February 5, 2012

The Importance of Health Insurance for Families

July 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Having good health insurance is one of the best investments that you can make for your family. It can be a lifesaver when it comes to paying medical bills and related expenses.

When you set up your insurance policy at work, make sure that you understand all of the different plans and options that are available to you. Supplemental policies can be a huge help when it comes to unforseen circumstances such as job loss due to an injury, disability or other crisis. For example, supplemental disability insurance can help to pay bills if you become disabled and cannot work. Dental and vision insurance can also help with expenses for exams, glasses and other procedures.

You need to know your co-pay amount for doctor visits and how much your deductible is. A deductible is the amount that you must pay out of pocket before the insurance kicks in. This can range anywhere from $500 to over $1,000 dollars, depending on your company. It can also vary for different items, such as hospital visits, doctor visits and therapy. Talk with your agent to get a clear idea of what you will have to pay if an illness or accident occurs.

You should also add a life insurance policy for yourself and each of your family members. This can cover the costs of bills, funeral expenses and related costs if you or a family member were to pass away. Taking the time to get the right health insurance company can give you and your family greater piece of mind.

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Don’t Let Your Family Go without Health Insurance

May 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The cost of health care rises every day, and so does the cost of insurance. Many families feel they cannot afford insurance because their budget is already strained, and they justify this saying that they are generally healthy and hardly ever have to see a doctor. It is fine for individuals to make decisions like this for themselves, but it is a problem when children do not have medical coverage and therefore their parents resist taking their children to a doctor when they become sick.

One trip to the emergency room can cost upwards of $10,000 without insurance. This should be one justification for why health insurance is something nobody should be without. Plus, an extended hospital stay can easily reach the six and seven figure digits, which would be impossible for someone without insurance to pay.

Insurance, however, does more than pay the bills. It gives people peace of mind knowing they will be able to receive the medical care they need during an emergency. It is literally a matter of life or death in some cases. If you are without medical coverage, you really should buy health insurance, even though you are going to have to rework your budget to accommodate for the expense. It could end up being the best thing you have ever purchased in your life.

If you think the costs really are too high for health insurance, there are usually government programs that can help out. You just have to do some research and see what is available in your area. Health insurance programs for children are usually inexpensive and easy to find through the government.

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Can health insurance costs be cut by making it similar to term life insurance?

February 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Health insurance costs have been driving upwards at an astonishing rate for last two decades. The inflation rate for medical services and medical insurance has been on an average two to three times that of overall inflation rate in US.

One of the reasons why costs are so high is because the rates are set every year by the insurance company based on your health profile, age and number of doctor and hospital visits you had during the last year. If the number of visits rose in the past year, then it is almost certain that the insurance premium will rise the following year. This also makes it very difficult for patients with pre-existing conditions to look for affordable health insurance and patients who have recently been discovered with chronic life conditions such as diabetes or heart ailments can see their premiums spin out of control.

On the other hand, the term life insurance rates remain constant throughout the coverage. If someone buys a 30 year life insurance policy, they can negotiate their plan so that their rates will remain the same regardless of rate of inflation or how far they are in the plan. The rates for term life insurance also do not change if the person met a near death experience or is suffering from a disease such as cancer whose treatment outcome can be unpredictable.

Therefore it is very important to look at term life insurance as an example for designing health insurance policies. Designing medical insurance premiums as 20-30 year policies with constant rates instead of yearly renewable policies with ever increasing rates can dramatically influence the prices of premiums making health insurance more affordable for most Americans including the poor, the working class and the middle class.

Offering medical insurance policies on a long term basis with fixed rates can also drive down inflation, bring peace of mind, create large and predictable reserves for the health insurance companies and ensure quality care without denials and uncertainties for the sick and elderly.

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Insurance Can Help You Be Healthy

January 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You may not think of insurance when you think about being a healthier and happier individual but if you consider the facts, you’ll see why insurance can ensure a healthier you. Think about what it’s like without insurance: you don’t go to the doctor as much and you don’t have regular checkups because, let’s face it, doctor visits are expensive and tests are even more costly on average. However, for a person that has a good insurance plan it is easier to make that trip to the doctor in order to get checked out and examined for any potential problems. You just pay your co-pay and you’re all set. In fact, some insurance plans don’t even have a co-pay and doctor visits for proactive checkups can be at no cost.

