Youth Net Family Health

Posted by admin | March 8th, 2010

With the cost of living increasing at a rapid rate throughout the United States finding affordable health insurance is becoming increasingly and increasingly more difficult for families who are struggling to make ends meet. It is common for many of these parents to have recently been laid off or had hours reduced as many companies are beginning job cuts as well as cutting back hours in order to deal with the slowing economy. This type of behavior has been seen the most in Detroit, Michigan where Detroit’s “big three” automobile companies have began to deteriorate at a rapid rate causing thousands of jobs to be shut down, these three automakers have began to beg for government help when it comes to getting government loans in order to pay for the damage these companies have done to themselves. For many of the families who are feeling the repercussions of the economic downturn as a result of many of these plans cutting jobs, health insurance may be the last thing on their mind, but it shouldn’t be. Studies have shown that during difficult economic times people are more likely to engage in dangerous or risk-taking activities. It is during these times that it is most important for people to have affordable family insurance because not only will it help them save money at a time where people are desperate for every penny, but it will also give families some faith when it comes to someone being there to support them. Having affordable health insurance is almost a backbone to many families, it is the string that keeps them together because without it the risks that we take for granted in everyday life become much more of a threat. For people to know that they have the support of an insurance company backing them, and being there if something happens to your family.

What having affordable family insurance does for these people is give them almost a safety net of sorts, if you or someone in your family were to get sick or injured, having affordable family insurance will give people the opportunity to get healthy or get better by allowing families to be tested, vaccinated, screened, and taken care of by medical professionals who know what they are doing. This should not only give people peace of mind at such a trying economic time, but it should also give people the strength to get through this hard time. During primary voting done prior to the election it was a found and affordable family insurance is one of the biggest concerns of voters, with more than 46 million people being uninsured throughout the United States today. Some of these concerns have been alleviated since President-elect Barack Obama has been elected and has demanded mandatory health care for everyone in the United States in the next few years.

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Posted by admin | March 8th, 2010

Do Not Read This Unless You are Making a lot of Money!:

If you would like to know how you can save up to 47% on your current Health Insurance Coverage read on… this is going to be one of the most informative messages you will ever read. After reading this message you will never going to have words; expensive and health insurance in the same sentence.

As you already know health insurance costs are at highest they have ever been and there is no sign of them slowing down. More and more Americans are forced to cancel their coverage simply just because they cannot afford it.

Who are the uninsured?

• Approximately 46 million Americans, or 15.7 percent of the population, were without health insurance in 2004 (the latest government data available).

• The number of uninsured rose 800,000 between 2003 and 2004 and has increased by 6 million since 2000.

• The increase in the number of uninsured in 2004 was focused among working age adults. The percentage of working adults (18 to 64) who had no health coverage climbed from 18.6 percent in 2003 to 19.0 percent in 2004. An increase of over 750,000 in 2004.

• Nearly 82 million people – about one-third of the population below the age of 65 spent a portion of either 2002 or 2003 without health coverage.

• The number of uninsured children in 2004 was 8.3 million – or 11.2 percent of all children in the U.S. (1).

You might say that I have great coverage that I am happy with… that’s totally fine.

For past sever years average rate increase for health insurance was 16.2% and what if it keeps on going? If you are right now paying $500 per month for your health insurance in three years from now you would expect to pay over $780 for the same plan. Wait… we all know that insurance companies consistently decrease their benefits and increase co-pays and deductible. Therefore you will pay more for less coverage. By the way if you keep same plan for over five years you will pay over $1000 a month just for your medical coverage. What if you use your Health Insurance?… Chances are if it is not for a regular doctor visits or a check ups it would be considered pre-existing condition. That means your chances of changing to a more affordable coverage in the future will be nearly impossible. That is one of the main reasons people cancel their health insurance because they were diagnosed with something or taking a prescription medication and the insurance company kept raising their rate until they could not qualify for any other coverage and could not afford the one they had.

Now you are saying I do not need coverage my spouse works for a company and I have group coverage… Great.

What would happen if your spouse left that job or the company stopped providing benefits? Probably the most obvious things that you can see how much that group coverage is really costing you. Next time check how much is deducted out of the paycheck for health coverage, especially for dependents. Group plans do cost more money because by law they are what are called “guaranteed issue”. That means you can have serious medical conditions and still get coverage. Insurance companies have to follow the law and they know they have to accept everyone who works for a large company, therefore they do charge more money for coverage. The biggest problem is not the cost of group health insurance it is what happens if some one, while on the group plan, is diagnosed with a condition or starts to take prescriptions medications. We get back to same issues as mentioned before, unable to qualify for health insurance in the future. There are people that want to leave their job but they cannot because they are going through treatment and cannot to pay for it on their own.

There is another solution… Some might save, so what is the point of even having health insurance. Once you diagnosed with something and insurance company is going to keep raising rates to the point where I am going to have to cancel it anyway. Especially if something does happen and I have to use my coverage I might not be working and I might not have income. Is my insurance company is still going to keep raising my rates? YES.

Before you think about cancelling your coverage consider this. Here are some statistics

• A recent study by Harvard University researchers found that the average out-of-pocket medical debt for those who filed for bankruptcy was $12,000. In addition, the study found that 50 percent of all bankruptcy filings were partly the result of medical expenses. Every 30 seconds in the United States someone files for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a serious health problem.

• Illness and medical bills caused half of the 1,458,000 personal bankruptcies in 2001, according to a study published by the journal Health Affairs.

• Average day in the hospital is $7500 per day.

How can you save up to 47% on your health insurance? Simple… You probably already heard of Health Saving Accounts. They are becoming more and more popular everyday. With the way health insurance prices are moving today Health Saving Accounts are the only way to keep your coverage, save hundreds per month on your health insurance and still have a peace of mind.

To this day I was not able to hear a good definition that everyone can understand. I will do everything I can to make it simple to understand. The easiest way to understand Health Saving Accounts is to think of them as Roth IRA or your Company’s 401k plan. Instead of giving your money away to insurance company you get to keep it more of it for yourself. The way HSA plans work is there health insurance combined with savings account which works in a similar way to your retirement account. There tremendous benefits to have HSA qualified health plan. First all the money that you put in to your HSA account is 100% tax deductible and it is your money that rolls over year after year. At the age of 65 and up if you have not used up all of your HSA money you can roll it over in to your retirement account. Second your health insurance costs are going to be cut almost in half. For example if you had Health Insurance plan with $2500 deductible now and it is costing you $300 per month the same plans with HSA qualified plan, now will cost you only about $160 per month. The reason you save so much money with HSA qualified health plan is because HSA qualified plans do not cover anything until the deductible is met. There are exceptions depending on the Health Insurance Company. Some insurance companies will pay for your once a year physical before you meet your deductible.

Let take an example of how HSA qualified plan could benefit you. Let take some actual numbers from actual health insurance company. In this example I am going to use HSA plans from company called Assurant Health. Assurant Health is leader in Health Saving Accounts and they one of the first companies to implement them. The main reason is that Assurant Health is part of the world’s largest financial company that sets up retirement accounts. In this example I am going to use a family of four, husband 46, wife 42, kids are 12 and 16. On a regular family plan with $2500 deductible, maximum out of pocket of $5500, co-insurance of 80% and doctor visits covered with $35 co-pay, they are going to pay $676.40. Something to keep in mind that all of the regular PPO plans that are available on the market today have family deductible which is double of individual deductible. That means that if you have a plan with $2500 deductible and $5500 maximum out of pocket that means that your family deductible is $5000 and your family maximum out of pocket is $11,000. When we are comparing HSA qualified health plans there is only one deductible, once you meet it you are covered at 100% on the most plans. There are some companies and plans that you still might be responsible for the percent age of the bill until you reach your maximum out of pocket. Most HSA plans do not have maximum out of pocket tha
t meant once you met your deductible you are covered at 100%, it’s that simple. The same plan with $5700 deductible for the entire family with HSA qualified health plans will only be $491.64 per month. For the total monthly savings of 184.76 per month. Also your maximum out of pocket will decrease from $11,000 on a regular plan to $5700 with HSA health plan. That’s yearly savings of $2,217.12 and additional savings of $5300 on the maximum out of pocket. (that’s if you have had to use the plan for emergencies) The main reason for starting HSA health insurance is for Saving Account and being able to put money in to account, at your discretion, tax free. You can put money in to HSA qualified account up to your deductible and you do not have to put any money in to that account if you do not want to. Health Saving Accounts are as flexible as you would want them to be. TO get more information on HSA accounts and get quotes for HSA qualified health coverage see my bio.

