Friday, January 28, 2011

What information is shown to the subscriber of health insurance

What information is shown to the subscriber of health insurance?
What information is shown to the subscriber of health insurance? I am under my parent's insurance and need to go to the doctor for personal reasons that I do not want them to see. Will it show specific information like what was done and what prescriptions I got, or just general information like office visit and Rx?
Other - Health - 1 Answers
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1 :
Most health insurance providers mail the subscriber an explanation of payment and or benefits. It will show the doctors name but usually do not include a lot of detail as to the service provided. It will most likley show up as an office visit.



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Monday, January 24, 2011

What kind of health insurance should I buy my friend

What kind of health insurance should I buy my friend?
I want to help a friend of mine get health insurance and money is not a major problem. However, I'm confused as to which company to go to. I want to take out a plan that requires little to no out-of-pockets expenses to him.
I've heard Blue Cross/Blue Shield is good for Florida. What else would you recommend? Please help, he really needs it. Thank you.
Other - General Health Care - 2 Answers
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1 :
health-quotes.isgreat.org - here is my health insurance plan. As I remember they can provide such a service.
2 :
Licensed agent in FL will be able to help you best. It's easy to find one just do Google search for Florida Insurance agents and I'm sure you will get plenty results. What you want to wach out for is "Mejor Medical" plan. There are limited plans that sometimes may sound good but they are not major medical. Those will only pay indemnity when you go see doc. or else. Blue Cross/ Blue Shield is very strong and big company but it is bit more expensive then some others that would offer same or very close covrage, at least that's so in state that I live in, in FL bc/bs may be most affordable as well, agents there would know. Good luck.


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Thursday, January 20, 2011

What's the difference between Long Term Health Insurance

What's the difference between Long Term Health Insurance?
What's the difference between Long Term Health Insurance and Long Term Life Insurance? I want to make sure my parents are probably covered as they are now in their 50's. The goal is to get them covered for in house nursing care instead of a nursing home.
Insurance - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Long Term CARE insurance is coverage when they are too sick and cannot perform 2 or 3 of the normal life duties such as toileting, eating etc. and need someone else to do it for them, such as nursing home or caregiver. The younger you are when you purchase this, the cheaper it is. Health Insurance is medical insurance for when you visit the doctor or hospital
2 :
Read the policy.. since it differs for every policy
3 :
Long term care insurance covers services such as skilled nursing home care; some policies also cover home health care, if it will prevent the insured person from a nursing home stay (which is WAY more expensive). Term Life Insurance covers a person for a set number of years, such as 5, 15, or 20. At the end of the term, there's usually the option to renew the policy (without providing evidence of good health) for another term, but at the rate for the person's new age. Typically, term policies can be renewed up to a maximum age -- so if they live past the maximum age, they're left with a policy they cannot renew. If this is an issue, you might want to consider a "Whole Life Policy," provided you've confirmed the coverage won't terminate or the face amount reduce after a certain age, like 99.
4 :
Well, you are looking at LONG TERM CARE insurance, not long term health insurance. But you have to read the coverages VERY carefully, as most of the time, they don't do what you think they do. You'll have to talk to a local, independent agent to get quotes on exactly the kind of coverage you're looking for - and have them explain exactly WHAT is covered, for HOW LONG.
5 :
Long Term Care insurance covers the cost of a prolonged stay nursing home care or full-time in-home care (Medicare covers only short-term stays, such as a recuperation period after an operation). You can read more about it here: http://www.longtermcarewiz.com/ . There isn’t really any long-term life insurance, although there is term insurance for long periods of time, such as 20 years, as mentioned by others. Whole life insurance covers the whole life, until death, no matter how long that period is. Perhaps you are thinking of a third alternative that many people favor called single-premium life insurance with a long-term care rider. Single-premium life insurance is paid for upfront with a lump sum. What is great is that the amount the policy pays, the death benefit, will be double or even triple the lump-sum payment, depending on the age of the person taking out the policy. In the case of 50-somethings like your parents, the death benefit could be as much as four times the premium amount. A single-premium life insurance policy will never be cancelled for missed payments, since everything is paid for upfront. The death benefit will be paid to the beneficiary(s) tax-free. Here’s the cool part for your parents: The policy can be structured to allow tax-free access to the death benefit to pay for long-term care! If the money is never used for long-term care, it will pass to the beneficiaries just like normal life insurance. With traditional long-term care insurance, you make the payments and if it is never used, the money is gone—just like regular health insurance. Single-premium life insurance guarantees the money will be used, one way or another.


