Healthy New York Health Insurance Plan
Reader’s Question:
I’m looking to purchase a health insurance policy here in New York in the near future. What do I need to know about health insurance?
Milton
NYC
Milton, to give you an overview of what health insurance, it is mainly just another type of insurance covering hospital or medical expenses. Say, you were diagnosed with something life-threatening, like a stroke. A bypass operation was found out to be needed. It is unfortunate that after the surgery, therapy and other expenses will still hound you. It is really financially backbreaking to undergo a medical procedure such as a bypass operation without sufficient health care plans. Paying for a medical operation such as that will literally wipe out your fortune in a few months’ time.
You have to remember that this type of insurance product has a high decline rate. According to a study, around thirteen percent of applicants were denied to get a comprehensive medical health insurance in 2004. What does this mean? It means that while you are young, healthy and capable of paying for a health insurance, then you should do so. Who knows, a year or 5 years from now, you may be one of those guys included in the thirteen percent tally of declined applicants deemed as very risky. Not only that, but having a health care plan actually would make you a healthier person as you will be more inclined to go for check-ups.
Milton, if I may add also, non-smokers are given the privilege of having smaller premiums. To ask for quotations, please contact your health insurance agent in New York.
Exclusions in Health Insurance Policy Louisiana LA
Reader’s Question:
I understand very little about health insurance policies, and I constantly feel in the dark. I do not even have a clear idea of what might not be included, and this worries me. I’ve just always thought that health care insurance policies would save me from exorbitant medical expenses! Can you explain some of the limitations of a health insurance policy? I live in Louisiana.
Joy
New Orleans, LA
If you think that your healthcare plan includes every medical cost you might have in the future, you’re up for a surprise. Mostly, a very good health insurance plan means that you will only need to pay for a minimal amount, but certainly there are limitations to what is covered. Here are some exclusions to your healthcare policy.
First of these are pre-existing conditions. Many health insurance companies are reluctant to shoulder the cost of those medical conditions that you already had before you bought the health insurance policy. Insurers generally have an exclusion period of about 6 months; The state of Louisiana allows this period to be as long as one year. This means you cannot get coverage for pre-existing conditions within the first 6 or 12 months, depending on your contract.
Another is drug abuse. This exclusion assumes that you have inflicted the problem upon yourself. So, in the same way, attempts at committing suicide are excluded. So is alcoholism.
Mental illness–especially if it has already manifested before the start of your contract– will not be covered, as well. So, your psychiatric care will not be paid for by the health insurance company. The same goes for any treatment for learning and behavioral problems.
Cosmetic surgery is not vital to life or living, so looking more beautiful is something you will have to spend for on your own. Most medical procedures considered to be preventive are part of the exclusions, too. So are dental and eye care.
Of course, the best advice I could give is for you to make sure that you read your contract with any insurer very carefully and ask your health insurance company the questions that boggle you.
Tags: Health Care, health insurance, insurance
Prescription Drug Coverage Colorado CO
Reader’s Question:
I reside here in Westminster, Colorado, and the reason why I wrote is to ask if I still have to avail of prescription drug coverage even though I am already carrying major medical coverage.
Amber
Westminster, CO
The answer to your question is just simple. Why don’t you try to carefully read your policy in order for you to know which things it actually covers? For your information, major medical policies usually include prescription drug coverage. But it still depends on the company that holds your health insurance.
Now, if your major medical coverage does have prescription drug coverage, you still have to check if the coverage satisfies all your needs. In case you do not know, there are two available kinds of major medical coverage, which are supplemental and comprehensive major medical coverage.
With supplemental major medical coverage, you have to buy a basic health insurance plan. Then, you will first have to exhaust this plan before you are able to enjoy the supplemental major medical coverage. The only thing is that supplemental major medical coverage is another policy altogether, and typically it does not pay for things like basic visits to the doctor.
On the other hand, comprehensive major medical policy is a full-proof kind of major medical plan because it pays for almost every kind of expense, such as hospital expense, surgical expense, physician’s expense and other major medical expenses. But be reminded that the provisions of these medical policies still vary from company to company.
So, after knowing all these, I still suggest that you read your policy, or just contact your health insurance provider there in Colorado.
Tags: Health Care, health insurance
Catastrophic health insurance and high health insurance deductible
Reader questions:
Could you explain the high deductible plans of catastrophic health insurance?
Amy
Absolutely.
There are two major things that you must consider before you decide to get a catastrophic health insurance plan. The first is that you will only be covered for major hospital visits, and will have to pay for everything else out of pocket. The other major thing is that any catastrophic health insurance plan will come with a higher deductible than the usual medical health insurance plan, so you will at any time have to be ready to take onto your own wallet much higher costs than usual, even if you are paying cheaper monthly premiums.
How high is it? Should you choose to get a catastrophic health insurance plan, you’re going to be looking at deductibles of around $500, possibly even more than that. Besides that, if you get a catastrophic health insurance plan, there will usually be a lifetime maximum coverage of between two and three million, and if you should reach this maximum coverage point, then you will no longer be covered and your policy will be canceled.
If you do have a $500 deductible, you’re going to have to pay for everything up to and including five hundred dollars. Once your medical expenses go past that, your coverage starts. Even if you have a deductible as high as $15,000, and you have to get some kind of treatment that costs ten thousand, you will have to pay for it. Now you can see why even with its cheaper monthly cost, catastrophic health insurance can be more expensive than most other types of plans.
When major medical costs are spoken of as regarding catastrophic health insurance, pregnancy is not included. So if you’re thinking of getting catastrophic health insurance just because pregnancy is indeed major medical care and involves a hospital, don’t fool yourself.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Should I get cheap health insurance with an Indiana PPO?
A great benefit of cheap health insurance Indiana PPOs is that you only pay your medical providers the PPO’s negotiated rate for services. For example, I recently had an upper GI which cost thousands after hospital, doctor, anesthesia, and pathology bills started rolling in.
The physician’s charge alone was $650 for the fifteen minute procedure. My PPO cut the bill down to $167. So even though I hadn’t met my $4,000 deductible for the year yet, I only had to pay $167, not the doctor’s entire bill. That one adjustment alone more than paid for my family’s cheap health insurance Indiana premium for one month.
Of course, by the time I finished paying all of the related charges, I had met my $4,000 deductible. I hadn’t met it the previous two years, and I wasn’t planning on spending that much on medical expenses this year either. That is what insurance is really for…those surprises that can cripple us financially in the blink of an eye.
So I may pay a little more for every day doctor visits (which the PPO also adjusts to huge savings) for carrying a high deductible, but being part of the PPO network makes it worthwhile.