25th June, 2010 - Posted by Admin - No Comments
Health is the biggest and most crucial asset of every living being. An unhealthy animal and individual can never truly experience any joy. It is the wealth of health that provides the requisite potential to topple over all odds and to move ahead with life. So such an essential part of a persons life demands extra care and concern. An ideal way to secure an individuals prized possession for
him and for those who love him is a health insurance policy.
A health insurance policy is meant to financially assist a person in case there occurs a setback to his health. For instance he is afflicted by some grave disease, meets an accident, becomes handicapped etc. In order to provide complete service and for the all round development of the individual the health care system of America offers ample of options or different types of health insurance for its citizens. Some of these are explained below:
Preferred Provider Organization or PPO is a discount form of health insurance policy. PPO has a complete network of health care providers from hospitals to doctors. If an individual has taken PPO policy and takes treatment from any of these assigned providers, the PPO covers his complete medical treatment. While if the person takes recourse to some other doctor or institution, he gets served at a reduced rate. PPOs thus facilitate medical services at abridged rates.
One immensely cheap form of health insurance is the catastrophic health insurance. This sort of policy is basically meant for the people who have the financial means to manage regular illnesses and hospitalizations. The deductibles i.e. the sum of money an individual for these policies are quite large for this policy. At times there are caps on the amount the policy will pay in case of illness.
A Short term health insurance policy is akin to a life insurance policy in the sense that both can be adopted for a specific tenure. This policy covers catastrophic to comprehensive cases and excludes the situation of pregnancy and childbirth. Quite often it is hard to qualify for these policies as there are strict conditions or qualifying procedures. Moreover these policies may not cover any pre-existing medical conditions.
HMOs or the Health Maintenance Organizations also offer health insurane t significantly lower premiums. But the disadvantage is that they confine the sources a person may seek in non-exigency situations. HMOs do not cover the precautionary measures such as immunization, mammograms and physicals. There are quite a few issues associated with the HMOs. For instance it is believed that doctors receive financial perks for deducting the cost of medical services to patients. One way to do this is to pay monthly fee to the doctor for each patient despite of delving in to the issues of what treatment the latter one needs.
There are also full-service health insurances. The lucrative feature of these policies is that they cover all sort of illnesses, cover any medical treatment the patient takes regardless of the institution or doctor and the deductibles are at the discretion of the policyholder. He may pay a high or a low one.
Medicare or Medicaid insurances are meant for the retired or the low-income individuals.
18th June, 2010 - Posted by Admin - No Comments
A catastrophic or major medical insurance plan is a deductible and comparatively cheaper form of health insurance with an element of speculation to it. A deductible is the amount you pay out of your pocket for medical expenses before the insurer pays the balance. For instance, if your deductible is 5,000 and the hospital bill is 12,000, the insurance company will pay only 7,000. The general rule is the higher the deductible, the lower the premium. When you opt for this plan, you’re gambling that you will not face major medical problems in the near future.
It is a calculated risk. According to one survey, the annual medical expenses of 90% of the U.S. population are less than 2000; for 73%of the population, it is below 500.
Two groups that normally opt for catastrophic health insurance are young people in their twenties who are confident of their health condition, and older men between fifty and sixty-five who are still waiting for Medicare eligibility.
Catastrophic health insurance coverage is only meant to protect against major hospital charges and not routine medical expenses. It normally does not cover maternity care, doctors visits and prescription drugs. Certain pre-existing medical conditions and cases involving mental health and substance abuse are usually excluded from the coverage. A catastrophic health insurance policy can be purchased as an individual plan or as part of a group plan. In fact, there appears to be a trend among employers to encourage employees to opt for this type of medical cover. The maximum lifetime limit could be as high as 3 million.
Rates vary according to where you live and your age. In certain states, the saving on premiums could be two-thirds. For example, a 21 year old, non-smoking female may pay as little as 30 per month as a premium.
It is advisable to seek professional guidance from insurance companies andor agents and compare quotes before making a decision.
11th June, 2010 - Posted by Admin - No Comments
With Canada so close to the US, it is easy to forget that Canada is another country and even though we feel at home when we go there, there are formalities one must have in mind like having a travel health insurance because the American healthcare system does not pay for treatment outside the US.
There is hardly anything special in purchasing a travel health insurance plan when going to Canada that is very different from doing it for any other part of the world. Maybe one difference is that Canada has a high standard of living and therefore you can reasonably expect that there, like at home, medical and dental services will be more expensive than those in some Third World countries. And this is one more reason to look for the best, not the cheapest travel health insurance plan.
As far as money is concerned, a regular basic plan usually provides coverage for you and your family amounting about 50,000 CAD (about USD 43,000), which is usually enough to cover ambulance service, laboratory examination, doctors fees, a short stay in the hospital, etc. But if you are afraid that this is not enough, there are companies that offer over USD 1,000,000 as coverage. And if you go to ski in Calgary, for example, or go on a fishing trip to Ontario, do not let a broken limb (400-500 with therapy, crutches, etc.) break both your mood and finances.
There are many Canadian companies that offer travel health insurance to Americans and there are many American companies that offer the same for Americans going to Canada, so the choice is unlimited. Just visit their sites and spend some time with the online calculators that allow to enter your age, the duration of the trip, the destination province and your medical condition, and in no time at all you will have plenty of offers to choose from!
4th June, 2010 - Posted by Admin - No Comments
Ohio residents are afforded certain protection when buying health insurance from a state licensed insurer as a result of standards put in place by the Ohio Department of Insurance. Below are some of the standards you should be aware of when buying insurance:
Alcohol Treatment : There must be at least 550 per year in alcohol treatment whether inpatient or outpatient
Mental Illness : On an outpatient basis, there is a requirement for 550 per year for treatment. This applies only if the policy covers in hospital treatment of mental illness.
Kidney dialysis : If an insurer provides coverage for dialysis in a hospital, it must also provide the same coverage for dialysis on an outpatient basis.
Specific practitioners : Health policies in Ohio cannot discriminate against particular health professionals. It must pay any licensed professional who legally performs a service. This includes Chiropractor, dentist, nurse-midwives, Mechanotherapists, osteopaths, Optometrists, Podiatrists, Psychologists
Generic drug use : If a policy covers prescription drugs, it must pay for any legally approved drug prescribed by your doctor even if it has not been approved by the government for treating your particular medical problem or disease.
Pregnancy and Maternity : Insurance companies do not have to offer maternity benefits, However, when it is provided, it may never be considered a pre-existing condition. Although, under certain conditions, an insurer may impose a 270-day waiting period before providing maternity benefits.
Mammograms: Every major medical policy group and individual must cover mammograms for breast cancer screening in adult women.
The frequency varies depending on age:
Age: 35-39 One only
Age: 4-49: One every two years unless your doctor has reason to believe you are a high risk for breast cancer
Age 50-64: one a year.
This is subject to a maximum of 85 per covered mammogram.
Please view our recommended insurance quote companies below. They are also great sources for information about rates and coverages for most of the lower 48 states.