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Health Insurance Rates Are Going Up

December 23rd, 2010
C. Green asked:




You won’t like the answer to that particular question, but the facts are the facts. Health insurance rates are going up because of us. That’s right, we are the authors of our own misfortune if you will. Very simply we do not look after ourselves and by doing that, we send the price of health care rates sky high.

We drink, we smoke, we’re aging (OK we can’t do anything about that) and we don’t work out. Our obesity rate as a nation is abominable. The health care costs of treating alcoholics, smokers and obese patients are phenomenal.

It’s not just that we don’t take care of ourselves either. The other factors that drive up the cost of health insurance rates are medical inflation and medical errors. Now you might be thinking medical errors must cost a bundle. Actually, they are declining – a good thing by any standards.

The biggest area of problems is medical inflation. Just try to find out what a surgery will cost you, and good luck on that. Let’s say for instance you needed an appendectomy. You want to know what that will cost. No hospital or doctors office will give you that figure because they have no idea what they will bill you for until they bill you.

Surgery has almost become an a la carte menu where the doctor (and hospital) picks and chooses what you will get billed for. From the cost of dispensing pills to the cost of the pill itself and from the cost of the extra pillow you wanted to the extra dressing required for your incision. You get billed for each item. No wonder bills are so high and they can’t tell you what it costs.

However, having said that, it’s interesting that doctor’s offices are able to tell the biggest insurance companies paying the freight how much it costs to stay in hospital per day and what a certain surgery costs. See what’s happening here? The doctor gets paid a rate by the insurance company and then bills you extra for other things. Nasty, but it works.

If you want lower health care rates, start taking care of yourself. Don’t smoke, don’t drink to excess and get moving and work out. The healthier you are, the less expensive your health care costs tend to be.

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Supplemental Health Insurance – Things You Should Understand

December 22nd, 2010
Chimezirim Chinecherem Odimba asked:




Supplemental health insurance is a type of insurance policy designed to cover the gaps that your regular health insurance may have due to deductibles and co-payments. This policy picks up further expenses that your principal insurance doesn’t provide for, such as lost earnings and everyday living expenditures.

Those on Medicare, the self employed, those financially unprepared to handle large medical bills or time off from work due to illness or injury, and families with children should reflect on this coverage type.

Its various benefits consist of money benefits, lesser fees because of lower benefit amounts, the capability to counterbalance lost wages not like a conventional health insurance policy, and frequently payment for pre-existing conditions.

Long term health care, at home care, nursing homes, or prescription drugs is not covered for those on Medicare so supplemental health insurance policies can ease much of the burden for these people. In an attempt to protect their financial security, many seniors use both Medicare and supplemental medical plans.

The combination of these two coverages will sadly cost quite a bit of money per year. There are many insurance companies offering a variety of supplemental health insurance policies. For numerous reasons, many plans offer cash benefits.

In addition to hospital indemnity plans which provide fixed cash benefits for covered services, including hospital stays for emergencies and outpatient services, there are basic supplemental medical plans that provide fixed benefits for covered preventative medical care. Supplemental cancer insurance policies grant direct funds to policy holders for cancer management and connected expenses, for those apprehensive about getting cancer.

There are plans that grant total benefits to assist in shelling out expenses for heart attacks, strokes, heart surgeries, cancer, and other illnesses for circumstances linking a critical condition or illness. Becoming unexpectedly disabled can be financially devastating for any family.

To safeguard against any unexpected lost earnings, disability income security offers steady assistance to assist in paying the bills. Long term care insurance helps policy holder’s deal with the high cost of long term care, including assisted living facilities, medical home care, adult day care, and so on.

In the midst of standard health care becoming higher for everybody, above all for the self-employed, supplemental health insurance is becoming a requirement for everyone that wants to remain physically and financially fit.

Get the best for far less by obtaining and comparing quotes from a wide range of insurers.

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Health Insurance – A Necessary Expense

December 21st, 2010
Richard Day asked:




Misconception 1: Health insurance is unaffordable:

There are many types of plans available. The Health Savings Account (HSA), & the traditional copay type plans are the most popular. How do they compare?

The HSA plan is a high deductible health plan that covers you if there be a catastrophic health related event. It doesn’t cover the day to day incidentals like buying drugs or visiting the doctor. Therefore, these plans tend to be more affordable and the premiums are more stable from year to year. If you purchase a very high deductible plan, you will limit your financial exposure.

The copay type plan offers some advantages over the HSA plan. First, you will have a copay of typically $30 to $50 to see a doctor. This makes it easy to see a doctor without causing a large hit to the monthly budget. The fallacy is that to offer you a copay, the insurance company has to estimate how many times you will visit the doctor.

If they insure a family that sees a doctor very frequently, such as once or twice per month, the insurance company will lose money because they have to make up the difference between the amount of the copay and the actual amount of the service provided. They don’t like to lose money, so they build in a cushion. They assume that you will use your insurance frequently, and make the monthly premium high enough to cover this eventuality. Consequently, copay plans are NOT the least expensive way to insure yourself — especially if you only see a doctor only once or twice per year.

To make insurance affordable, purchase a very high deductible HSA plan. It will offer you catastrophic coverage for an affordable price.

Misconception 2: I don’t have much to lose:

You have a house, a nice new truck, a relatively new car, but you don’t have health insurance. It is just a matter of priorities. Drive older vehicles, and you can then afford health insurance. Why, you say? If I have to go the hospital, they will take care of me and they will offer me a payment plan. The fallacy here is hospital admittance. The hospitals DO NOT have to admit you unless it is an emergency. If you need a hysterectomy, don’t expect that the hospital will admit you.

Payment plans offered by hospitals and doctors may work for you, but what if you need a very expensive procedure like bypass surgery? That will cost approximately $130,000. Do you want to have to make payments monthly for the next twenty years? How can you expect to ever be financially sound with that burden to carry?

How about bankruptcy? That is not an option any longer. The courts have decided that medical payments cannot be forgiven through bankruptcy.

You do have a lot to lose. Lose your assets, incur a long term debt and perhaps be denied admittance to a health care facility.

Misconception 3: All or nothing thinking:

If you cannot afford a Cadillac, shouldn’t you buy an inexpensive Ford, Chevy or even a Yugo? Yes, you need protection from financial ruin. Consider a $10,000 deductible plan. Oh, you gasp, that isn’t very good. Where would I get $10,000? Ok, then, what is your deductible if you don’t have any health plan? It seems to me that your deductible is UNLIMITED! Just about productive person can pay off $10,000 over a period of time. However, it is much more difficult to pay off $100,000, $200,000 or more.

There is a widespread misunderstanding of insurance concept. Insurance is not supposed to cover the “little stuff” It should cover the big events that you cannot recover from. There is a 1 in 1200 chance that you will lose your house to fire or weather events. You probably have your house insured because you couldn’t afford to lose your house.

There is a 1 in 30 chance that you will be hospitalized. As you can see, the chance that you will need health insurance is much greater. Don’t be imprudent, protect yourself.

Summary:

Health Savings Account (HSA) type plans are more affordable. Purchase HSA plans instead of copay plans. If you go without a health plan, you may incur expenses that you will hinder your future. You may not gain admittance to get the health care that you need. You cannot use bankruptcy to relieve medical expenses. A high deductible plan provides a limit to your out of pocket expenses. There is almost no limit to your expenses if you don’t have a health lan in force.

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