According to the NC  State Health Plan rate sheet, the child only rates are:

• Basic Plan (70/30) – $150.66
• Standard Plan (80/20) $200.36
• Plus Plan (90/10) $269.78

If you have one or two children and would like to compare rates, fill out a child quote request form and we’ll email you a free, no obligation quote.  You can compare the rates and benefits and decide if you would like to learn more.

The latest example of this was seen in Arizona when LifeWise decided no longer offer health insurance in Arizona.  Fortunately, Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Arizona agreed to accept their customers with “no further medical underwriting”.

As the old adage says sometimes “you get what you pay for”.

If you are shopping for health insurance for your child, remember that for extra dollars you can buy health insurance that you can depend on.  Contact us today for a health insurance quote.

Many parents in North Carolina are paying too much to provide quality health insurance for their children. Because of NC law, most employers pay at least 50% of their employees health insurance premiums. They are NOT required to pay any portion of spouse or dependent coverage. This means that parents pay the full premium amount for their child’s health insurance. More often than not parents can save money and provide a quality health insurance plan for their children by purchasing an individual policy for each child.

Why You Should Consider Individual Health Insurance For Your Child

Individual health insurance policies are underwritten individually. This means that the rate (or premium) is largely based on the health of the individual. Group policies factor in the health of the entire group which means that the healthier individuals are actually helping to pay the premiums of unhealthy members of that group. Furthermore most group plans only offer one rate for dependent coverage which means families with one child are paying the same rate as families with two or more dependents.

Save Money

If you have your child on your employer’s healthcare plan you’re probably paying too much for your child’s health insurance. Your employer’s child rate is based largely on the age and past medical history of the group. Many times we are able to keep your child with the same carrier as your employer’s plan but give you a lower premium. Click here for a free quote.

Protect Your Child’s Future Insurability

When your healthy child is covered by an individual health insurance policy you are guaranteeing their eligibility to qualify for preferred rates. You don’t have to worry about changes with your employer’s plan or your employment situation.

Finding affordable health insurance for your children can feel like an uphill struggle as health-care costs rise and family finances tighten.

If you’re finding it hard to make ends meet and your children are healthy, but you and your spouse have medical problems, electing employer-sponsored coverage for yourselves and purchasing separate policies for your children might reduce the hit on your paycheck. Employers subsidize employee-only coverage at higher rates than other coverage options, such as family coverage, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust.

In the private market, premiums for children’s policies are typically the lowest. In most states, your age and health status are the main factors insurers look at when determining who gets coverage and at what rates. Click here to request a free quote on a child health insurance policy. 

Employees at smaller firms are more likely to find it cheaper to get children covered by private policies. Smaller employers tend to subsidize employee-only more generously, and family coverage less generously, than larger firms.

Covering healthy children separately can also be a money-saving strategy if you lose your health benefits along with your job and you need to keep the health plan you had at work for medical reasons. Under the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or Cobra, you can purchase coverage for up to 18 months if you’ve been laid off (if your company has 20 or more employees). You have to pay the full premium plus a 2% administration fee. For an employer plan this year, the average annual family premium was $12,680, and $4,704 for single coverage, according to data from Kaiser/HRET.

There are caveats. Private policies can turn out to be more costly overall because they cover fewer medical services and out-of-pocket costs beyond the premium, such as co-payments, tend to be higher. Typically, the cheapest policies are plans with the highest deductibles, expenses consumers must pay before coverage kicks in.

Such policies don’t provide the same legal protections as group policies do. Under federal law, in an employer-sponsored health plan you can’t be denied coverage on medical grounds. By contrast, in the majority of states, private policies can permanently exclude pre-existing conditions, such as allergies, or deny you coverage for chronic illnesses, such as diabetes. So don’t drop job-based insurance for your kids unless you’re sure they’ll be approved at reasonable rates. Premiums can also vary widely by state.  

Don’t just go for the lowest premium; think about the coverage you need and whether your doctor is in the network. Call your state insurance department to check that the insurer is licensed in the state where you live and get information about any complaints. And if your income is modest, don’t forget to check out government-sponsored programs for uninsured children.

Children are generally dropped from their parents’ health insurance when they turn 18 or 19 or graduate from college. But 16 states now require insurers to cover dependent children on their parents’ policies until the children are in their mid-twenties — and sometimes up to age 30.

The new rules can help cover adult children who don’t have health insurance through their jobs or don’t have jobs. To qualify, grown children must be unmarried and live in the same state as their parents. But they don’t need to live with their parents or even be considered dependents for tax purposes.

