Posts Tagged ‘health’

How To Know If Your Completely Covered

Posted in Insurance by Advisor on December 11th, 2010 | No Comments

In the United States, Americans are well aware of the cost of health care. This is because although, the economy continues to fall, health care costs continue to rise. This disturbing fact has people all throughout the United States bringing a magnifying glass to their certificate of insurance that they received from their health insurance company. Unfortunately, no matter how hard consumers look at their certificate of insurance, they may still be a little unaware of how much of their medical care is covered. With that said, I feel it is important to go over some of the terms that will be used in the certificate of insurance that people will be reading.

First off, let’s talk about coinsurance. Coinsurance is a term that is frequently used by insurance carriers but commonly misconceived consumers as a deductible. Coinsurance is the term used for the percentage of medical related expenses that Americans will be held liable for after the deductible for the policy is met. In most cases, coinsurance is stated as a percentage. For this example, we will say that a American has a policy with a $5,000.00 deductible with an 80/20 coinsurance. This means that if this consumer has a catastrophic medical issue, the person would be required to pay 20% of medical expenses once the deductible is met. Let’s put this into perspective. Let’s say that this consumer unfortunately was suddenly diagnosed with cancer and required $200,000.00 worth of medical care. In this case, the American would need to satisfy the $5,000.00 deductible bringing the total price down to $195,000.00. This consumer would still need to pay 20% of the price which would be $39,000.00. That’s quite a bit of money!

Although coinsurance may be a taboo subject when it comes to medical insurance plans, there is a silver lining to this dark cloud. With the majority of health insurance plans, there is something called a coinsurance maximum. This is the maximum amount of money that a American will be required to pay for medical care once the deductible is satisfied. With most medical insurance plans, coinsurance maximums can be decided upon at the point of sale. This means that when consumers are in the process of purchasing medical insurance plans, they have the opportunity to tell the agent what they are willing to pay for their medical care. By telling the health insurance agent what you are willing to pay, that agent will then find a policy that will meet your needs with what is called a stop loss. The stop loss will be the maximum amount of money that consumers will be required to pay for medical care expenses including the deductible and the coinsurance maximum for the health insurance plan.

This article is brought to you by www.USCoverageNow.com – Your source for low cost health plans, low cost health plans, and affordable health plans!

Health Insurance Choices For Individuals

Posted in Insurance by Advisor on December 11th, 2010 | No Comments

If you are one of the many consumers in the United States, then you are well aware of how expensive health care is. The best way to offset the overwhelming price of medical care in the United States is to have an affordable health insurance plan that will cover the expense of medical care in the case that something happens.

Although health insurance plans are vitally important to consumers in the United States, unfortunately, many Americans are unaware of the many choices available to them. Due to overwhelming competition in the United States medical insurance industry, many options that people would never see may be available to them. These options can reduce or raise the cost of medical insurance plans and tailor them to the people who decide to use them. Personally, I see this as a great benefit of the free market in the United States.

One things that Americans usually don’t understand is how drastically the deductible on a health insurance plan well effect the overall cost of that plan. For instance, let’s say a group of Americans are looking at health insurance plans. All consumers in this group are the same height, same weight, and same age with no preexisting health conditions. All consumers in the group are looking at the same policy provided by the same carrier however, consumer 1 wants a $500.00 deductible and the monthly price of the medical insurance plan will be $620.00. Now let’s say that person 2 wants the same policy with a $1,000.00 deductible, this consumer will pay a monthly cost of $470.00. Finally, person 3 decides to go with a $2,500 deductible, this American will pay $305.00 per month for his or her medical insurance plan. These are very realistic figures. Although, a high deductible may not be as appealing as a low deductible but for a reduction in the medical insurance price of over 50%, it may just be worth it to Americans to go with a higher deductible.

Another thing that people will think twice about when looking for affordable health insurance plans is the co-pay for doctors visits. Doctor visit co-pays may literally double the price of the health insurance plans available to most Americans. The average amount of doctor visits amongst consumers in the States is 3 visits per year. Changing the doctors office co-pay can from $25 to $50 can reduce the price of insurance by 40% in some cases. This is a huge reduction!

With these concepts shared, my hopes are that Americans will understand the factors of medical insurance that make it affordable or expensive. When you look for an affordable health insurance plan, make sure that you ask the right questions and get the best plan available at the most affordable price!

This article is brought to you by www.USCoverageNow.com – Your source for cheap health insurance, affordable health plans, and cheap health insurance!

