Health Insurance premiums are out of control! The trend of higher costs and lower benefits is on the rise. Florida Health Insurance web suggests using an insurance professional to find the best available rates for your individual, small business, or self employed health insurance.

Voted the number one insurance portal by Florida consumers, Florida Health Insurance Web, reports nearly three million Floridians without health insurance in Florida. Thats nearly a quarter of the states population. That in mind medical bankruptcy is up – the leading cause of bankruptcy today.

Every Floridian without health insurance coverage is just one illness away from financial ruin. Florida Health Insurance Web, http://www.FloridaHealthInsuranceWeb.com, advises consulting an online source such as its service, before choosing any health insurance policy.

In the past, applying for health insurance had been an eye opening experience for many.

The difficulty obtaining affordable health insurance rates in the sunshine state has always been hard, but now it has reached epic proportions. Florida residents may experience any number of insurance-related problems, including claim denials, sky-high premiums, cancellations, or refusals to grant or renew their policies. Florida’s Governor Crist vows to fix the problem and bring affordable insurance to all Florida’s residents. Democrats are pushing a health-care-reform legislation during the current legislative session. They are sponsoring a bill that would ask voters in 2008 to insert a guarantee in the constitution that all children in Florida would have access to health insurance by July, 2010.

At a recent insurance conference in Orlando, one Florida health insurance agent, Margaret

Margolas explained the process, “Before issuing a health insurance policy in Florida, insurance companies offering individual health insurance policies evaluate certain information about you to determine how likely you are to have a claim.” This is called “underwriting.”

She spoke to hundreds of business owners about health care for the uninsured and individual company’s role in delivering that health care. Margolas said, “Individuals looking for health insurance usually cannot find policies to cover past health problems.” How does someone with a pre-existing condition get coverage? Hiring a health insurance professional “consultant” may help. These consultants usually work at no cost to consumers; their fees are paid by the health care provider.

For any health policy, a company might consider age, occupation, current health status and medical history. They can also look at lifestyle, and habits to see what type of health risks a person may have. If individual risk factors indicate that a claim is likely, the company may charge more for the policy or even worse, refuse coverage.

Before applying for an individual health insurance policy, lorida Health Insurance Web advises talking to a qualified health insurance consultant for advice on which policy to choose.

Most individual health insurance companies in Florida have certain clauses regarding risk factors and pre-existing conditions. Limits on risk and “pre-existing conditions” are a standard part of most health plans. These limits ensure that benefits are paid only for conditions that occur naturally and only after your health coverage becomes effective. Paying only for approved services and covered conditions helps control healthcare costs and prevent possible insurance abuse.

The legal aspect of all this is “failure to disclose pre-existing conditions could jeopardize future claims” or invalidate the policy. Individual health insurance companies may completely exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions by attaching an “exclusion rider” to the policy.

If an applicant lists their pre-existing conditions on the application and the company issues coverage without attaching an exclusion rider, the company must begin covering the pre-existing conditions when the policy’s pre-existing waiting period expires. Pre-existing condition waiting periods can be a maximum of two years on individual policies. Exclusion riders can be in-force indefinitely.

In Florida, and in other states like Texas, if a person moves from a group, government, or church health plan to an individual health insurance policy, they will not be subject to a new pre-existing condition waiting periods if they had 18 months of prior coverage, with no more than 63 days lapse in coverage.

What else can someone do to get individual health plans? Corporations are able to purchase health insurance that cover pre-existing conditions for their employees so many CPA’s recommend using S-corporations status instead of individual. Simply create an S-Corp online from a state like Nevada or Delaware, ($350) and then apply for insurance under the corporation.

Buying insurance without an S-Corp means more limitations to your policy; chances are the end result will be some sort of “Cash for Services” Plan, a PPO, or HMO plan. These plans are the most typical.

Margolas says, “One word of advice when it comes to applying for an individual health insurance policy: applicants should be forthcoming and honestly answer all questions about medical conditions. Withholding information about an illness or medication is bad, the health insurance company may deny subsequent claims.”

Ask questions, especially if the wording of the policy is difficult. Be sure about specifics of the health insurance coverage. Don’t be afraid to ask for clarification about policy details. For more help, have a Florida health insurance consultant give you an explanation. Try to get answers in writing.

If a person loses health insurance coverage from their job, they may opt to continue coverage with insurance called COBRA. COBRA stands for (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act). COBRA is a law that makes it mandatory for an employer to provide the option of retaining membership in their health insurance plan. However applicants will have to pay the entire monthly premium part which was paid by the company earlier. Most people are surprised at the high cost of the COBRA premium; which may run up to 500$ a month.

If none of the above ways to reduce insurance costs work,

then the only way is to go for standard individual health insurance policy. As mentioned earlier they are usually costly, but online websites can help Floridian’s weed through the mounds of policies and select the best price and coverage available.

About Florida Health Insurance Web Florida Health Insurance Web is an online source of health insurance agents and insurance carriers covering individuals in the state of Florida. Individuals can get insurance quotes, search rates online by city, read current insurance news and events.

Author: Morgan Q Moran
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Florida Health Insurance Rate Hike

Florida Health insurance premiums have touched new heights! Every Floridian has the common knowledge that most annual health insurance contracts will endure a rate increase at the end of the year. This trend is not new and should be expected. Every time this issue pops up it seems as though the blame game starts. Floridians blame Health insurance companies; Health insurance companies blame Hospitals, Doctors and other medical care providers, Medical care providers blame inflation and politicians, well, we really don’t know what they do to help the issue… No one seems to be interested in finding the real cause of the health insurance premium rate increase. Most individuals, self employed, and small business owners have taken Florida Health Insurance Rate Hikes as the inevitable evil.

Hard Facts

What are various reports telling us? Why do Health insurance premium have annual rate increases?

Rate of inflation and heath insurance premium rate increase.

America’s health expenditure in the year 2004 has increased dramatically, it has increased more than three time the inflation rate. In this year the inflation rate was around 2.5% while the national health expenses were around 7.9%. The employer health insurance or group health insurance premium had increased approximately 7.8% in the year 2006, which is almost double the rate of inflation. In short, last year in 2006, the annual premiums of group health plan sponsored by an employer was around $4,250 for a single premium plan, while the average family premium was around $ 11,250 per year. This indicates that in the year 2006 the employer sponsored health insurance premium increased 7.7 percent. Taking the biggest hit were small businesses that had 0-24 employees. There health insurance premiums increased by nearly 10.4%

Employees are also not spared, in the year 2006 the employee also had to pay around $ 3,000 more in their contribution to employer’s sponsored health insurance plan in comparison to the previous year, 2005. Rate hikes have been in existence since the “Florida Health Insurance” plan started. In covering an entire family of four, a person will experience an increase in premium rate at every annual renewal. If they would have kept the record of their health insurance premium payments they will find that they are now paying around $ 1,100 more than they paid in the year 2000 for the same coverage and with the same company. The same item was found by the Health Research Educational Trust and the Kaiser Family Foundation in their survey report of the year 2000. They found out that the premiums of health insurance that is sponsored by the employer increases by around 4 times than the employee’s salary. This report also stated that since 2000 the contribution of employees in group health insurance sponsored by employer was increased by more than 143 percent.

One business man predicts that if nothing is done and the Health insurance premiums keep increasing that in the year 2008, the amount of health premium contribution to employer will surpass their profit. Professionals within and outside the field of Florida health insurance, think that the reason for increase in Florida health insurance premium rates are due to many factors, such as high administration expenditure, inflation, poor or bad management, increase in the cost of medical care, waste etc.

Florida health insurance rate hikes affect whom?

Rising rates of Florida health insurance generally affects most of the Floridians who live in our beautiful state. The highest affected individudals are the minimum wage and low wage workers. Recent drops in the renewal of health insurance are mostly from this low income group. They just can’t afford the high premiums of Florida health insurance. They are in the situation where they can not afford the medical care and they can not afford the medical insurance premiums that are assosiated with adequate coverage. Almost half of all Americans are of the opinion that they are more worried about the high health insurance rate and high cost of health care, over any other bill they have on a monthly basis. A survey also finds that around 42% of Americans can not afford the high cost of health care services. There is one very interesting study conducted by Harvard University researchers. They found out that 68% of people who filed bankruptcy covered themselves and their family by health insurance. Average out-of-pocket deductibles for people filed bankruptcy were around $ 12,000 per year. They also found some co-relation between medical expenditure and bankruptcy. A national survey also reports that main reason for people not to take health insurance is the high premium rate of health insurance.

How to reduce Florida’s high health insurance cost? Nobody knows for sure. There are different opinions and experts are not agreeing with each other. Health professionals believe that if we can raise the number of healthy people by improving the lifestyle and regular exercise, good diets etc. than naturally they will need less medical care services which decreases the demands of health care and hence the cost.( This year in Florida the smoking rate has increased by 21.7 percent) One Floridian sarcastically suggested that there are ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ in health care that are needed to reversed. That the state of Florida is to ‘high’ in cost of medical care compare to other States and ‘low’ in the quality of health care.

Florida Health insurance rate hike has attracted many frauds. These frauds float many bogus insurance companies and offer cheap health insurance rate which attract many people to them. These companies usually through assosiations that are based in other states.

Meanwhile reputable Florida health insurance companies provide different types of health insurance like employer sponsored group health insurance, small business health insurance, individual health insurance etc. to vast number of employees and their families. Still there are many people in Florida that lack any health coverage. Today the employer also has found it challenging to decide how to offer employer sponsored group health insurance to their employees, so that both of them arrive at some point of agreement.

For Floridians it is very important to shop around for a quality health insurance program that doesn’t break the bank.

Author: Morgan Q Moran
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable Multi-cooker

Florida health insurance companies are now feeling the effects of the increased price transparency that the Internet brings. Now longer is it a process of days or even weeks to obtain multiple health insurance quotes from top Florida health insurance companies. The simplest and most efficient way to obtain health insurance in Florida is simply to make the top health insurance companies in the state (Golden Rule/United Healthcare, Aetna, and Humana) compete for your business!

If you cringe at the thought of a United Healthcare agent, an Aetna agent, and a Humana agent all clustering around you amongst a swarm of other Florida health insurance agents and trying to push their companys policy upon you then read on; for health insurance shopping on the Internet has simplified everything. There are numerous Florida health insurance websites that offer Florida health insurance quotes but there are quite a few very important distinctions between the different types.

There are two main types of websites that offer Florida health insurance quotes to Florida health insurance shoppers: Marketing Organizations and Insurance Agencies.

Marketing Organizations do not sell insurance, are not regulated by any insurance department, and generally have no knowledge whatsoever concerning Florida health insurance. However, they can offer consumers a somewhat appealing service. How can they assist in purchasing health insurance?

They act as a middleman between Florida health insurance shoppers and Florida health insurance agents. When Mrs. Smith in Tampa, FL requests a health insurance quote then the marketing company sells her information as a lead to 5 or more Florida insurance agents.

Ignoring the privacy issues and the issue of the qualifications of the health insurance agents that will be purchasing your information there is the larger and more practical issue of do you really want to have 5+ insurance agents aggressively seeking your business?

Imagine that each health insurance agent is taught in their sales training to call you at least 5 times and email you at least 3 times before giving up on you as an insurance prospect: that means that you have received 25 phone calls and 15 emails from various insurance agents!

The second type of website that offers Florida health insurance quotes is the website that is run by an insurance agency (note that it is very important to find only an independent Florida insurance agency meaning an agency that is not tied to working with only one health insurance company but can show you health insurance quotes from all of the top Florida health insurance companies. This is also why we will ignore the quasi third group of websites that offer Florida health insurance quotes: the health insurance carrier websites themselves. These can be a good service but very time consuming. There is a better way to shop for Florida health insurance. Read on-).

Most independent insurance agency websites offer a feature that will allow you to request Florida health insurance quotes. However, there is a much better way to shop for Florida health insurance! Rather than waiting for your request for health insurance quotes to be filled; look for a website that offers instant and LIVE Florida health insurance quotes from top Florida health insurance companies.

With instant LIVE Florida health insurance quotes you have the best of both worlds: you receive the benefits of competitive pricing by viewing the top Florida health insurance companies quotes side by side (the strong point of the marketing organization website model) as well as personal, expert help (the strong point of the insurance agency website model). Not to mention the added benefit of viewing the health insurance quotes from the different health insurance companies in the same format enabling easy side by side comparisons of benefits. This allows for a true apples to apples comparison.

View up to 20 LIVE Florida health insurance quotes from top Florida health insurance companies like Aetna, Humana and Golden Rule/United Healthcare all in less than 20 seconds! View LIVE Florida health insurance quotes now and take advantage of the Internets price transparency!

Author: Joel Ohman
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: PCB Prototype & Manufacturing

Self Employed Health Insurance

A dilemma on cost effective self employed health insurance solutions, has put the American health insurance consumers who are self employed at odds with health insurance coverage over the last few health years. Demand for affordable Self employed health insurance policies is constantly on the rise and health insurance consumers are wondering what to do about health and self employed health insurance rising at such a high self employed rate. Health insurance in general has been rising and health insurance consumers with health need to know about health insurance.

Self employed health insurance can be frustrating for health insurance consumers mainly because of health and self employed health insurance price. With this health insurance article we’ll outline some self employed health insurance facts you can do to lower your health insurance costs. First, look at the self employed health insurance deductible. With health insurance the higher the self employed health insurance deductible, the more the health insurance consumer will save. Instead of a $600 self employed health insurance deductible check on a $1100 health insurance deductible. Next, self employed health insurance co pays with health. Instead of a $12 health insurance co pay try a $15 self employed health insurance co pay.

Next with health, check the self employed health insurance company out carefully. Health insurance companies should be checked out when getting a self employed health insurance plan. Ask the health insurance company questions and grill them on health and self employed health insurance customer service issues to ensure your health employees are getting a good health insurance plan.

We’ve solved the self employed health insurance industry problem by providing cheap health insurance plans for your self employed business. Free Health insurance quotes can be delivered via email by the click of a mouse. Shopping health insurance has never been easier for health insurance consumers than right here. If you are still not happy, please read this article Self Employed Health Insurance – What does that mean?

Author: Ariful Anam
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

Health insurance fraud represents one of America’s largest taxpayer rip-offs ever, costing Americans literally billions of dollars every year.

Due to rampant deception, scams and abuse in the health care system, consumers are forced to pay the priceliterallythrough escalating medical costs and rising health insurance premiums.

And government programs like Medicare and Medicaid, designed to help the low-income and elderly, represent two of the biggest losers of all.

Health Insurance Scams

According to the Insurance Information Institute, health providers and facilities such as doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, diagnostic labs and attorneys routinely attempt to defraud the health insurance systemwith devastating results.

How do they do it? In a number of ways, including:

1. Billing health insurance companies for expensive treatments, tests or equipment patients never had or never received
2. Double- or triple-billing health insurers for the same treatments
3. Giving health care recipients unnecessary, dangerous, or life-threatening treatments
4. Selling low-cost health insurance coverage from fake insurance companies
5. Stealing medical information and using it to bill health insurance companies for phantom treatments

If health insurance fraud knocks on your door, these types of scams may leave you with medical debts, damaged credit ratings, falsified health records, a high level of stress and overpriced health insurance premiumsor the inability to get any health insurance at all.

So what can you do about it?

Report it; then fight back!

What to Watch For

The first step to fighting health insurance fraud is keeping your eyes and ears open for abuse.

Be especially watchful for providers who:

• Charge your health insurance company for services you never received or medical procedures you don’t need
• Give you prescriptions for controlled substances for no justified medical reason
• Bill your health insurance company for brand-name drugs when you actually get generics
• Misrepresent cosmetic or other health care procedures not usually covered by health insurance plans as covered

If you notice a health care provider doing any of these things, keep all supporting paperwork handy for reference, and then contact your health insurance company to let them know.

Then, if you’re a Medicare or Medicaid recipient, call the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services and report the abuse.

Finally, contact your state department of insurance or the local police.

