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COBRA benefits let you stay in your company plan for 18 months,although at a high cost—averaging $4,500 a year for an individual and $12,000 for a family.

For individual policies, work with a health-insurance agent (you'll find names at nahu.org). The coverage won't be as good as you had in your company group plan. For something affordable, you may have to take a $2,500 or $5,000 annual deductible, per person, plus copays for double that amount. Health problems will raise your rates even further or bounce you into a high-risk pool.

Even policies with deductibles as high as $10,000 are worth it, however, because they put you into the PPO network. That gives you a discount of up to 50 percent on the bills you pay yourself.

Your premiums will rise every year, based on medical inflation, your age and your health. If you get sick and have a lot of claims, you'll pay more than if you'd had a good year. The policy gets harder to pay for just when you need it the most.

If you already have a policy, don't move to another city or state until you find out whether you can take it with you. An HMO is good only at its own facilities. A PPO in a retiree plan might be portable, although your premiums and copays will probably change, says Aetna spokesperson Ethan Slavin. Ask your employer about it. With an individual policy, it depends on which insurance company you choose. Some let you transfer it to another state while others don't. Moving is risky if you have to qualify for health insurance all over again.

If you move, settle in with a doctor before you're 65, says Scott Leavitt, president of the National Association of Health Underwriters. Some docs don't take new patients if their only insurance is Medicare. It takes medical security to live your dream.

Reporter Associate: Temma Ehrenfeld

© 2008

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Member Comments

  • Posted By: Vote Now @ 10/31/2008 7:56:18 AM

    BUSHES LITTLE SIDEKICK
    I follow an economist named Bob Proctor. He has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
    He perfectly predicted the current meltdown and the picture he paints about what will happen next
    is terrifying.He thinks it will be worse then the great depression.
    The banks in the U.S. are going under one after the other. Countrywide ,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch , Fanny and Freddy Mae ,AIG
    The government took them over because they are bankrupt. Even with the goverment nationalizing hundreds of billions of dollars in debt the stock market is crashing
    the credit markets are frozen and all of us may suffer beyond anything seen in generations
    McCain just like Bush " doesn't understand the economy".
    That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it but he does not understand how its been broken.
    It is no surprise that he doesn't. The people that make up these securities use quantum mathematical models very few people understand.
    Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.
    Bush's economic advisor Phil Graham wrote the deregulation bill that allowed banks to take huge risks with all of our future.
    Now, Phil Graham is the head of McCain's economic policy.He is also McCain's choice for the next secretary of the treasury.
    No one in this country can afford for that to happen. . Phil Graham had the guts to say that we are in a mental recession after he helped create the worst economy meltdown in our lifetime. Check out this link to the truth http://my.barackobama.com/keatingvideo
    It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. As bad as Bush has done, McCain would be
    even more destructive because things are in much worse shape. The next president will not inherit a budget surplus like Bush did but a crashing economy and a 11,600,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars deficit. Most of it Bush created and it will take decades to pay it back.
    If you do what you have always done then you will get what you have always got.
    When it comes to policy Bush and McCain are the same 90 percent of the time.
    If you are tired of going back instead of forward hold them accountable this time
    This is our last chance to cushion the impact of of a economic meteor.
    If mccain cant use a computer even to send email do you really hes qualified to run our country during a depression
    Your common sense knows the answer

    Bush may not be on the ballot this year but his policies are
    You can have more of the same our we can turn the page NOW
    Elect Obama Biden 2008






    Check out this video of sarah palins interview and ask your self if she understands what she is talking about.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r36Xc0GG4iQ

  • Posted By: Nins @ 10/30/2008 2:45:37 PM

    Honestly, looking at McCain and Obama objectively (without any party affiliation or any racism) I really can't see why anybody would vote for McCain. Obama has offered a much more coherent plan to get America out of the economic disaster we are in.

    Right now, most people are anxious about the economy, fearing the worst but hoping for the best.

    Reality check: within 18 months YOU could be standing in a bread line. That's how bad it really is. And Obama will work actively to prevent this short term, as well as make us strong again long term. As much as I like McCain and admire his patriotism, he really is not up for the job, not now with the global markets falling apart.


    Obama's economic plan can be found at:

    http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/index.php

  • Posted By: Vote Now @ 10/30/2008 8:13:41 AM

    THE GREAT BUSH DEPRESSION
    I follow an economist named Bob Proctor. He has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
    He perfectly predicted the current meltdown and the picture he paints about what will happen next
    is terrifying.He thinks it will be worse then the great depression.
    The banks in the U.S. are going under one after the other. Countrywide ,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch , Fanny and Freddy Mae ,AIG
    The government took them over because they are bankrupt. Even with the goverment nationalizing hundreds of billions of dollars in debt the stock market is crashing
    the credit markets are frozen and all of us may suffer beyond anything seen in generations
    McCain just like Bush " doesn't understand the economy".
    That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it but he does not understand how its been broken.
    It is no surprise that he doesn't. The people that make up these securities use quantum mathematical models very few people understand.
    Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.
    Bush's economic advisor Phil Graham wrote the deregulation bill that allowed banks to take huge risks with all of our future.
    Now, Phil Graham is the head of McCain's economic policy.He is also McCain's choice for the next secretary of the treasury.
    No one in this country can afford for that to happen. The last time Bush met with his economic advisors was in March. He was the last to know somthing was wrong. Phil Graham had the guts to say that we are in a mental recession after he helped create the worst economy meltdown in our lifetime. Check out this link to the truth http://my.barackobama.com/keatingvideo
    It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. As bad as Bush has done, McCain would be
    even more destructive because things are in much worse shape. The next president will not inherit a budget surplus like Bush did but a crashing economy and a 11,600,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars deficit. Most of it Bush created and it will take decades to pay it back.
    If you do what you have always done then you will get what you have always got.
    When it comes to policy Bush and McCain are the same 90 percent of the time.
    So why are the polls even close then ?
    Mccains team just said they no longer want to talk about the economy.Instead they would like to spend time talking about obama
    which means running the biggest smear campaign in history.
    They think they can just tell you lies and you wont be smart enough to see through it
    Let's teach him we are smarter than that
    Stand up and hold them accountable
    Bush isn't on the ballot this year but his policies are
    Elect Obama Biden 2008






    Check out this video of sarah palins interview and ask your self if she understands what she is talking about.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r36Xc0GG4iQ


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