Which insurance to choose?

Hi everyone. My name is Jim and basically what I’m trying to do is figure out which insurance to choose for myself. Now, I am only 19 right now, but my parents cannot afford insurance for me right now because I am in college and trying to pay for that is taking all our money!

What I am planning to do is work this summer and start paying the bill for myself.

Now, the reason I want insurance is because I am trying to fix a problem that I have. I have a condition known as pectus excavatum. It is a chest deformity also known as a concave chest where the middle of your chest sinks in to a level that is not normal. Since I have been in college, the condition is getting worse and it is really starting to get to me.

Now, back in the day when I used to have the free state insurance, we went to the doctor and talked to her about it. I went and got tests done on it to see if it was effecting me at all, but I guess it wasn’t. I’m really not sure because my mom doesn’t even remember about it and I was too young to even realize or catch up with it. I don’t think that anyone knows I have it so I do not think it is pre existing. Since it wasn’t effecting anything, I guess it is not pre existing anyway.

The surgery to fix this costs around 50-80 thousand dollars from the research I’ve done with calling hospitals and what I’ve read on the internet.

Basically, I want to try to find the right insurance to cover the costs for this surgery. I really don’t know that much about insurance companies and I don’t know when I should try to go in for a doctors appointment after I’ve gotten the insurance because I don’t want them to not cover it because if I get the insurance and then right after I want them to pay for it.

I was hoping that someone can give me some insight on what strategy or what things I could look for in insurance companies to get what I need. I definitely cannot afford the surgery myself and if I could get a loan, I would but my parents can’t afford it and I’m a college student so I definitely cannot afford it.

Does anyone know of good insurance companies or a website that lists information like this or anything I can do to try to find what I need?
I really appreciate the information because I’ve been researching on and off for about 3, 4, 5 years and I really just want to get this done this summer or at max next one.

Okay thanks for any info on anything and I’ll be back frequently to check to see if anyone knows anything about what I can do. Thanks!!!!

-Jim