What’s the deal with those discount health insurance cards?

Martha

Great question.

Discount medical health insurance cards claim to be a great alternative for people who don’t have the money to be able to afford insurance. For that very reason, they may be a little attractive at first, especially to any of the millions of uninsured who have no other option. It would be a great idea to offer low cost health insurance to those who fall through the gap between government aid and medical self sufficiency. However, upon closer look, this discount medical health insurance cards aren’t all that they’re cracked up to be.

The business of discount health cards is growing fast, and many health insurance companies are now offering them as an affordable alternative to full on health insurance plans. What they do is give the card holder discounts on things like doctor appointments, hospital visits, and prescriptions. In some cases, they may be the only option for someone who can’t afford health insurance, and thus it won’t matter that that person is still footing the whole medical bill, just with a slight discount. However, for those who feel the need to avail themselves of this option, an eye should be kept out for the many cards that are fraudulent.

Many sellers of these fraudulent discount cards make it look like the cards are actual health insurance, when they aren’t. They are not regulated, and there’s no way to protect yourself as a consumer if you get one of these cards. Even the more normally legitimate businesses that offer the cards tend to make it look like the savings and discounts that you get from them are much more than they actually are. If you fall for this, you could end up paying more for a card every month than it’s saving you money.

Even if the discounts they promise are technically on the card, a lot of times there will be a bunch of under the table fees that will take those away, so that in the end the only thing that this card you have will be is a piece of useless plastic. It can have the effect of making some people who can barely afford their health insurance plan exchange it for a card, convinced by the companies that it is an actual health insurance plan, only to find themselves paying all of their medical bills.

There are many of these companies out there who are trying to steal your money without actually giving you anything in return. One company has already charged unwilling customers for cards that they never wanted, fraudulently using their credit card numbers.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Do you have any tips on how to get the best kind of health insurance for myself? Thanks!

Cecily

Albany New York

Health insurance is very important especially in times like these where almost anyone cannot afford the huge costs of getting sick or injuries from an accident. This makes getting the right kind of health plan very crucial. Here are some great tips to help you out:

Employers Health Coverage May Not be enough

In uncertain times even the health policy from your employer may not be enough to cover your needs. At least have a secondary health policy for you and your family. You don’t want to lose vital health coverage if the company you work for suddenly packs-up or if you are made redundant.

Get a Health Savings Account (HSA)

If you have a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) meaning the policy deductible minimums are $1,150 (self) and $2,300 (self & family) then it’s highly recommended that you get an HSA. This is an excellent option if you don’t use their health coverage so much. HSA’s are tax-deferred so you can pile up savings on it to use for real emergencies in the future.

Independent Rating Agencies

Part of getting the best health insurance policy is going with a reliable and quality health insurer. This is when independent rating agencies such as Moody’s, J.D. Powers, S&P, and A.M. Best become your best resources to find a great provider. They accurately rate many different companies per industry on categories such as billing & payments, customer service, pricing, and claims handling. Most information is for free and can be easily obtained from their websites.

Obtain Online Health Insurance Quotes

The Internet can also help you get affordable health insurance rates. By using a health insurance comparison website (like this one) to obtain a free rate quote, you can compare many different health insurers simultaneously. This saves you a lot of time and effort and maximizes your chances of finding the best and most affordable health provider for you.

I am about to get my health insurance in New York. I am just curious, what are the factors that affect a person’s health insurance rate? I just wanna make sure that I do some research so I’ll be ready once I purchased my health insurance.

George

NYC/p>

When shopping for health insurance, your will be asked to fill out a questionnaire. This questionnaire, will give an idea to the health insurance companies on how risky you are to be insured. Following are some of the main factors that health insurance companies take into consideration in setting health insurance premiums:

1. Health History. If you have maintained a good health history, which means you were not in and out of the hospital or no heart attack for the past 10 years, then you don’t have to worry. You won’t expect a high health insurance rate since you pose lower risk to be insured;

2. Weight. If your weight is beyond normal or you have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than 39, you will find it difficult to get a health insurance company willing to insure you. So, I would suggest burn those fats first.

3. Smoker. If you do smoke, then quit. We all know smoking causes cancer. But if you can’t quit, then expect a higher health insurance rate for you;

4. Age. If you are older, the higher your health insurance premium would be. The reason is simple, as you aged, the chance of filing health claims is higher as compared to when you are younger; and

5. Job. If you work as a pilot, fireman, or any other hazardous jobs that puts your life at risk, then you would be expecting a higher health insurance rate.

Comment: I think this is a super question to inquire about your teen driver. At 17 years of age this teenage driver can not legally enter a contract since they are not considered an adult. I would assume that most teenage drivers would be considered “safe” drivers they are still not old enough to sign the insurance contract.

I would also assume that most insurance companies would require a parent and or a legal gaurdian to sign the contract and to be financially responsible for the vehicle and the driver’s actions.

I would start off your investigation by making a few phone calls the local insurance carriers in your area and get their opinion on this question.

I really do not see why you could not get decent coverage for your teen driver, but a better question might be are you going to be able to afford this type of coverage?

