Category: Health

Forming A Private Purchasing Cooperative For Health Insurance In Texas

Pat Carpenter asked:

As stated by the Texas Department of Insurance, the Texas Legislature enacted three bills that allow small business employers to form cooperatives for the purchase of employer health benefit plans in Dallas, Houston and throughout Texas. All three types of cooperatives are private purchasing cooperatives under state law. Texas Insurance Code Chapter 1501, Subchapter B provides for the formation of Purchasing Cooperatives. Two of the three have special characteristics; for clarity, we will refer to the broader category as “private purchasing cooperatives.”

Who may form a cooperative?

Two or more small employers may form a small employer health coalition. Any person – other than a health carrier – may form a health group cooperative. A health carrier may assist a sponsoring entity in forming a cooperative. A health group cooperative must have at least ten participating employers.

How do I start a cooperative?

All three types of purchasing cooperatives must be formed as a nonprofit corporation. For more information on how to form a nonprofit corporation, you should consult the Texas Secretary of State, specifically the Filing Guide for Business Organizations and Non-Profit Associations.

Texas Insurance Code Chapter 1501, Subchapter B provides for the formation of Purchasing Cooperatives. Small business employers interested in assistance with forming or joining a small employer health coalition should also consider contacting their insurance agent or one of the existing small employer health coalitions. Once the cooperative has received a certificate of incorporation or certificate of authority from the Secretary of State, the cooperative must file that document and the cooperative’s organizational document with the Texas Department of Insurance. The address for filing these documents is: Filings Intake Division, Mail Code 106-1E, Texas Department of Insurance, P. O. Box 149104, Austin, Texas 78714-9104.

What Type of Cooperative Should I Form?

This decision will be based on the goals for the cooperative and the employers interested in joining. You should consult the description of the types of cooperatives available and review the statutes and regulations associated with each. Things you should consider when forming a cooperative include the potential for growth in the cooperative, the complexities associated with potential growth, interest from a carrier and a sponsoring entity in the cooperative, and carrier requirements, such as participation levels.

How Do I Join a Cooperative?

All of the cooperatives registered and listed with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). Contacting a cooperative in your area is the first step you should take in joining a cooperative. For certain cooperatives, there may be an annual open enrollment period, which will limit your opportunities to a certain period each year. Small employers interested in joining a cooperative should also remember that, as individual employers, they are guaranteed issuance of coverage from an insurance company or HMO that offers coverage to small employers. Similarly, a small business employer must be allowed to join a health group cooperative and purchase coverage during the next annual open enrollment period.

What Type of Cooperative Should I Join?

Various factors will influence your decision about the type of cooperative to join, including whether your company is a small or large employer, the rates offered by the cooperatives in your area, a cooperative’s administrative or membership fees, and whether a particular cooperative is accepting new members or currently enrolling new members in an open enrollment period. You should review the different types of cooperatives to determine whether a particular type offers advantages for the employer. There is also a revolutionary individual health insurance plan you can offer your employees.

Health Group Cooperative – Sub (p)

SB 805, enacted by the 79th Texas Legislature (2005), created a new type of health group cooperatives with special rights and requirements.

– Any person, other than a health carrier, may form a sub (p) health group cooperative.

– Once a sub (p) health group cooperative is formed, it must have at least ten small employer members to be eligible to purchase coverage from a health carrier that is participating in the health group cooperative market.

– A sub (p) health group cooperative is not required to allow a small employer to join the cooperative if the cooperative has elected to restrict membership in the cooperative in accordance with legal requirements, and after the small employer has joined the cooperative, the total number of eligible employees employed on business days during the preceding calendar year by all small employers participating in the cooperative would exceed 50.

– A health group cooperative must make the election to restrict membership at the time the cooperative is initially formed.

– Employers that join a sub (p) health group cooperative must commit to purchasing coverage through the cooperative for two years, but may cease purchasing coverage upon demonstrating financial hardship.

– A sub (p) health group cooperative is considered to be a single small employer for the purposes of issuance of coverage and rating. Accordingly, a health group cooperative may purchase coverage from any small employer health carrier that is not already providing coverage to a health group cooperative in that county.

