Workers Health Insurance » Insurance

Health Insurance Tips for Self-employed Individuals

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:10:36 +0000

Being self-employed is one of the most liberating experiences you can ever have. When it comes to health insurance, it does not mean that you do not have any options if you are self-employed. In fact, you can easily find a good plan if you know where and how to look.

One option is to find a short-term plan while you haven’t found a comprehensive long-term package yet. Of course, as the name implies, this should not be your permanent plan.

Another option is, if you’re a practicing professional, you may be able to get group coverage via your professional association. This is not the best option as the coverage may be limited, but it is better than nothing.

When looking for a long-term plan, you ought to take a look at as many providers as you can. Individual plans may be a little more expensive in some cases, but you will be able to declare this as tax-free income.

4 Important Health Insurance Terms You Need to Understand

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 09:14:20 +0000

You may have had health insurance coverage for most of your life, but it doesn’t mean that you know everything there is to know about it. Indeed, a lot of people have gone on without really understanding their policy – and this is something that should not be. To help you increase your understanding of health insurance, here are four of the most important terms that you ought to know.

Copayments
Each time you pay a visit to the doctor or you have a prescription filled, you pay a small amount. This amount is called a copayment. This is a flat fee determined by your health insurance plan.

Deductible
The deductible is the amount that you would have to pay annually prior to your health insurance policy kicking in. Once you’ve reached your deductible, your health insurance provider will start paying for health services.

Coinsurance
After you have met your deductible, you may still have to pay a fraction of the cost of health services. In most cases, this is 20 percent to 30 percent of what the health plan approves.

Out-of-pocket Expenses
This term is used to refer to the first three terms. The higher your out-of-pocket expenses, the lower your monthly premiums are.

How to Maintain Health Insurance When Unemployed

admin — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 09:09:46 +0000

When looking for a job, many people place utmost importance on health insurance benefits. Having your employer pay for the premiums – whether in part or in whole – is definitely a big plus. What if you lose your job? Is there a way to maintain health insurance coverage?

If you have a spouse who is employed, you have the option to switch coverage to her/him. This is not always applicable, however, as the health insurance provider/company of the employed spouse may not have options for dependents. This is one thing that you should immediately look at.

Another option is to take a closer look at COBRA. This law requires your employer to give you the option to continue the coverage you have while employed. Of course, when you lose your job for one reason or another, you will have to pay the premiums yourself. You have to make the decision soon as COBRA applies only for a limited period of time after loss of employment.

Why You Shouldn’t Go Direct to the Carrier

admin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:15:50 +0000

When you are shopping around for a health insurance policy, how do you go about it? Some experts suggest that, whatever you do, do not go direct to the carrier. Does this make sense? After all, aren’t you going to be making some savings if you get rid of the middle man?

The reasoning behind this is that if you give carriers a call, the chances are that you will be dealing with a Customer Service Representative. Now, not all CSRs are inept, but their training is limited, and they may not be able to give you all the information that you need to make a truly informed decision. More so, their calls are timed, so they may give you inaccurate, incomplete, or erroneous information.

That’s where agents come in handy. These people can deal with you face to face. These people are heavily trained in their field. Chances are, you’ll get better advice from agent.

Getting to Know COBRA

admin — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:47:33 +0000

No, it is not the dreaded snake. COBRA is actually a law – not a health insurance company, as many mistakenly think it is. Short for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, COBRA serves to protect employees in terms of continued health insurance coverage in case of any changes in the status of employment.

In many cases, if an employee gets terminated or laid off, the health insurance coverage also stops. With COBRA, most employers are required to temporarily continue to offer the group health coverage. The periods covered are:

• 18 months for employees and dependents if loss of coverage is due to termination or reduction of hours
• 29 months for employees and dependents if loss of coverage is due to disability (within 60 days of COBRA coverage)
• 26 months for dependents if loss of coverage is due to death of the employee or due to divorce/legal separation.

Watch this video for more information.

What is Short Term Health Insurance?

admin — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:22:58 +0000

Health insurance is usually meant for a long period of time, but there is such a thing as short term health insurance. This kind of health insurance is meant to be a stop gap measure. Sometimes, there is a short period of time in between the renewal of standard health insurance policies. Alternatively, when one decides to change providers, there might be a short period – several months at least – wherein the individual does not have health coverage.

Why is it necessary to take out short term health insurance?

You never really know what might happen in the months between your old and your new standard health insurance policy. Taking out a short term insurance policy can give you the security that you need.

It is important to remember, though, that you should not see short term health insurance as a substitute for standard policies. This kind of insurance is usually non-renewable anyway, so you will really have to rely on standard policies.

In the next post, let’s take a deeper look at short term health insurance.