Health Insurance For Seniors

Posted in Insurance by Advisor on December 10th, 2010 | No Comments

One of the joys that all Americans in the United States share is the thought of retirement. Is it time for you to retire? If it is then you probably have a lot to take into consideration right now. One of the biggest decisions that consumers will face when it comes to retirement is choosing the best health insurance plan. Let’s face it, as we get older, our bodies tend to need more consistent health attention. This attention is quite costly and without a health insurance plan, elderly consumers can find themselves in a bit of a bad situation.

Planning your expenses months and months or even years in advance can prove to be quite the tedious process. However, factoring in the ever changing costs of medication and medical attention is even harder. Unfortunately, the medical care industry is nothing like electronics or any other merchandise. No one can tell you what the cost of open heart surgery will be because the prices vary by provider. Although, anyone can tell you that the cost of open heart surgery will be extremely high and when it comes down to it, the average consumer will not be able to afford it.

It is much easier on Americans to plan for the cost of health insurance than to plan for the cost of the actual medical care that people may need in the future. One of the things that you may want to consider when it comes to retirement is the possibility of medicare. Medicare is a government funded insurance designed for citizens over the age of 65. Medicare insurance is a great health insurance plan however, there are some components of medicare that many consumers do not agree with. One of the major objections to medicare that many Americans will have is the prescription medication coverage. Currently, medicare does cover prescriptions to an annual maximum cost. This is a problem because once Americans reach the medicare age of 65 years old, it is shown that many health conditions may arise. Most health conditions will require consistent medication to keep them under control. With the annual medication cost limit, many elderly consumers find themselves having to pay for the medication out of pocket after only the first 2 or 3 months of the year!

This is where it gets sticky. If you are a American with medicare health insurance, you may want to look into medicare supplements to help with the overwhelming cost of prescription medication needed to keep your condition under control. There are many medicare supplements available, make sure to do your shopping and get the best coverage for yourself! In doing your research, make sure to ask if the medications that you currently take will be covered by the supplement that you have taken interest in.

This article is brought to you by www.USCoverageNow.com – Your source for low cost health insurance, affordable health insurance, and affordable health plans!

A Bit About Guaranteed Issue Health Insurance

Posted in Insurance by Advisor on December 10th, 2010 | No Comments

When thinking about the most important factors to Americans in the United States, one of the first things that will come to mind is medical. Staying healthy is the most important factor of life because without good health, the quality of life for Americans is not as great. One of the best ways to protect your medical as a person is to have an adequate medical insurance plan in place should some kind of catastrophic medical situation happen in your life. But what if you already have a medical condition?

Many medical insurance companies will deny coverage to Americans with preexisting medical conditions. Although, this does seem like an unfair practice by medical insurance companies, when Americans read between the lines, they can probably understand why that is. The medical insurance industry is a risk verse reward industry. This means that for every client they decide to insure or cover, they take on a risk of loss due to the overwhelming medical care costs associated with illness. This means that if people already have a preexisting condition, by insuring these Americans, the medical insurance companies take on a higher risk. Some medical insurance companies are not willing to take this risk which is the reason that they deny Americans with preexisting conditions for coverage. However, if you are one of those consumers that do have a preexisting condition, you are not exactly out of luck!

Although, a bunch of medical insurance companies will deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions, there are also a lot of health insurance companies that will gladly take on the risk of clients with preexisting conditions. These health insurance plans are called guaranteed issue medical insurance plans. Guaranteed issue health insurance plans tend to be a bit more expensive because of the risk that is involved with issuing medical insurance plans to people with preexisting medical conditions.

When Americans think about health insurance, they are thinking about saving cash in the long run. Let’s face it if you are a person with a preexisting health condition, chances are, your medical expenses are well above one thousand dollars per month. This is quite a bit of cash. Even if the medical insurance company that issues a guaranteed issue medical insurance plan to you charges five hundred dollars per month, you will be saving in the long run. Even when it comes to guaranteed issue medical insurance plans, the high cost will be offset by the amount of benefits available to people who take advantage of the plan.

If you are one of the many people looking for a guaranteed issue health insurance plan, there are a few things to keep in mind. First off, some guaranteed issue health insurance plans will not cover the cost of prescription medications. If you are one of the consumers with a preexisting medical condition, you probably know how expensive these prescription medications may be. Make sure that your medications will be covered under your new medical insurance plan. Also, many insurance companies will exclude coverage for preexisting medical conditions. Make sure that the guaranteed issue medical insurance plan will cover the preexisting medical conditions that you have.

This article is brought to you by www.USCoverageNow.com – Your source for low cost health insurance, low cost health plans, and affordable health insurance!