– Health carriers providing coverage to a sub (p) health group cooperative may offer a health benefit plan, specifically allowed by SB 10, which does not include state mandated benefits. This freedom from state mandates is specific to SB 10, but it is similar to that which authorizes consumer choice health benefit plans.

If you have a number of temporary, part-time or seasonal employees working for you, cooperatives have a number of limitations and may not be the best health insurance option for your small business. Group health insurance can be unaffordable for many small businesses, not to mention an administrative headache. Another alternative to group health insurance plans is to offer individual health insurance options to your employees. By law, an employer is not allowed to contribute to these plans, or that would be treated as group insurance under Texas state law. But you can still help your employees become insured in a good plan and improve their health and well-being and also improve employee retention in the process.

If you’re a small business owner who would like to offer affordable health insurance plans to your employees, but can’t afford group health insurance, you should consider offering your employees the revolutionary, comprehensive individual health insurance solutions created by Precedent specifically for young, healthy individuals.

Precedent offers affordable, individual health plans with catastrophic coverage, but without a high deductible, and we’ll offer these plans to your employees at a discount. For more information, visit us at our website. We offer a unique and innovative suite of individual health insurance solutions, including highly competitive HSA-qualified plans, and an unparalleled “real time” application and acceptance experience.

What Types of Florida Health Insurance are Best?

Kirsten M. Portrie asked:

Packaged Long Term Care Policies

A majority of Long Term Care Insurance policies are sold as comprehensive and stand alone health plans. These plans have options of annual, semi-annual, quarterly or even monthly premiums. There are also other types of payments like an abbreviated payment plan. The comprehensive Long Term Care Insurance plan is similar to the group health plan or individual health plan. This type of plan covers most of the health care alternatives. There are four primary methods to package Long Term Care Insurance.

1. The Long Term Care Insurance may be packaged with life insurance with either or feature which is very beneficial and flexible. In case of policy holder dies, their beneficiary will get the death benefit. While in case of policy holder wants Long term care, prior to his/her death than instead of life insurance predetermined benefits are paid. You can buy this type of policy by either paying the one time premium of $ 50,000 or more or with quarterly, yearly premiums.

2. The Long Term Care Insurance is packaged as rider to life insurance policy’s cash value. This type of policy covers two different types and the premiums are also divided to pay for both.

3. The Long Term Care Insurance may be packaged with disability income policy. It can be used before the age of 65years. This type of packaged policy is mainly for disability income but there are possibilities of long term coverage if premiums are paid after the age of 65.

4. The Long Term Care Insurance may be packaged with deferred annuity that has single premium option. This type of packaged policy is for those people who has around $ 50.000 or more money that is free and don’t mind if it is tied up. There is pending legislation which if passed will make Long Term Care Insurance premiums exempted form tax.

What is Long term care?

The Long term care may be defined as when some one can not perform their emotional or physical needs without the help of other for extended time period than it is termed as Long term care. The external help required for activities like pain management, bathing, comfort and assurance, walking, toilet usage, meals providing, feeding, money management, phone answering, visiting doctor, shopping, taking medication, transport providing, laundry, grooming, paying bill, letter writings, small home repairs, yard maintaining, snow removing etc. are covered under Long term care. Able people take this type of activities for granted.

There are many reasons that are responsible for Long term care like disability, terminal condition, injury, illness, old age etc. It is found out that around 60 percentage of population require extended help during their life span. For some, the Long term care lasts for few days or weeks or months. But there are some persons for whom the Long term care goes for years. Depending upon the person’s condition they require different periods of care. The care may be divided in to two broad categories.

Ongoing Long term care: This type of care requirement is for extended period, may be for months or years. Ongoing Long term care is required when

1. Disabilities of permanent nature

2. Medical conditions which are chronic

3. Daily routine require help

4. Chronic pain

Temporary Long term care: This type of care requirement is for short period, may be only weeks or months. Temporary Long term care is required when

1. Recovering from illness

2. Recovering from surgery

3. Recovering from injury

4. Terminal medical condition

5. Hospital stay for rehabilitation

The Long term care services may be given in an adult day servicing home, in the house of the patient, even in the house of patient’s friends or any of the family member’s house, in a board and care house or in a nursing home or many other such places.

