0 How to Choose Individual Health Insurance Plans

Shopping around for health insurance is not a simple exercise with the wide range of options to choose from, ranging from HMOs to PPOs and other plans. A well chosen health insurance plan can save you a lot of money in the long term. Ergo, it's essential that you research health insurance products in microscopic details before choosing one.

How to Select the Best Individual Health Insurance Plan

Considering the exorbitant bills medical practitioners and hospitals charge for treatment, it's essential that one has an individual health insurance plan that can effectively cover for a substantial part of these expenses. There are a range of individual health insurance products varying in the facilities and degree of coverage they offer. Here are some tips on how choosing individual health insurance plans, tailor made to your own requirements.

Assess Your Health Risk
Firstly, you need to assess your own health risk. What are the individual health care expenses that you normally pay for? What are the kind of health risks that you are prone to, in the near future? Analyzing your own health risk can give you an idea about what kind of health insurance will be well suited for you.

Choosing the Right Type of Plan - HMO, PPO or HDHP?
There are many types of individual health insurance plans that you can choose from. Two of the prime types, which fall under the title of 'Managed Care Plans' are HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) and PPOs (Preferred Provider Organizations). HMOs offer health care through a closed network of medical practitioners and hospitals. More flexible than HMOs, PPOs also offer their own network of specialists, with the additional facility of consulting doctors outside the preferred network.

The prime difference lies in the fact that PPOs, unlike HMOs, do not require that you have a primary physician from their network. You can choose any doctor to be your primary physician. PPOs tend to cost more than HMOs, but offer a wider range of consulting medical faculty, compared to HMOs.

A third option is to go for a high deductible health plan (HDHP) and qualify for an HSA (Health Savings Account). HDHPs offer comparatively low monthly premiums, compared to other health insurance plans and enable individuals pay for their own medical expenses through tax deferred savings in health savings accounts. Consider all the details and the pros and cons of HDHPs, PPOs and HMOs, before choosing one.

What is the Monthly Premium?
Though health insurance plans differ in the nature of managed care offered, they all have some common features as insurance products, according to which you can compare them. The most important feature is the health insurance monthly premium charged to the insured. Depending on the amount of coverage offered, the monthly premium will vary. PPOs have a high premium compared to HMOs and HDHPs.

What is the Deductible Amount?
There is a minimum amount of medical expense that you must pay for, before the insurance company starts covering your expenses. It's known as the deductible. The deductible for various types of treatments, varies according to the managed care plan you opt for. Check out the minimum deductible offered by the health insurance plan that you are thinking of buying. Generally, lower the deductible, higher is the premium amount that you must pay for.

Copayment and Coinsurance Details
There is a minimum amount of fees that you must pay for every treatment, while the insurance plan covers the rest. This is known as 'Copayment'. Check out the copayment amounts charged by HMOs or PPOs for different treatments. Coinsurance is the percentage of medical expenses that are paid for by the insurer. For example, an insurance company may have an 80/20 deal in its agreement, whereby it pays for 80% of the cost of every procedure.

Self Sponsored or Employer Sponsored
It's mandatory for employers to provide a health insurance plan and most of them will enroll you for a group insurance, that provides limited coverage, which may not be enough for most. It's better to go for a self sponsored individual health insurance plan, that provides adequate coverage according to your personal health risk.

Selecting the Right Provider & Researching Plan Details
There are hundreds of insurance providers in USA. Ask around among your friends and family, as well as your financial advisor for recommendations. Make a list of the best insurance providers offering HMO, PPO and HDHP plans. Compare them with respect to the features that I talked about before and select the one which best suits your requirements. Research the coverage details thoroughly.

These were some of the most pertinent points that must be considered when choosing an individual health insurance plan. Choose the best insurance plan that offers you an adequate health risk cover at reasonable premiums and a manageable deductible amount. Research thoroughly and compare all the health insurance products you come across, according to the parameters highlighted above to make the right choice. Read the fine print well, before you decide to sign the dotted line!

0 Health Insurance Coverage

Health insurance provides money to pay bills generated by illness. Situations covered by Health insurance are described in the policy - the policy is a legal contract, and the cost of the contract is called the premium. Health insurance, therefore, can be defined as a contract that provides money to cover all or a portion of the cost of medically necessary care.

Health insurance differs from other types of insurance in one important area: while the individual is almost always responsible for providing life, car, and liability insurance, health insurance is often provided to the individual as an employment benefit. In addition, the state and federal government are also involved in providing health insurance for certain populations: people over sixty-five years old, individuals receiving public assistance, and individuals with certain disabilities such as blindness and end-stage renal disease. Currently, employers or government programs provide most health insurance coverage.

Purpose of Health Insurance:
Monetary consequences of health risk and, by increasing access to care, make possible some improvement of the threats to health which can be helped directly by the health insurance. This is the major two reasons why, greater part of Americans who are not at all eligible for voluntary public insurance arrange seek for insurance coverage for their own purpose as well as for their dependents.

The study investigates the extent of risk pooling in private health insurance markets in the United States. At present, such markets are subject to hodgepodge of state and federal regulations, with rules, mandates, and subsidies ebbing and flowing at a moderately rapid rate. It is the present unsettled state of these markets that provides the policy motivation for questions about performance.

