Thanks Fred for the quick response.  I did notice that Wisconsin and Maryland for example had lower rates.  And that two mail fwd states, South Dakota and Oregon had much higher.  Why is that?  Looks like I need to do more research.
Doug

You can use ehealthinsurance.com and put in different zip codes to check out the rates in different states. There are huge variances in premiums for state to state.

We are really in a pickle. We retire Sept 30. We are selling house to daughter who has to sell her condo to get the new mortgage. In NJ if you sell a house and move out of state within 6 months of selling, you pay a 3% EXIT tax of the selling price on your next years states taxes. So we were planning on keeping NJ residency until AFTER filing 2009 taxes (being optimistic that house will be settled by then).

I am old enough for Medicare. Len is only 60. He can keep his insurance he now has with state of NJ for life provided he pays cost - close to $600 a month! Instead we would prefer a high deductible HSA for him. NJ does not allow this Health Savings Accts. So I went on einsurance.com and I even talked to them last week. Seems that every plan here in NJ requires medical care (except emergency) be done in NJ.

As we hope to change to Texas residency once house is sold, perhaps only solution in the meantime is to take a NJ plan realizing that he can not see a doctor out of state and will only use it in an extreme emergency. ALso, no prescription coverage. He takes one med for high BP. Need to check to see if this is one that WalMart has on its list for $4.00 month.

By the time I can done researcing all this - I will need medication! LOL!

Phyllis

Phyllis,
Good Luck!
I agree, everytime I talk with Drs, Insurance or medical billing people or even hear anything abouth healthcare I need medication as well. 
Again good luck with everything including the exit tax and please turn the lights out when you leave.

Doug

PS. Why doesn't Good Sams offer health insurance!Anyone up for a RV March/Rally on Washington D.C. next Spring 2010.... to promote our generations issues? 

We will be using the UPS store who merged with Mail Boxes ETC.You will use their address as your home address.You rent the p.o.box monthly and pay so much per forwarding fee to other stores. Go to upsstore.com.Sorry don't know how to do a link.

Thanks for the heads up on that Bill,Looks like I need to ask more questions at the local store.

Health insurance!  Can't live with it, and you can't live without it.  It is a nightmare.  We are residents of WA state and are fulltimers.  We have Blue Shield and have had it since coming here in 1994.  Had Blue Cross down in CA prior to moving.  Now DH has pre-existing conditions if we look into other coverage and he does not qualify.  He is only 62, so no Medicare yet.  Currently we pay $936.00 per month for the both of us and that is with a $5,000 deductible.  We have private/individual policy since we do not qualify for a group plan.  At least with our policy, we can see ER's in other states if the need arises and we will be covered.  We will not change residence status since our 2 kids live here in WA, too.  Someday, we will have to quit F/T life and settle in senior housing or something and we want that to be in WA.  There are only 3 companies at this time (in WA state) that offer individual policies so choices are limited even if we could change.  I would advise anyone wanting to change state residency to look into health care options before looking into anything else.  Other stuff could be small potatoes next to insurance.

Margie M.
blog:  www.bruceandmargiesfulltimejourney.blogspot.com
www.myhealthylivingthruweightcontrol.blogspot.com

NewRoamers wrote:

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PS. Why doesn't Good Sams offer health insurance!Anyone up for a RV March/Rally on Washington D.C. next Spring 2010.... to promote our generations issues? 

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Notice that few associations (AARP being an exception) offer health insurance. Regulations vary state to state making it difficult to offer products that appeal to a large enough audience of people from different locations.

Under health reform, this situation would be eased. But it is being challenged by many states' attorneys general, who are arguing that it infringes on states' rights. So we watch and we wait.

You mention "our generations" issues and that's an interesting angle. Although RV'ers come in all age ranges, there is a large contingent that are "AARP age" (50+).  Perhaps our best bet is to collectively lobby AARP to do more for RV'ers than just offer rig insurance. It is a huge organization with enormous political clout and very deep resources.  I do wonder why it has seemingly only a passing interest in the RV community.

 

We have been using UPS stores for years as our permanent address.  Each location varies as they are independently owned franchises.  Most are owner-operated with a few part time employees that change often.  We pay an annual fee plus shipping each time we have our mail sent to us.

Our current UPS store has 1 gal who we can count on weekly to text us with VIP mail pieces and we decide how important it is and where to have her send it.

Of course, we have eliminated or converted all our paper magazines and will only subscribe/renew if there is an online-ONLY version.  Most of our paper mail can wait a week or 2 to catch up with us.

The other benefit to a UPS store is that you can order products online (Yea, Amazon Prime!) and the UPS store employee will sign for it.  A Post office box does not offer the same benefits. 

We have a key to access the store front door and our box 24/7 so we can always check our mail personally when we are in town.  The retail part of the store is secured with a fence, so after hours access is only to the mail boxes area.  We have only used this feature a couple of times, but it was convenient when we needed it.