Understanding Long Term Care Insurance benefits

Out of all insurance products the Long term care insurance is the most complicated health benefit product. The Long term care insurance provides around 16 options of different benefits. Out of this 16 options each option also offer 2 to 5 selections. The story does not end here, daily benefits gives other selections which may be rounded up to 30 in number. So theoretically there are hundreds or thousands of different policies possible in the same plan. With the results there is thousands of premiums combination. For lay man to grasp all this different combination of policy is very difficult.

So to make this thing simple, best way is to limit the choices. For example many employer will pre select only 2 to 4 different combination of benefit, and offer their employees only this with extra riders like inflation protection, shortened pay or non forfeiture. This procedure will leave thousands of options in to only 10 to 20. Many see advantages of this procedure but there are also some disadvantages.

Selecting from very limited options prevents many employees from selecting other batter and richer benefit plans. Some time it is also observed that limited number of benefits which is often proved to be inadequate. The obvious danger of offering limited benefit policy is employees may be under the false impression that they are covered for particular thing when actually they are not covered. For example to increase the employees’ participation rate they are offered incomplete protections which reduce the rate of premiums and superficially look very attractive. Some time initial payment may be lower but it increases as time passes.

It is always better to select a Long term care insurance plan that offers the option of additional benefits. These additional options are mostly medically under written, but the coverage is very broad. Contrary to belief that underwriting has very strict rules and it is very difficult to be eligible, around 95 % of employees are qualifies for medically underwritten Long term care insurance plan.

Health Savings Accounts (HSA)

The Health Savings Accounts (HSA) is some what new in to the market of health insurance. Health Savings Accounts is based on entirely new concept and provide people with great option for health care insurance.

You should consider buying Health Savings Accounts insurance when you are seriously thinking health insurance as a form of investment. There are some restriction and regulations regarding Health Savings Accounts insurance plan. Different person find different benefits that is useful for them, for example if you are self employed than Health Savings Accounts insurance plan offer you the benefit like exemption from tax, up to the limit of $ 2,700 for individual plan and up to $ 5,450 for family plan.

For childless couple who does not own any health insurance, Health Savings Accounts insurance is good health plan, since purchasing Health Savings Accounts insurance and paying premiums regularly the amount of premiums will be accumulated in to tax free money. This money will be like lottery when after substantial time policy holder becomes old and their children becomes young. Large sum of money they will receive when they are old is really blessings.

Apart from many benefits, Health Savings Accounts insurance is not as famous as required. There are certain disadvantages which make Health Savings Accounts insurance good for certain types of people. Many people will benefit from Health Savings Accounts insurance but they don’t know about it. Slowly the situation is improving and people stated inquiring about Health Savings Accounts insurance. People become more aware about the savings on their expanses which is medical related. There are many people who opt for high deductible health plan combine with Health Savings Accounts. Now it is generally known that Health Savings Accounts insurance allow people to keep aside before-tax money, which can be utilize for future medical expenditure. This means that if people has Health Savings Accounts insurance and remains healthy than they may accumulate hundreds or thousands of dollar in their Health Savings Accounts at the time of retirement.

Florida Health Insurance Health plans can help you!

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Individual And Group Health Insurance

Kevin Kielty asked:

Switching from group to individual health insurance is a change many people are currently facing. There can be some big differences between the two types of insurance and their cost. Becoming familiar with some of those basic differences will help you to know what to expect.

Group health insurance

Group health insurance is purchased by your employer from a health insurance company. Everyone who is eligible can receive coverage under the plan. Group health insurance is less costly than individual health insurance, because you have the buying power of the group. The insurance company bases the premium upon a calculation of how much insurance the group as a whole will use. However, if you are buying individual health insurance, the calculation of your premium is not based on a group, it’s based on you alone. That is why individual health insurance can be so expensive.

