Content
Just another WordPress weblog
Thursday 31 December 2009
-
Filed under
Insurance
There are a number of different Illinois low income government health insurance programs that residents of Illinois can take advantage of. Whether you are looking for Illinois low income health insurance for your children, for someone who is disabled, or even if you are looking for an IL low income health insurance plan for yourself or your entire family then there are different options, bother governmental and private, that you should look into.
The state of Illinois is one of the largest states in the United States when speaking about population. Although the state is not very big compared to Texas or California, it houses approximately 12 million people and population has been growing about 3% every 5 years. With this in mind it is important to understand that the need for quality health insurance is a common one in this great state. With the health care costs rising, the state government has been faced with important decisions regarding what to do with families that have no money to afford health care, or families that do have money; but cannon really afford it because they live from paycheck to paycheck. The state of Illinois is one the best states in the nation regarding health insurance for low income families.
The Illinois Department of Health Care and Family Services is a prime place for low income families to find coverage for them or for their children. A program started by the former governor of Illinois, Mr. Rod R. Blagojevich is called Illinois Covered. This program is designed to allow those 1.4 million of uninsured people residing in the state of Illinois to gain health insurance coverage. The program which provides “affordable healthcare for all” was started simply because the governor is tired for waiting for Washington D.C. to come up with answers to the health care crisis that is roaming America in the last decades. The program in whole is divided into different categories depending on eligibility requirements a person needs to have in order to qualify.
One of the programs is called Family Care and its main focus is to provide health care coverage for Illinois people who are below 185% of the poverty line. The governor is trying to get a piece of legislation started in which the eligibility for this plan would go up to families below 400% the poverty line, which would include a larger percentage than those under the program now. What this plan does is offer healthcare coverage to parents living with their children 18 year old or younger and to relatives who are caring for children of those ages. The plan includes doctor visits, dental care, hospital care, emergency services, prescriptions, etc and these services will have small copays of approximately $5. Parents should expect to pay a monthly premium of $15 to $40 depending on the number of family members covered under the plan.
Another program the Illinois government has is called All Kids “Healthcare for kids” and it was started on July 1, 2006. This program is available for children ages 18 and younger, and recently the governor has proposed to cover people up to the age of 21 with this plan. There are a quarter of a million children (approximately 250,000) in the state of Illinois who do not have health insurance coverage. This program is designed to cover kids at an affordable price, and make them eligible to go see a doctor or get surgery when needed. The plan includes services such as doctor visits, hospital stays, prescription drug coverage, vision and dental care, and medical devices such as glasses and asthma inhalers. They rates are affordable and for middle income families the rates will be much lower than those in the private health insurance market.
Health Benefits for Workers with Disabilities coverage is another program in the state of Illinois, and they began providing services for in the year 2002. Families that were once middle class and are now low income families due to the disability of a family member is covered with these health plan as well. After a person is injured, many people fear going back to work because that would mean losing their health insurance coverage and many others just simply cannot afford private health insurance coverage. This program eases the transition from a disability back to work by making sure those people are fully covered with Medicaid. If you are an individual between he ages of 18 and 64 that is disabled and you earn a monthly income of $1,702 per month for individual and $2,282 for a couple you might qualify for this health benefit.
Two other important programs in that the state of Illinois offered that are somewhat linked to each other are Illinois Covered Assist and Illinois Covered Rebate. Illinois Covered Assist is a new program that focuses on primary care and disease management of very low income families, primarily speaking families making less than $10,210 annually for an individual or $13,960 for a family. They will provide access to a medical home through a medical center in the community and prescription drug benefits. On the other hand, Illinois Covered Rebate was designed to help middle income Illinois families to pay for their health insurance premiums. This will pay up to 20% of their premium or up to $1,000 per year.
Although healthcare in the state of Illinois is not perfect and there is still a lot to be done to improve it, the former governor has been doing a great job expanding the benefits so that his programs cover a variety and a high number of people. If you want more information about low income coverage for families in the state, you can contact the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services or a local Illinois health insurance agent or broker.
::
Share or discuss
::
2009-12-31 ::
admin
Friday 13 November 2009
-
Filed under
Insurance
The day comes that you lose your job and, along with it, you lose your health insurance. Fortunately, interim health insurance is something that can keep you afloat until you find a new job. An interim health insurance policy will cover your health care needs from the time you lose your job until you are eligible for benefits from your new employer.
Where should you begin to look for a short-term health insurance policy? Like many people today, your first stop will probably be one of the internet search engines and these will produced a laundry list of directories. These directories each provided a list of companies that offer interim health insurance and even a few that will actually tell you exactly what it is. Knowing what interim health insurance is and, just as importantly, what it is not will help you shop for the right policy and keep you from being scammed.