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Sunday, January 16, 2011

What are my options for health insurance

What are my options for health insurance?
I'm a 26 year old male and have just lost my health insurance through my parents. I graduate from college this December and don't have any job prospects as of now.
My School's health insurance plan is $14,000 dollars for the next two semesters, (although i would only be attending one) which I can't afford. What options do I have for health insurance now and after graduation given that i don't really have any money available.
Insurance - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
If you are fortunate enough to live in MA, the State's health plan is income based so that is where I would apply. See if your State's plan works the same way or if your State has a health insurance plan for low income or no income residents. I would imagine they would. The last option, and one you might consider if all else fails, is to (and I can't believe I'm writing this) go without health insurance. Sure, anyone can come done with a major illness at any time but, if you are a healthy 26 year old male, your chances are pretty good you could make it through till you find a job with benefits in 6- 12 months. As I said- last resort!
2 :
The ONLY option for "free" health insurance, is medicaid - welfare health insurance. You won't qualify, if you are supported by your parents, and can afford to be in school full time. You can talk to a local broker about your options - in most states, a good low/no deductible plan for a perfectly healthy 26 year old male, is going to run around $300 a month. If you've got stuff wrong with you, or you're overweight, it's going to cost a LOT more. I'd suggest, maybe you can't afford to be a full time college student.
3 :
1. If you have a job with a company (or other employer) that offers health insurance to its employees, or you can get a job with a company (or other employer) that offers health insurance to its employees, then take whatever that employer offers. 2. If you do not have a job, and you live alone, in your own household, and are not a dependent of your parents, then you might qualify for medicaid or some other government program that provides health insurance to households where no one has a job or any money. 3. If neither of the above apply, then you will have to purchase a health insurance policy from a health insurance company that sells health insurance to residents of your state. (The companies that offer health insurance are different in each state.) This typically costs $50-$400 per month for a healthy person and $400-$1000 per month for a person with existing medical problems. You cannot do it without any money, but it will cost less than your school's plan costs.
4 :
work work work!
5 :
Depending on which state you live in and your health history, you should have some more affordable options. First, take a look at the individually-purchased health insurance options in your area. A licensed agent (online or off) can help you get quotes from a broad variety of carriers and compare rates and benefits to see which options may work for you. It doesn’t cost anything extra to work through an agent and it can save you a lot of time and hassle compared to calling up each health insurance carrier in your state separately. Really, if you’re young and relatively healthy, you should be able to find some substantially less expensive options. At eHealthInsurance we’ve published a health insurance buyer’s guide for students which also addresses some of the needs of recent grads. If you think it might be of some help, you can view it as a PDF here: http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/student-health-insurance/resources/buyers-guide/student.pdf Second, if you expect to have employer-sponsored health insurance in the next six months or less, you may want to consider a short-term plan. Just be aware that short-term plans only provide you with “catastrophic� coverage – that means, no coverage for pre-existing medical conditions, prescription drugs or preventive care, etc. Most short-term coverage is only there to provide some financial protection in case of serious illness or hospitalization. Like a standard individual health insurance plan, you can cancel at pretty much anytime. Finally, it may be worthwhile checking into your government-sponsored options. Contact the non-profit Foundation for Health Coverage Education at their website to learn more about the government options available to you. You can also call them toll-free for free personal assistance. Good luck.


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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

How much of health insurance premiums is profit

How much of health insurance premiums is profit?
Our local paper today reports 60% of the cost of the premium is profit to the insurance company. Can this be verified? If it's true, then it puts a new light on the subject of rising premiums and health care reform.
Politics - 7 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Your local paper is full of chit. There is the possibility that the idiot writing the story doesn't know what "profit" is. Premium income at an insurance company in a given year is generally approximately equal to operating costs.
2 :
you just nailed the exact reason healthcare / insurance should not be profit motivated
3 :
If an insurance company could bring in 60% profit then overnight all the money in the world would be invested in them. Their stock would be selling for 10,000,000,000 a share or even more. They make a profit in line with the risk and government take over is one of the risks driving the value of the stock down into the toilet.
4 :
I've heard thirty percent. Either way its repulsive, as that means that money isn't going to pay the light bills of the insurance company or their workers, it is profit on the health of the sick people they are supposed to be paying for.
5 :
60% is the standard profit margin for most goods and services. Think of insurance as a guarantee to help you pay for a common commodity, like beer. For every dollar you pay in beer insurance, you are guaranteed to get a $2.00 beer for $1.60. In other words the beer insurance covers the extra 40 cents. If the price of beer goes up, your premium will also go up at a corresponding rate. You may also see a rise in your beer premium to pay for losses in the whiskey insurance sector. That is how health insurance works. you pay them to pay out some of what you paid them to the actual provider of health care. You also pay the provider a copay amount.
6 :
I would say that is pretty close, considering the pay of the CEOs, Lobbyists, advertising, profit for the share holders, and a huge expense is the monies to the politicians. From 2000 to 2006, republicans received 2/3 of all the monies donated..millions! That is really expensive. All this information is available on the internet. It amazes me that this scam has gone on as long as it has...the American people who are against reform are foolish.
7 :
18,000,000,000 profit 2,000,000,000 overinflated salaries and bonuses for denying coverage!!!!!! The idiot writing the story right. Premium income is not profit. Nice try. You work for the insurance company?