Individual health insurance

Individual health insurance is health insurance that you purchase from an insurance company on your own, and not through an employer. You can choose coverage for either yourself or your self and your family, individual policies often provide less coverage than group policies do. Under an individual plan, some services such as substance abuse treatment may not be covered.

Another important difference between group and individual health insurance is that with group insurance, the law requires the insurance company to cover everyone who works for that employer. With individual health insurance, companies are not required to issue you a policy. This can be very alarming for people who have pre-existing conditions. If you have recently lost your job, it can be surprising to find out that even though you have been covered under a group plan, there is no assurance that you will be able to obtain individual health insurance coverage.

In some states, health insurance companies are allowed to issue policies to people with pre-existing conditions, but they are issued with an exclusionary rider. That means that any services for the pre-existing condition are not covered. Each state has its own laws overseeing how individual health insurance is administered. Therefore, plans can very a great deal from state to state. Plans can also vary from one insurance company to another. Be sure to check around and compare quotes and plans from several different companies before making a decision.

COBRA as an option

One of the first options presented to people who have lost their health insurance coverage is COBRA. COBRA stands for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act and it allows you to continue on your employer’s health insurance plan for up to 18 months after losing your job. However, there are several situations in which employees would not be eligible for COBRA coverage such as, if the company employed less than 20 people and went out of business, or if it dropped its group health insurance or went into bankruptcy.

One of the drawbacks of COBRA is the expense. Under COBRA you have to pay the entire amount of your health insurance coverage. Whereas when you were employed, your employer paid a portion of your benefits. One recent development that will be beneficial to COBRA recipients is that after March 1, 2009 recipients will only have to pay 35% of the cost of the monthly premium and the federal government will pay the remainder for up to nine months.

If you have recently lost your group health insurance, switching to individual health insurance will cause the cost of your health insurance to increase. Understanding the different types of insurance and how they work, will help you to prepare. If you have pre-existing conditions and are concerned about finding individual health insurance coverage, investigate COBRA and find out if it is an option. Also, check with several different health insurance companies and compare the costs before you make a decision.

Health – Your Most Valuable Asset

John Mac asked:

Your health is undoubtedly your most valuable asset. So with that in mind how do you protect your health ?

Yes you probably have health insurance to look after your health if you become ill and car insurance to take car of you should your health suffer as a result of a car accident. But isn’t that paying someone else to look after your health after things go wrong ? A bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted ? What are you doing, or, what should you be doing to look after your health right now ?

Do you get regular health check ups ? Do you exercise & eat all the right foods that are beneficial to your health ? Do you use health care products such as health supplements ? Do you smoke, drink or take drugs ? Are you aware of how these habits affect your health ?

I’m willing to bet that you make darn sure you look after your children’s health, making sure that they are not doing anything that is going to cause long term damage to their health ? But who is watching your health ? Who’s making sure you are not doing anything to damage your health ?

Health is probably something we all take for granted & only realise how important our health is when we are ill or someone close to us is suffering from ill health. However if we all do nothing in regard to our health now, waiting until we begin to suffer from ill health & then trying to do something about it may be too late as we may have already done irreparable damage to our health. If you could do something now to prevent one of your assets diminishing, such as your bank balance, your home or your car would you ? Yes of course you would, so what about your most valuable asset, your health ?

Well it’s about time that someone took control of your health, and that someone is you ! Take control of your health now and make sure that valuable asset, your health, is well and truly looked after. Here are some suggestions that might help you to look after your health:

1. Get regular health check ups. If you have a good health insurance these are probably insisted upon. After all we all give our cars regular “health” checks, isn’t our health more important than the health of our vehicles?

2. Make sure you eat a healthy diet. Even if you don’t need to loose weight the right diet can help to improve your health.

3. Take regular exercise. 30 minutes a day at least 5 days a week, even if it’s just a couple of 15 minute strolls, that’s not to great a chore to protect a valuable asset – your health.

4. If you smoke, stop now ! This is probably the best thing you can and ever will do for the sake of your health.

5. Cut down on your alcohol intake. Stick to the recommended guidelines for sensible drinking – for your health’s sake.

Health Insurance Benefit Laws

Barclay Win asked:

Once you’re done comparing health insurance quotes and plans and you’ve settled on employer-based health insurance, it’s good to keep in mind the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) administers a number of laws that cover these health insurance plans.

