Health

Is the rising cost of health insurance getting you down? Don't feel alone. There are currently millions of uninsured Americans who simply can't afford to pay the outrageous premiums to get medical coverage. Fortunately, most states will step up and help low-income families cover their children at least, but what happens if mom or dad gets sick? Who's going to pay the bills than? What if the breadwinner of the family, whether it's mom or dad, is unable to work anymore and they run up large amounts of medical bills?

The system simply isn't working anymore, however, there are a few things we can do to keep our monthly premiums manageable, for those of us who can afford to make minimum payments to have a health insurance policy. With take a look at some of those.

There are things you can exclude from your health insurance policies that will decrease your monthly cost. This is the case on all policies so you'll need to look around but it is possible to do.

Another thing you might consider is to raise your deductibles. The deductible is the amount of the insurance company expects you to pay before they start paying anything. An example of this would be was called 80/20. This means that you'd pay the first 20% of the of the costs of your visit to the doctor and the insurance company would cover anything up to that. So the cost of $100 for your medical needs then you would be expected to pay $20 and the insurance company would take care of the other $80. You'd only pay up to a maximum amount every year on your deductible deductibles vary anywhere from zero to $5-$10,000.

The higher deductible you carry on your policy, the lower your monthly payment will be, however, if you carry a high deductible this means that you will be paying a large portion of your everyday medical care out-of-pocket.

If you could possibly set aside enough money that would equal your annual deductible amount you would be in very good shape because the average person only see the doctor once or twice a year. This would make your payments minimal, your out-of-pocket costs would be covered if you have the money set aside and you would be covered in case of any major medical emergency. Just another option to think about.

Labels: cost, health, Health insurance, Insurance Cost

What exactly should you be looking for when comparing health insurance plans? Of course you will want to take note of how much the premiums are going to cost you. This is usually the first thing that most people look at. You'll also want to take a close look at what the health insurance plan that you're considering covers. Not all plans are created the same. Does it include hospital care? If so, up to how much? Does it include ambulatory care? If so, how much? Does it include prescription drugs? If not, why? Also, if it doesn't cover prescriptions, how much additional would it cost to have them included?

How much is the deductible? The deductible is the amount that you'll have to pay out of your own pocket each year before the insurance company will pick up the tab. An example of this would be, let's say that you took a fall and hurt your arm. You went to the doctor and he wanted to get some x-rays done to see if it was broken. After determining that it was, they placed you in a cast, gave you two prescriptions and sent you home. Three weeks later you get a bill from the doctor and the hospital. The total between the two bills is $1,400. In this case, if your deductible was less than $1,400 then you'd have to pay that amount and the insurance company would pay the rest. If your deductible was more than that amount you'd have to pay for it all yourself.

If you have been looking into getting a health insurance plan for yourself or your family, these are some of the questions that you'll need to be asking, along with many more. Do the proper research before signing anything and make certain that you're are very informed about the type of coverage that is included in your new health insurance plan.

Labels: health, Health insurance

Are you currently looking for an affordable individual health insurance plan? Well, good luck. I don't mean to be a pessimist but the cost of health insurance, even for an individual, has gone out of sight over the past few years. I was speaking to a family member recently and they told me that they were paying over $300.00 per month just for an individual health plan.

There are some things that you may be able to do in order to bring those premium payments down, however, you'll need to decide in the end if these would be in your best interest or not.

The first thing that you could do is to cut down on your coverage. This means getting the least expensive policy available and raising your deductible higher. This will mean that you'll likely be paying for all of your doctor visits out of your own pocket, but you should be covered for any unexpected accidents or any long term hospitalization costs, minus your deductible. This might be a feasible option if you think about it.

Example, if your current deductible is $250.00 and your premium payments are costing you $300.00 per month then you can probably reduce your monthly costs by half or more by raising your deductible up to $2,500 or even $5,000. I know, I know. Nobody wants to pay that much out of pocket, however, let's look at another example.

The average person only visits the doctor twice a year, once for a check-up and once for illness. If you figure the cost of those two visits combined to be in the range of $3-400.00, depending on what has to be taken care of, then you could potentially save a lot by raising your deductible. Look at the numbers. If you were able to cut your premium in half by raising your deductible then you're saving $150.00 per month or $1,800 per year. If you only payed $400.00 out of pocket then you've saved yourself $1,400 over the course of twelve months and you'll still be covered for emergency care.

The key to making this work is to put money in savings until you've saved a few hundred dollars and then leave it there specifically for doctor visits alone. This is only one option for you to consider when you get ready to purchase an individual health insurance plan.

Labels: health, Health insurance, Tips