One important thing that you have to look into are the credentials of your travel agent. Find out if the company that you’re going with is certified. Ask if they have a certified travel counselor working there. A CTC is someone who has studied to be in the business for an extended period of time. It’s the same reason why you would want a certified nurse to hook you up to an IV.

Don’t forget the background check. One of the most important things is making sure that your institution is financially stable. Check with credit agencies for its history. Also, look into consumer complaints. Find out how it really handles people who come into trouble while they are outside of the country. Call the Better Business Bureau and see how they would rate your travel health insurance company.

Your agent may make a lot of promises, but remember that nothing is true unless you get it in writing. They can make as many promises as they want, but you won’t be covered for them. Either have them put it into your written plan, or don’t take the promise into mind when making a decision. You should be positive that things such as total cost are in there, as well as additions or changes made in the last minute.

Finally, pay for your insurance and your trip with a credit card. Having proper records of all your transactions can help you avoid being the victim of insurance fraud, or being the victim of fraud while you are away.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Lots of companies are playing tricks by giving out fake policies to various customers. You think you have great coverage and that your policy is real until you need to use it, when you find out it’s fake and that it doesn’t actually work in your state. There are also health insurance companies who don’t have enough money to provide for you if you make a claim, and have a history of screwing people over before. To find out about your health insurance company, call your state’s office of insurance regulation.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

It’s old news that medical health insurance for many people really does sucks, as they talk about in this video I found on YouTube. It’s kind of funny, kind of weird (especially the constant shot of that guy wearing a mask, not sure why that’s there), but it’s also revealing of the way many Americans feel about their medical health insurance coverage. Many people who work for large companies get great deals on group health insurance, and people who have enough money can buy plenty of good health insurance for themselves.

One of the big issues about medical health insurance, other than why so many people either don’t have it or don’t have enough of it, is about elective health care. This doesn’t always have to do with health care necessarily, and often involves elective procedures such as botox, lasik surgery, and breast augmentation. It’s up for debate about whether other people covered by a health insurance company should be made to suffer higher payments because of someone doing something that isn’t necessary for their health. However, as you can see in the video where they talk about breast reduction, sometimes it’s hard to draw the line between what is elective surgery and what is really needed.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

I live in Tampa Bay and have Florida health insurance. What, I wonder, does the Florida office of insurance regulation do while my medical health insurance company is denying all of my claims and screwing me over?

Meredith

I understand your anger, Meredith.

Sometimes you’ll get insured through your Florida health insurance and will be paying several hundred dollars every month, only to find out when it comes time that you need it, that you have nothing to show for all that money that you invested into your health care. Now you’re stuck with possibly thousands of dollars in health care bills, and it seems like there is nothing that you can do about it. There are many people around the United States that find themselves in this position, which is why it should be realized that the fact that there are forty million people uninsured is a big problem, but it does not describe the problem in its entirety.

If you believe that your Florida health insurance company is doing you wrong, though, Meredith, you don’t have to sit back and let it happen to you while you feel helpless. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation can help you. Their job is, indeed, to regulate Florida health insurance and monitor medical health insurance companies to make sure that they are following state regulations, but individual situations can often fall through the cracks.

In order to bring your situation on your Florida health insurance policy to the attention of the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, you have to take an active step instead of simply suspecting that they are not monitoring medical health insurance companies well enough. In order to have them look into your claims dispute, you have to file a complaint with the office to bring attention to your problem. Then they will look into it and, if you are in the right, will help you resolve it.

The Office of Insurance Regulation also helps people trying to find Florida health insurance coverage. They have a list that includes the names and information about medical health insurance companies so that you have a better idea of what your choices are.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

What is point of service medical health insurance?

Maggie

Great question.

A point of service medical health insurance program is kind of like a mix of both traditional indemnity insurance and health maintenance organization insurance. It has some of the qualities and cons of both, and while it has some of the flexibility of the traditional indemnity plan, it also contains the requirement of the HMO plan that you must pick a primary care provider and go only to them without a very good excuse. It’s like being both free yet organized if you pick a point of service medical health insurance plan.

If you have a point of service medical health insurance plan, then you have to choose your primary health care provider and hospital from a network chosen by the health insurance company. This isn’t a strict arrangement. If you go to a physician or hospital within the network, then you will be covered or have to make a co-payment in order to be treated for your sickness or injured part. But there is also the option of choosing a physician or hospital outside of the network to go to. If you do this, you must then file a claim with your POS.

