Health Insurance » Group Health Insurance

Best Tips on Group Health Insurance

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:15:08 +0000

Perhaps many of you are wondering what a group health insurance policy really means. Well, the answer is not complicated at all! It is just an insurance coverage made by an employer or other authority that is meant to cover all individuals in a particular group!

A group health insurance gives an employer the advantage of not paying the whole premium for the insurance policy in order to cover his employees. In the past, an employer was expected to pay for all the benefits of the employees, but fortunately, now the times have changed and an employer only has to contribute just a part of the health insurance premium of the employees.

The general attitude of the insurance companies is to offer lower rates for a group health insurance than on an individual one. This is the main reason why people who are self employed to be aiming for a small business health insurance too. These persons cannot be blamed, even if they incorporate to give the insurance company the impression of a larger corporation, as they are only trying to get a good deal on their small business health insurance rates. The result is that each and every person struggles to get on an insurance plan, as a small business health insurance is very cheap when compared to individual health insurance.

It is a commonly known fact that group health insurance plans are very much appreciated by all the employees. This is the main reason why most employees value it very much too. A group health insurance policy or a small business health insurance has contributed to the success of many organizations. They have thus enabled them to continuously employ new people and, at the same time, keep the best people in their business!

No matter what group health insurance plans, service suppliers or a health maintenance plans that a company may offer, there are so many places where you can get informed about these things. You must carefully analyze the group health insurance quotes that a number of insurance companies offer, before deciding if there is something to suit your expectations.

In order to make the best decision regarding a group health insurance, a employer must study all the websites and brochures of the health insurance companies that the employer has selected and intends to engage. After comparing their service plans, costs and methods of payment, you must also keep an eye on the starting and ending dates of the insurance policies. The interesting, but disturbing thing is that some health insurance companies only cover you from your third payment, therefore you must be very well informed before making such an important decision.

Last, but not least, there is one more thing you’ll have to consider before choosing a group health insurance plan or a small business health insurance: should there be any services or illnesses that are excluded from the policy, it is best to know it from the start. This is the main reason why it is for the best interest of any employee to keep away from any group health insurance policy that only covers a small number of diseases.

By: David Rumsey

Health Insurance For Diabetics

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:48:02 +0000

While health insurance is important to everyone, it is especially important to someone with diabetes. Diabetes is a disease that must be carefully controlled. Plus, even with tight controls, there may be complications as time goes on.

Unfortunately, with the exception of only 5 states, health insurance is medically underwritten. This means that you must answer certain medical history questions and qualify for the health insurance plan. Diabetes, in most instances, will make you ineligible for a private health insurance plan.

There are still alternative plans and methods for a diabetic to secure health insurance. This article will give you an overview of how to obtain a health insurance plan with diabetes.

Group Health Insurance

If you work for an employer who offers group health insurance your problem is over. Group health insurance is guaranteed issue and you cannot be declined for any pre-existing condition. Furthermore, even if you never had health insurance before or let it lapse, pre-existing conditions will be covered in full after 12 months. If you have had continuous coverage, there is no waiting period.

But, what if you want a full major medical plan and do not have group health insurance available to you?

If you work in certain industries, you can purchase a guaranteed issue major medical plan with no medical questions.

Major Medical

Currently, those industries eligible for major medical include:

- Real Estate – agents, brokers, mortgage brokers, appraisers, clerical and administrative staff. Anyone in the real estate or mortgage industry can qualify.

- Construction – This is a fairly broad category. It encompasses anyone in any aspect of the construction industry.

- Information Technology (05/08) – another broad category that includes programmers, network engineers and technicians, web developers and designers, repair technicians. Again, anyone in the information technology industry or administrative personnel working for an information technology company.

Limited Benefit Health Insurance

A limited benefit plan is also guaranteed issue and available to any diabetic under the age of 65.

Limited benefit plans, sometimes referred to as “mini medical”, vary widely in terms of the benefits they offer.

We suggest that whenever possible the plan include the following:

Pay at least $1,000 a day for hospitalization (more would be better).
Have a surgical schedule that is not limited by any caps.
Pay for a limited number of office visits and diagnostic tests.
Be HIPAA-qualified (this means that it is credible coverage or real health insurance and not a discount plan with some extra benefits thrown on top). Use a national PPO network.

Critical Illness Coverage

Anyone between the ages of 18 and 64 can obtain a guaranteed issue critical illness plan.

This plan will pay you a lump sum of $25,000 upon diagnosis of certain life threatening illness. They include cancer, heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, etc.

In addition, this plan will pay $500 for each 24 hour stay in a hospital. It is an ideal plan to add to a limited benefit plan to increase the coverage or just use as a standalone plan. For an individual, the cost is $88 a month.

Where Can I Get More Information?

