Posts Tagged ‘Buying Health Insurance’

Buying Health Insurance FAQ

February 8th, 2010



I am often asked a lot of this question: Can one claim more than one health insurance policies? The answer is “maybe”. The claim of any health insurance is set at the maximum amount of expense that you were to pay for any one incidence.

Let me reveal a saddening fact, in my 7 years practicing insurance experience. You ready for this?

The saddest thing I’ve witnessed is patients suffering from health issues without the pain-soothing benefits of a health insurance scheme. Whilst, many healthy people do not believe they might become the victims of health issues or accidents. They take the risks of not doing any precautions, including buying any health insurance. I have also noticed there is another mistake commonly committed by professionals, “smart” people who just left their corporate espionage and started their business. When they left their corporate 9-to-5, and started on their own, they seldom realize the risks involved as being a self-employed person.

What they were not aware of is that, when they got away from the corporate battlefield, they were also deprived of their other compensation infringement. Their career opportunities filled their minds; they neglect non-business risks; personal risk or non-career related risks. These smart working professionals are suddenly thrown in the cold, exposed to, risks that they were not even aware of.

On the other hand, employees who have all sorts of company benefits should double check whether they need to further insure. From my own experience, large corporate insurance benefits are usually enough to cover normal medical expenses. Buying another health insurance scheme, at times, are a waste of resource or money. Of course the medical benefits do vary from companies to companies. One should always get quotes from different insurance agencies in order to ensure he or she gets the best deal out of any health insurance plan. In general, you should at least compare three quotes before committing yourself to something which you may stick for a long time.

By: Roy Chan

Health Insurance Quotes Online

February 1st, 2010



A visit to a doctor can prove to be an eye-opener, especially when you are presented with a high check-up and treatment bill. Once you understand why buying health insurance is important, you need to get quotes from different health insurance companies to make an informed and intelligent decision. The best place to get these quotes is the Internet, because the various websites list a broad spectrum of all the health insurance options that you can choose from.

Most websites will readily provide you quotes about the various health insurance policies. You can understand the quotes only if you have enough awareness about health insurance and related issues. It is better to study as much as possible about health insurance by going through health insurance websites. In fact, most good companies help their customers make an informed decision by educating them on the various aspects of the health insurance coverage.

When you ask for quotes from a particular company, you must seek clarifications on some issues. These issues may include, for example, how long you will have to wait to get an appointment with the medical consultant. Or, would you be covered to make claims for as many consultations, and as many laboratory and pathological tests as may be necessary to diagnose your medical condition.

Again, study the quotes to get a clear picture of the type of tests and investigations that an insurance company covers. A health insurance policy can cover, for example, MRIs, CT scans, X-rays of various affected organs of the body, biopsies, endoscopies, various blood tests and other pathological or laboratory tests.

While studying these quotes, you should remember to check out on the number of claims that can be made in one year. Also, you need to know how long you would have to wait before presenting your claim.

By: Jennifer Bailey

Where Can I Buy Health Insurance?

January 13th, 2010



Where to buy health insurance, is a common question confronted by many people. Currently, numerous options are available for buying health policies. Most insurance companies sell health policies through their agents. People can buy health plans offered by reputable insurance companies, by approaching any local insurance agent.

Another good option is to visit the insurance company in person. First, get equipped with complete information and address of a particular health insurance company located in the state. Some health coverage companies offer policies covering entire health, whereas some cover critical illnesses also. Critical illness coverage can include heart disease, kidney, or heart transplantation coverage.

While conducting research, refer to yellow pages, internet, relatives, magazines, and friends. People can also consult insurance departments of their state for more information. Nowadays, all medical coverage companies operate online. The advantage of buying health insurance online is the absence of an agitated sales agent.

Individuals can easily locate companies online. Simply use the search engines and locate reputed companies. Then, check their details and health plans offered by them. People can request online quotes from these companies and select the appropriate policy that suits their requirement.

Things to Consider:

Now that people have the knowledge of where to buy health insurance, they need to consider few things while purchasing a health plan. Individuals first need to estimate how much money they can afford to pay for premiums each month. After determining this, individuals have to select their physicians.

Ask the doctors about how long they need to wait when showing up for the appointment. Some physicians see their patients the next day after giving an appointment.

Consider health plans of various companies. Study their premiums rates. Check if expenses such as prescriptions costs and doctor fees are borne by companies or not.

People usually come across health plans such as HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) and PPO (Preferred Provider Organization). These two plans are affordable and provide high quality services. The premiums of HMO health plans cost less. Even the co-payments are considerably low when an individual visits a physician or hospital.

PPO insurance plans are expensive. The deduction varies anything between 500 dollars to 2000 dollars. The monthly premiums of PPOs are also higher. However, with this plan, individuals can select their own doctors. Either plan can be good depending on your situation.
People who are already under medications have to make sure that the medical coverage plans they are choosing covers their present medication costs. If not then, choose some different policy or plan.

Conclusion:

Check the coverage offered by health insurance plan. If a plan fails to cover a minimum of 1 million dollars worth of coverage, then avoid that plan. People who buy health plans in groups or for families have to pay cheaper relative premiums. People employed with many large companies can get policies in conjunction with their current employer. This means the company pays a part of premium each month.

The aforementioned information covers both where to buy health insurance and tips to buying it. Just follow the tips mentioned above and choose the proper health coverage plan. Among the best places to start are the sites listed below.

By: Ian E. Wright