The Good:

• Most of the point of service medical health insurance plan allow you to receive your health care outside of the network that they provide. This sounds nice and flexible at first, but it has its drawbacks. While you can get good coverage within the network, it drastically decreases once you move outside of it.
• Point of service health insurance plans are very good on things like preventive medicine and services. Not only are you covered for things like pap smears, but you even get things like cheaper rates for gyms and classes to help quit smoking.

The Bad:

• Like in an HMO, point of service medical health insurance plans require that you choose a primary health care provider, and you are then required to use that provider if you want the best rates.
• Yes, you are allowed to go outside of the network to see a doctor or specialist, but that doesn’t mean that it will be easy to get covered. If you do it without a referral from your primary health care provider, then you have to send in the bills all by yourself and might not get a check back at all, and if you do it will be a small one.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

If you want to get traditional indemnity medical health insurance, also called FFS or fee for service medical health insurance, then you’re going to have to like paperwork. That’s why I’m including this video of a cute baby kitty in this post. Because, naturally, thinking of adorable kittens makes any distasteful action funner. Well, that might be overselling it a little bit.

Regardless of the extra amount of paperwork required, fee for service medical health insurance isn’t all that bad. It does cost more, with both more pricey monthly premiums as well as deductibles that tend to be on the high end, but at the same time it is a lot more flexible than many kinds of medical health insurance plans. If you’re willing to pay a little extra money and spend a little extra time for a lot more freedom and choice, then traditional indemnity medical health insurance might be the best option for you.

The Good:

• Lots of flexibility, in that you can pick what doctor, specialist, or hospital you patronize instead of having to choose out of a network and having to get a referral to go outside that network. It helps you take control of your medical experience and handle the way your health is going more than other, more controlling plans.
• No referrals, again. If you have to go to a specialist, you don’t have to worry about getting denied by the primary care giver that your insurance company picked for you. You can choose on your own.

The Bad:

• If you want the medical health insurance company to pay for the health insurance claim, you have to pay the deductible first, and this often is high. Also, after you have paid the deductible, you usually have to co-pay. Although the insurance company tends to pay around eighty percent, you still have to pay the other twenty.
• Your medical health insurance doesn’t cover your needs right away. Rather, you have to pay first and then file a health insurance claim to get your money (most of it) back to you.
• Traditional indemnity medical health insurance decides what is the normal price for a medical service, so if you go to a physician that is more expensive than others around the same area, then you’ll have to pay that extra money because the insurance won’t cover it.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Are medical health insurance prices ever going to go down?

Amber

Probably not.

The system kind of works against itself. Medical care costs a lot, and people need medical health insurance companies to help them pay for it. At the same time, though, medical health insurance drives up medical bill costs, and it just keeps on chasing itself around in a circle. Circles don’t end, so the likelihood that medical health insurance or health care costs will go down anytime in the near future short of a miracle is very unlikely.

The most important thing to do when looking for a medical health insurance plan is to shop around and compare quotes from different companies. This can often be done on the internet, where quote comparison sites save you a lot of time and money by comparing quotes from several different companies.

Still, once you get a quote and take out a medical health insurance policy, don’t expect that you will be paying the same forever. Insurance companies do everything they can to charge more money, and in many states its very easy to increase prices without any pre-approval. Often, a health insurance company can just send in a request to increase rates and they can immediately start charging those increased rates without an answer, and can only be stopped if they are reviewed and it’s decided that they charge too much.

Your rates could go up even if you don’t make any health insurance claims and are part of a group health insurance plan. The reason this could happen is that somebody else in your group may be making health insurance plans, and then the rates will raise for everybody, no matter in what good health you are. Rates in group health insurance are decided by the group’s total average history, not your individual claim history.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

How much does individual medical health insurance tend to cost, and what affects those rates?

Mandy

Good question.

There are many states who mandate that individual health insurance companies insure anybody who wants to be insured and can pay, but this isn’t true everywhere, and there also isn’t a set amount of what you will be paying. Most of the time, it will be a lot. Individual medical health insurance is very pricey, and it all depends on who you are, what your history is, and where you are at. Group plans are a lot cheaper because the number of people dilutes the risks of others in the group and it ends up averaging out, whereas for individual health insurance it’s always concentrated in one person.