Is The U.S. Health Care System So Bad?

Posted in Insurance by Advisor on December 10th, 2010 | No Comments

Over the past few years, United States consumers have been turning on the news to find new information every day regarding health care in the United States. Many congressman and legislators have been consistently trying to make changes to the United States health care system. If we look at the United States compared to other countries, is the United States health care system really so bad? Many people will agree that the medical care system in the United States really isn’t so bad if they understood all the facts.

Let’s take a look at a country that many Americans feel has one of the best medical care systems in the world. This country is Canada. As a great deal of people will tell you, Canada offers all residents a medical insurance plan provided by the government. Now let’s think about this, no matter how strong a countries economy is, can anyone really say that the residents of Canada don’t pay for the insurance that they receive provided by the government. Think about how any government no matter the country gets the funds to run the country. The funds provided to any government in the world are provided by Americans within the country through the tax system. Now let’s go back to the question that I asked before, can any one honestly say that Canadian consumers don’t pay for their government provided health insurance plans?

The answer is no, no one can honestly tell you that Canadian Americans don’t pay for their government provided health insurance plans. As a matter of fact, if you look at general statistics, Canadian Americans pay more money for their government provided health insurance plans than Americans pay for their privately purchased medical insurance plans. This is because of the overwhelming amount of taxes that Canadian consumers are forced to pay to their government. Canadian consumers pay about 18% more when it comes to taxes. Now let’s look at what this costs to the average consumer who makes $50,000.00 per year. Now let’s take 18% of that income and delegate it to health insurance. If we did so, people would pay on average $9,150.00 per year for their health insurance plan. This works out to about $762.50 per month per person for a health insurance plan that the consumer has no choice but to have.

Now let’s think about the United States medical care system. In the United States, the average health insurance plan will price people anywhere from $100.00 to $600.00 depending on varying factors such as age, current health status, weight, height, etc… Also, in the United States people have the ability to choose the medical insurance plan that they feel is best for them. Personally, although I can admit that as with any system, the United States medical care system does have it’s flaws. However, being a person that enjoys low costs and the opportunity to choose different plans, I have to say that I don’t see any major issues with the United States medical care system at all. This is just my opinion you of course are entitled to your own opinion!

This article is brought to you by www.USCoverageNow.com – Your source for affordable health plans, low cost health insurance, and cheap health insurance!

Health Insurance For Chemical Dependency

Posted in Insurance by Advisor on December 10th, 2010 | No Comments

If you are one of the many Americans in the United States, then you are probably well aware of how vitally important having a good medical insurance plan is to you and your family. Unfortunately, in the United States, we have found that there are a great deal of controlled substances that many consumers have built a dependency to. Even worse, when it comes to having a chemical dependency, people who suffer from this will have a hard time finding affordable health insurance for them and their families.

The reason for this is that health insurance companies have to consider risk verses reward when issuing a new health insurance plan. When it comes down to it, consumers with a chemical dependency become a higher risk to the health insurance company. This is because all addictive drugs that create chemical dependencies also cause major medical concerns. These concerns are in most cases quite costly when it comes to the health care expenses which is the risk that medical insurance companies are required to take on.

If you are a consumer with a chemical dependency, all is not lost! Although, I do advise that people with any kind of chemical dependency get some help to break the addiction that they face, I do understand that breaking an addiction is a very tough task. This can also be quite the costly task as well. People without adequate health insurance may not be able to afford the medical expense involved with many treatment centers.

If a consumer with a chemical dependency has not been treated in the past for their condition, they are still eligible for affordable medical insurance. Most medical insurance plans will cover treatment for chemical dependency after a person carries the policy for a minimum of 6 months. The best advise that I could give to a American that suffers from chemical dependency is to get medical insurance today. Make sure that the health insurance that you choose covers chemical dependencies and will pay for the treatment that you need to come clean!

Once you get the health insurance plan, try to start to ween yourself off of the drug that is holding you hostage. I know that this is hard but I’m sure that if you are willing to fight, you will be just fine. If you have to wait until the wait period is over for the insurance plan you have to cover your chemical dependency, then wait, but make sure that you do get the medical attention that you need to break the addiction. After watching a friend pass away due to a chemical dependency, I can’t tell you how important it is to choose to become free from addiction!

This article is brought to you by www.USCoverageNow.com – Your source for low cost health plans, cheap health insurance, and cheap health insurance!

