser. Mine is free though :)

Sounds like your company picked a pricey plan. Companies have options and they decide what will be in plan.

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Originally Posted by Irving

Costs me over $500 a month out of my paycheck for wife and daughter for Kaiser. People either love Kaiser or hate it. If you don't want to pay out of network prices for prescription drugs with Kaiser, you MUST go to their pharmacy at the clinic you go to; which means standing in line with EVERYONE else that showed up that day instead of everyone just going to their local Walgreens. I thought I was doing us a favor by getting Kaiser. My wife was mad I didn't get another plan because it was so expensive and was barely better than the cheaper plans. Then we followed their advice for a recent pregnancy and ended up killing our perfectly healthy baby. That didn't make my wife (or me), any happier; as I'm sure you can imagine. Thanks Kaiser.

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Why not order meds online? They will be delivered to house.

Every health care company has their pluses and minuses. Just have to pick what's best for you and fits you best.

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Originally Posted by Rooskibar03

I'd kill for 800 per month. Crappy ass Kaiser runs me 1400 per month for the 3 of us, and that's after my employer contribution.

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I paid our kaiser directly when my wife was still in school and i was a self employed contractor. we were $620 a month for their best plan for at the time five of us.
the group plans are way more expensive, but her employer pays their share and out share right now is only $480. for the same cadillac plan (they just happen to use kaiser so we were able to just move over)

The group plan is way more money and we are paying our share, it sounds like your employer is just paying the bare minimum they have to to comply and throwing the rest on the employee. I am not sure how you would get out of it, but it may be way cheaper to pay the kaiser on a private plan depending on age and #of kids etc. I know that many plans are not available to you directly if the employer has a plan. At the time we were paying kaiser directly there was no employer to pay the big bucks and our policy was cheaper than the group plans by far for the same coverage.

My plan is so old that I am grandfathered. In the era before Obama, you called an insurance broker and found a plan with a company. I have Golden Rule, most of kids physician visits are covered or about $65. Its a catastrophic plan with a deductible about $6,000 a year for $450 a month for me and 2 kids.

There is a guy Mike Rosen, 850KOA, hosts regularly Jordon Goodman who has a website with some info on HSA style healthy insurance and plans to work with it. That is what used to be advertised.

Resurrecting this thread. I got the literature from Anthem BC/BS in the mail, my (grandfather'd) plan that was originally $189/mo, went to $211 *just* before obamacare was signed into law because Anthem said "We're increasing premiums because we need to prepare for the eventuality of ACA", and 4 months later after the law was passed, I got another letter stating my premiums were increasing to $226/mo to give me the best value, and because obamacare was now law.

Well a year later, the new letter says I can keep my plan, with the new premium of $261/mo. A healthy 15% increase. Good deal for $40 copays, a $6,500 deductible, generics only, etc? Hah what a joke. Single male <35yo with no extensive health history or existing conditions.

Man, I'm glad I work for a company where our CEO actually does care for the employees. Sure, he's worth $500M but he will still come up and buy you a drink at the bar or invite you to dinner. I'm very curious how they're going to handle the employer mandate but either way I think they'll do right by us.

As for Kaiser, my mom's was partially covered under her retirement from AT&T but after some research she realized she could get the exact same plan for about 50% of what she was having to pay on her group plan.