Here is a list of some of the laws affecting health insurance :

1) The Employee Retirement Income Security Act – This law protects people in retirement, health and other benefit plans through private employers by providing rights to information and a grievance and appeals process for private employer health insurance participants.

2) The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act – This law only applies to special instances, but if you qualify as a former employee, retiree, spouse or dependent child you can purchase a temporary continuation of health insurance at group rates.

3) The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act – This law applies to working Americans and families with preexisting medical conditions. Through this act there is a guarantee of individual health insurance policies for eligible people and it prohibits discrimination in health care coverage.

4) The Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act – Just as it sounds, this law offers rules on minimum health insurance coverage on how long the mother and child can stay in the hospital after childbirth.

5) Mental Health Parity Act – This law ensures mental health is given as much emphasis as physical health by requiring annual, or lifetime, limits on mental health benefits to be no lower than limits for medical and surgical benefits provided by a group health insurance plan.

6) Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act – ****** cancer is a frightening diagnosis and treatment runs a wide range of intensity and invasiveness. This law protects ****** cancer patients who want to have a ****** reconstruction after a mastectomy.

When you are part of an employer – based health insurance plan the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration is a great source of information on subjects such as your rights to information on how your plan works, how to quality benefits available in your plan and how to make claims on your health insurance plan.

Remember EBSA administers these laws that help protect your health insurance when you lose coverage, change jobs or if you suffer from certain special medical conditions. Also remember when choosing employer-based plans to carefully compare your health insurance options to make sure your plan works best for you and your family’s medical needs.

Find out more about EBSA on the web at -www.dol.gov/ebsa.

Important Components of Cobra Health Insurance

Jennifer Hrycyk asked:

In today’s economy, there is very little job security. Unfortunately, one of the secondary effects of losing your job is that you lose your health coverage as well. Thankfully there are programs in place that can extend your health coverage for up to 18 months following a termination, career change, or even retirement.

COBRA insurance was enacted into a law to protect you from losing your healthcare in scenarios such as getting fired or laid off. Officially known as the Consolidation Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, it is designed to provide medical insurance coverage for employees and their families even after they’ve severed ties with their employer. People must also understand that COBRA is a law, not an insurance package.

Before COBRA medical insurance was enacted to cover medical needs of terminated employees, the group health plans of terminated workers and those who changed employers were immediately cancelled. With the advent of COBRA insurance, employees who have been fired or laid off will receive 18 months of medical coverage of the same health insurance policies their employers gave them.

However, the benefits of COBRA medical insurance are available only as a group plan and not as individual health coverage. You need to be a part of a health plan group of 20 or more employees for you to be eligible to apply for COBRA medical insurance policies.

The Price of COBRA Health Insurance

The price of a COBRA policy is also significantly higher than the total price of the medical insurance policy bought by your employer. The total cost of a COBRA insurance package is the total amount of your group healthcare plan plus 2% administrative fees. COBRA is more expensive than other group plans, but also provides peace of mind knowing that your family or individual health coverage plan is extended to cover you or your family in case of emergencies or severe health issues.

What makes COBRA unique from other forms of medical and health insurance plans is that COBRA will continue to cover any pre-existing medical conditions that were approved and covered by your original health plan. If you happen to be afflicted with a medical condition, COBRA will cover these conditions. Other health insurance providers may not cover pre-existing conditions, potentially leaving major conditions to go untreated.

Why COBRA is a Wise Choice

There are many reasons why applying for COBRA is a wise decision. Apart from the fact that you are medically insured and covered for a period of 18 months after leaving your job, you can maintain all the benefits you once received from the same health plan insurer you had before you left your job. As mentioned before, COBRA covers any pre-existing or recent medical problems, which may not be the case with other health insurance companies.

If you lose your job and rely heavily on your health insurance plan for sharing the cost of expensive medications, applying for a COBRA policy is an excellent choice. COBRA covers the cost of prescription drugs, as well as other services such as maternity benefits and accident insurance.