Fighting Health Insurance Fraud

To keep yourself from falling victim to health insurance fraud, take the following steps to fight back:

* Check with your state insurance department to make sure your health insurance company is licensed in your state.
* Check out your health insurance company for consumer complaints, fraud convictions and bankruptcies through your state department of insurance.
* Keep detailed medical records.
* Carefully review your billing statements.
* Never sign blank insurance claim forms.
* Avoid salespeople offering free health services or advice.
* Protect your medical records and information.
* Make sure you know what your health insurance policy coversand what it doesn’t.
* Never pay your health insurance premiums in cash.
* Be wary if you’re asked to pay a full year’s premium up front.
* Be on guard against medical providers claiming to be connected with federal programs or the government.
* Beware of health insurance companies offering you coverage at an unreasonably low price.
* Ask your health insurance provider about anything you don’t understand regarding your bills.

Making a Difference

Protect your right to health insurance, lower your premiums and keep your medical information safe. All it takes is a little education, a watchful eye, and the willingness to make a difference!

Author: Penny Hagerman
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Wordpress plugin Guest Blogger

What is health Insurance

The main reason why you need an affordable health insurance is to help you plan ahead in case of unexpected costly emergencies. The only way you can accomplish this is to compare prices from most leading insurance companies and also choosing a health insurance plan that best suits you. Back in the days, getting a cheap health insurance plan was simply unaffordable. But these days, individuals, small groups, families and students can choose a health insurance plan that is best for them, e.g. like acquiring a help insurance plan that ensures that an individual suffering from any previous medical condition is not excluded.

Private health insurance plan is totally an unrestricted open market, so those who do not yet have a health insurance plan should consider taking out a plan. For those who are seeking good medical health insurance program, having one is possible through the help of specific companies which specializes in providing health care insurance for individuals and also meeting their requirements and also staying within your budget.

Also for individuals who do not want to use a company, then they can use the internet. One major way Americans get health insurance coverage is mostly through their employers. Many employers them receive health insurance coverage for their workers for a limited time thus enabling them receive health insurance coverage. The internet provides an option for a cheaper health insurance. There are lots of companies that provide all types of health insurance plans, making it possible for you and your family to have a specific reasonable and affordable health care insurance plan. Finding out what kind of reputation the company has and how long the company has been in business is a smart idea.

Having a kind of ideal they have for you is advisable also making sure they have been licensed in your state, because it is of no use getting an insurance with a form which has no license and cant get the exact health insurance you want, many agents will help work hard for you, so you could have an affordable health insurance plan which you and your family could live with without great cost. Everyone wants the best health insurance both for themselves and for their families, but only the best health care insurance can do this with low premiums and full coverage.

What are the advantages of health insurance?

Having the right and the best health care insurance is difficult. In order not to get confused, one needs to decide which the best is by doing his or her research thoroughly. The first step to take includes checking out the credentials and also their past performances of the very company you are considering. Just as on insurance outfits does a background check of individuals before accepting proposals, one should also review the financial status including the customer care services of the insurer, by so doing; you stand the chance to know which health insurance companys best for you. One major way for you to get ratings of these agencies such as A.M best or Moodys is by using the better business bureau. Many employers use the health insurance scheme to either attract or even retain their quality employers. The health insurance coverage might be a personal scheme or a group scheme organized and sponsored by the employers for employers who work between 20-29 hours per week.

Companies also do not add cost of fringe benefits alongside health insurance, to the price of their product and service. Over the past decades, the cost of health insurance has increased tremendously, surpassing the general rate of inflation in most past years.

The different types of health insurance includes individual health insurance, affordable employee health insurance which is also known as group health insurance, affordable family health insurance, affordable business health insurance etc, your monthly insurance is determined by certain numerous different things. For instance, most premiums based on or according to your age. So your health insurance rates changes accordingly with the type of health policy you have. If your health insurance is basically for yourselves or your entire family, the procedures must surely have an impact on any quote you are young or advanced in age, self employed receiving health insurance companies will adjust your premium based upon your age and this will also affect the cost of your health insurance.

What are the Disadvantages of health insurance?

Since unforeseen occurrences may occur any time, one will never know when an accident is likely to happen, be it the need to be admitted in the hospital for stitches or a broken bone, you may be in the position to receive help quickly without the worry of receiving a huge bill, unlike when you dont have a health insurance your credit rating beers all the cost. But you can prevent all this problems from happening and also protecting your credits for your future health financially. Increasing the amount of your health insurance deduction is another way in which you can help make sure your insurance rates are lowered. This higher monthly premium is necessary for anyone who has an existing health problem that requires an extensive medical treatment getting variety of quotes from insurance companies which meets for your health and budgets standards, is a wise decision when selection an health insurance. Searching can be done online and this will have saved you money as well.

Many people feel that they are healthy enough, so they don’t need health insurance because they have never had any major medical problems but one thing to note against the possible health insurance is the protection against the possible health problem that may happen in future. It might happen to you in particular or any member of your family, so why not plan on having an affordable health insurance plan today.

Author: Kingsley Duru
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable Multi-cooker

Four Steps to Help You Get the Most from Your Health insurance Coverage Finding, buying, and understanding health insurance coverage options arent always easy tasks. Here are some easy tips to follow on how to start your journey through all of the online healthcare madness.

Step One – Make a list of your current health conditions, medications, and any other current health related issues. Youll also want to make a note of your primary concerns and questions about choosing adequate health insurance.

Step Two – Get information from several health insurance providers. Not all health care plans are the same. Its well worth the time and effort to review more than once health insurance policy. It can save you time, money, and improve the quality of your healthcare in the future.

Some of the big names in Health insurance may be a great place to start your comparisons such as: Golden Rule Insurance, Celtic Insurance, American Medical Security Insurance, Time Insurance, UNICARE Insurance, Humana Insurance and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Insurance just to name a few.

Those of you looking for Michigan Medicaid and Medicare help must first meet the requirements for qualifications. Each county may have different requirements such as income and more. Check with your local health department for more information.

Step Three – Review each health insurance plan making notes of benefits provided for these basic coverage sections: physical exams, specialists care, hospitalization, prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, emergency care Ob-Gyn care, preventative care, and alternative care coverage. Remember to evaluate using the notes you made in step one.

Pay careful attention to co-pays, spending limits, and deductible amounts in each section for each health insurance plan youre reviewing. The goal is to do whats called comparison shopping. As you go through this process, most likely one or two health care policies will seem to meet your needs better than the others.

Step Four Once youve picked out two or three possible health insurance plans, make notes of questions and concerns about each. Now its time to get your questions answered and make your decision.

Its important to make sure youre speaking with a qualified, licensed health insurance agent. Dont hesitate to continue to ask questions until you feel you have all the information you need to make a good choice.

Other Helpful Information

Compare Health insurance Plans Online and Save Time

Take your time to find what you need at a price you can afford. What is great about looking for Health insurance options online is you can compare plans and benefits first on your own, without talking to different representatives. Most Health insurance companies offer FREE online services and FREE online instant rate quotes. All that is required is for you to quickly fill out a secured application. In the matter of minutes you should have your results in front of you. Just in case you have questions these companies have licensed Health insurance professionals waiting for your call.

Keep it Going! Who Can Benefit From Temporary Health insurance?

Temporary health insurance or short-term medical insurance is also available in Michigan and will allow you to have coverage for a temporary amount of time. This type of insurance isnt right for everyone. Inquiries of this form of health care usually comes from those who are between jobs, seasonal employees, laid-off and can even benefit young adults recently coming off of their parents health plan. Plans tend to last somewhere between six months but some have been known to go twelve months.

Temporary Health insurance forms are much more simple than permanent insurance. Coverage on a short-term plan can begin as quickly as twenty-four hours. This insurance caters to unseen accidents and illness. Because it is temporary, they do not typically cover preventive care, vision, dental or pre-existing conditions. For pre-existing conditions you may want to check your COBRA benefits. There Are Other Ways to Keep Your Health insurance after Losing Your Job

Dont let recent un-employment keep you from the care that you need! For instance if a loved one is expecting, the last thing you want is to lose your maternity insurance. There is another alternative called consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act or COBRA. This type of insurance normally last longer than temporary or short-term insurance but it is still a type of temporary insurance. Normally COBRA policies can last for approximately eighteen months. For more detailed information on COBRAs extended policy plans talk to your employer about their specific Health insurance carriers plan. Many people dont know about temporary Health insurance coverage. In fact, people take chances between coverage all the time because of lack of knowledge. The advantage of temporary Health insurance coverage is to fill a gap in coverage. Although this is temporary coverage is great to have, it does not replace permanent coverage. Michigan HIPAA Laws and How They Could Effect You

If you currently have pre-existing conditions and are looking into short-term Health insurance coverage WAIT! You may be buying health coverage that will not cover you and then make you ineligible for the care that you need. HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA plans are mainly for those who have pre-existing conditions and may have trouble getting health insurance. These plans can be extremely expensive. The HIPAA Federal law gives a person immediate access to comparable coverage when leaving employment that provided coverage.

Get familiar with your rights and consult your benefits advisor to discuss the best options for you. You can take back your health with Health insurance companies where there is a plan to fit everyones need. Reading up and doing your homework on plans that pertain to your needs can help eliminate useless information and help you find the right Health insurance plan much faster.

Copyright 2006 Lisa Ip

Author: Lisa Ip
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Pressure cooker

INTRODUCTON – The term “health insurance” is commonly used in the United States to describe any program that helps pay for medical expenses, whether through privately purchased insurance, social insurance or a non-insurance social welfare program funded by the government. Synonyms for this usage include “health coverage,” “health care coverage” and “health benefits” and “medical insurance.” In a more technical sense, the term is used to describe any form of insurance that provides protection against injury or illness.

In America, the health insurance industry has changed rapidly during the last few decades. In the 1970’s most people who had health insurance had indemnity insurance. Indemnity insurance is often called fee-forservice. It is the traditional health insurance in which the medical provider (usually a doctor or hospital) is paid a fee for each service provided to the patient covered under the policy.

An important category associated with the indemnity plans is that of consumer driven health care (CDHC). Consumer-directed health plans allow individuals and families to have greater control over their health care, including when and how they access care, what types of care they receive and how much they spend on health care services.

These plans are however associated with higher deductibles that the insured have to pay from their pocket before they can claim insurance money. Consumer driven health care plans include Health Reimbursement Plans (HRAs), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), high deductible health plans (HDHps), Archer Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Of these, the Health Savings Accounts are the most recent and they have witnessed rapid growth during the last decade.

WHAT IS A HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT?

A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States. The funds contributed to the account are not subject to federal income tax at the time of deposit. These may be used to pay for qualified medical expenses at any time without federal tax liability.

Another feature is that the funds contributed to Health Savings Account roll over and accumulate year over year if not spent. These can be withdrawn by the employees at the time of retirement without any tax liabilities. Withdrawals for qualified expenses and interest earned are also not subject to federal income taxes. According to the U.S. Treasury Office, ‘A Health Savings Account is an alternative to traditional health insurance; it is a savings product that offers a different way for consumers to pay for their health care.

