From the looks of things, Celtic offers a convenient...almost too convenient way to apply via ( removed ) website. I have found an indemnity plan for $250 bucks a month. $5 million lifetime max where as blue cross only has 1 million$ seems like a good pick but what are the pros and cons of Celtic, anyone?

Emac,

I've never heard of Celtic...
If you tell me what your plan offers for that $250/month, I can give you an opinion.
More important than that $5 million lifetime limit is the annual deductible and the percentage paid.

My first blush guess is that for $250/month you are getting a plan worth close to bupkis! IF however it's purely catastrophic coverage, then there may be a reason for looking deeper....like maybe you pay the first $5 Grand and then they pick up EVERYTHING

Amplify!

Hi, i tried to post a link to the site where you sign up for Celtic. But the moderators here won't let you (booo). But anyway, it's a $2500 deductible, and its indemnity insurance (you go to any doc/hospital, which is what i want i dont want to be stuck at a crappy hospital or worry about referals)..

I did read in their contract, they said they can "cancel the plan at any time with 90 days written notice." Great, so if i become seriously (expensively) ill, then can drop me?

Emak,

OK, $2500 deductible is very reasonable for a catastrophic plan...
but then the percentage of your involvement afterwards is important. Doctor's and hospitals OVERCHARGE....if you need to pick up 20% of the charge you can be dead in the water. To clarify, for ONE overnight stay in a New York City hospital the billed...sit down for this...$48,000 dollars. That was over and above my surgeon and the operating room...that was for ONE MEAL IN A PRIVATE ROOM.
So, my HMO said...fair is $800 cahrge and we'll pay it...end of story.

With an indemnity plan charging me 20% I'd pay $9 GRAND for that room.

Emak,
the killer on your deal is the 90 day cancellation right...if you get sick, you're uninsured.

This plan sounds about as good as eating daily doses of arsenic to prevent old age.
Monty Python said it best: RUN AWAY!

Go to your Dept of Insurance in your state. they have a list of all health insurance companies. Check 3-4 different companies, but alway check the same benfits.
Deductibles, co-insurance, out of pocket maximum and co-pay for office visits. Don't be swayed by the 1 mil. or 5 mil. maximum. Decide what you can afford this year, add 20% for next year and then get a plan that works. always compare apples to apples.

I did consider blue cross until i found out that the coverage cancels if you simply move out of this state, and given there's a good chance i will move back to california one day in the future, i can't accept that! The 90 day cancellation right should be illegal! I will have to try to find out if they could actually do that if you were sick or developed an illness, because it isn't specific to that end, it just says "90 days written notice" < and we can cacel you! they seem like a bunch of crooks all of them

Emak,

Check California's Blue Cross Blue Shield plans
.
Although Coverage in whatever state may end when you move, often the BCBS Plan in another state will pick you up with no examination or pre-existing condition clause.
I did it from Pennnsylvania to New Jersey many years ago and the only stipulation was the transfer had to be made in 60 days (I believe.)

My personal Experience: I had FAR more problems getting paind with my indemnity plan than my current HMO...My experience getting BCBS Indemnity to part with money was UNBEARABLE...
And the UGLIEST wrinkle is they paid 80% of what THEY thought was fair (and this is COMMON if not universal.) Example, I get a bill for $2,000...they think $1,000 is fair and they pay the provider $800...I OWE $1200 and my only alternative is to sue the doctor... and this scvenario happened on EVERY billing. Worse there were procedures that came back 3 months later: NOT COVERED! Think in terms of $50 grand heart bypasses and you've got a suicide situation.
NEt result was I paid premiums month after month and was afraid to go to a doctor...so I didn't.
They were the WORST company I ever dealt with in my 60 years on this planet!

HMO depends on where you live...My plan allows basically ALL New York City Hospitals and ALMOST ALL doctors in the area...like what, a hundred thousand??:D

If you live in Boomfoozle, AK, things might be different though.