This can be an attractive option for adult children who have health problems and could have trouble qualifying for affordable insurance on their own. But other young adults might be better off declining the deal. In many states, healthy people in their twenties can purchase insurance on their own for less than $100 per month.  That could be less than the cost of keeping a child on your family policy.

In most states (other than New Jersey), insurers don’t charge extra specifically to keep older children on your policy. But your rate might drop if you remove your child, especially if you’re insuring only one child and can switch from family coverage to rates for a single person or a couple. You’d have to compare the price with what it would cost for your child to purchase individual insurance.

If you still have other children on your policy, you may be able to insure older ones at no extra charge (as long as your insurer doesn’t base premiums on the number of children). That would be the best deal.

For a list of each state’s age requirements for dependent coverage, see the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Web site. Note that these laws don’t apply to employers who self-insure.

Washington Post

Get a Quote on Health Insurance for Child in NC

1. COBRA. While this may be the most expensive option, it’s a good one
   for someone with a pre-existing medical condition. For people recently
   laid off, the first, immediate option to review is COBRA coverage. COBRA
   is required of businesses with 20 or more employees. It provides
   continuation of group health coverage that otherwise might be terminated.
   One common myth about COBRA coverage is that it is only good for 18
   months, but quite often this is not the case as it can be continued
   indefinitely through state COBRA programs. First steps include checking
   with the employer’s human resources department to receive complete
   information on how to qualify for COBRA, the costs and how to apply. If
   COBRA is an option, it should be carefully reviewed before being refused
   as once it’s dismissed, it can’t be recalled.
2. High Deductible Plans. For healthy individuals, another cost effective
   option while unemployed may be to purchase lower-cost high deductible
   individual coverage. until new employment is found. With the exception
   for New York, Massachusetts and Vermont, a person can obtain this
   coverage for anywhere from $50 to $150 per month providing basic
   catastrophic coverage with a high deductible until he or she becomes
   eligible for the new employer’s plan. You can visit www.nahu.org for
   a national listing of insurance brokers near you.
3. Going from a double- to a single-income family. For the family in a
   two-income home where one parent has been laid off, checking into
   programs like Healthy Families is an important step. In many states, a
   family of 4 can make up to $60,000 (California, Connecticut, Hawaii,
   Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New
   Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, D.C.) and in other
   states up to $50,000 a year (Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, New
   York, Washington) and still qualify the children for comprehensive
   coverage. These programs may provide low-cost health coverage for
   children and teens up to age 19 including comprehensive health, dental
   and vision coverage. Moving the family’s young dependents from
   private insurance to government sponsored plans can reduce monthly
   premiums and perhaps make a family’s adult private premium coverage
   affordable.
4. Coverage for Pre-existing Conditions. For people who have been laid off
   and must purchase individual health insurance but are unable to obtain
   coverage due to a pre-existing condition, many states have government
   sponsored medical risk insurance pools (such as California’s Major
   Risk Medical Insurance Program). State residents who qualify for these
   programs participate in the cost of their continued coverage by paying
   premiums that are supplemented by the state. Go to your state’s
   government website to find out what type of medical pool coverage may be
   offered.
5. Help for Single Pregnant Women. For a single woman who is pregnant and
   doesn’t make more than $25,900 in a year, there are maternity
   programs state by state which will pay for the coverage of the baby
   before, during and after the birth of the child into the first year. With
   names like Access for Infants and Mothers, this often comprehensive
   coverage provides low-cost or free health coverage for pregnant women
   before, during and following the delivery of the baby and health coverage
   for their newborn through the baby’s first year of life.

Credit: The Foundation for Health Coverage Education

The Foundation for Health Coverage Education is a non-profit organization based in San Jose, California. For more information, please visit the website at www.coverageforall.org.