You might also want to contact the Dallas car insurance bureau or DMV to ask them if there are any restrictions for obtaining Dallas auto insurance in your area or specific situation.

I think this is a super question to inquire about your teen driver. At 17 years of age this teenage beginner driver, can’t legally enter a binding contract since they are not considered an adult. I would also guess that most teenage drivers would be considered “good” drivers they are still not old enough to sign on the dotted line of the contract.

I would also assume that most vehicle insurance agencies would also require a parent and or a legal gaurdian to sign the contract and to be financially responsible.

You might want to start off your investigation by making a few phone calls the local insurance carriers in your immediate area and get their opinion on this question.

But I really do not see why you couldn’t get coverage for your teen driver. A better question to ask my be are you going to be able to afford this type of coverage?

You might also want to contact the Atlanta GA car insurance bureau or DMV to ask them if there are any restrictions for obtaining car insurance in Georgia.

I already have health insurance coverage, but my university, Columbia, automatically enrolls you in their insurance program when you register full time. How do I get out of that?

Alexis

Great question.

It can be a little annoying that your university doesn’t give you the option of enrolling or not enrolling in its Columbia health insurance program, but you have to understand that it is mostly in order to protect the interests of its own finances and those of its students. It also offers you health insurance at cheaper rates than you might receive it elsewhere. However, while it is compulsory to be insured while you are attending Columbia full time, it is not compulsory to be insured by Columbia.

If you have your own health insurance coverage, then you can get a waiver to get out of being automatically enrolled in that of your school. It’s not very hard to do. The main thing that you need is documents proving that you have other health insurance coverage. This shouldn’t be easy to get, since all you wil need is your insurance card, which you should already have on your person at all times.

The catch is that while you have to provide proof of insurance, it has to meet six criteria. To find out what these are, go to the Columbia University website. Luckily, once you have waived your coverage, you don’t have to hassle too much with it. Once you waive it for the first semester of the school year, it is automatically waived for the next one. You will, however, need to get it waived all over again for the new school year if you continue attending Columbia.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama

I live in Cincinnati and my health insurance claim was recently denied. I think it was wrongly denied. What do I do?

Maddie

Great question.

I’m sorry that you’re having to go through this, Maddie. I know I worry about paying bills often that I know I have enough money to pay, so I can imagine what it is like when you get a necessary service that you should be covered for and then find out that the payment is all on you. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. If you feel that your health insurance company has wronged you by denying a claim of yours, then you can file a complaint with the Ohio health insurance department so that they can research your complaint to find out who was in the right.

Before you file a complaint you should be very sure that you were wronged, because it doesn’t make the ODI very happy to be looking into false claims. In order to be sure that you are in the position to have the right to file a complaint, you have to meet every single one of the following criteria.

• You got a treatment or medical service that you assumed was covered by your health insurance plan, but your provider has informed you that they aren’t paying because it wasn’t medically necessary.
• You have waited two months since receiving a letter stating that you will not be covered for this service.
• You have already gone through the internal review process with your health care provider and are still denied.
• The treatment or service that you were not covered for would have you pay more than five hundred dollars.

If you meet that criteria, go ahead and file a complaint through the Ohio Department of Insurance website or through one of their physical offices.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

For those millions more Ohioans who are not included in that seven million number, Ohio also has several quick and comprehensive public assistance health insurance programs to make sure that they can keep covered. On one hand, it works side by side with such national programs as Medicare and Medicaid to provide assistance to its residents, or for those unable to qualify for those programs, it provides extra assistance from the state alone, always going the extra mile.

The health insurance companies in Ohio don’t stay locked up in their offices, either. In fact, many of the top companies, such as Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield have created programs that involve connecting with the community and helping to provide health insurance for those who both can’t get it through the state or federal programs but also are unable to afford it. Thirty million dollars will be spent for such programs over the next three years by private companies.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama

Medical Mutual is one of these such companies which provides health insurance coverage in the state of Ohio, and when you are looking at free health insurance quotes online, you should give special attention to Medical Mutual, who often offers some of the most cheap, flexible, and comprehensive options. They are there for both people needing individual/family and group health insurance plans and have constant customer service ready to help you if you have a problem.

The plans offered through Medical Mutual can be changed up well enough to fit great in many different situations, whether it be providing health care for a family of two or for a company of ten thousand workers. The plans are based on a chosen network of doctors and hospitals with referral to see medical professionals outside of the system. Where Medical Mutual excels, though, is in its ability to create a network of physicians and health professionals that are both expert, comfortable, and caring.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama

One of the benefits of this program is that it will help educated residents of this Ohio towns about certain important things such as preventive medicine and healthy living habits. Many people only go to the doctor when they are sick or injured, and for this reason many medical conditions which could have been stopped or had their effect lessened are instead coming out more and more later in life. Most people don’t want to take time off of work to go to the doctor when they don’t need to, but as the Solon program emphasizes, need is very subjective.

It is a single educational event that will be held on April 21st of the coming year, and Medical Mutual hopes that everybody in the town of Solon will come and see what is to be said. Not only will it provide education, but it will provide advice on such necessary topics as healthy living and preventive actions.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama