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.

What types of health care plans are offered at Columbia University?

Randall

Great question.

There are two types of health insurance plans that you can get if you are a registered full time student at Columbia University, either as a grad student or an undergrad. One of them is the basic level, and the other the comprehensive, and you have the option to get both. Every student who registers full time at Columbia is automatically enrolled into the Columbia health insurance program, so it is likely that if you attend Columbia you will be choosing between one of these health insurance coverage plans.

The basic level plan is the one at which everybody starts. You are automatically put into this plan, although you may get a waiver or even get the comprehensive plan instead. This is the average plan that works for most students and is made for the people with less risk. If you don’t plan on using a more than average amount of health service, and you want a cheap plan, then the basic level may be for you. The basic level comes with $300,000 of coverage and might be a good option for students who can’t afford to pay high monthly premiums, as it puts more of the burden on co pays than on premiums.

The comprehensive plan is the next level up, and it comes with a million dollars worth of maximum coverage over the course of the insured person’s life. It comes with everything that the basic level does, with a little extra. It helps for people who need more extensive mental care by providing them with off campus mental evaluation and treatment, and it also comes with greater provisions for things like prescriptions and recovery treatments. This is the best option for students with a pre existing condition, although it can be expensive because the monthly premium costs more, but copayments and deductibles are smaller.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama

I’m an American Indian living in Florida. Are my children eligible for KidCare Florida health insurance?

Sam

It depends.

If you are a Native American, then it will still depend on your income and other eligibility requirements to determine whether or not your children are able to get KidCare Florida health insurance, such as determining whether or not your child is provided with health care insurance through your employer. If you otherwise meet the eligibility rules, then your children probably will be able to get insured through KidCare child health insurance.

The great thing about getting KidCare child health insurance if you are an American Indian is that it has pretty much no cost. Unlike other KidCare recipients, who must pay a monthly premium as well as some co-payments and fees for doctor visits and prescriptions, if you are an American Indian the service is entirely free, with no monthly charge nor co-payments. Call the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation to find out if your child is eligible.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

I need Georgia health insurance for my three year old daughter. Is this available in my state?

Amber

Great question.

All states, of course, have Medicaid, which is a federal program, but naturally Medicaid does not cover everybody who needs health insurance. Although the income requirements for it are a little more loose than for other welfare programs, there are many people who make too much to qualify, but at the same time make too little to get a family health insurance plan with their own money. These people are locked in a dilemma, because they need to get child health insurance for their kids, as well as for themselves.

Georgia health insurance offers the PeachCare program for child health insurance to cover those kids whose parents make too much to be able to get Medicaid. This comes with coverage as extensive as that of Medicaid itself, from things like hospital stays and emergency room visits, to things like prescriptions and eyeglasses and dental appointments. It provides basically everything you need to protect your child’s health throughout his or her lifetime with this Georgia health insurance plan.

It isn’t free, though, but it is a whole lot cheaper than normal child health insurance. Every month there is a cost of about ten to thirty five dollars for each child over the age of five. There is a maximum cost of seventy dollars per month, per family, though, so if you have five children over five you won’t be paying that total. To find out more about this kind of Georgia health insurance, you can go to the state’s PeachCare website for more information.

One of the drawbacks is that, unlike most health insurance plans, which will cover a child until he or she has completed college, PeachCare ends once the child reaches the age of nineteen, whether they are still going to school or not.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

How does short term health insurance work?

Mac

Like this.

• It’s kind of like an indemnity plan. What that means is that you are able to pick the doctors and specialists that provide you with your medical care without having to get a referral from within your health insurance plan’s network. They will have to be pre-certified in most cases, so you should understand this requirement before choosing a health care provider.
• There are certain limits, but a good deal is provided for, even some mental care, along with the usuals of things like surgery, diagnostics, and prescriptions.
• One of the major drawbacks of short term health insurance is that it doesn’t cover preventive medical care, which is one of the reasons why it is so cheap. It only pays if you get injured or fall ill while your in the policy period. Anything before or after is not their concern.
• Like a lot of health insurance plans, temporary health insurance doesn’t cover anything that involves a pre-existing condition, which goes along with the only within the insured period idea. This is a bad deal for people who have such conditions, but that’s the kind of limit that you get for opting for a cheap health insurance coverage plan. If you’ve had a condition within the last three years, then you are in most cases out.
• Short term health insurance coverage can actually often be renewed for up to three years, but this comes withfurther restrictions. If you had to file a claim during your first year, you probably won’t be allowed to renew. If you did file a claim and are renewed, whatever you filed a claim for is now an existing condition. That means that if last year you got a gunshot wound in your leg and were covered, this year if you get one in your arm you won’t be.
• Lots of temporary health insurance provides offer a one hundred percent money back guarantee within a month if you don’t like your coverage and haven’t filed any claims.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