First of all, each state has its own brand of interim health insurance policy to help you hold onto the health insurance from your previous employer. In Minnesota it is called a Cobra Plan and covers you until you have a new job. Incidentally, state law also requires your employer to notify you of your eligibility for Cobra coverage.
Commercially available interim health insurance policies generally run from one to twelve months, although many providers limit their policies to six months, and will offer most of the same benefits that are provided on their long-term counterparts. The biggest difference you will see is that the policy is non-renewable and if you want to keep your coverage you will need to arrange a further new policy. Keep in mind that this type of policy is only intended for short-term use and not for long-term use.
Some things that will probably not be covered are wellness checks and preventative care. They will also not normally provide cover for dental or optical care. They are also very strict on denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. You can get coverage extended to cover your spouse and children. You will find also that most policies will range in price from around $25 to $100 per month.
Keeping these things in mind, you can begin to look through the results of your search. Examine the lists of companies and find one that will meet your needs. Another good place to turn for cover, because of the fee-for-service nature of the policy, is to your own home or car insurance provider as it is likely that they will also carry a health insurance policy that you can get. If you are purchasing the policy through your own insurance company, there may be an additional discount available to you for having multiple policies with them.
Your local phone book may also list a number of places for you to get interim health insurance coverage in your area. This can be an advantage if pre-approvals are needed. With a knowledge of what interim health insurance is and where you can find it, you will now be able to secure a policy that will best meet your needs.
::
Share or discuss
::
2009-11-13 ::
admin
Monday 12 October 2009
-
Filed under
Insurance
What is COBRA?
COBRA is a federal law that requires some, but not all, employers to extend group health insurance benefits for 18 months after termination. It is very important to understand a few things about this group health extension law.
Not all employers have to comply. Smaller employers will not be forced to extend group health insurance. Not all employers extend group health benefits to all employees. COBRA will not extend a group health insurance benefit if none existed in the first place. The employer must extend the group benefit, but they do not have to pay for it! Instead of paying a portion of the premium, the ex-employee will have to pay the entire premium under normal COBRA rules. These family health insurance premiums can average around $1,000 a month or more.
What Did The US Stimulus Aid Package Do?
The aid should contribute 65% of the premium for qualifying people. That means that the terminated employee would only have to pay 35% of the bill which should be more in line with a normal employee contribution. This should help a lot more families keep their group health benefits if the covered person loses their job.
The current problem is that many unemployed people do not know how to use this benefit. They are confused about how to get the government to start paying part of their premium.
Contact The Former Company For Information
A former employee should contact their old company, and not a government agency, about COBRA stimulus aid. The plan will work by having the employer pay the aid portion of the bill and then submit that for reimbursement by the US government. The ex-employee should only have to pay their portion while this aid lasts.
Keep in mind, a normal COBRA extension lasts for 18 months, but the stimulus package only lasts for 9 months. In addition, this aid will only help terminated employees who qualify for COBRA benefits in the first place. But even though the coverage has limits, it should help many families keep group medical plans in place.
Options Besides COBRA
An ex-employee may have other options for health insurance. Some people will be far better off with their old group health plan, but many families can find better prices on the individual health insurance market. For instance, a diabetic person may be declined for private health insurance in some states, but has a right to group health coverage. On the other hand, healthier people will probably enjoy competitive rates on the private market. Just make sure you understand the limits of any policies you are considering.
For people with very limited incomes and little savings, there may also be county, state, and government health insurance programs that can help you. Since these programs tend to be local, you will need to find a qualified insurance agent or your state insurance department.
::
Share or discuss
::
2009-10-12 ::
admin
Saturday 12 September 2009
-
Filed under
Insurance
Texas is the only state in the union that allows employers to “opt out” of the workers’ compensation system. An employer is assumed to be a subscriber to the workers’ compensation system unless he/she files the appropriate form (DWC-5) with the Texas Department of Insurance that tells the state that the employer is not carrying workers’ compensation insurance. The employer that has filed the DWC-5 is considered to be a nonsubscriber.
The Texas Department of Insurance periodically surveys both subscribers and nonsubscribers in regards to the health of the workers’ compensation system. The latest survey (2006) found that approximately 23% of Texas Employers were nonsubscribers. This represented approximately 1.7 million workers. This is the second lowest amount of employers that were nonsubscribers since the Texas Department of Insurance started taking these surveys in 1993. It is also the second highest number of employees working for nonsubscribers since 1993. What does this mean?