We recommend that you talk with an insurance agent who specializes in guaranteed issue plans. The best site we know of is www.guaranteed-health-insurance.com. You can reach them at 800-986-4786 9 AM to 9 PM EST.

A Word of Caution

Quite often, individuals who are having difficulty obtaining health insurance are taken advantage of. They are sold worthless discount plans or overpriced coverage that offers very little protection. Please use common sense when shopping for a plan and read everything carefully.

By: Martin Unger

Health Insurance – Understanding The Benefits Of COBRA

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:24:21 +0000

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, more commonly referred to as COBRA, is a federal law which is designed to ensure that an individual can continue to receive health insurance coverage for a period of up to 18 months following the termination of his employment. Most, but not all, companies that offer group health insurance schemes to their employees are subject to COBRA. In some circumstances coverage under COBRA can be extended from 18 months up to a maximum of 36 months.

COBRA protects individuals from losing their health insurance benefits when they lose their employment and is a temporary measure that is designed to help people through this potentially difficult time This said, not every employee who loses his employment will qualify for COBRA but employers should be conversant with the law and be able to advise their employees accordingly.

The law permits a terminated employee to purchase health insurance for himself and his family (provided the family were covered during employment) at the group coverage rate even though the employee is technically no longer a part of the group. The cost however can be high as the employee will now need to pay 100% of the cost each month, together with a surcharge of 2%.

Although most often thought of in terms of termination, COBRA can also come into effect in the event of a change of employment status such as reduced hours, or divorce from an employee of eligible status. Cover will normally continue for the time specified in the act or a shorter period if the employee takes out individual health insurance or is covered by another group health insurance plan.

Because COBRA extends a terminated employees health insurance for a period of 18 months, terminated employees do not need to worry about a change in their health insurance benefits. Coverage under COBRA insurance remains exactly the same as that provided during employment and the only change is in the responsibility for the payment of monthly premiums. It should be noted however that it is possible for the benefits under COBRA to change if an employer changes the health insurance plan being offered to current employees during the period of cover.

The important thing to remember about COBRA is that it is designed to be a temporary measure and, while that guarantees health insurance coverage for a period of up to 18 months, once this period expires you will find yourself without health insurance unless you make alternative arrangements or are covered by a group scheme from a new employer.

One of the dangers of COBRA insurance lies in the very fact that it is temporary. If, for example, you should fall ill while covered by COBRA you may find it difficult, or indeed impossible, to get future health insurance if this illness is subsequently classed as pre-existing and is ‘uninsurable’, as might be the case if you were to develop cancer.

By: Donald Saunders

How to Get Affordable Health Insurance in Maryland

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:03:38 +0000

The cost of health insurance is going up faster than the cost of almost anything else in this country. Over the past few years the cost of health insurance has surpassed the cost of inflation by several percentage points.

It has gotten so bad that right now almost 17% of all Maryland residents are without health insurance coverage of any kind, and with more and more businesses phasing out health insurance or requiring a larger contribution from their employees, the number of uninsured people in Maryland is likely to grow before it shrinks.

If you can get health insurance through your employer you will almost certainly save over trying to buy health insurance individually on your own. But if you are self employed or if your employer does not offer group health insurance then you may need to be a little creative in finding ways to lower the cost of your monthly health insurance premium.

Look at plans that have a higher co-pay for things like doctor’s visits. The co-pay is the amount that you pay from your own pocket each time you visit a doctor; the more you can pay for each visit (and so the less your insurance company needs to pay) the lower your monthly premiums will be.

Many people may have to take even more drastic steps in their quest to get affordable health insurance in Maryland. Many people may have to completely rethink their entire concept about health care coverage.

In the past health insurance has been looked on as something that pays (or helps to pay) for all of your health care needs – each doctor’s visit, each clinic visit, each hospital or ER visit, in short, you expected your health insurance to pay for most, if not all, of virtually all of your health care costs.

Today many people are finding that kind of health care beyond their means – yet they know that one accident or one catastrophic illness can easily wipe out a lifetime of savings and even take their home, all in the blink of an eye.

The answer for many is to buy health insurance that has an extremely high deductible. As high as $2,000 or even $3,000. You buy such a policy with the expectation that you will pay for all of your routine health care needs – you will pay 100% of every doctor’s office visit, every clinic visit and every ER visit.

The purpose of a high-deductible health insurance policy is to act as a safety net in case you should suffer a catastrophic illness or need long-term hospitalization due to accident or illness. In such cases your high-deductible insurance would insure that your savings and your assets were left intact.

Once you’ve decided on the basic type of policy that you and your family need, your final step is to get online and find several of the sites that permit you to make quick and easy side-by-side comparisons of health insurance policies and their prices from different insurance companies. Even though it means taking extra time, you are much better off filling out all of the forms on at least 3 different websites – it is only in this way that you can be assured that you will actually be comparing all of the health insurance companies offering policies in Maryland.