HSA’s enable you to pay for current health expenses and save for future qualified medical and retiree health expenses on a tax-free basis.’ Thus the Health Savings Account is an effort to increase the efficiency of the American health care system and to encourage people to be more responsible and prudent towards their health care needs. It falls in the category of consumer driven health care plans.

Origin of Health Savings Account

The Health Savings Account was established under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act passed by the U.S. Congress in June 2003, by the Senate in July 2003 and signed by President Bush on December 8, 2003.

Eligibility -

The following individuals are eligible to open a Health Savings Account -

- Those who are covered by a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP).
- Those not covered by other health insurance plans.
- Those not enrolled in Medicare4.

Also there are no income limits on who may contribute to an HAS and there is no requirement of having earned income to contribute to an HAS. However HAS’s can’t be set up by those who are dependent on someone else’s tax return. Also HSA’s cannot be set up independently by children.

What is a High Deductible Health plan (HDHP)?

Enrollment in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) is a necessary qualification for anyone wishing to open a Health Savings Account. In fact the HDHPs got a boost by the Medicare Modernization Act which introduced the HSAs. A High Deductible Health Plan is a health insurance plan which has a certain deductible threshold. This limit must be crossed before the insured person can claim insurance money. It does not cover first dollar medical expenses. So an individual has to himself pay the initial expenses that are called out-of-pocket costs.

In a number of HDHPs costs of immunization and preventive health care are excluded from the deductible which means that the individual is reimbursed for them. HDHPs can be taken both by individuals (self employed as well as employed) and employers. In 2008, HDHPs are being offered by insurance companies in America with deductibles ranging from a minimum of $1,100 for Self and $2,200 for Self and Family coverage.

 The maximum amount out-of-pocket limits for HDHPs is $5,600 for self and $11,200 for Self and Family enrollment. These deductible limits are called IRS limits as they are set by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In HDHPs the relation between the deductibles and the premium paid by the insured is inversely propotional i.e. higher the deductible, lower the premium and vice versa. The major purported advantages of HDHPs are that they will a) lower health care costs by causing patients to be more cost-conscious, and b) make insurance premiums more affordable for the uninsured. The logic is that when the patients are fully covered (i.e. have health plans with low deductibles), they tend to be less health conscious and also less cost conscious when going for treatment.

Opening a Health Savings Account

An individual can sign up for HSAs with banks, credit unions, insurance companies and other approved companies. However not all insurance companies offer HSAqualified health insurance plans so it is important to use an insurance company that offers this type of qualified insurance plan. The employer may also set up a plan for the employees. However, the account is always owned by the individual. Direct online enrollment in HSA-qualified health insurance is available in all states except Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Contributions to the Health Savings Account

Contributions to HSAs can be made by an individual who owns the account, by an employer or by any other person. When made by the employer, the contribution is not included in the income of the employee. When made by an employee, it is treated as exempted from federal tax. For 2008, the maximum amount that can be contributed (and deducted) to an HSA from all sources is:
$2,900 (self-only coverage)
$5,800 (family coverage)

These limits are set by the U.S. Congress through statutes and they are indexed annually for inflation. For individuals above 55 years of age, there is a special catch up provision that allows them to deposit additional $800 for 2008 and $900 for 2009. The actual maximum amount an individual can contribute also depends on the number of months he is covered by an HDHP (pro-rated basis) as of the first day of a month. For eg If you have family HDHP coverage from January 1,2008 until June 30, 2008, then cease having HDHP coverage, you are allowed an HSA contribution of 6/12 of $5,800, or $2,900 for 2008. If you have family HDHP coverage from January 1,2008 until June 30, 2008, and have self-only HDHP coverage from July 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008, you are allowed an HSA contribution of 6/12 x $5,800 plus 6/12 of $2,900, or $4,350 for 2008. If an individual opens an HDHP on the first day of a month, then he can contribute to HSA on the first day itself. However, if he/she opens an account on any other day than the first, then he can contribute to the HSA from the next month onwards. Contributions can be made as late as April 15 of the following year. Contributions to the HSA in excess of the contribution limits must be withdrawn by the individual or be subject to an excise tax. The individual must pay income tax on the excess withdrawn amount.

Contributions by the Employer

The employer can make contributions to the employee’s HAS account under a salary reduction plan known as Section 125 plan. It is also called a cafeteria plan. The contributions made under the cafeteria plan are made on a pre-tax basis i.e. they are excluded from the employee’s income. The employer must make the contribution on a comparable basis. Comparable contributions are contributions to all HSAs of an employer which are 1) the same amount or 2) the same percentage of the annual deductible. However, part time employees who work for less than 30 hours a week can be treated separately. The employer can also categorize employees into those who opt for self coverage only and those who opt for a family coverage. The employer can automatically make contributions to the HSAs on the behalf of the employee unless the employee specifically chooses not to have such contributions by the employer.

Withdrawals from the HSAs

The HSA is owned by the employee and he/she can make qualified expenses from it whenever required. He/She also decides how much to contribute to it, how much to withdraw for qualified expenses, which company will hold the account and what type of investments will be made to grow the account. Another feature is that the funds remain in the account and role over from year to year.

There are no use it or lose it rules. The HSA participants do not have to obtain advance approval from their HSA trustee or their medical insurer to withdraw funds, and the funds are not subject to income taxation if made for ‘qualified medical expenses’. Qualified medical expenses include costs for services and items covered by the health plan but subject to cost sharing such as a deductible and coinsurance, or co-payments, as well as many other expenses not covered under medical plans, such as dental, vision and chiropractic care; durable medical equipment such as eyeglasses and hearing aids; and transportation expenses related to medical care.