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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Would health insurance costs be lower if it was really for Emergency use and not checkups

Would health insurance costs be lower if it was really for Emergency use and not checkups?
It seems like health insurance is a high cost item because people go in for every little sniffle, instead of when they are seriously injured or sick.
Should Health Insurance companies pay for regular checkups and physicals, and pass the cost to customers, or should people just pay those out of pocket?
Politics - 13 Answers
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1 :
yes
2 :
Insurance companies want people to get checkups to stay healthy and prevent illnesses that will cost a lot more to treat.
3 :
I think their reasoning is that it is cheaper in the long run to provide preventative health care
4 :
No, it's actually the other way around.
5 :
Nope, my three day stay in the hospital cost me 25 thousand and all I had was the flu. Not swine flu, just the flu. Insurance won't sell me insurance because I have a heath condition. Besides Insurance isn't in the business of heath, they are in the business of making money. Better know has Death insurance.
6 :
Actually, healthcare cost a lot because companies HAVE to pay for people who do not have insurance, at the Emergency Room. (I have two EM docs in my family) Emergency docs get paid about twice what family practice docs do, and the overhead at an ER in the hospital is much more than a private practice. Our insurance could be much less if we'd just give everybody the freedom to have yearly checkups at their family practice doc instead of waiting until things get out of hand and expensive and they show up at the ER with a tumor or go there for a cold.
7 :
they would be lower if the malpractice insurance was lower. this is caused by incompetence and or frivolous lawsuits.
8 :
Of course not. One of the main reasons health care is so expensive is that people that are underinsured or uninsured don't go to the doctor until their problem is too far gone. They don't visit the doctor for colds, for the flu, for healthy check ups, thus, causing routine issues to balloon into serious medical problems....not to mention the fact that many of them still attend their jobs, as they can't afford to call in sick for minor illnesses.
9 :
Most health issues can be prevented or cured if caught in time. Preventing the problems is usually more inexpensive, that's where the gold is in insurance.
10 :
Checkups and lab tests are very expensive now, so no. My last checkup was billed as $250. - although the insurance adjustment brought it down below $100. The lab tests also started over $100. A person without an insurance company to reduce charges could easily owe over $1000 for a relatively minor sinus and ear infection with a visit, some prescriptions and a followup.
11 :
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If problems are caught soon enough, they can be treated far more effectively than when they become serious issues.
12 :
Yes. You're talking about high-deductible policies with only catastrophic coverage. Those are indeed cheaper than policies that cover just about everything. Some of the high-deductible policies also include coverage for annual checkups.
13 :
healthplans.my-age.net - here is my health insurance plan. As I remember they can provide such a service.




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How much is health insurance when married

How much is health insurance when married?
Me and my girlfriend plan on getting married and having a child soon after. How much would health insurance be? We would be living in an apartment by ourselves if that makes a difference. She will be out of college and I will be starting.

Pregnancy - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
It depends on what insurance you go through. But, I have to tell you, if you're planning on having a child, make SURE that you have maternity coverage first! It's next to impossible to get maternity coverage when you're already pregnant- the companies consider that a "pre existing condition." It sucks, but that's how it is. I've heard so many women talk about how they thought they had coverage, but it was an add-on package (and, yes, it's much more expensive- with the last health insurance we had, it was an extra $120 a month for maternity coverage). We thought we had it, but ended up without... Fortunately we were able to get coverage through the military.
2 :
Insurance is more expensive when its for 2 people versus for just one people.. It depends on the plan you get and what insurance company you decide to go with. our insurance is 468.00 a month for health 27.00 for dental and 8.00 for vision..so thats $ 503.00 every month for insurance for both of us and we have oxford/united health care.. Your apartment has nothing to do wwith health insurance. And this is insurance I get through my job. they take out 503 from my payckeck every month..
3 :
are you paying for it yourself or through your employer? anywhere from 0-$2,000 a month!
4 :
Try this site usainsurancequotes.net Here you can compare quotes from different companies
5 :
You can easily check your minimal health care rates in internet, for example here - health-quotes.isgreat.org