Large employers (500 or more employees) are continuing to opt out of the system. These employers thought that they could do a better job than the Texas workers’ compensation system providing injured workers with medical and wage benefits at a lower cost. Medical costs in the workers’ compensation system were perceived as being to high. These employers either have or contract risk managers to enforce safe working conditions in the workplace. They also have alternative types of insurance to cover medical obligations to injured employees. In addition they purchase employers’ liability separately to cover any legal obligations that may arise in the case of an injured employee. Recent decisions by the Texas Supreme Court have raised the bar in proving negligence. With a properly enforced safety program, negligence is very hard to prove in Texas.
Small employers (1-4 employees) were returning to the workers’ compensation system in the 2006 survey. In 1995, 45 % of small employers were subscribers while in 2006, 57% were subscribers. Workers’ Compensation premiums have been declining since 2004. This has brought many employers back into the system. I believe that price and not the threat of lawsuits is the driving force in determining whether or not the employer buys workers’ compensation insurance. I believe that any survey conducted today would see more employers dropping out of workers’ compensation. The general state of the economy would be the reason. In trying to be more competitive, employers are looking for ways to drop costs and workers’ compensation is going to be one of the first costs to go.
An interesting fact found in these surveys of Texas Employers is that nonsubscribers are more satisfied with their programs than subscribers. One of the main reasons for this is the ability of the employer to manage medical and wage replacement costs more effectively than the workers’ compensation system.
It must be noted that nonsubscription rates vary by industry. The Mining/Utilities /Construction industry has the lowest rate of nonsubscription. This is due to the fact that workers’ compensation is required by contract. All government contracts and most general contractor contracts require workers’ compensation insurance. The food services industry (restaurants) continues to have the highest nonsubscription rate at over 50%
::
Share or discuss
::
2009-09-12 ::
admin
Wednesday 12 August 2009
-
Filed under
Insurance
Are you among the 400,000 people living in Nevada without health insurance? If so, you already know that health insurance is a necessity. Now you need to know where to find low-cost Nevada health insurance.
Who Lacks Insurance in Nevada?
Lack of health insurance is not limited to low income families or the unemployed. More than half of uninsured Nevada residents are middle-class working families.
There are several reasons for Nevada’s high uninsured rate:
* About 95% of Nevada businesses have fewer than 50 employees. These small businesses are less likely to offer employer-sponsored health insurance benefits. If they do offer an insurance plan, the premiums are often too high and the employees do not participate.
* Nevada has many part-time and seasonal workers who do not participate in employer health care plans.
Options for Finding Low-Cost Nevada Health Insurance
The Nevada state government does offer some programs to help residents obtain insurance:
* The Nevada Check Up program is a children’s health insurance program that provides low-cost, comprehensive health care coverage to low-income, uninsured children.
* The Nevada Check Up Plus program provides a subsidy to working parents employed by small businesses so they can afford to participate in their employer-sponsored health insurance.
If you are not eligible for state aid, your next step is to look for low-cost individual health insurance. The best way to find low-cost health insurance is to go to an insurance comparison website and fill out a form with information about yourself and your insurance needs. You will then receive quotes from multiple A-rated health insurance companies. You can then compare the quotes and choose the one with the lowest cost.
The best insurance comparison websites even let you talk with insurance professionals so you can ask questions and make sure you find the best health insurance plan for you. (See link below).
::
Share or discuss
::
2009-08-12 ::
admin
Saturday 11 July 2009
-
Filed under
Insurance
A recently released study by the Kaiser Family Foundation examining trends in employer healthcare benefits recorded a 5% increase in healthcare premiums for 2008. Premiums for employer-provided plans now average $4,704 for a single-person and $12,680 for a family. These figures have increased by a staggering 119% since 1999. Yet, employers have not shouldered the entire burden of these rising costs. They have instead shifted costs off to their employees to the tune of a 117% increase in cost since 1999. Workers now pay, on average, $1,543 for single coverage and $3,354 for family coverage. Equally ominous is the fact that a broad survey of employers found that 40% of respondents expect to increase employee-contributions to all aspects of healthcare coverage in the coming year.
An even more frightening picture is painted when the numbers are examined more closely. The average payment made by a worker for a family plan has increased from $129 in 1999 to $280 in 2008. The squeeze on budgets also has a regional flavor with workers in the South paying a monthly charge of $313 for a family plan while workers in the Northeast are charged in average $246 (although a monthly charge for a single-plan of $75 for Northeast workers is the highest in the country). Employment sector and union status is another factor in the percentage a worker will be forced to pay with wholesale, retail and finance sector workers being asked to pay nearly 20% of single and nearly 30% of family premiums while federal/state/local government workers, who are generally represented by trade unions, pay only 12% for single and 21% for family.