Maternity Insurnace

Posted in Insurance by Advisor on December 9th, 2010 | No Comments

There is no greater feeling to people than the one they get when they hear it’s a boy or it’s a girl. As human beings, we have a natural desire to mate and have children. However, through this process come high costs of maternity health care. The average child will cost the parents more than 30 thousand dollars by the time he or she leaves the hospital! That’s quite a bit of money. However, have the right medical insurance plan may prove to offset this cost exceptionally! With some insurance plans, consumers will not need to pay a penny for the medical attention they require when giving birth! However, with some medical insurance plans, Americans will need to pay an arm and a leg whereas they did not realize that their health insurance plan had no maternity coverage.

When it comes to health insurance plans, there are few insurance companies that will offer maternity coverage. This is because of the overwhelming costs associated with child birth. Let’s face it, medical insurance companies, just like any corporation are in the business to make money. If they take on too much of a risk, chances are that making cash will prove to be a hard thing to do. However, some medical insurance companies will still cover maternity costs. That’s the good news, the bad news is that if you are already pregnant, finding a health insurance corporation that will cover your maternity costs will prove to be impossible. This is because pregnancy is considered a preexisting conditions. Chances are if you are pregnant before you start looking for health insurance with maternity coverage, you will not be able to find anything. However, for those of you who are not pregnant yet and are thinking about becoming pregnant, this coverage will be available to you.

Knowing what to look for is very important. The first thing to remember when looking for affordable health insurance plans that will cover maternity is that it is crucial to ask the right questions. When speaking to the medical insurance agent, make sure to ask “does this plan cover maternity”. If the answer is yes move on to “Great, and should I get pregnant, is there a wait time before the maternity coverage will begin?” This answer should be no. If the answer is no now ask “what is the deductible and will it be different with the maternity portion of coverage?” also “what is the coinsurance percentage and will there be a maximum out of pocket?”. Once you have these questions out of the way, you should be able to make an educated decision.

Also, when looking for affordable health insurance plans that cover the costs of maternity or any medical insurance plan for that matter, it is important to be honest with your agent. Although, it is a commonly known fact that different answers will result in a higher or lower cost to the person, it is important to remember that if people lie on medical insurance applications, chances are they will be denied for coverage. Also, if Americans who have lied on their health insurance application get the coverage applied for, chances are when they go to use it, the insurance corporation will process a review of medical history for that consumer. The health insurance carrier may drop the policy and refuse to pay any claims if the medical review comes back showing that that consumer had lied to receive the coverage.

This article is brought to you by www.USCoverageNow.com – Your source for affordable health insurance, low cost health plans, and affordable health plans!

A Bit Of Mistakes Americans May Want To Avoid When Shopping For Health Insurance

Posted in Insurance by Advisor on December 9th, 2010 | No Comments

In life, there are few decisions to be made that are more important than choosing the right medical insurance plan for you and your family. Health insurance can not only save people thousands of dollars in medical expenses, having the right plan can prove to save your life. With the rising cost of medical expenses, if your health insurance plan doesn’t cover certain medication or medical procedures that will keep you alive, you may be in more trouble than you think! This is why choosing the right health insurance plan for you and your family is so vitally important. There are a few common mistakes made by Americans when choosing a medical insurance plan and most of them are to falsely reduce the cost of the medical insurance. However, these mistakes can cost Americans more than a few extra dollars when it comes to health insurance. The key to choosing the right medical insurance plan for you and your family is being honest with your agent.

One of the first questions that an agent will ask when talking to you about your medical insurance options is “do you or any member of your family have a preexisting conditions?” This is a very important question. If you or someone to be insured have any preexisting conditions, chances are the health insurance plan offered may be a little less affordable. This is OK. It is better to pay more for the health insurance plan that will truly protect you and your family than to pay less for the health insurance plan that will do nothing God forbid something ever happen to you and your family. When a person has preexisting conditions, these conditions are noted on that people medical record. If that person lies about preexisting conditions when asked by the health insurance agent, chances are if anything was to happen that required the assistance of that Americans medical insurance corporation, the company would process a review. Through this review, medication and treatment will show for the preexisting condition. If this is the case, there is a good chance that the medical insurance corporation will drop the consumer and not cover the much needed medical attention.

Another common medical insurance mistake surrounds price as well. It is commonly known that Americans who do not use tobacco products will enjoy low cost health insurance premiums. This is indeed the truth. Use of tobacco products can raise the cost of health insurance by more than 40%. However, it is not worth lying about. When major procedures are needed, blood is almost always taken. The medical insurance carrier will have this blood checked for nicotine (the active ingredient in cigarettes). If the Americans blood shows nicotine, chances are the claim will not be paid.

To end this article, all I will need to say is when purchasing health insurance for you and your family, there is nothing more important than being honest with your agent.