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Posted by admin | March 8th, 2010

A family health insurance policy is a legal, binding contract between the insurance company and the customer, in this instance a family, whereby the insurer pays the medical costs of the family member if he or she becomes sick due to covered causes, or due to accidents. This type of insurance is generally purchased year by year with generally no assurance that the policy can be renewed, and if renewable, no guarantee that premium rates will not increase.

Deciding which plan is just right for you and your family can seem as challenging as judging which new car is the very best out of an entire parking lot at the car dealership. The cars are all different sizes, styles and colors, and the health insurance plans all offer different fees, types of benefits, and levels of coverage.

For many people, the group health insurance plan sponsored by their employer offers them the most affordable coverage. This insurance is exactly what it sounds like: a health insurance plan or plans offered to groups of people through their employers. Family plans, on the other hand, covers families instead of employer groups, and it can be a much more attractive and affordable option than many people assume.

Because family health insurance is not offered through an employer, those who choose this type of insurance will pay the entire cost of the regular premiums. In some situations, the purchaser may even be able to save money compared to what he would have spent in premiums for an employer’s group plan. Either way, consumers should realize that the money they’re spending each month for insurance premiums is 100% tax-deductible.

There are two basic types of family health insurance plans: indemnity and managed-care. An indemnity plan gives its policy holders the most freedom to choose the source of their health care, allowing them to receive treatment wherever and from whomever they choose. Many indemnity plans also require higher deductibles that must be met before the plan coverage will begin, and they also pay claims based on a percentage of the cost for the care. Managed-care plans, on the other hand, are usually based on a network of approved health care providers from whom their policy holders can receive treatment. Because this network of providers has, in most cases, agreed to provide the treatment at a pre-set price, the care will cost less out-of-pocket for the consumer. The paperwork is generally taken care of by the health care provider instead of the policy holder, and the care is covered with only a small coinsurance or co-payment required from the policy holder.

There are three types of managed-care plans: health maintenance organizations (HMO), preferred provider organizations (PPO), and point of service (POS) plans. These options are all based on provider networks and require their policy holders to pay for their health care depending on their tendency to seek care from in-network or out-of-network providers.

Managed care plans were first initiated during the mid 1980’s as a means of cost savings. As late as 1990 the vast majority of family health insurance was in the form of a conventional plan. By the year 2001, conventional plans had shrunk to merely 7% of the family health insurance in force, with the other 93% some form of managed-care.

In each of the three categories, there are dozens of available plans offering different levels and types of coverage that allow users to choose based on personal needs. In general the higher the deductible, the lower the monthly premium. This along with many other factors affects how much the plan will cost the consumer to use. Therefore, a family who expects to seek health care only a few times per year will benefit by choosing a plan with a lower monthly premium.

These are not the only factors that should be considered when choosing an insurance plan. Someone who travels often may want to consider the possibility of needing to seek care while far from home and the advantages of an indemnity or a more flexible managed-care plan, so that unexpected out-of-network expenses can be covered. Women who expect to become pregnant during their plan year must carefully study the coverage offered to them. Pregnancy and delivery costs can be substantial. No plan is right for everyone; that’s one reason there are so many from which to choose.

There is no way to make a wise choice without a thorough study of the health insurance plans available. The needs of every person in the family who will be covered by the plan should be taken into account. With careful consideration and planning, those needs can all be met at a reasonable cost through family health insurance.

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