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Advice please, ladies!!
Okay ladies, I need some great June nesties advice 
I had an interview yesterday morning for an aide position in a local school district. While it's not a teaching position, it's a foot in the door after a year of being out of the education field and out of the medical field in which I'm currently working. This is the first and only full time position that I have come across since I graduated two years ago.
Problem? They do not offer medical benefits. Right now, I carry our health insurance as H's employer also does not offer insurance. I have started looking into individual and family plan insurances, but I'm afraid of the cost and whether or not we'll be able to afford it.
It sucks because I want to be in education more than anything, and feel as though if I don't take this position (note: it hasn't been offered to me as of now), I won't get another chance to get back into the field. I'll be making about the same amount of money I make now.
So...WWYD? Take the job that actually is working towards your career, and try to search for affordable, outside insurance? Or stay where you are for now, which has nothing to do with your field and has no real room for growth, but carries insurance and hope that something else comes along?
Re: Advice please, ladies!!
Good Luck!!
Do you use your insurance on a regular basis? H's group plan got nixed last January b/c of the recession, and I looked to replace it, but it was near impossible b/c he's got a pre-existing. And I haven't had insurance for a few years. Honestly, we're both pretty darn healthy, and I have kept his pre-existing under control using homeopathic meds and found his monthly meds for WAAAY cheap on an online pharmacy.
But naturally, I suppose we're taking a risk, should anything serious happen. But I figure, he's got workman's comp for work (which has been used for the ER!!), and we've got HIGH med-pay for our auto insurance (and we're both on the road a lot), so to me, that eliminates a lot of the potential areas.
So in summary, if I were you, I would take the job in the field I want, and just not have insurance for a hot minute. Hopefully by next year, something more permanent will open up with benefits, so I would think of it as a temporary position. But naturally, it's very much your decision! Good luck!
Have you actually looked into the cost of independent insurance? It might be cheaper than you realize. I'd take the job you want and get independent insurance.
I would also ask the HR person at your current office about COBRA coverage. You might still be able to receive coverage under your group's plan, but check into it soon because you have to elect to do it within 60 days of leaving I believe.
I agree with some of the PP and I would probably take the job and look at independent insurance. If you have car, rental or homeowners insurance, check with those companies to see if they offer short-term and long-term coverage (I know my car insurance company does). I'm not a fan of COBRA because of the cost and I know there are cheaper alternatives out there. I've also heard of ehealthinsurance.com and tonik.com as good resources for independent coverage. I've never used either so I can't tell you how good they are but my boss recommends those sites to our contract employees who don't have medical insurance.
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Yeah COBRA can be ridiculously expensive. I imagine you can find a reasonable insurance plan if you shop around. If you guys don't use a lot of healthcare, you can go with a high deductible plan that will have lower premiums but cover you if major things happen.
If you can swing insurance at all, I'd go with the new job. It's hard enough to get in the door without missing opportunities.
ive definitely had my fair share of health insurance plans, both through work and independently. what i've learned:
-COBRA is way expensive and IMO, not worth it.
- independent is cheaper, but the coverage isn't as good. (lower monthly payments, but higher deductible to meet before the insurance covers things)
- through work (at least in my case) is MUCH more expensive. [i used to pay 160/month for both of us, now i pay 450 a month] BUT the coverage is so much better. they pay for practically everything and give us an annual $900 health spending fund for non-covered prescriptions, co-pays, etc. so many other things like pregnancy (including IVF), lasik, etc is also covered.
DH has some health issues that aren't classified as pre-existing conditions, but they can escalate to much bigger problems very quickly. so personally, i'd rather pay twice as much for the peace of mind that he will be given the best care possible without us having to worry about being in debt the rest of our lives. BUT that's just me. wow, im done rambling.
I'm not answering your question, but it sucks people have to make job decisions based on what their best heath care options is. That's not right, and it sucks.
Good luck with whatever you decide. Keep us posted.
As someone trying to get into the education myself, I would go with the aide position. You have to know a ton of people to get a job around here.
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I would take the job. They are hard to come by these days!
Assuming both of you are relatively healthy, I would just get some cheap health care that would cover major medical emergencies (so that if someone gets in a car accident or something, you're not 50k in debt for an ER visit), but forego doctor's visits, pay out of pocket for perscriptions and all of that.
When I was looking into private health insurance, I found some to be much less expensive than what I thought, particularly through Thrivent Financial. I don't know if you have to be affiliated with a Lutheran church to use it (they used to be Aid Association for Lutherans), but they had major medical plans for under $100/month. Obviously the pricing changes based on your deductible and the amount of coverage, 80/20, 50/50 or whatever. HTH