Thanks to the internet everyone can now make simple comparisons and know that they have gotten the most affordable health care possible in Maryland.

By: Larry Nez

Cutting Health Insurance Costs: Strategies for Today’s Families

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:16:33 +0000

As the cost of health care increases, so does the strain on household budgets. A majority of today’s families are barely getting by, and an increasing number of households are living with no health insurance at all. In fact, more than 46 million Americans now live uninsured—and that number increases by the year.

Health insurance is designed to protect you and your family from expense in case of accidents or illness. Doctor bills; hospitalization; medical tests and treatments; rehabilitation, and maternity/pediatric care…all fall within these bounds.

So what’s a family to do if it needs health insurance protection but doesn’t have much to spend?

Getting Cheap Health Insurance

The less likely you are to need health care, the less you’ll pay for your health insurance coverage. Therefore, finding ways to reduce your claims risk increases your chances of getting the cheap health insurance rates you deserve.

If your family needs cheap health insurance and you’re not sure how to get it, use these money-saving strategies to reduce your health insurance premiums:

Take care of your bodies. Get regular exercise; eat a healthy, well-balanced diet, and see your doctor for routine check-ups and health care advice. Don’t drink or smoke.

If you do what’s necessary to maintain your health, you’ll reduce your health care costs in the long run—reducing, in turn, your health insurance costs.

Set your deductibles high. What is a deductible? It’s simply the amount you have to pay on your medical bills before your health insurance kicks in and pays the rest.

According to experts, it’s not uncommon for families to save up to 25 percent on health insurance premiums with a high deductible plan. The more responsibility you take for the cost of your medical care, the less responsibility your health insurance company has to carry—and the lower your health insurance rates will be.

Find a group policy. Group health insurance is always less expensive. This is because the financial risk to the health insurance company is spread amongst the entire group, instead of resting solely on you.

Look for group health insurance through your employer, or through community or professional organizations to which you belong.

Buy early.The younger you are when you purchase health insurance, the lower your premiums will be. This is because your risk of health-related issues increases as you get older.

Buying health insurance early on means your family saves on monthly premiums, as well as over the life of the policy.

Coordinate your coverages. If you and your spouse both work and have health insurance available, compare plans—and choose the best parts of each. Sharing expenses between more than one insurance plan makes things cheaper for both health insurance companies—and for you.

Your family’s health insurance premiums don’t have to eat into the household budget—or your bank account. Use these strategies to get cheap health insurance protection, and you’ll be prepared for whatever comes your way.

By: Penny Hagerman

Small Business Group Health Insurance

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:21:36 +0000

Much controversy exists over health insurance. Debate as to how a health insurance company can maintain its solvency against the cost of maintaining its clients’ health has given rise to conflict. The right to stay fit and healthy is one basic human right that cannot be altered in any way. The argument as to how health insurance companies take care of their own interests continues to remain hanging.

Owning a small business will likely open doors for only a small group of employees. Keeping the best and trusted employees happy requires more than paying them enough money for food and shelter. As an employer, you need to endow your employees with the necessary benefits to compensate for all their efforts so that they can enjoy the rights they have as laborers.

If you are, however, the type of employer who has never considered offering insurance, then, the concept of small group health insurance may be far beyond your imagination. Starting off with a relatively small business limits your capacity to handle financial burdens. Moreover, sponsoring a small group health insurance plan can be very expensive, especially if there are only a few employees under your care.

A small staff covered by small business group health insurance plan is likely to be charged a higher cost by the health care provider. So what can you do as the employer to help ease this situation? For humanitarian considerations, it will be very generous of you to provide your employees with appropriate health benefits. Sponsoring a small business group health insurance can be done in an affordable manner if you know the ins and outs of doing do.

Providing a brilliant healthcare package is likely to add to the appeal of the company and help the company to gain more talented applicants while keeping the experienced ones happy. Take time to browse the net for reasonable premiums of small business group health insurance plans. Remember, you can always save money while compensating your staff. It is just a matter of crossing bridges and making things happen.

By: Max Bellamy

Arizona Group Health Insurance

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:12:07 +0000

If you are starting out a business in Arizona and intend to employ people, it makes sense to thoroughly study the laws governing Arizona group insurance. You need to understand state and federal laws as well as individual regulations of health insurance companies in order to provide the best care you can for your employees while also protecting yourself as the employer.

There are some basic elements of Arizona group insurance. If you have a small business in Arizona (if you employ only two to fifty employees during one calendar year), you are not required to provide group health insurance to your employees. But sometimes you need to do this as an added incentive to your hard workers and potential recruits. If you decide to offer group insurance, you should keep two considerations in mind: health insurance eligibility requirements and premium payments.

