I'm quitting soon, wife is bailing from UW employment.

Since we are not 65, can't do Medicare. We have a couple options and one phase is to shop the marketplace.

What are you pre 65 retired folks doing for health insurance?

Does anyone have a contact to speak with?

Recommendations? TIA

pm kgbsucka. He's a health insurance agent with Health Markets. Helped out a few WaGunners.

Wow did not know that. Thanks!!

Are you ex-MSFT? They used to offer insurance through the alumni association. It was very similar to what Costco offered (offers?) their business account holders. Rita & I used it a couple of times after a lay off. It wasn't cheap, but it was miles better than COBRA.

No neither of us worked at MS. I can check Costco though. Thanks!

I sent you a PM back, Pablo.

I'm happy to help you navigate the confusion. Unfortunately, there are few alternatives to the exchange- primarily being Health Sharing plans which work for some and not for others. COBRA may be an option as well. I can help evaluate your choices to see which will be the best.


Because the rates for all plans are set by the OIC and the lack of association/alternative type plans since the the ACA, places like Costco can't give you a "deal" on health insurance either. They simply pass you off to someone like me who would pay them for your info essentialy. After that, your phone will ring off the hook for a couple of weeks because it might go to 10 or more brokers who all want to get their investment back. Internet sites work the same way when they force you to enter your info to "get a quote." Most of the time you won't even get a quote, rather a call from a broker.

No matter where you go or who you go through you pay the same price for the same plan. The plans are all very similar but the premiums do vary considerably from one carrier to the next. There are no PPO plans left on or off the exchange, at least for traditional insurance plans.

When you vote, get rid of Kriedler so we can have a bit more consumer choice in WA again :)

Hope that sheds some light on the state of things!

Duper Super informative. Tons of stuff to digest. My Cobra is just too expensive. Wife can have WA State coverage for 18 months (with me riding along, I think $1600/mo or so)

OK we will chat. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like the home loan market, too.

Get another job and be productive. Haha JK. I'm just Jelly. Enjoy the fruits of you labor buddy.

What about that Christian cost sharing deal I keep hearing about?

Part time job at ups. They go all the way down to a couple few hours a shift-employer paid full family medical/dental/vision.

RIP Kgbsucka, this was one of the many informative threads that you contributed to and your loss is deep.

I went to Liberty Health Share which has its limitations as Kgbsucka has noted, but if you are in decent health, and not a lot of income, it might be worth considering. Worked for me when I was a contractor for a number of years.

Truly this.

He helped us right up to near his passing. I'm like "....we are good, (told him to) rest and such....." He would still keep plugging.