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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Need to target health insurance clients, do you have a good model

Need to target health insurance clients, do you have a good model?
I am currently trying to drill down on the best way to target personal health insurance clients, by demographical and psychograpical data. What were the questions you asked to get you to that point. I'm in the Georgia area, so if you are out of state, I won't be competing with you. I have some ideas, but am working on some test marketing pieces and want to make sure I'm hitting the best sample. Thanks for your help.
Other - Advertising & Marketing - 2 Answers
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1 :
Hi, only way I can help u is showing u a site I freely registered to promote and expose my business to millions of people. When going in, turn on ur speakers and use your mick as you will be personally greeted and someone will be there to explain to you how it will work for you and you can ask questions. You will find me there evenings as well. Hope to see you there. You can also email me for info at rpelley5@yahoo.com. The site below does not show up too well so please type it withoug spaces........tks.. http://www.bestcashrewards .com/affiliates/t.php? rid=914
2 :
I don't mean to be rude and I hope you don't take it as such... but I think your reasoning is... askew. The whole point of marketing is to find some association with the client on an EMOTIONAL level. Then use education and numbers to make sure the association reaches them. Let's look at it that way for a moment. First off, everybody needs health insurance. Then, if you want to sell private health insurance, the only people who will want to buy are the people who don't have it through some other source (work, government aid... etc.) At this point, you will probably find lots of single parents who have a job and make too much for government aid, but don't have health insurance through their work. Then, when you look at their household incomes and household expenditures, you will see why selling private health insurance is so difficult. They don't have very much left. You have several advantages actually. Everybody knows they need it. Everybody wants it and they will search out the most unlikely and far-fetched rumours they hear, trying to get it. But they can't afford it. Now we have your demographic target and your hook (technically called the "emotional recall cue") Now it's time to use the brains and the numbers. What if, instead of your psychographical data... you worked with the accounting dept. to figure out some way that LOW income people could afford your plan. Yes, I know, management wants you to recruit middle class clients. But if you change your program to accomodate lower class clients, you will actually be recruiting the people they want because government subsidy (so to speak) has thrown off your demographic net worth numbers. So, now we have our emotional hook. Amazingly simple... health care that the working single parents can honestly afford. If you can make that happen, you will dominate your industry. I promise you that they will beat a path to your door. You could have the crapiest marketing material on the continent (I wouldn't advise it, but you could) and you will still see double digit growth rates... quarter after quarter. Your problem will be this: the risk of serious illness will be hard for your management to gamble on. They will balk at the idea... I promise that too. The question is: do you want to succeed in your industry or do you want to be a great salesperson. If you just want to sell then throw all that data and all those formulas away and work with a creative marketing consultant on a fantastic viral campaign.


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Saturday, January 1, 2011

Money spent on health insurance through work be deducted

Money spent on health insurance through work be deducted?
Can this money spent on health insurance at work be deducted on the Itemized Deductions Schedule A under Medical and Dental Expenses.
Thanks Thanks a lot everybody. I hate this time of year with the taxes.
United States - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
It was deducted before the withheld was figured. It is called cafeteria plan.
2 :
To the extent that you paid using after tax money and to the extent all your post tax medicals payments are greater than 7.5% of your AGI, yes, you can deduct the amount in excess of the 7.5% of your AGI.
3 :
Normally not. The vast majority of employer-sponsored health insurance plans are paid for with pre-tax dollars under a Section 125 benefits plan. You've already received tax benefit for those premiums so you cannot deduct them again on Schedule A. While it's possible to have those premiums deducted post-tax there's normally no tax benefit in doing so. Some employers may report the total health insurance premiums in box 14 but it's not a requirement. You need to check with your payroll department and see if the health insurance is part of a Section 125 plan or not. That said, if you were given an election sheet when you became eligible for the coverage, or at the annual open season (usually in November) then your plan is a Section 125 plan. That sheet allows you to designate the premiums as pre or post tax. The default is pre tax and I can't think of a good reason why you would ever want to have them deducted post tax.
4 :
It probably was already deducted from your taxable income on your w2. Do you have anything showing in box 14? If so than that is probably what you paid for health insurance and it's already been deducted from your income. You can't deduct it on Schedule A because that would be like double dipping.
5 :
if you pay for it

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