Emily, Amy explained it quite well. As long as you get group insurance you'll be set. Sure some policies are better than others. Generally speaking the bigger the company is the better rates and coverage they get. Also bigger companies usually have multiple policy options for you to choose from.
The only thing I will add about the pre-existing clause bit is that if you go UNISURED you can be denied by even group policies. With the COBRA act of the 90's though, you are always elgible to continue your coverage for a certain amount of time. Don't ever go without insurance. It might cost you upwards of $600/mo to maintain insurance but then when you become elgible through your employment or Mike's you'll be able to get coverage right away...maybe even for free if the premium payment is covered by the company.
I graduated from college in '01 with a degree in product design (BFA Industrial Design). The exciting work is working at a design firm (hence small company) not big corporations that make the same products all day. I have worked for two consultancies. The first one gave us a stipend to buy individual insurance. As Amy mentioned this isn't a good move for cfers. If we can even manage to get coverage the % paid, copays, etc. are aweful. At the time I was between college and marriage. I could take this money though and apply it to any insurance policy. So I COBRA'ed my dad's insurance that I had in college until I married my husband at which point I became eligible for his awesome insurance through a big university. He was getting his Ph.D at the time. Then we moved and I got a job with a 25 person company. They have a Blue Cross policy that's quite good. They cover $350 worth of the premium payment which covers the employee but no family members. Again, my hubby was associated with a university and their insurance was as good or better than my small company. Since I could take my $350 and use it towards other fringe benefits, where my husband could only opt in or out of the insurance plan, we decided to go under his policy with my premium paid out of his paycheck. Another reason this was a smart move was because in a small company of 25 each person on an insurance policy effects the overall rates greatly. I knew my drugs alone are a big hit. When the company's insurance policy came up for renewal, due to my claims, everyone's rates would go up. Of course, the insurance dude isn't supposed to tell the plan administrator who the person that's making all the claims is but I wonder if this doesn't happen anyways. This is definitley one of htose places HIPPA has helped us out. Long story short, I would rather not jack everyone's insurance costs up in the small company.... and possibly deal with discrimination due to my high claims so whenever there's an option in our family for me to be on a big co. policy where I am one of many people making claims and don't have as large of a % effect on overall claims made, I'll opt for it.
The only thing I will add about the pre-existing clause bit is that if you go UNISURED you can be denied by even group policies. With the COBRA act of the 90's though, you are always elgible to continue your coverage for a certain amount of time. Don't ever go without insurance. It might cost you upwards of $600/mo to maintain insurance but then when you become elgible through your employment or Mike's you'll be able to get coverage right away...maybe even for free if the premium payment is covered by the company.
I graduated from college in '01 with a degree in product design (BFA Industrial Design). The exciting work is working at a design firm (hence small company) not big corporations that make the same products all day. I have worked for two consultancies. The first one gave us a stipend to buy individual insurance. As Amy mentioned this isn't a good move for cfers. If we can even manage to get coverage the % paid, copays, etc. are aweful. At the time I was between college and marriage. I could take this money though and apply it to any insurance policy. So I COBRA'ed my dad's insurance that I had in college until I married my husband at which point I became eligible for his awesome insurance through a big university. He was getting his Ph.D at the time. Then we moved and I got a job with a 25 person company. They have a Blue Cross policy that's quite good. They cover $350 worth of the premium payment which covers the employee but no family members. Again, my hubby was associated with a university and their insurance was as good or better than my small company. Since I could take my $350 and use it towards other fringe benefits, where my husband could only opt in or out of the insurance plan, we decided to go under his policy with my premium paid out of his paycheck. Another reason this was a smart move was because in a small company of 25 each person on an insurance policy effects the overall rates greatly. I knew my drugs alone are a big hit. When the company's insurance policy came up for renewal, due to my claims, everyone's rates would go up. Of course, the insurance dude isn't supposed to tell the plan administrator who the person that's making all the claims is but I wonder if this doesn't happen anyways. This is definitley one of htose places HIPPA has helped us out. Long story short, I would rather not jack everyone's insurance costs up in the small company.... and possibly deal with discrimination due to my high claims so whenever there's an option in our family for me to be on a big co. policy where I am one of many people making claims and don't have as large of a % effect on overall claims made, I'll opt for it.