I am often asked a lot of this question: Can one claim more than one health insurance policies? The answer is “maybe”. The claim of any health insurance is set at the maximum amount of expense that you were to pay for any one incidence.
Let me reveal a saddening fact, in my 7 years practicing insurance experience. You ready for this?
The saddest thing I’ve witnessed is patients suffering from health issues without the pain-soothing benefits of a health insurance scheme. Whilst, many healthy people do not believe they might become the victims of health issues or accidents. They take the risks of not doing any precautions, including buying any health insurance. I have also noticed there is another mistake commonly committed by professionals, “smart” people who just left their corporate espionage and started their business. When they left their corporate 9-to-5, and started on their own, they seldom realize the risks involved as being a self-employed person.
What they were not aware of is that, when they got away from the corporate battlefield, they were also deprived of their other compensation infringement. Their career opportunities filled their minds; they neglect non-business risks; personal risk or non-career related risks. These smart working professionals are suddenly thrown in the cold, exposed to, risks that they were not even aware of.
On the other hand, employees who have all sorts of company benefits should double check whether they need to further insure. From my own experience, large corporate insurance benefits are usually enough to cover normal medical expenses. Buying another health insurance scheme, at times, are a waste of resource or money. Of course the medical benefits do vary from companies to companies. One should always get quotes from different insurance agencies in order to ensure he or she gets the best deal out of any health insurance plan. In general, you should at least compare three quotes before committing yourself to something which you may stick for a long time.
By: Roy Chan
Archive for the ‘Articles’ category
Buying Health Insurance FAQ
March 11th, 2010Posted in Articles
Tags: Accidents Business Risks Buying Health Insurance Career Opportunities Corporate Espionage Corporate Insurance Health Insurance Health Insurance Faq Health Insurance Plan Health Insurance Policies Health Insurance Scheme Health Issues Infringement Insurance Agencies Insurance Benefits Insurance Experience Medical Benefits Medical Expenses Personal Risk Saddest Thing
Affordable Health Care Insurance – Tips And Precautions For Massive Savings
March 8th, 2010
Affordable health care insurance: Certain ways of cutting down your rates usually reduce the quality of coverage you get and so are NOT smart. Be that as it may, you can pay much less for better coverage if you know the things that matter and take necessary precautions. These are tips that won’t leave you with inadequate coverage…
1. Did you know that your co-pay could be more expensive than your drug cost sometimes? There are also situations where it will cost you less if you don’t use your insurance but buy a prescription from your own account. In such instances, you will spend less by taking the routes that offer you better savings.
2. There are cases for which you really shouldn’t see a doctor. Take, for instance, a viral infection like flu. Seeing your doctor will really make no difference in your health if you understand what to do. There are simple steps you should apply and if you go to the doctor you’ll pay and still be told the same things.
So is it wise to spend close to $100 in visiting a doctor when you already know that your condition would not be helped much? Other instances are small bruises that just simple first aid will handle properly.
Learn little first aid procedures. Most of those incidents would be well taken care of if you spend time learning a little about first aid and also have a good first aid kit.
Nevertheless, if you don’t know what to do, don’t hesitate to visit a doctor. But, please, know your bounds and be aware that there are cases you must refer to a doctor even if you know what to do. The law forbids you to do certain things if you’re not a certified medical personnel. Handle what you should and let your doctor handle those he/she should. You’ll pay less on health insurance without endangering anyone if you do this.
3. Smoking will cost you expensive rates. It’s a sure fact that smokers are liable to various health conditions and that they don’t live long.
This increases their risk to an insurer and therefore increases their rates dramatically. If you can abstain from smoking you’ll attract rates that are considerably more affordable when you reapply after twelve months.
4. Choose a higher deductible and you’ll pay a cheaper rate. This is the amount you must contribute before the insurer is obligated to pay accordingly. Therefore, make your deductible as high as you can within easy reach.
5. While looking for affordable health insurance it’s very important that you don’t get carried away by just the most affordable quote. What you need isn’t necessarily the cheapest quote but the quote that represents the best price to value ratio. You can get very cheap rates that give you the value you are after if you shop right.
But in situations where you don’t see the right value at the lowest rate, you’ll be taking the right step if you pay more to ensure you truly have the quality of coverage that is right for you.
Sometimes very cheap rates also offer great value but in other case they may compromise you. In those situations, the cheapest certainly isn’t the best but the best for you ultimately is the best deal on the long run.
6. You can realize savings of hundreds of dollars on your health insurance policy by requesting for insurance quotes from quote sites. The best way is to visit a minimum of five quotes sites and making sure that you input the same (correct) information about yourself.