Costs inside of plans have also increased sharply. Take for instance the charges by HMOs for visits to a physician’s office. In 1999, 83% of plans charged a $10 co-pay or less. In 2008, nearly 70% of plans charge $15 or more. Things are even murkier when prescription drugs are considered. Tiering, or creating levels of cost for pharmaceuticals, was introduce en-masse in 2000. A scale of three tiers was employed initially. The first-tier cost of drugs has increased from $8 on average in 2000 to $10 in 2008. However, a fourth tier was introduced widely in 2004 priced at $59. This cost is now $75 and the third tier has increased from $29 in 2000 to $46 in 2008.
The end result of this squeeze is, not surprisingly, enormous profits for health insurance companies and serious pressure on the household budgets of workers. Health insurance giants Humana (18%), United Health (5%) and Aetna (8%) have all reported profit increases for the period from 2006 to 2008. CEOs for companies were well-rewarded with compensation packages which amounted to $10 million, $9 million and $23 million. Simultaneously, a 2005 study indicated that 50% of personal bankruptcy claims, more than 2 million, were based on debts incurred as a result of medical procedures. A correlation has also been made between healthcare and problems with housing including inability to pay rent or mortgage payments.
In sum, we see that healthcare is a serious class issue. The for-profit health system represents a serious financial drain on working-class households and is interlinked with, the now much publicized, problems in the home-loan mortgage markets. The creation of a single-payer national healthcare insurance is therefore the very definition of the term “bailout.” The only difference, and this is a key difference in a society in which corporations monopolize political power, is that instead of the government purchasing worthless mortgage-backed securities, the entire society would be relieved of the financial stress of healthcare bills and psychological anxiety of a future where healthcare is not a guarantee.
::
Share or discuss
::
2009-07-11 ::
admin
Monday 1 June 2009
-
Filed under
Insurance
Health insurance leads, just like just about any other insurance lead generation, is a great business for a lot of reasons. You can fire your boss and become your own worker. All of the sudden you can be the family member you have always wanted to be, go on that dream vacation you have looked at from afar for so long, and work whenever you feel like it. However, this luxury is not blind to all others except yourself.
Health insurance leads is a great business because the demand is astounding, however it is also very competitive. Here are some few tips to help you get through the game as a victor instead of a failed and frustrated regret.
The lure is real and that is what makes it so amazing. Life insurance leads come in all shapes and sizes though, so it is vital that you do some hefty research if you want to be different than all of the average Joes. You need to do the untypical if you are going to find untypical leads. That is just how it goes, and you will get out whatever you put into it in all actuality. Put in the hard work up front so that you do not have to keep putting it in down the road for a low paycheck. The benefit to this method is more than I could ever emphasis.
If you get quality life insurance leads right off the back you will be putting in less effort throughout your entire career and getting more revenue then you would previously have doing the harder method. Yeah, you heard me. Get more money for less work, but you have to know what you are doing. Quality is the key, and the Internet has many options for you as far as advertising, finding clients, and linking up with sites that will do the meticulous work for you.
::
Share or discuss
::
2009-06-01 ::
admin
Saturday 30 May 2009
-
Filed under
Health And Fitness
Health insurance is a hot button topic in the United States these days, with vehement opposition and contentious debate. While the status of the reform efforts are still uncertain, and the prospect of universal health care is a thin one, there are ways to get health insurance even if you’re part of the growing number of self employed or freelance workers. And you definitely need health insurance: the single biggest cause of personal bankruptcy is health care related and the of people without coverage are the single biggest piece of the bankruptcy pie.
Most people get their insurance through their jobs, where the large pools of customers give a bargaining advantage to customers that insurance companies can’t ignore. This is a good bet for the insurance company as well, since they can spread the risks of payouts across a large number of clients in order to ensure they break even. If you’re a freelance worker or self-employed you don’t have those advantages, which can really increase the cost of any plan you qualify for. There are some rays of hope however, starting with the introduction of the COBRA plan in 1986.
COBRA stands for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, a bill passed through congress to provide some support and relief for independent workers looking for health insurance. COBRA was an act that provided health insurance to unemployed or retired workers that also applies to self employed workers. COBRA is a government health insurance plan that provided some limited coverage, but isn’t particularly well considered, with high premiums and generally ineffective administration. In lieu of a real general health insurance policy produced by the government, it won’t meet all your needs, so you’re more likely to have to look into private options for real health insurance.
