Health Insurance?

My fiance has medical covered at his job, but i am always afraid that he might lose it, or that we won't have medical when we need it. I'm not on his medical yet, but as soon as we get married i will be. Would it be wise for me to get health insurance from an insurance company until we get married? should i keep it after i get married also? what exactly is the purpose of it?
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The purpose of health insurance, like all insurance, is to help you avoid risk. In this case, it's the risk that you will get sick and not be able to afford the health care you need. This is actually quite a big problem. Yes, Emergency Rooms are required to see you in the event that you are in a life-threatening situation. However, private hospitals may turn you away even under those circumstances if there is a public hospital also in the same town. And if they do treat you in the ER, the bill they send you afterward will make the premiums for health insurance suddenly look very reasonable. You'll also find that they do send those accounts to collections. And failure to pay WILL impact your credit. I do have to disagree with someone above who said that individual health insurance is the most expensive route. In general, group plans offer broader coverage (particularly for prescription drugs); however, your rates for individual insurance will be based on your own personal underwriting details (including your age, weight, tobacco usage, and any pre-existing conditions.) In most cases, there are at least 4 different health levels assigned based on those factors. If you have a totally clean bill of health, you'll be a level 1, tobacco users are automatically a level 2, etc. I mention all of that because the ONLY time I've ever seen health insurance cheaper through a group is if you would rate as either a level 3 or higher. You can get different types of coverage, also. There's basic coverage (which covers a set price only for specifically described things up to a maximum amount or number of visits per year.) Basic coverage is fairly inexpensive; however, it does NOT protect you from the bigger expenses if you were to have a major illness (because you would max out your benefits fairly quickly.) There's major medical coverage (which is designed to offer more comprehensive coverage.) Still, it may not protect you in the event of a truly catastrophic illness (like cancer, a stroke, etc.) This is because there is a maximum lifetime cap for benefits (which typically varies between $1 - 8 million.) That sounds like a lot of money, but a few days in an intensive care unit can run in excess of $100,000 (even with the negotiated discounts through a health insurance company.) There's also something called catastrophic (or critical illness) coverage, which is offered in addition to major medical coverage. It's designed to pay out a lump sum in the event that you were to become ill with a specific list of illnesses (including cancer, stroke, etc.) There are also medical discount plans, but these are NOT insurance. If you want an easy way to figure out if you're dealing with a discount plan vs. an insurance policy, ask them for their AM Best rating. (It's an insurance industry ranking organization.) If you read these boards, you've probably seen other people ask questions about getting health insurance with pre-existing conditions. While it is usually (though not always) available in some form, it is VERY expensive and the options are very limited. You're much better off to get it while you're healthy. The other important thing to remember is that more than half of all bankruptcies in this country are as a result of medical bills**. And of those, 75% had health insurance. (My point being that choosing the highest deductible, or the cheapest plan may not be the best option in the long run.)
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