This is why it is important to find a plan for you and your family. One way you can do this is by comparing online insurance quotes. This way you can take a look at the different plans and their costs and determine which one is best for you.

With insurance, you are also covered in case of an accident or emergency and that may be the first thing people think of when they consider the reasons to get insurance. Most don’t even consider that regular checkups and exams can ensure that you catch problems before they get out of hand. Some illnesses like cancer can be treated if caught early enough so exams can be a lifesaver. If you have insurance, you can get checked out more often on a regular basis and be aware of anything you need to have taken care of. It simply makes sense to keep yourself healthier and ensure the health of your family is taken care of as well. You won’t regret having insurance when you need it but it’s important to have it even when you don’t think that it’s a necessity.

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3 Ways to Manage Medical Debt

October 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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If your medical bills are piling, you have to deal with them rather than try to turn your head the other way. Not paying medical bills can put a big dent in your credit. And, bringing your credit score down isn’t going to do you any favors. Learn how to deal with your medical debt and turn a not so great situation into a manageable one.

Review Health Bills Carefully

Doctor offices, hospitals and even insurance companies can make mistakes. When you receive a bill from a hospital or other health care provider, read the bill carefully. Check for mistakes and accurateness. If you have a question about a charge or why a claim was not paid, then contact the health care provider and the insurance carrier.

Request a Discount

It is not common knowledge, but you can ask doctors and hospitals for a discount on their services. The best way to handle this is up-front before the service is rendered. This works especially well if you do not have health insurance. Even after the fact though, if you receive a bill you cannot afford to pay, call the doctor’s office or hospital. Ask for them to discount the bill amount due and to allow you to make monthly payments to pay off the debt.

Get the Agreement in Writing

When you make an arrangement with the health care provider to reduce the amount of the debt or make payment arrangements, obtain the agreement in writing. This ensures that the doctor or hospital sticks to their end of the agreement and it keeps you in line to stick to your end of the agreement as well. The most important thing about payment arrangements and agreements is that you pay the amount you say you will and when you say you will.

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Steps to Qualify for Small Business Health Insurance

October 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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If you own your own small business, then you may not have health insurance coverage. For companies with two to 50 full-time employees, you may be able to qualify for a small business health insurance policy. In some states, such as Florida, even one-employee small business owners can qualify for a small business health insurance plan. Find out the steps you need to take to qualify for a small business health insurance plan.

Shop and compare plan options. Contact at least three health insurance companies that offer small business health insurance plans. You can contact the insurance commissioner for your state to obtain a list of insurance carriers offering these types of policies.

Choose the insurance provider. Contrast and compare the options. Make sure to review more than what the monthly premium amount is. Look at the total out-of-pocket expenses per year, what the co-insurance coverage amount is, co-payment amounts and the types of health services that are covered. If you do not understand something, contact the insurance carrier and have a representative explain it to you until you fully understand

Submit the health insurance application. Once you choose a health insurance provider, obtain, complete and submit the application to establish a small business health insurance plan. Generally, you need to have the name of the business, business structure, business address, number of full-time employees on the payroll and the business contact phone number to complete the application.
Provide enrollment forms to the employees. Each employee who opts to participate in the plan must also complete their own individual or family enrollment forms. You can obtain these forms from the insurance carrier, collect and submit them back to the insurance carrier.

Pay the premiums. Most policies require an up-front payment to cover the premiums for the first month of the policy. If you are paying some or all of the employee premiums, then this comes out of the business account. If you are deducting the amount from employee paychecks, you can pay up-front and then deduct according to payroll deductions.

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Rules for Deducting Health Insurance Costs

October 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Health Insurance Forum
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If you are the owner of a small business or a self-employed individual and have a health insurance policy for you or your employers, it is important to be aware how you can use this as a tax-deductible event. The IRS sets rules as to how you can deduct health insurance premiums, out-of-pocket expenses and the mileage you put on your car running back and forth to your health care providers for care.