1. Talk to a professional to decide on the best plan that will fit your needs. It is important to find the best plan for your health insurance needs. Finding a plan that fits your needs is not just about coverage, but also about budget. You want to make sure you are getting the best coverage for your money.  An experienced broker can help you buy reccomending a plan that provides you with the coverage you need at a price that fits your budget.
2. Find out if your doctors are in-network before purchasing a plan. Finding out if your chid’s doctor is in-network is an important and easy step. This information can be found by looking on the insurance carrier’s website or by asking your doctors office if they accept your particular insurance carrier and plan.  Some “low cost” plans may not be accepted by your child’s doctor or hospital or they may require you to file the claims directly with your health insurance company. 
3. If your child is taking any prescription medications be sure to find out how they will be covered on your new plan. Whether you are choosing a plan that has prescription coverage by paying a copay or being applied to your deductible the cost of the prescription is something you should know.
4. Make sure you understand any waiting periods. Waiting periods can apply to your new plan if you have not had continuous coverage, a lapse in coverage of more than 63 days. Be aware of any waiting periods and how to avoid a waiting period in the future.
5. Know how your plan will renew and what is to be expected at the time of renewal. Different carriers have different procedures for renewal. Most plans renew annually and some plans require action at renewal. If you want to make changes to your plan, renewal is a good time for changes.

Buying health insurance for your child in North Carolina can be quick and easy.  Get a  free quote on Health Insurance for Children in NC

Even before the economy tanked this year, the number of uninsured children in North Carolina was rising by the thousands, ranking the state No. 6 in the nation for the number of children who lack health insurance coverage.

And most of the children – nearly 300,000 – lived with parents who held jobs.

The findings, released last week by the advocacy group Families USA and using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, raise troubling issues about how and when children see doctors, said Dr. David Tayloe Jr., a pediatrician from Goldsboro and president of American Academy of Pediatrics.

“We’ve seen children with appendicitis and brain tumors wait for care because they didn’t have insurance,” Tayloe said. When that happens, he said, children suffer needlessly from diseases that can often be easily treated if they’re caught early. In addition, the cost of care skyrockets.

Many parents are unaware that their children are eligible for coverage. Nearly two-thirds of the children who don’t have insurance in North Carolina could qualify for coverage under Medicaid or the state’s child health insurance program, which goes by the name N.C. Health Choice. Medicaid is the federal government’s insurance for the poor; Health Choice, funded with federal and state tax dollars, is available to low-income families who make more money than Medicaid allows.

Penella Washington, chief executive officer of Wake Health Services Inc., said she recently talked with a mother of three who arrived at the agency’s community health clinic seeking vaccinations for her daughter, who was entering public schools.

“In the course of the visit, we realized the baby, the toddler and the other child were all eligible for Medicaid, and the mother had no idea that all of her children could be brought up to date on shots and physicals.”

From Charlotte Observer: NC Kids Lack Health Coverage

A Suze Orman exclusive

Look, I know we’ve gotten ourselves into a horrible national crisis here, and a great many Americans are going without health insurance coverage because of the cost or are being forced to cough up more of their own money to pay for coverage previously offered as an employee benefit.

But folks, this is one area where you simply can’t afford to be underinsured if there’s any way at all you can help it. Remember, insurance is all about planning for the worst (which, of course, doesn’t prevent you from also hoping for the best). And if you or anyone in your family were to ever develop a severe illness, you would want to make sure you could afford the best care for them.

So please, if you don’t currently have any coverage, make this your main financial priority as of this moment. If you are a recent college grad who has yet to start work or are unemployed without coverage, you can buy short-term policies that will cover you for up to six months or so. (A great tip for college seniors: If you don’t have coverage or are currently covered by your parents’ insurance, buy a health plan of your own while you are still in school—one that will allow you to continue with the policy after graduation. Student policies are often a great deal, and being able to extend your coverage past your school years gives you plenty of flexibility while you job hunt.)

A key tactic for keeping your premium down is to choose a plan with a high deductible. Stick with me for a sec and you’ll see the wisdom of this. A low deductible, say one of just $500 a year, can actually end up costing you more than one with a $2,000 deductible. That’s because the lower the deductible, the higher the premium. Moreover, when you have a low deductible and make a ton of claims, your insurer might get ornery and jack up your premium when your policy comes up for renewal.

That’s why the smarter thing to do—if you are generally healthy—is to choose a policy with the highest deductible you can afford. Since your deductible is the annual out-of-pocket money you are required to kick in before your insurer covers your health costs, base your choice on what you can afford to pay out from either an emergency cash fund or a low-rate credit card with a line of credit you intend to tap only for emergencies.

If you are totally strapped for money, at least get a policy that provides you with catastrophic coverage. The annual premium can be a lot lower since these policies basically only kick in after you meet a sizeable deductible of $5,000 or more. The idea here is that you are healthy enough so that you don’t expect to need to use the policy for routine health care costs. At the same time, you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing that if you become severely ill you (or your family) will not have to pay monstrous health care bills out-of-pocket.