Esc wrote:
I was considering enrolling in the student health plan, but I just noticed that it has a lifetime maximum benefit of $100,000. The low deductible is tempting, but as a healthy individual, my main insurance need is catastrophic coverage. $100,000 wouldn't begin to cover a serious injury (ie, hit by a bus while riding my bike) with multi-day hospital stay.
I'm going to keep my shitty slightly cheaper high deductible plan. It sucks and never pays for anything, but at least it has a $1,000,000 maximum benefit, enough to cover all costs (minus deductible) if something truly horrible happens to me.
UHC has an option for catastrophic coverage that adds another $400,000. The first 100k is 80% payment, while the remainder is 100% coverage. It's another $580 or so on top of the original plan. Still, that's a bit on the shy side. The deductible is also REALLY low on the plan - $300. I notice that health care companies seem to overcharge for low deductibles, i.e. if you lower the deductible by $250 they charge you $300 for the luxury per year. Makes me a bit suspicious.
As for being hit on your bike, auto insurance should cover it depending on the circumstances. The driver's auto insurance is required to cover liability for your injuries. Expect ten lawyers and Dean Sager himself to turn up if this happens. If you're a victim of a hit-and-run, your auto insurance policy may cover for accidents with an uninsured driver. You might want to check about that second part, because police are amazingly flaky about letting hit-and-run murderers off the hook.
Moreover, Perry just vetoed the new bicycle and pedestrian safety bill despite it receiving broad support originally. If you were questioning my dislike for Perry earlier this year, it's this sort of "screw you, I do whatever I want" attitude from the Governor that makes me wish the cool-headed Mayor White (a UT law grad), or even Senator Hutchinson would take his place.