Since many individuals cannot afford the COBRA option offered by their employers, there are COBRA alternatives that are designed for people who are in good health and with no pre-existing medical condition and do not need to take expensive medication. These alternatives come in the form of individual and family health plans.

While COBRA provides an opportunity for individuals to retain health care insurance, individual health coverage plans are much more reasonable as it pertains to cost.

The best thing you can do is to research your health insurance coverage options before you decide on the best health plan. It is important to make a wise decision since this health plan may be with you for a while!

Why To Buy Short Term Health Insurance

Richart Rick asked:

Insurance is a matter of choice but with so many insurance corporations providing the best insurance plans, it is difficult to find out which insurance corporation is the best. To understand the technicalities of insurance, one needs to have a fair idea of the types of insurance plans available in the market. One such type of insurance is Short Term Health Insurance. In this article, we shall learn its need and coverage limitations.

Understanding Short Term Health Insurance:

As the name suggests, a short term health insurance, also known as temporary health insurance, is a health insurance policy that provides insurance for a short period of time. The time period may be as short as a month and can also go up to 6 – 12 months. As far as working is concerned, short term health insurance works in a similar way as a long term health insurance. The only difference between the two is the coverage each policy provides. If you buy one short term health policy, you shall receive a health insurance card that will possess limits and deductible on the services of the policy.

The Need of Short Term Health Insurance

Short term health insurance proves to be very suitable to a section of the society such as students, temporary workers, etc. These people find a short term plan more economical and suitable since their stay in foreign land is not long. Buying a long term insurance policy can be very expensive considering the duration of their stay. These policies are also suitable for people who sport good health and do not wish to spend more on long term insurance policies. The short term insurance policy in essence provides one with an insurance against accidents and illnesses for a limited period of time, say not more than a year.

Coverage Limitations of Short Term Health Insurance

The difference between a short term and a long term health insurance plan is the coverage since a short term health plan does not cover pre-existing conditions and preventative care. A pre existing condition is a medical problem that one suffers from prior to getting into the insurance. The short term health insurance polices are specifically designed to provide protection against major health problems.

Another point to be taken care of is that if one opts for a short term health insurance policy, one becomes ineligible to the guaranteed health insurance coverage that one is provided with irrespective of the status of one’s health. Also visitors to USA need to have visitors health insurance done mandatory.

Despite its limitations, temporary health insurance is a boon for people who cannot afford to buy long term health insurance plans. Since major illnesses are covered under a short term health insurance plans, students and workers prefer buying it rather than any other long term plan.

7 Things You Should Know About Health Savings Account Plans

Steve Long asked:

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are wildly popular.  Since their introduction in 2004, approximately 2.5 million Americans have enrolled in these so-called consumer-driven health plans.  But, alas, HSA plans are not for everyone.

Here are some pointers to help you consider whether an HSA will benefit you and your family.

1. An HSA plan can cut healthcare costs by an average of 40% for many people.

Nevertheless, some people will not realize any net savings. Those most likely to realize significant savings are people who pay all of their own health insurance premiums, such as the self-employed, who are relatively healthy with few medical expenses.

2. health savings plan restores freedom of choice.

An HSA plan puts individual consumers back in control of their own health care. This also means that each individual must be more responsible for his or her own health care decisions. This approach of self-reliance is not always popular with or appropriate for everyone, especially those who have become comfortable with HMO-type “co-pay” plans.

3. Health savings accounts reduce income taxes.

Every dollar contributed into your HSA account is deducted from your taxable income in the same manner as contributions into a traditional IRA account–regardless of whether you spend it or just save it.  Interest and investment earnings in a HSA accumulate tax-deferred, just like a traditional IRA. Unlike an IRA, withdrawals are tax-FREE when used to pay qualifying medical expenses.  In many situations, new account holders are able to almost fully fund their HSA with money saved on premiums from a prior, higher priced plan.  By stashing all or most of those savings into an HSA, the account holder realizes instant, additional savings in the form of reduced taxes.

