Student Health Insurance: How to get Medical Coverage If You’re a Student
May 31, 2007
Students are not immune to accidents, injury or illnesses especially when they’re away from their home. When parents send their children off to college, they want to know that they will be well taken care of as their not around for them to protect. If something should happen to their child, they would want them to have the best of care to ensure their child gets back on their feet as quickly as possible.
With the rising costs of college tuition and all the fees associated with that, parents could have a financial burden of having to pay for healthcare services on top of the college fees. If the student has medical coverage, the healthcare costs would be to a minimum. Most colleges nowadays require their students to have some form of medical insurance prior to enrolling with them, so parents or possibly the students themselves are faced with having to find affordable insurance to fit their needs.
Parents should check with their own health insurance to see what is offered that would be affordable and cover what’s needed for their child. Some health insurance companies may raise premiums to a higher amount because the child is going off to college. If this isn’t an affordable situation, there are other routes to investigate.
Check with the college the child is going to. Some colleges offer a health care service plan for the students enrolled there. These can be affordable, but make sure you understand the plan well. Some plans may only cover a limited number of services the student receives, while others may require that the student uses a specific professional in order to be covered.
These plans may only cover the student while they are on the campus only and not when they go home for visits. If those two options aren’t feasible for the student’s situation or the family budget, don’t get discouraged as there are hundreds if not thousands more health insurance companies out there. A quick search on the Internet will bring up several results to browse through. Make sure the companies researched are legit before giving out any information. Browse the websites to see what they have to offer for the student and call them for specific price quotes or questions you may have.
International students can also get affordable health coverage as well while they’re in this country getting an education. Research what the Internet has to offer you. By doing the homework, the student can go off to college and the parents can have a little peace of mind knowing that their child will have the best of care should something happen.
Low Cost Individual Health Insurance Options: How to Save When Buying Insurance
May 26, 2007
If you don’t have a health insurance policy through your employer, or if you’re self-employed, you will need to purchase individual health insurance if you want health insurance coverage. While individual health insurance typically has a reputation for being expensive, there are more low-cost options available now than ever before.
If you want low-cost individual health insurance, you can choose a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) instead of a Fee-for-Service plan. HMOs are prepaid health plans providing you with comprehensive care including doctors’ visits, hospital stays, emergency care, surgery, lab test, x-rays and therapy. Care is arranged by the HMO in its own group practice and/or through contracted doctors and other health care professionals. The down side is that your provider choices are limited to those in the HMO.
Co-payments are low, averaging $5.00 per doctor visit and $25.00 per emergency room visit. Medical costs are lower than those in fee-for-service plans. HMOs offer preventive care including office visits, immunizations, well-baby checkups, mammograms and physicals. Outpatient mental health care is sometimes offered but coverage is limited. HMO plans don’t require you to file claim forms for doctor visits or hospital stays. Instead, you show a card when you check in at the doctor’s office or hospital.
You can also choose a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), which is a combination of traditional fee-for-service insurance, and an HMO. A PPO features a network of providers. When you choose a provider in the network, most of your medical expenses are covered by the plan. Just like with an HMO, you present a card when you visit your doctor instead of filling out claim forms, and you pay a small co-payment.
You may have to pay a deductible and/or co-insurance for some services. With a PPO, you must choose a primary care physician to monitor your health care. Unlike HMOs, you can choose out-of-network physicians and still receive coverage, but you’ll have to pay more. PPOs generally cover preventative care, including doctor visits, well-baby care, immunizations, and mammograms.
To find low cost health insurance, shop around by calling insurance companies, getting online quotes or talking to an insurance agent.
Health Insurance Companies: What to Look for When Choosing a Health Insurance Provider
May 20, 2007
Most Americans are covered by group insurance, which is a health insurance policy through their employer or through a family member’s employer. Group insurance is the least expensive type of health insurance, and the employer pays all or most of the premium. If you are not covered by your employer, or if you are self-employed, you can purchase your own policy. There are many options available for individual health insurance. Weigh your options and shop carefully as coverage and costs vary from one provider to another. You may not be eligible for as many benefits under individual coverage as you would in a group plan.
Make sure you understand what the plan covers and what it doesn’t before you purchase a health insurance policy. Call insurance companies, HMOs, PPOs, or talk to your home or car insurance agent to learn about various health insurance plans. Your agent can show you policies from different companies so you can compare them. The three main types of health insurance are Fee-for-Service (or Traditional Health Insurance), Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), and Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs). Your agent can tell you about these types of insurance and help you decide which is best for you.
There are a few things you should look for when choosing a health insurance provider. The policy should protect you from large medical costs. Decide on what type of coverage you need before you begin shopping, and make sure that the plan you choose provides you with the right coverage.
Make sure the policy states the effective date, as some have a waiting period before you can receive coverage. The policy should have a “free look” clause, in that you have a certain amount of time (usually 10 days or more) to review your policy after you receive it. You can cancel your policy during this time and your premium will be refunded.
When choosing health insurance, you want the one that meets your health needs and your budget. Carefully review the benefits of a plan and consider the cost. Now that you know what to look for, choosing a health insurance provider can be simple.