Nonprescription, over-the-counter medications are also eligible. However, qualified medical expense must be incurred on or after the HSA was established.

Tax free distributions can be taken from the HSA for the qualified medical expenses of the person covered by the HDHP, the spouse (even if not covered) of the individual and any dependent (even if not covered) of the individual.12 The HSA account can also be used to pay previous year’s qualified expenses subject to the condition that those expenses were incurred after the HSA was set up.

The individual must preserve the receipts for expenses met from the HSA as they may be needed to prove that the withdrawals from the HSA were made for qualified medical expenses and not otherwise used. Also the individual may have to produce the receipts before the insurance company to prove that the deductible limit was met. If a withdrawal is made for unqualified medical expenses, then the amount withdrawn is considered taxable (it is added to the individuals income) and is also subject to an additional 10 percent penalty. Normally the money also cannot be used for paying medical insurance premiums. However, in certain circumstances, exceptions are allowed.

These are -

1) to pay for any health plan coverage while receiving federal or state unemployment benefits.
2) COBRA continuation coverage after leaving employment with a company that offers health insurance coverage.
3) Qualified long-term care insurance.
4) Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, including deductibles, co-pays, and coinsurance for: Part A (hospital and inpatient services), Part B (physician and outpatient services), Part C (Medicare HMO and PPO plans) and Part D (prescription drugs).

However, if an individual dies, becomes disabled or reaches the age of 65, then withdrawals from the Health Savings Account are considered exempted from income tax and additional 10 percent penalty irrespective of the purpose for which those withdrawals are made. There are different methods through which funds can be withdrawn from the HSAs. Some HSAs provide account holders with debit cards, some with cheques and some have options for a reimbursement process similar to medical insurance.

Growth of HSAs

Ever since the Health Savings Accounts came into being in January 2004, there has been a phenomenal growth in their numbers. From around 1 million enrollees in March 2005, the number has grown to 6.1 million enrollees in January 2008.14 This represents an increase of 1.6 million since January 2007, 2.9 million since January 2006 and 5.1 million since March 2005. This growth has been visible across all segments. However, the growth in large groups and small groups has been much higher than in the individual category. According to the projections made by the U.S. Treasury Department, the number of HSA policy holders will increase to 14 million by 2010. These 14 million policies will provide cover to 25 to 30 million U.S. citizens.

In the Individual Market, 1.5 million people were covered by HSA/HDHPs purchased as on January 2008. Based on the number of covered lives, 27 percent of newly purchased individual policies (defined as those purchased during the most recent full month or quarter) were enrolled in HSA/HDHP coverage. In the small group market, enrollment stood at 1.8 million as of January 2008. In this group 31 percent of all new enrollments were in the HSA/HDHP category. The large group category had the largest enrollment with 2.8 million enrollees as of January 2008. In this category, six percent of all new enrollments were in the HSA/HDHP category.

Benefits of HSAs

The proponents of HSAs envisage a number of benefits from them. First and foremost it is believed that as they have a high deductible threshold, the insured will be more health conscious. Also they will be more cost conscious. The high deductibles will encourage people to be more careful about their health and health care expenses and will make them shop for bargains and be more vigilant against excesses in the health care industry.

 This, it is believed, will reduce the growing cost of health care and increase the efficiency of the health care system in the United States. HSA-eligible plans typically provide enrollee decision support tools that include, to some extent, information on the cost of health care services and the quality of health care providers. Experts suggest that reliable information about the cost of particular health care services and the quality of specific health care providers would help enrollees become more actively engaged in making health care purchasing decisions. These tools may be provided by health insurance carriers to all health insurance plan enrollees, but are likely to be more important to enrollees of HSA-eligible plans who have a greater financial incentive to make informed decisions about the quality and costs of health care providers and services.

It is believed that lower premiums associated with HSAs/HDHPs will enable more people to enroll for medical insurance. This will mean that lower income groups who do not have access to medicare will be able to open HSAs. No doubt higher deductibles are associated with HSA eligible HDHPs, but it is estimated that tax savings under HSAs and lower premiums will make them less expensive than other insurance plans. The funds put in the HSA can be rolled over from year to year.

 There are no use it or lose it rules. This leads to a growth in savings of the account holder. The funds can be accumulated tax free for future medical expenses if the holder so desires. Also the savings in the HSA can be grown through investments.

The nature of such investments is decided by the insured. The earnings on savings in the HSA are also exempt from income tax. The holder can withdraw his savings in the HSA after turning 65 years old without paying any taxes or penalties. The account holder has complete control over his/her account. He/She is the owner of the account right from its inception. A person can withdraw money as and when required without any gatekeeper. Also the owner decides how much to put in his/her account, how much to spend and how much to save for the future. The HSAs are portable in nature. This means that if the holder changes his/her job, becomes unemployed or moves to another location, he/she can still retain the account.

Also if the account holder so desires he can transfer his Health Saving Account from one managing agency to another. Thus portability is an advantage of HSAs. Another advantage is that most HSA plans provide first-dollar coverage for preventive care. This is true of virtually all HSA plans offered by large employers and over 95% of the plans offered by small employers. It was also true of over half (59%) of the plans which were purchased by individuals.