An individual medical health insurance plan is usually underwritten so the health insurance company can judge your rates based on your medical history. There are a lot of things that can affect your rates in the end, even things that you wouldn’t think would affect it, such as having been pregnant at some point. Those things can be the difference between high prices and middling ones, being insured and being uninsured.

Individual medical health insurance coverage comes with much the same coverage as group medical health insurance coverage, except for the requirement of individual coverage that it be underwritten. Here are some factors considered by the underwriter:

• Age. If you’re over the age of sixty five, you might be out of luck when it comes to getting medical health insurance. Age is a big factor in who is or is nor eligible for medical health insurance.
• Sex. Benefits of your gender depend on how old you are. When people are longer, females tend to get injured more often and file more health insurance claims than males. Once they turn sixty, it’s vice verce.
• Health History and Physical Condition. Things like pre-existing conditions can make it hard to get decent medical health insuranc coverage. You might luck out and be able to get a different, more limited kind of coverage, but it’s often the case that you will be denied coverage completely.
• Job and Hobbies. What you do in your work and spare time may be more dangerous than what other people do and could result in higher rates or denial of coverage. If you like sky diving or work in construction, you might have trouble getting decent medical health insurance rates.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

What does catastrophic health insurance cover?

Lou

Good question.

Just because catastrophic health insurance seems very straight forward, don’t automatically assume that there is only one type of coverage available. In fact, depending on what company you go with and what type of catastrophic health insurance plan that you choose, the coverage varies and is not straight forward at all, so you should look very closely at youtr choices before making a sudden decision.

One company is the Blue Cross Shield in Florida, and it is a Florida health insurance company that has a catastrophic health insurance plan that it calls Essential. The deductible for Essential is around $250, and there is a maximum limit for expenses you pay of ten times that much. Once you have reached that limit, the company starts paying for your medical coverage until you reach the cap of one million dollars. It only covers things that involve your physical health, and hospital expenses such as emergencies and X-rays. Childbirth and drugs and check ups are not on that list.

If you got your catastrophic health insurance plan through Blue Cross Shield, then you could be paying a monthly premium as low as thirty dollars.

Another example is Golden Rule Insurance Company, the lowest deductible of which is $500 and the highest is $5,000. It covers about the same things as the Florida health insurance company, and it also does not cover the same things as they do. For Golden Rule, though, obviously the deductible costs a bit more, but at the same time the lifetime cap is much more, topping out at three million dollars. The catastrophic health insurance plan offered by Golden Rule is called Basic Plan, and it does cover things like MRI and surgery.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

I need to file a health insurance claim appeal because my claim was denied, and I would like to know what are the factors that affect the process of the appeal?

Lauren

Great question.

If a health insurance company wants to be accredited with the National Committee for Quality Assurance, then they have to provide the right to get an external appeal reviewed by a board of medical professionals in their health plans. It’s possible for this right not to be included in a medical health insurance plan, but the idea there is that it only isn’t when the employer pays for all of the health insurance costs. There are, in addition, a few laws from the federal and state governments that affect the health insurance claim appeal process.

• Federal government laws
  • The President’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry has created a process by which the appeals must go. If the medical health insurance plan is a federal one, then it has to go by the regulations instituted by the Commission.
  • In the same vein are medical health insurance plans that contract with Medicare. If a medical health insurance plan does this, then it comes in the contract that they have to go by the laws of the Commission as well if they want to continue working with Medicare.
• State Laws
  • There are laws that regulate who can be on the board that is reviewing the appeal of your health insurance claim. It is required that they at least be a medical health professional, and in many states they have to have a medical license in order to be on the board.
  • Most states also have laws instated that say that your own doctor can go through the appeal process for you if they believe it is right to do so. This is why you usually want to get help from your doctor to go through the appeal process.
  • Some health insurance plan will dole out awards or punishments based on whether or not a doctor recommends medical procedures or treatments that the plan does not want to pay for. Many states have laws that protect a doctor’s ability to do so and be protected.
  • Many states even have groups of patients going through a health insurance claim appeal that can meet together, sponsored by the state, and help each other with the process.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.