I plan to retire in a month. I live in Illinois which is not a guaranteed-issue state. The BCBS insurance company did their magic on my stats and told me they will not insure me for private health insurance! Consequently, I need to become a member of an organization that has group health insurance as a member benefit. I can take an expensive COBRA plan for 18 months which won't get me all the way to Medicare coverage. One person I know in Iowa got a group insurance coverage through the Farm Bureau, but Illinois FB doesn't seem to have group health insurance as a member benefit. I need some ideas that will help me get affordable health insurance. Even the AARP website doesn't offer any real answers except apply for their private insurance where I will probably be turned down again since BCBS said I am uninsurable! Do I have to move to a state that has Guaranteed-issue health insurance coverage? I really am healthy.... my doc says I am in excellent health but because I take some meds and am 30 lbs overweight, the insurance company says no! I haven't even been in a hospital since I was 20 something and had my tonsils out!

I'm not really up on insurance, but I did a search on The Dollar Stretcher main site. Some information I found includes the fact that you can call your state insurance office and "they will send you a booklet giving a comparison of lots of companies."

Also mentioned was an HMO, which might or might not help you, as well as catastrophic coverage. I saw several articles that might help you.

To do a search on the site, go to the very top of this page and enter the search term into the Google search box, then make sure to click stretcher.com option.

I hope you can find a solution to your problem. Health care is so expensive any more that it's downright scary to be without insurance.  

  Have you looked into health savings accounts?  Maybe you could get one with a high deductable hospital plan.

    If you took COBRA could you possibly get some short-term health insurance to cover hospitalization afterward? I think State Farm used to offer it .... might be worth checking out.

       I do suggest you head over to the Early Retirement board. www.early-retirement.org and look at the Health threads.  That subject comes up quite often, and some folks offer suggestions and links for more information. Maybe you could find something that would help.

Good luck!    

I have never heard of that website! It sounds like it could help with some answers. When I talked to BCBS this summer, they said they wouldn't offer me any type of health insurance coverage, that is why I took a rough teaching job at this alternative school just to get some health insurance. But, the safety working with these Juvies is just not worth the risk, so I am going on SS and will find a way to get health insuranace. Thank you for the help.

 How about AARP?  Might check them out, too.

Alaskalover:

Even the AARP website doesn't offer any real answers except apply for their private insurance where I will probably be turned down again since BCBS said I am uninsurable!

It couldn't hurt to apply for it anyway. If they say yes, you're all set, and if they say no, you're no worse off than you are now.

If you can't find anything else, I would go ahead and sign up for the COBRA plan. Eighteen months is better than nothing, and maybe during that time some other options will open up that could get you through the last six months.

Check out Assurant Health.  I had a student policy through them as I returned to school in my 30s.  They also write regular policies.  It was $70 a month for 80/20 and no RX until something went wrong and I had to be hospitalized because I went schizophrenic and then it went to $230 a month.  They do pay their claims and are reputable.  Be very careful and call you doctor's office billing department and see who they say pays their claims and follow up with that company.  You should be shocked at all the companies that will accept your premium and no pay a cent.  I am so much happier now on Medicare.   I get the same coverage for $96 plus $20 for humana gold medicare part d.  Here is the link to Assurant Health:  http://www.assuranthealth.com/corp/ah?ipsrc=media&reftype=pi&sptype=osmx

I am turning 65 next month... Medicare is on the way.. I signed up for 6 credits at college to get insurance. Thanks for all who helped with ideas..