Posts Tagged Health
Myths and Facts About Private Health Insurance
Your health is your most valuable asset, and you can’t put a price on it. But many people believe that medical insurance is a luxury they can’t afford. This article will clear up some of the common misconceptions about health insurance, and help you save money on your premiums.
Myth #1: “Health Insurance is really expensive”
With health insurance, your premiums will directly affect your level of cover. But there are other ways to save money on your health insurance policy without sacrificing your policy. Increasing your excess is a way of reducing your premiums dramatically.
You can also save money with a six week wait option, with which you can be sure you will never wait longer than six weeks for treatment. This option can cut your premiums by as much as one third, although it may mean receiving treatment on the NHS.
Myth #2: “I get good service from the NHS, I don’t need health insurance”
‘The postcode lottery’ refers to the huge variation in NHS hospitals across the UK. Whilst some hospitals are reaching their waiting list targets, many are falling below the acceptable standard.
Check out your local NHS hospital to see what they are doing well, and what they are doing badly. When choosing a policy, make sure it supplements the service you already receive on the NHS. If your local hospital is not hitting its waiting list targets, health insurance will allow you to bypass the queues.
As well as supplementing the NHS, health insurance gives you many extra benefits to make your recovery quicker and easier. Private rooms give you privacy and dignity with the use of extra facilities. You are also less likely to catch one of the super-bugs prevalent in NHS hospitals, like MRSA and C- Difficile.
Myth #3: “It will take me a long time to find a policy”
Comparison websites are a quick and easy way to find a tailored quote online.
Before using a comparison website always check the homepage for a demonstration or written description of the service they provide. If they don’t have one, the company may take your personal information and sell it on.
In addition, always check the bottom of the page for an FSA authorised registration number.
Myth #4: “It will be really difficult to make a health insurance claim”
Making a health insurance claim is easier than you might think. It takes just a few simple steps to arrange your private healthcare.
• If you suspect something is wrong, visit your GP, who will decide whether you need to be referred to a specialist.
• Let your health insurance company know that you want to make a claim, and they will confirm the details of your condition and treatment.
• Finally, make an appointment with your specialist, who will arrange payment directly with your insurer.
Using a broker is a good way of making this process easier. Not only will they give you impartial advice on your quotes, they are also always on hand to assist you with any claims in the future if the insurers are reluctant to pay out.
Myth #5: “I won’t be covered for serious illnesses like cancer”
In fact, whilst it’s true that there is no simple cure for cancer, it can respond well to treatment in many cases. Most insurers offer a range of products with different levels of cancer cover.
Nowadays health insurance is moving away from the traditional one-size-fits-all approach. Your core cover can be supplemented by a choice of additional policies, such as cancer care.
A health insurance comparison website will clearly show all the options from each insurer so you can choose a policy that suits your requirements.
Myth #6: “I won’t be covered for illnesses I’ve already got”
It’s true that health insurers will not cover you for pre-existing conditions. However, Moratorium (MORI) plans could provide cover for these conditions in the future.
Generally you will not be covered for any conditions that you have had in the previous 5 years but you could regain cover for those if you have a period of two consecutive years after you join where:
• You haven’t had any medical treatment or advice.
• You haven’t taken any drugs or medicines.
• You haven’t followed any special diets in respect of your pre-existing condition during that time.
Myth #7: “I won’t be able to switch policies after I’ve bought one”
You will be able to switch policies and insurers after you have taken one out on a Switch/ CPME (continuing personal medical exclusion) basis. The insurance company will continue to cover conditions that arose since you took out your old policy, and will not add any extra exclusions.
Individually Owned Versus Employer-Based Health Insurance
I’ve been crusading for individual health insurance and ranting against employer-based coverage for years, because privately-owned coverage is exactly what America needs to put the kibosh on skyrocketing premiums, lack of portability, consumer ignorance (regarding medical costs) and the over-consumption (abuse!) of healthcare services.
Health insurance should never have been linked to employment in the first place. We don’t expect employers to provide us with auto, homeowner’s or life insurance, do we?
So how did we get into this mess?
Federal wage and price controls during World War II prevented employers from raising employee salaries…but not from increasing their “fringe” benefits. So companies started offering Health Insurance as a way to “sweeten the pie” in order to compete for employees. Plus, employers were allowed to write-off the premiums…and employees did NOT have to report their healthcare benefits as taxable income!
A very sweet pie, indeed!
The IRS resisted…but with millions of Americans now getting their health benefits tax-free through work…Congress eventually decided to permanently put the tax exempt-status of employer health insurance into law, and by the mid-1960s, employer-based health benefits were almost universal.
This is a classic example of how, according to Milton Friedman, one bad government policy leads to another.
With health benefits now tax-free (if employer-based), more and more Americans were signing up through work…and as income tax rates increased, so did the incentive to keep expanding health benefits. Americans who wouldn’t think of using auto insurance to cover stuff like oil changes, tune-ups or gasoline…were beginning to get used to the concept of using health insurance to cover annual physicals, prescriptions and other low-cost, administrative intensive, routine expenses… contributing to a mucked-up healthcare system in which virtually every medical bill, regardless of how insignificant, is covered by a third party.
And with someone else picking up the tab, everybody got used to going to the emergency room for a sore throat, running to the doctor for the sniffles, buying brand-name vs. generic, and dangerously over-medicating, in general.
Is this beginning to NOT make sense to you?
When patients think that someone else is paying the bill (employees are really trading potentially higher wages for increasingly meaningless health benefits), they feel very little pressure to shop around and learn what those costs actually are…and providers feel very little pressure to compete with each other on price. As a result, prices keep rising, which causes health insurance to be more expensive, which causes people to become more worried about losing their insurance… and more dependent on the benefits provided by their employers!
Is there a way out of this living hell?
Yeah, sure, and it’s got nothing to do higher taxes, more government spending, a weakened national defense or (gulp) SOCIALIZED medicine.
The key to reforming healthcare in the United States is “de-linking” health insurance from employment and fixing the tax code by taking the tax deduction away from employers and giving employees a refundable health insurance tax CREDIT…as a powerful and compelling incentive to buy their own private, portable, safer and more affordable health coverage.
As tens of millions of Americans begin focusing more on the true cost of insurance and medical services, price competition will kick in…and by liberating employers from the mounting anxiety and financial burden of being in the health insurance “business”…they will be in a position to pay their employees higher wages!
Do You Know What Factors Determines the Cost of Health Insurance?
Major factors that determine the cost of health insurance.
The cost of health insurance effects everyone, those who are starting their own business or getting married. There are number of factors which determine these cost, including your insurability, your health condition, your choice of plan, your location, your age, and gender. Some plans cost less, however, and some people pay less for their insurance, that’s because these specific factors are calculated into the cost of health insurance.
There are two main categories of health insurance, individual health insurance and group health insurance. Group health insurance is supplied by your employer, so the factor determining this type of insurance are related to the choice by the human resource department of the company and the people who make up the group. Individual health insurance is a contract between you and the health insurance company and is based on your individual health and lifestyle. An individual plan may include you and your family.
Here are a summary of the contributing factors that affect the cost of health insurance:
1. Your Insurability
With group health insurance, the health of the entire group is taken into consideration in order to determine the cost. With an individual plan the health conditions of you and your family are evaluated. Therefore, an application must be filled out to include the health conditions and questions for all those wish to be covered by the plan. With an individual plan, an insurance company can choose to deny insurance to someone who has pre-existing health problems. An important question to consider when taking out an individual health policy, is are you insurable.
2. Your Health Condition:
Your health condition are an important ingredient of the underwriting process. When you apply for health insurance coverage, companies interview and dig up your personal and health history. They carry out laboratory test, such as urine and blood sampling that will determine your health conditions. When illnesses are found and when particular disease run in your family, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases, chances are it will affect your premiums.
Because tobacco use affects your health, people who smoke or use tobacco products will pay an additional premium based on their smoking status. This could be an additional 10% of premium, depending upon the company.
Maternity is generally not covered on an individual plan, unless a rider is offered. There is an additional cost for maternity insurance. Many plans may cover complications of pregnancy even if you do not have maternity insurance.
3. Your Choice of Plan:
The plan that you choose will affect the premium you will pay. The more risk you assume, the lower the premium. The more risk the insurance company assumes the higher the premium, your risk is best summed up in the term “Out of Pocket Maximum” This refers to the maximum money you would pay for co-payments and deductibles. therefore the plan selection has an impact in what health insurance will cost. The plan options such as prescription drugs, office visits and dental will also impact a health plan.
4. Your Location:
Another factor which helps determine your insurance is where you live, your county and zip code will be used to determine your premium, the more rural counties are less expensive than urban counties. Larger cities tend to have higher costs than smaller towns, and coastal areas tend to cost more for care than middle America.
5. Your Age and Gender:
The older you are the more expensive your health insurance will be. The reason for this is because as we get older we have more health problems and go to the doctor more often, and premiums increase as you get older.
Also younger men usually have lower premiums than women of the same age, women are more likely to go to the doctor than men at these ages this means women pay higher premium than men do for health insurance. Men die sooner so they pay higher life insurance premiums.
When you understand the determining factors of the costs of buying and using health insurance, it’s easier to find the insurance plan that’s best for you and your family. Best of all, you’ll be able to get the most out of the insurance plan you choose.a