Health Insurance: Looking Back -- And Ahead
Jacqueline Eyler, 55, Has Seen Illness Shrink Her Savings
Each year, many of us make choices about our health insurance. See how life and their health plans affected some people this year and how that will reflect in 2008 selections. We'll check back with some of them in the coming year to see how their choices work out. Select an image to the left to read more. | |||||||||||
Since her August 2005 diagnosis with stage 3 breast cancer, Jacqueline Eyler has seen the cost-sharing obligations of her Cigna PPO nearly deplete her and her husband's $50,000 savings account. "I thought I had pretty decent insurance," says the Westminster, Md., resident, who is covered on her husband's plan, through his employer of 33 years. The couple pays $400 a month in premiums for a plan with a $400-per-person deductible; the policy pays 90 percent of bills for in-network care and 80 percent of out-of-network care. The plan limits their annual out-of-pocket costs to $5,000 per person -- but only on covered services. Out-of-network care and prescription drugs made them dig deeper. Eyler and her husband, James, who has high blood pressure and a thyroid condition, take more than two dozen medications between them, paying $40 for each generic drug and $80 per brand-name prescription. The Eylers said their out-of-pocket medical expenses topped $10,000 last year. "We never had to worry about money" before her illness, Jacqueline Eyler said. "We're living month to month now. . . . That's hard and stressful. . . . We think we have decent coverage, but we're still struggling." James Eyler says the couple will choose the same plan again next year, because his company's other offering restricts choice of providers. Their grade: B | |||||||||||