This article is brought to you by www.USCoverageNow.com – Your source for affordable health plans, low cost health plans, and low cost health insurance!

COBRA Health Insurance Alternatives

Posted in Insurance by Advisor on December 6th, 2010 | No Comments

If you live in the United States, you understand the importance of medical insurance. I don’t know about you, but I know that without health insurance I wouldn’t be able to afford many of the medical expenses that I have incurred. Health insurance is a product that makes medical care more affordable for consumers. In many cases, health insurance plans will be provided by employers through large group coverage at a discounted rate. This coverage is great but what happens if consumers suddenly find themselves laid off or fired from their positions with their employers?

By United States federal law, consumers are entitled to a specific type of insurance once they leave a place of employment that offers insurance. This insurance coverage is called COBRA. Unfortunately, COBRA is known to be a very costly health insurance plan. Without the help of an employer, many consumers find themselves in a tough situation trying to figure out how to pay the enormous cost of medical insurance on their own. Good news, you don’t have to choose COBRA.

By law, COBRA is an option to any consumer who recently lost employment however, it is not a requirement. Consumers don’t have to choose to use COBRA medical insurance! Consumers are welcome to shop around to find a cheaper medical insurance plan. This is great but, what are the options that consumers have for medical insurance coverage between jobs? The answer is simple, the best option for Americans who find themselves between jobs is a short term medical insurance plan.

Short term medical insurance plans are available to just about any consumer! These plans are specifically for situations such as loss of employment or temporary loss of employment. Short term medical insurance plans offer consumers the ability to choose a low cost medical insurance plan for them and their families that will last anywhere between 6 and 12 months. Most short term medical insurance plans work just like any major medical insurance plan. The main difference when it comes to short term medical insurance plans is the amount of doctor visit co-pays available. In the majority of cases, when it comes to short term health insurance plans, people are entitled to 2 or 3 doctor office co-pays per policy. Once the co-pays are used, the consumer is usually required to pay the deductible before any more doctor visits will be covered. Although short term medical insurance policies are meant for short terms between 6 and 12 months, people are not left out if they don’t find new employment by the end of the term. With most short term health insurance polices, Americans are welcome to re-enroll as many times as needed!

This article is brought to you by www.USCoverageNow.com – Your source for low cost health plans, low cost health insurance, and cheap health insurance!

Understanding The Difference Between Insurance Companies, Agencies, And Agents

Posted in Insurance by Advisor on December 6th, 2010 | No Comments

Obviously, health insurance is one of the the majority of important things that a person in the united states should have. Unfortunately, us Americans have watched the economy fall downward and still consistently fall. Throughout this process, we have also noticed increasing prices for health care throughout the United States. With that said, if you don’t have a medical insurance plan, it’s time to consider getting one as soon as possible. Throughout the process of shopping for medical insurance plans, you will encounter insurance agents, insurance agencies, insurance companies, and underwriters. I feel that it is important to understand who you are speaking with and what their job is to be able to make an educated decision when it comes to shopping for affordable health insurance plans.

First off, let’s talk about who you will speak to first. The first person you are going to speak to is an insurance agent. An insurance agent must be licensed to sell you any health insurance plan. This is because medical insurance unlike many other products can mean the difference between life and death. Because of the importance of an agents knowledge, the United States has created certifications that every insurance agent is required to obtain. These certifications ensure that you, the consumer will be well informed and have everything you need to be able to make a reasonable decision when it comes to your health insurance. Your insurance agent will explain how the insurance plan works and the affordability of different plans. Once you have obtained this information, it is important that you make the right decision which your insurance agent will help you with.

Next, we will talk about who the insurance agent works for. In some cases, agents will practice their career on their own and they would be called independent insurance agents. In other cases however, a group of insurance agents will work together to create an agency. The reason for this is to become strong and reliable. Agents are usually limited to the health insurance products that they are able to offer because each product will have it’s own certification process. Therefore, by working with an agency, people are able to enjoy the option to choose between multiple insurance products and this is the best way to go in my eyes.

Finally, we will talk about the insurance corporations. Insurance companies are the actual corporation that will issue your policy. For instance, everyone knows about Blue Cross Blue Shield. This is an insurance carrier. They are in charge of issuing the policy and taking care of customer concerns once a consumer purchases a policy. Once a consumer does purchase a policy, there is nothing more that the agent or agency will be able to do for them. The person needs to work directly with the insurance corporation.

This article is brought to you by www.USCoverageNow.com – Your source for low cost health insurance, low cost health insurance, and affordable health plans!