There are some HMO (Health Maintenance Organizations) that offer local plans for self employed workers at reduced costs. HMOs limit the doctors and procedures they cover to reduce their costs but some insurance is better than none. Being regional, they’re difficult to speak of in a general sense, but you can look into them at your local chamber of commerce.
There’s also NASE, the National Association for the Self Employed, which has several special plans for freelancers. These policies are provided through the MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company, and while they’re national they aren’t the most comprehensive of plans. A related option is the Freelancer’s Union, a quasi-union designed to offer protections to freelance and self employed workers though group leveraging. These options depend on the state you’re in and they offer health as well as other types of insurance.
If you are of the Christian faith, there is also a unique health insurance alternative called Medi-Share. Technically it is not insurance, but provides much of the same coverage at a small cost to the customer.
Some states, like New York and Connecticut, have state health insurance plans open to freelancers. While they tend to offer effective and cheap care, they’re naturally limited to the state they’re offered in and this can complicate injuries or illnesses that occur when traveling or if you’re not in one of the participating states. Because many of these options are state-dependent, you should check out your state’s insurance offices to find out what applies to you and what the coverage types are.
Finally there’s the premium option of just buying an individual health care plan. These vary from state to state as well, and without anyone else behind you they’re often more expensive than other options. Some insurance companies have special plans for the self employed so you should check with the companies in you area to find the right option for you.
::
Share or discuss
::
2009-05-30 ::
admin
Tuesday 14 April 2009
-
Filed under
Insurance
Many Americans choose to work part-time jobs for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you’ve just enrolled in college and have chosen to attend college full-time and work part-time in order to graduate sooner. Maybe you’ve chosen to work part-time in order to devote more time to your home business. Maybe you’ve decided to work part-time in order to spend more time with your children. Perhaps you’ve opted to work a few part-time jobs instead of one full-time job because you like the diversity or you just can’t find a full-time job for which you’re qualified or enjoy.
See? There are so many reasons American choose to work part-time jobs.
Despite the perks part-time jobs offer, there are some downfalls, too. One of the major downfalls of working a part-time job is many part-time jobs don’t offer health insurance. This is usually because employers don’t feel their part-time employees invest enough time in the company to compensate for the cost of health insurance. While this makes sense, it does little to console the part-time employee.
Americans who work part-time jobs that don’t offer health insurance basically have three ways to get health insurance: their spouses can add them to their health insurance policies, they can buy into a group health insurance policy, or they can purchase an individual health insurance policy.
It’s true that individual health insurance policies are often more expensive than being added to a spouse’s policy or buying into a group policy, they are also sometimes the only choice part-time employees have. After all, not everyone is married, and not everyone belongs to an organization that offers health insurance policies.
If this is your situation, you can lower your individual health insurance costs by minimizing coverage, raising deductibles, and paying annually rather than monthly. Shop around for an individual health insurance policy that offers the lowest rates that can be paid annually for only the coverage you need.
::
Share or discuss
::
2009-04-14 ::
admin
Monday 9 March 2009
-
Filed under
Insurance
If you’re a woman living in Oklahoma, you’ll be happy to know that your health insurance company is legally required to pay for a mammogram if you are over a specific age. Cancer is a concern of many individuals and therefore finding an affordable health insurance plan in Oklahoma is important regardless of your gender.
Generally healthy individuals often turn to catastrophic health insurance plans as a means to save money. These plans can be ideal for certain individuals including those who don’t visit a doctor very often. The premise of a catastrophic health insurance plan is simple. You have to pay out of pocket for everyday expenses such as prescriptions and x-rays, but if you do face a health crisis like cancer or hospitalization, you’ll be covered. The premiums for coverage like this are generally very low, but expect high deductibles.
You can also find a more affordable rate if you choose a health insurance policy that doesn’t cover certain illnesses. If you don’t have a family history of any of the illnesses that aren’t included, you may feel comfortable taking out a policy like this. For individuals who are still relatively young and in great health, this is a good way to save money.
Before you decide on any company be certain that you’ve contacted a few to get quotes. You may be surprised at how much prices can actually vary and since insurance is such a competitive market, this actually works in your favor. Never agree to any health insurance policy without first having a clear picture of what your coverage entails as well as what the claims process involves. Some insurance companies can take weeks to pay out on claims while others require that many expenses be first pre-approved or coverage will be voided. Ask many questions before you make any final decisions so you can be certain you are choosing the best policy for you and your family.
::
Share or discuss
::
2009-03-09 ::
admin