• Ask how much your medical health insurance premium will cost you, both on a monthly and yearly basis. This is very important to know, because obviously the low monthly premium payment is the main draw that catastrophic health insurance holds.
• Ask how much the deductible will be.This is one of the most important things to ask about, because you need to know if you can afford the deductible if you get catastrophic health insurance,. because otherwise there isn’t a point.
• Do you want a lot of coverage or a little coverage? If you need more extensive medical health insurance coverage, then catastrophic health insurance coverage might not be the best for you, and you should definitely consider what your wants and needs are.
• Do you take any prescriptions? If you do need to pay for a lot of prescription drugs, you might do better with a different health insurance plan, because catastrophic health insurance does not cover drugs, and prescriptions cost quite a bit and the amount can add up if you are paying it all by yourself.
• Do you have enough money to pay for things like check ups on your own? If you don’t, then you need a different type of coverage. Doctor’s visits often cost a lot, and I know that when I was pregnant my doctor charged almost two hundred dollars per fifteen minute check up–which came every one to two weeks. That can add up if you’re paying out of pocket.
• Any pre-existing conditions? If you have one of these, you’re out. Catastrophic health insurance plans don’t take on the risk of people who already have a condition.
• Is it easy to get sick for you? Not every sickness can be covered by an emergency room visit, so you’ll probably need coverage that covers a regular doctor.
• How high up does the lifetime maximum go?

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Let’s face it. What’s going on in the video above isn’t exactly unusual. Kids will be kids, right? And as kids, they’re that much more likely to get them self into some kind of trouble that involves a hospital visit. Kids are walking disasters, which is why no house with children or even teenagers is complete without lots of band aids and disinfectant. And if you have children who are so prone to accidents, it makes getting a family health insurance policy extremely important. Accidents happen a lot, and when you’re already working on raising a family and paying bills, you don’t want to put your future in trouble by being hit with huge medical bills.

There are basically two ways that you can get family health insurance. The cheapest and most popular family health insurance is the kind that you get through your job. Your employer pays part of the premiums, so you and your family pay less per month. With this choice, though, you’ll have fewer options for the kind of plan that you can choose, because it’s controlled by your employer.

The other way is to take out your own family health insurance policy. It will cost more–as of 2002, the average monthly family health insurance premium was $330, but you’ll have a lot more options. Getting to pick your own deductible will make it a lot more comfortable for you financially, but the main perk of this way is that you can choose a doctor that you like.

Don’t just run straight into your family health insurance plan. You should consider your plan choices very carefully. A low deductible doesn’t always mean a great deal, especially when you consider that some of the cheapest family health insurance lacks one of the most important parts of a child’s healthy upbringing–preventive medicine.

You should also consider how your family health insurance plan covers prescriptions. Health insurance is paying for these less and less these days, so you want to be careful not to get a plan that doesn’t pay at all. You might have to end up choosing a co-payment plan.

Finally, the best way to find the best family health insurance plan is to shop around. Get quotes from different health insurance companies and then research further after that. If you’re between jobs, it might be a good idea for you to get temporary health insurance to keep you covered until you can get an employer provided plan.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

You are dealing with very large corporations that are in the business of making as much profit as possible. Being profitable is easy…bring in as many premium dollars as possible and pay out as little as possible. Read the exclusions thoroughly, then read them again. Make yourself very familiar with their pre-existing clauses and how they may apply to you. The insurance company can trace your medical records back for years, so don’t think they won’t find out about bad test results you had while covered under another company.

The insurance companies employ doctors whose sole job is to figure out how many patients they can deny treatment to. For every procedure that they determine as “unnecessary,” their companies save thousands. Even little dollars add up.

I have a great PPO, but recently experienced this situation myself when my internist prescribed Nexium to help heal an irritated areas of my esophagus and stomach. When I went back to the pharmacy an hour after dropping off my prescription, the pharmacist told me that my insurance company had decided I couldn’t have that medication. WHAT!!!????!! They told her that they didn’t approve that medication for my diagnosis. Wow.

So I’m using an over-the-counter medication and waiting to see if it does what I need. I have heard numerous horror stories of people being denied coverage for various procedures, but I had never experienced this type of discrimination myself. But just think about the implications of thousands of people getting prescriptions for Nexium at $100+ a pop. That’s a lot of profit down the tubes.