4. You must have a properly qualified high health insurance policy in place first before

you can open a health savings account. One of the biggest misconceptions about HSA plans is that any insurance policy with a high deductible will qualify the policyholder to establish an HSA account. IRS regulations, however, are quite specific.  Not just any policy with a so-called “high deductible” will suffice.  It is important to be certain that you are insured under a properly qualified policy.  Your best bet is to work with a qualified and duly licensed health insurance broker who is experienced in marketing properly qualified HSA plans.

5. You must be insurable in order to qualify for the HSA-qualified health insurance policy.

Because most people do not have a properly qualified high deductible insurance policy, they will need to switch insurance plans in order to become HSA-eligible. Unless coverage is being offered under small group reform laws (generally groups with 2-49 employees), the new high deductible policy will be individually underwritten by an insurance company.  This means that some “pre-existing” conditions may not be fully covered.  Alternatively, some companies may opt to cover certain “pre-existing” conditions in exchange for slightly higher premiums. Unfortunately, some health conditions simply render an individual uninsurable (examples: diabetes, chron’s disease, heart attack, etc.).  Underwriting requirements vary by state, which is another reason to rely on an experienced health plan broker.

You should not switch to a HSA plan when the management of existing medical expenses is more important than saving up-front medical insurance premiums. Do not change health plans: in the middle of ongoing medical treatments; after a major health issue has been diagnosed; or if any family member is pregnant.

Generally, it is relatively hassle-free to qualify, i.e. no medical exams, etc. Most insurance companies offering HSA coverage will issue based on your application answers, perhaps accompanied by a follow-up telephone interview. In some cases, medical records may be requested, and companies always reserve the right to order a paramed exam.

6. Although HSA insurance premiums are low, they are not always as low as you might expect.

This happens for one main reason. Simply stated, the underlying insurance policy is just that? health insurance policy.  Although it has a “high” deductible, as required by law, the insurance company still must compensate for the risk it is assuming over the deductible amount, which it does by charging premiums.  Many companies offer policies with deductible?that all family members contribute toward.  With those plans, it is not uncommon for premiums for a 5000 family deductible with 100% coverage after the deductible to be comparable to a 2500 “per person” deductible plan with 80/20 coverage after the deductible.

Lower premiums represent just one element of the lower net cost achieved with an HSA plan.  The low net cost of an HSA plan is achieved after factoring in the benefits of lower taxes, made possible by the tax-deductible contribution to the HSA account. Thus, if obtaining the lowest possible gross premium is your main concern, you may wish to consider a high deductible, non-HSA policy, especially if you do not see the benefit to contributing to a tax-deductible savings account.

7. An HSA offers your best chance to keep a lid on health insurance rate increases.

Make no mistake-you will have rate increases with your HSA insurance policy. Because an HSA qualified policy is still a health insurance policy at heart, there is no logical reason to presuppose that an HSA policy would be immune to rate increases required by an insurer to keep paying claims and stay in business. But what you can expect is that the actual dollar amount of any future rate increases will be substantially lower compared to traditional health insurance plans (regular PPO and HMO plans).  This is true because insurers base increases on percentages, and the same percentage of a lower base premium results in a lower dollar increase. It’s not a perfect solution-but it is the most cost-efficient solution for many qualified people.

Free Health Insurance Leads Generation

Darewin Ocampo asked:

Being a health insurance agent is not a simple job. One may expend the entire day conversing with prospects, but the ultimate result might be wearisome, more than ever if your consumer discards you. Even if you manage to clarify the significance of your insurance policies and superior to any other agent working to enlist that prospect as a client, it may not be enough to, at the end of the day, make a sale. That prospect might simply not want to engage in any health insurance policies, he may appear to be listening but in reality is not really interested. Thus, you may be wasting your time trying to sell a health insurance policy to someone who doesn’t even bother. You are simply beating around the bush or shall we say barking up at the wrong tree.