I recommend that you use at least five quotes sites because it will make it less likely that you’ll miss out offers not presented by the other sites. This provides you a broader basis for doing more thorough comparisons thus increasing your chances of better quotes.
By: Chimezirim Chinecherem Odimba
Posted in Articles
Tags: Affordable Health Care Affordable Health Care Insurance Affordable Insurance Bruises First Aid Kit First Aid Procedures Flu Health Care Insurance Health Conditions Health Insurance Health Tips Inadequate Coverage Instances Insurance Tips Massive Savings Necessary Precautions Simple Steps Smokers Things That Matter Viral Infection
Barack Obama’s Health Care Plan
March 7th, 2010
Barack Obama’s ambitious health care plan is fairly simple and straightforward. His plan seeks to dramatically and swiftly increase the number of people that have health insurance. He insists that this plan will save the typical American family approximately $2500 in annual costs. Since the average Ohio premium is less than most other states, savings to Ohio residents may average less than $2500.
The plan is designed to give the federal government more control over medical decisions and dollars, a major difference from the current decentralized system of employer-based insurance and state-based insurance regulation. Here in Ohio, health insurers have been effectively held in check by the Ohio Department of Insurance. This, however, is not the case in many other states.
The Obama Plan
Many parts of the Obama plan resemble initiatives from the Clinton health plan of 1994 and the Kerry Health plan of 2004.
Essentially, Obama’s health care plan is divided into three sections:
1. Modernizing the US health care system to lower costs and improve quality
2. Promoting prevention and strengthening public health
3. Quality, portable and affordable health coverage for every person
The “Savings”
The $2500 in savings will come from health care reform, using some of the following initiatives:
*Making medical insurance universal, which may reduce spending on uncompensated care.
*Improving management and prevention of chronic conditions.
*Increasing insurance industry competition and reducing underwriting costs and profits.
*Providing reinsurance for catastrophic coverage, which will reduce insurance premiums.
Shifting Cost Burden
While all of these ideas are feasible, the underlying theme seems to be simply shifting some of the cost burden from the private sector to the government. And of course, much more control of our health dollars and decisions would come from Washington D.C and not Anthem or UnitedHealthCare.
The plan will actually compete directly with Ohio private insurance companies in a “National Health Insurance Exchange.” The federal government (not health insurance carriers) would determine the quality of benefits that Americans would receive. And these new rules would apply to both the new national health plan and all participating private health plans.
Preventative Coverage Would Be Emphasized
Obama’s health care plan will encourage “healthy lifestyles” with specific emphasis on wellness. Employer wellness programs will be increased, and cafeterias and vending machines in the workplace may see healthier food.
School-based health screening programs may increase along with increased support for physical education.
For Ohio individuals and families, the Obama plan would require preventative services on many federally-supported programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP. One benefit may be possible discounts to on health insurance premiums for enrollment in wellness and prevention programs.
Currently, some Ohio individual health insurance policies offer a similar discount, such as Anthem’s Lumenos Health Incentive Account (HIA).
Ohio Group Health Insurance
Employer-based health insurance would radically change under the Obama plan. Here in Ohio, both small and large employers are able to choose among many different plans for their employees. The Obama plan would force employers to offer a specific level of health benefits to their employees or pay a tax to finance a national health program. Currently, the amount of provided health benefits and the size of the tax have not been specifically discussed.
Perhaps the best and most economical health insurance plan for Ohio residents would be a concept already in place…HSAs (Health Savings Accounts). Thus, instead of imposing a top-down change on the health care system, it would seem to be prudent to transfer direct control of medical dollars to individuals and families. This would allow Americans to choose their own health plans and benefits, while making health insurance companies compete directly for consumer’s dollars by providing a real value to patients.
All of this could be accomplished by specific tax and regulatory changes designed to utilize the power of free-market competition. Health care spending could be reduced, preventative treatment could be emphasized and portability could be promoted. Reforming the tax treatment of health insurance and aiding employers that help their employees buy health insurance would help quite a bit.
For now, Ohio health insurance rates are remarkably low compared to many other states. There are many reputable insurance companies that offer a wide array of policies, including Health Savings Accounts. That shouldn’t change much for the next two years. In 2011, things might change…hopefully, for the better.
By: Ed Harris
Posted in Articles
Tags: Barack Obama Catastrophic Coverage Clinton Health Plan Decentralized System Department Of Insurance Health Care Plan Health Care Reform Health Care System Health Coverage Health Dollars Health Insurers Improving Management Insurance Premiums Insurance Regulation Medical Decisions Ohio Department Of Insurance Ohio Health Ohio Residents Typical American Family Uncompensated Care