You should understand health insurance eligibility requirements. As the employer, you are in charge of establishing the eligibility of your employees for health insurance. Most insurance companies offer you guaranteed issue deals that let you and your employees skip medical underwriting.

However, you still have the power to decide who among your employees are eligible for group insurance and who are not. Do you only give group health insurance to full-time employees, or do you include part-time workers? What constitutes full-time and part-time work? How long should an employee have been working for you before he or she qualifies for group insurance? Do you also cover his or her dependents; and if so, to what degree?

You should also consider the premium payments. In Arizona, you will typically be required to shoulder at least 50% of your employees’ portions of the premiums – this is the average percentage that insurance companies impose as an employer’s minimum contribution towards his or her employees’ health insurance payments. You may opt to cover all of your employees’ premiums; if you do so, you will not be required to contribute anything to their dependents’ plans.

By: Eric Morris

Florida Group Health Insurance

admin — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:10:22 +0000

Florida group health insurance can be an affordable and cost effective way to recruit, reward, and retain employees or it can be a profit margin compressing behemoth that will suffocate your company’s growth. Florida group health insurance is a very competitive market. The competitiveness of the Florida group health insurance market can be leveraged to the Florida small business owner’s favor by an astute Florida group health insurance specialist.

The Florida group health insurance specialist can save a small business owner in the state of Florida a sizable sum of health care expenses each year by offering group health insurance services on an ongoing basis. It should not be underestimated the value that a group health insurance specialist can bring to the table by conducting an annual pre-renewal check up on a group health insurance policy. This is just one of many Florida group health insurance practices that should comprise a comprehensive Small Business Value Proposition by a Florida group health insurance specialist.

The Florida Group Health Insurance Specialist should be an independent insurance agent (meaning that he/she can shop among different health insurance companies and find the best group health insurance policy for your company). This is contrasted with an insurance agent that is captive and can only represent one insurance company (if your yearly renewal rolls around and you are not satisfied; guess what? That is the end of the options available to the captive insurance agent).

To speak with a licensed independent Florida Group Health Insurance specialist simply request free Florida group health insurance quotes.

By: Joel Ohman

Florida Self Employed Health Insurance

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:45:58 +0000

Florida residents that are self employed and looking for health insurance have a number of options available to them. Be aware that depending upon your health, your age, and other factors unique to your particular situation there is no hard and fast rule as to which option is best for you. However, there are some general guidelines that will help you make the best Florida self employed health insurance decision.

The first Florida health insurance option available to the self employed is to simply apply for an individual health insurance policy. The benefit to applying for an individual health insurance policy is that individual health insurance rates in Florida are very competitive.

The downside to attempting to purchase an individual health insurance policy in the state of Florida is that you must be healthy. According to FL law, a health insurance company can decline your application for an individual health insurance policy based on prior medical history (pre-existing conditions), height and weight restrictions, and other health related criteria.

That means if you have cancer, diabetes, weight problems, or a host of other physical ailments then you will be denied coverage with a Florida individual health insurance policy. (Any unscrupulous agent that tries to tell you other wise is misrepresenting whatever product he or she is trying to sell you as health insurance when in fact it is probably a discount health plan or a health insurance indemnity plan with very limited coverage).

The second Florida health insurance option available to the self employed is to apply for a Florida group health insurance plan. In Florida, any group of 2 employer/employees or more is considered eligible for a Florida small group health insurance. (If it is just you: 1 self employed person functioning as a sole proprietor in the state of Florida then you have a different option open to you – see option 3 below). The benefit to applying for a Florida small group health insurance policy is that that certain health issues that can signal an automatic decline on the individual health insurance side will not signal an automatic decline on the group health insurance side.

The downside to attempting to purchase a group health insurance policy in the state of Florida is that it can be very expensive. Think of it in terms of: the more potentially unhealthy people that the insurance company has to give health insurance to (group health insurance) the higher the premiums will be as opposed to where the insurance company can pick and choose who they will accept for health insurance (individual health insurance).

The third Florida health insurance option available to the self employed is for those that are functioning as a sole proprietor. Florida self employed sole proprietors can apply for a Florida guaranteed issue small group health plan. The Florida guaranteed issue small group health plans has an open enrollment period only during the month of August.

Florida self employed health insurance can be a somewhat tricky area to navigate without the help of a licensed independent Florida health insurance agent. There are also many different ways to save money in taxes – one of which being the ability to deduct your health insurance premiums paid on Schedule C of your tax return against and up to your Schedule C income (Meaning that even if you don’t itemize [Schedule A] you can still deduct your health insurance premiums paid all the way up to your Schedule C income!).

By: Joel Ohman