COBRA Health Insurance: What You Need to Understand About COBRA Health Insurance
May 17, 2007
Nobody wants to think about losing a job, but it does happen. And when you lose your job, you don’t want to lose your health insurance too. And you don’t have to, under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). COBRA is a law that provides former employees, retirees, spouses, former spouses and dependents the right to temporarily continue health insurance under the former employer’s group plan. The premium will be higher because the employer usually only pays premiums for active employees. The former employee will have to pay the entire premium in order to receive coverage. Since it’s a group plan, it is still typically less expensive than an individual health plan.
COBRA applies only to employers having at least 20 employees on more than 50% of its business days in a calendar year. In order to be eligible for COBRA coverage, you must have been enrolled in your employer’s health plan while you were employed and the health plan must still be in effect for active employees. There are also qualifications you must meet in order to receive COBRA coverage.
To qualify for COBRA, you must be what is called a qualified beneficiary under COBRA law. A qualified beneficiary is someone covered by the employer’s group health plan who is either the employee, the spouse, or a dependent child. In some cases, a retired employee, spouse and children may be considered qualified beneficiaries. Additionally, independent contractors, agents and directors participating in the group health plan may also be beneficiaries.
There must also be a qualifying event in order to qualify for insurance coverage under COBRA. A qualifying event is an event that causes someone to lose health insurance coverage. For an employee, spouse, or dependent child a qualifying event is voluntary or involuntary termination of the employee for any reason other than gross misconduct, or a reduction in the number of hours of employment (a full-time employee goes part-time). For spouses and children, qualifying events also include the covered employee’s becoming eligible for Medicare, a divorce or legal separation of the employee, or death of the employee.
Your employer or plan administrator must provide you with an election notice within 14 days of the qualifying event. At that time you may choose to elect COBRA coverage.
Catastrophic Health Insurance: Do You Need to Add a Catastrophic Insurance Policy?
May 17, 2007
If your employer doesn’t offer health insurance, or if you just don’t want to pay for coverage you don’t need, you might want to look into buying a catastrophic health insurance plan. Catastrophic health insurance usually features high deductibles and low monthly premiums. With this type of insurance, you typically pay out-of-pocket for doctors’ visits and prescriptions, but major expenses are covered, such as hospital stays, surgery, intensive care, diagnostic services, x-rays and lab tests. Pregnancy and maternity care usually are not covered.
Catastrophic health insurance is also referred to as “major medical” or “high deductible” insurance. Deductibles for these plans start at $500.00. Caps, or lifetime maximum benefit payments range between $1 and $3 million. The health insurance company stops paying for your medical expenses once you reach the cap. You are required to pay for all medical expenses until you reach the deductible.
You can purchase catastrophic health insurance as an individual plan or through you’re employer’s group plan. Certain pre-existing conditions will make you ineligible for the plan, such as AIDS, diabetes, emphysema, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and schizophrenia.
People who purchase catastrophic health insurance usually are healthy and either in their 20’s, or between 50 and 65. Young adults who are self-employed or who are not covered by their employer typically buy this type of insurance. Older adults who are concerned with the medical expenses incurred from a heart attack, cancer or other major illness will purchase a high deductible health insurance plan.
Most everyone who uses a high deductible plan is generally healthy, not requiring prescription drugs, and rarely sees the doctor. If you don’t fall into any of these categories, catastrophic health insurance is probably not for you. If you have a serious illness, are on expensive prescription medications, or if you go to the doctor often, you’ll want to purchase a different type of plan. Before buying a high deductible health insurance plan, consider the following:
The cost of the premium.
The cost of the deductible and what you can afford to pay out-of -pocket.
What kind of coverage you want.
Whether you take prescription medications.
Whether you can afford to pay for doctor visits.
If you have pre-existing conditions.
If you get sick often.
The lifetime annual benefit.
If you decide that catastrophic health insurance is for you, there are many options available. You can find an affordable policy by getting a quote online.
Is it Possible that Americans Can Have Universal Health Care in the Near Future?
May 1, 2007
Universal Health Care is a system the government has proposed for the American people to ensure that there is some type of health coverage for everyone. There are large debates on whether or not the American people will ever see this program put in place.
The main reason for all of the skepticism is that the government has been trying to get a program like this in place for almost a century. The American people have had their hopes raised by so many different politicians promising health care for everyone, only to have those hopes dashed as the politicians failed in their quest. Those same skeptics also question why other countries have had some type of insurance to offer their people when our own country can’t seem to get one in place.
However, it looks like the future of Universal health care could be within our grasp as some states are putting forth a more aggressive effort to make sure all residents have some kind of health insurance. At least one state has proposed a bill, which was approved, that states all its residents will be required to have health coverage or they will face a fine if they don’t comply. That state has expanded the health care choices for their residents from private insurers, which are subsidized by the state, to offer inexpensive choices for those who can’t afford regular health coverage.
Some of the other states are following suit and coming up with their own plans to enforce. As our country’s universal health coverage inches forward to being a reality for our American people, the time it takes to get there could be long off. It appears the health coverage plan is moving forward, but there are still kinks that need to be ironed out within the system.
Ideally, in order for a universal health coverage plan to work, insurers would need to provide inexpensive insurance to the uncovered residents, while keeping tax hikes to a minimum. This is the part that leaves the politicians frustrated. As this problem has hindered the progression of a universal health care plan, experts predict that the federal government will ultimately have to step in if nothing can be solved at the state levels.