All of the plans offering first-dollar preventive care benefits included annual physicals, immunizations, well-baby and wellchild care, mammograms and Pap tests; 90% included prostate cancer screenings and 80% included colon cancer screenings. Some analysts believe that HSAs are more beneficial for the young and healthy as they do not have to pay frequent out of pocket costs. On the other hand, they have to pay lower premiums for HDHPs which help them meet unforeseen contingencies.

Health Savings Accounts are also advantageous for the employers. The benefits of choosing a health Savings Account over a traditional health insurance plan can directly affect the bottom line of an employer’s benefit budget. For instance Health Savings Accounts are dependent on a high deductible insurance policy, which lowers the premiums of the employee’s plan. Also all contributions to the Health Savings Account are pre-tax, thus lowering the gross payroll and reducing the amount of taxes the employer must pay.

Criticism of HSAs

The opponents of Health Savings Accounts contend that they would do more harm than good to America’s health insurance system. Some consumer organizations, such as Consumers Union, and many medical organizations, such as the American Public Health Association, have rejected HSAs because, in their opinion, they benefit only healthy, younger people and make the health care system more expensive for everyone else. According to Stanford economist Victor Fuchs, “The main effect of putting more of it on the consumer is to reduce the social redistributive element of insurance.

Some others believe that HSAs remove healthy people from the insurance pool and it makes premiums rise for everyone left. HSAs encourage people to look out for themselves more and spread the risk around less. Another concern is that the money people save in HSAs will be inadequate. Some people believe that HSAs do not allow for enough savings to cover costs. Even the person who contributes the maximum and never takes any money out would not be able to cover health care costs in retirement if inflation continues in the health care industry.

Opponents of HSAs, also include distinguished figures like state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, who called them a “dangerous prescription” that will destabilize the health insurance marketplace and make things even worse for the uninsured. Another criticism is that they benefit the rich more than the poor. Those who earn more will be able to get bigger tax breaks than those who earn less. Critics point out that higher deductibles along with insurance premiums will take away a large share of the earnings of the low income groups. Also lower income groups will not benefit substantially from tax breaks as they are already paying little or no taxes. On the other hand tax breaks on savings in HSAs and on further income from those HSA savings will cost billions of dollars of tax money to the exchequer.

The Treasury Department has estimated HSAs would cost the government $156 billion over a decade. Critics say that this could rise substantially. Several surveys have been conducted regarding the efficacy of the HSAs and some have found that the account holders are not particularly satisfied with the HSA scheme and many are even ignorant about the working of the HSAs. One such survey conducted in 2007 of American employees by the human resources consulting firm Towers Perrin showed satisfaction with account based health plans (ABHPs) was low. People were not happy with them in general compared with people with more traditional health care. Respondants said they were not comfortable with the risk and did not understand how it works.

According to the Commonwealth Fund, early experience with HAS eligible high-deductible health plans reveals low satisfaction, high out of- pocket costs, and cost-related access problems. Another survey conducted with the Employee Benefits Research Institute found that people enrolled in HSA-eligible high-deductible health plans were much less satisfied with many aspects of their health care than adults in more comprehensive plans People in these plans allocate substantial amounts of income to their health care, especially those who have poorer health or lower incomes. The survey also found that adults in high-deductible health plans are far more likely to delay or avoid getting needed care, or to skip medications, because of the cost. Problems are particularly pronounced among those with poorer health or lower incomes.

Political leaders have also been vocal about their criticism of the HSAs. Congressman John Conyers, Jr. issued the following statement criticizing the HSAs “The President’s health care plan is not about covering the uninsured, making health insurance affordable, or even driving down the cost of health care. Its real purpose is to make it easier for businesses to dump their health insurance burden onto workers, give tax breaks to the wealthy, and boost the profits of banks and financial brokers. The health care policies concocted at the behest of special interests do nothing to help the average American. In many cases, they can make health care even more inaccessible.” In fact a report of the U.S. governments Accountability office, published on April 1, 2008 says that the rate of enrollment in the HSAs is greater for higher income individuals than for lower income ones.

A study titled “Health Savings Accounts and High Deductible Health Plans: Are They an Option for Low-Income Families? By Catherine Hoffman and Jennifer Tolbert which was sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation reported the following key findings regarding the HSAs:

a) Premiums for HSA-qualified health plans may be lower than for traditional insurance, but these plans shift more of the financial risk to individuals and families through higher deductibles.
b) Premiums and out-of-pocket costs for HSA-qualified health plans would consume a substantial portion of a low-income family’s budget.
c) Most low-income individuals and families do not face high enough tax liability to benefit in a significant way from tax deductions associated with HSAs.
d) People with chronic conditions, disabilities, and others with high cost medical needs may face even greater out-of-pocket costs under HSA-qualified health plans.
e) Cost-sharing reduces the use of health care, especially primary and preventive services, and low-income individuals and those who are sicker are particularly sensitive to cost-sharing increases.
f) Health savings accounts and high deductible plans are unlikely to substantially increase health insurance coverage among the uninsured.

Choosing a Health Plan

Despite the advantages offered by the HSA, it may not be suitable for everyone. While choosing an insurance plan, an individual must consider the following factors:

1. The premiums to be paid.
2. Coverage/benefits available under the scheme.
3. Various exclusions and limitations.
4. Portability.
5. Out-of-pocket costs like coinsurance, co-pays, and deductibles.
6. Access to doctors, hospitals, and other providers.
7. How much and sometimes how one pays for care.
8. Any existing health issue or physical disability.
9. Type of tax savings available.

Author: Parveen Kumar Bhagat
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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