Monthly Health Insurance Premiums

First, the IRS permits you to deduct the monthly premium payments from your federal tax returns. In order to turn the monthly health insurance premiums into a tax-deductible expense, you must file premium amounts as an itemized deduction on your personal tax returns (IRS Form 1040 or 1040-EZ). It is the total amount you paid for the tax year so add up the monthly premium for each month you paid and add it to your personal returns.

Out-of-Pocket Health Expenses

Some health and medical care costs are not covered by your health insurance and therefore are expenses you have to pay out of your own pocket. Uncovered medical expenses are also a tax deduction. Some of the costs include co-payments (co-pays), prescriptions, doctor office or hospital parking fees and tolls. Basically, anything that is not covered by your health insurance plan but is a health or medical expense is a tax deduction. Obvious exclusions include elective procedures.

Mileage

You can also take the standard mileage deduction for each mile you drive back and forth to doctor and hospital visits. The standard mileage rate to deduct medical mileage as of 2010 is 16.5 cents per mile. Simply track the miles you drive in a health journal and then multiply the total miles driven by the mileage rate to calculate the total mileages deduction amount.

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Health Insurance Myths & Truths

October 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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When it comes to health insurance matters, it can be a complex industry to understand. Discovering the major myths and coming to find out the truths about health insurance can help to make you an educated consumer. The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education lists four myths as the biggest ones when it comes to health insurance.

Large Employers Provide Health Insurance

This is not always the case. Even large employers sometimes do not offer health insurance coverage as a benefit to its employees. The Kaiser Family Foundation states that one in five employees does not receive health insurance coverage from an employer and they work for companies with more than 500 employees.

Health Insurance is Less Expensive from Employers

While health insurance plans from employers tend to cover more than individual plans, these group plans are not always less expensive. Since group plans tend to cover male and female employees, the policies may also come with coverage that some or all of the employees do not necessarily need. This added coverage also adds to the cost of the policy. Maternity coverage is the prime example. Since individual health plans can be catered more to fit your needs, it can also make individual health plans less expensive than employer-sponsored plans.

Insurance Companies Are the Reason Health Insurance Expenses Are So High

This is a chicken before the egg scenario when it comes to health expenses. Many individuals believe that it is the insurance companies that are driving up the cost of health and medical care costs. After all, higher prices mean more of a profit for the insurance companies, right? Wrong. Health and medical care costs come from government insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. In order to cover the costs for these programs, those individuals who have individual policies or employer-sponsored plans pay the price.

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Student Health Insurance

October 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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When you send your child off to college, you may soon find out that they are no longer covered by your health insurance policy. In other situations, the student may not have health insurance coverage at all. The good news is that there are student health insurance options to consider to make sure your college student still receives the health care they need to live a healthy life while away from home. Here are the factors you need to consider when determining what type of student health insurance coverage you need.

Review the Policy Benefits

You always have the option to establish an individual health insurance plan for the student. Some carriers have special policies that are specifically geared toward the needs of college students, with lower premiums and less coverage options. Since the benefits of the policy can vary greatly from carrier to carrier and even from policy to policy, make sure you fully understand benefits such as the maximum amount of coverage from the policy; the amount of the deductible you have to meet annually; uncovered medical expenses and procedures; doctor restrictions; specialist restrictions; policy coverage area or region; premium costs; and other costs.

Student Health Clinics

Another thing to consider is that many college and university campuses have their own student health clinics. These clinics deal with health care issues that range from birth control to the flu. These clinics are not set up to handle everything that pops up however. Rather than be totally dependent on the health clinic services, set up some kind of health care insurance coverage that supplements what the students can obtain from on-campus sources.
Some college and university alumni and student associations also offer short-term health insurance coverage. These are primary major medical policies, so it covers the costs for major medical emergencies but doesn’t bode well for wellness check-ups and visits to the doctor for the flu.

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