One must be able to ascertain the people looking for or are open to health insurance policies. Health insurance leads are the means of avoiding wasting time, money and effort on trying to sell to people who don’t have any intention to buy. Health insurance leads can be bought from the Internet as there are thousands that can be found with just a few clicks. But beware, internet health insurance leads lack exclusivity as they are being sold over and over which means you will be having a great deal of competition in closing deals with the leads. A better and less risky, but more expensive alternative to Internet health insurance leads are telemarketed health insurance leads. But what if you can afford to make those regular purchases of telemarketed health insurance leads? Are you left with no other choice but to turn to Internet health insurance leads or just go on and try generating leads of your own? Well, there is a great option one may consider, that is having free health insurance leads.

Free health insurance leads lead generation equates to having a stable flow of prospects that you can benefit of absolutely free. Regularly, telemarketed health insurance leads are sold on an exclusive basis and are conveyed real-time to clients almost immediately after the online purchase has been made. If you are a health insurance agent, you can ask for referrals from the leads you already purchased. The referral scheme will now become your free health insurance leads lead generation system and the referrals your free health insurance leads. Those that will be referred are likely to be open to searching the Internet for health insurance providers, and as a policy provider, it is of outmost importance that you make sure they get that health insurance policy from your company.

Never forget that every health insurance lead you have possession of means more opportunities of making a health insurance sale. You can generate free health insurance leads from the health insurance leads that are already in your list if you possess that ability to mingle with people and forge that bond with them and gain their trust. Most people would prefer health insurance providers referred by ones they know rather than those they just find in posters or the Internet. But, it is essential that you establish contact with your free leads as soon as possible, be it by phone or email. Do not hesitate to converse with them several times in order to achieve that desired result of having s sale.

CallComLeads will be happy to provide you with more details on how to establish your own free health insurance leads lead generation referral system and can also provide you with high quality telemarketed health insurance leads to be your stepping stones into getting free insurance leads.

CallComLeads also offers high quality loss mitigation leads.

Importance of health insurance California

CharlesPeter asked:

Blue Cross Insurance of California is arguably the most leading insurance company in California where insurance plans are affordable and also easily obtainable. They do not believe in work for-profit policy. You can choose suitable health insurance plan from a pool of health insurance plans provided by them. It is common knowledge that insurance is a shield whereby you save yourself from financial ruin in case of health problems.

Blue Cross Insurance of California also provides a large network of highly qualified doctors with all necessary medical facilities. Apart from basic services such as hospitalization, surgeries, and outpatient treatment for sicknesses, Blue Cross Insurance of California are also covering preventive care, care for chronic conditions, vision and dental care, prescription drug coverage etc. Blue Cross Insurance of California provides you the best possible group insurance plans.

There were originally two separate companies Blue Cross and Blue Shield and they merged many years ago to form the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. There are still states where Blue Cross and Blue Shield are considered separate entities rather than a merged company. Blue Cross and Blue Shield health care providers have one company in almost each state. This way, you can get the best of both worlds by taking advantage of affordable health insurance plan premiums, while getting the best overall health care that you deserve.

Currently, this organization has over 30 independent health insurance companies operating on different parts of the country. Blue Cross of California, owned by Wellpoint, is determined about creating low cost products to help the uninsured. Now they are even taking somewhat controversial steps in allowing immigrants without documentation other than that issued by Mexican consulates to avail their plans.

The Blue Cross believes that people after years of hard work and paying appropriate taxes, deserve nothing but the best medical care that they can get. For a few years now, retirees, government and private employees, unemployed individuals, housewives, as well as US citizens working abroad have been receiving some form of benefit from a Blue Cross or Blue Shield health care provider.

The Blue Cross offers affordable monthly health insurance premiums and provides you with a choice between short and long-term health coverage, depending on your individual needs. Blue Cross offers discounts on medical procedures, consultations and general health care and has plans for medical supplies in case of an injury or a short period of stay in the hospital.

The Blue Cross of California Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Plans cover more of the costs of your health care than any other plan type. HMO Plans provide coverage only for services received from doctors and hospitals within the HMO Network. You can choose a specific health care group and physician within the network to coordinate all of your health care needs. As a Blue Cross member, you will also enjoy special member services, including Health Extension SM program, which provides the members information about discounts offered by independent vendors on health products and services and round the clock confidential access to registered nurses to help members manage chronic diseases including diabetes, asthma and congestive heart problems.