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Virginia health insurance alternatives:
Several areas in the state of Virginia are suffering the worst rate of unemployment that they have ever seen, as of this writing. While it is nice to believe that with the Government's supplemental plan for COBRA will allow people to maintain continuous coverage while looking for a new job with insurance benefits, many people can still not afford this expense on their meager unemployment wages.
In Virginia, in addition to the Medicaid coverage afforded to people of low income their is another alternative plan called FAMIS which allows those families who make too much to be on Medicaid but not enough to pay for private insurance plans to at least cover their children. In this plan, depending on a person's income they are either eligible for free health insurance for their children or in some cases they pay a nominal fee for this coverage. Many states, including Virginia, have put plans like this into place as a safety net to insure that all children can receive the health services they need.
If you have a pre-existing health condition, the bad news is that unlike a lot of states, Virginia does not have a state risk pool. Instead, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and Carefirst Blue Cross Blue Shield are designated as the companies that provide guaranteed pre-existing exclusion periods. You have to be HIPAA-eligible to qualify, meaning that you have exhaused any COBRA benefits you might have and you have 18 months of creditable coverage with the last day being on a group plan. Even though this option may be useful to those with pre-existing conditions, it won't necessarily be cheap.
If you do not qualify for the low-cost/no-cost health insurance alternatives, you might have to consider a high-deductible/health plan. These are not cushy plans. If you have a health emergency, you will have to pay a high deductible before a coverage kicks in. Before you purchase one, you should try to set up a either a flexible spending account, a health savings account or a health reimbursement account so that you reap whatever tax benefits are available to you for footing the bill for your own insurance. The links are below.
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