Despite some significant erosion, the employment based mechanism is currently by far the most common why of furnishing private health insurance to consumers in the United States. The performance of the employment based market is increasingly criticized, from both the left and the right, as deficient and inadequate. This study will suggest ways to improve public policy and private behavior.

The policy trade-off is between group health insurance, provided through the employment setting and non-group health insurance, marketed and purchased in the same way as other consumer insurances, such as homeowner's or auto insurance.

Three Different Markets
Private health insurance in the United States is sold in three different markets with different economic structures. The smallest market is that for non-group or individual health insurance, a market much like the setting in which almost all American consumers buys their fire, auto, theft or life insurance. While some of this non-group insurance supplements group insurance, there is a portion of the population, estimated to be about seven percent of those with private insurance that obtains its primary health insurance in this setting. In contract, group health insurance furnishes coverage for the majority of the population and is overwhelmingly based on employment related groups. Practices and performance differ somewhat between small group and all other group insurance.

Risk Sharing and Voluntary Markets:
Basic economics teaches that unregulated competitive markets will inevitably lead to prices for any purchased product that are equal or nearly so to the cost of producing or financing that product. When insured's vary in the expected cost of their health insurance benefits, even under a uniform, single insurance policy, the tendency in competitive markets is for premiums to reflect those cost differences - for premiums to be based on risk. Here risk is defined as a measure of expected insurance benefits. In such cases, insurance still very much pools risk, but the risk it pools is the risk of unexpected things: which individuals, among a set of apparently similar insured's, will actually get sick and use care. It is not the variation in loss probability, which is assumed to be already known.

Conclusion:
The most important gap in risk pooling is the incompleteness or absence of insurance coverage, risk of chronic and costly conditions and failure to pool risk associated with age, gender, or location may not always be regarded as seriously undesirable on equity grounds.

0 Short term Health Insurance

As the name denotes, short term health insurance policies are a temporary insurance solution for a shorter period. Generally, most of the these policies offer coverage up to 12 months. In few cases however, some policies offer coverage up to 3 years. 

These policies are specifically designed for those healthy persons and families who are not intended to get covered for their pre-existing conditions. In fact, they can offer a real good low cost safety package in case of any injury or illness developed during its coverage span. 

The benefits of these insurance policies can be wide ranging as most of the plans offer 1 million dollar coverage per person. As more and more people are inclined to join this safety net of 16 million people in US, the competition in the sector has become much fierce and resulting in very low premiums. 

Low premiums have been one of the major appeals of such policies. But here you have to remember one thing that these low cost plans are not designed to cover any pre-existing conditions or ailments of individual. Because of this limitation it is feasible for these insurance companies to offer such a low cost plan. The definition of pr-existing conditions can be done as the symptoms occur during the three year period prior to the start of the insurance policy. 

It is always better to remain honest yourself and mention the pre-existing conditions if there are any otherwise you may land up in awkward position where you will find your all claims are got denied. All short term insurance policies have their own list of limitations and exclusions. It is always advisable to go through this list before choosing any of them. 

Targeted Clients
Due to its high coverage limits and low monthly installments, the sales graph of such policies has been shooting upwards of late. In health insurance industry short term insurance policies stand as the shortest application. Now days many insurance companies also offer credit card payment plans. Hence, for a certain section of healthy community, it serves as the best option.

Person doing part-time jobs or the temporary employees are the most likely persons getting benefit of such policies. As most of the corporate insurance plans do not cover part-timers or temporary employees, this is a great option for them. 

Another promoted clients of these policies come from a specific section where individuals are temporarily out of work. Thus people between jobs are one of the most likely consumers of these policies. Under Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) has permitted the individuals to continue their policies with their previous employer for next three years who are laid off or are between jobs. 

Another group of consumers are recent college graduates. Many graduates after finishing their graduating certainly look for jobs which offer health insurance benefits. Short term insurance can fill this void for them until they get succeed to find out such jobs. In fact, short term insurance is a ticket for the people in transition.

So in short if you are healthy, unemployed, or doing part-time job, going to school, just finished your graduation, getting early retirement, or leaving the home first time you become the potential consumers. 

Eligibility
In order to be eligible for short term health insurance policies you must comply with some conditions. 
1. Your age should be below 65.
2. You shouldn't be covered by another health insurance policy. 
3. You should not have ever been denied health insurance previously.
4. Every policy comes up with the set of its own qualifying conditions like certain height and weight. You must comply with that specific chart to become eligible.

Things which are not covered by Short Term Plans
In order to keep the premiums low these short term plans don't offer all the benefits of regular health insurance plan. As mentioned above they don't cover treatment of free existing ailment. Moreover these plans don't include routine and regular medical checkups, dental or optical care, preventive care, or pregnancy expenses. 

All short term insurance policies are excluded from Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act of 1996. These companies are need not to guarantee their renew ability. 

Although there are many limitations and restrictions, short term health insurance policies can assist you in filling the voids in your coverage of health insurance. And that is where its significance lies!

1 Health Insurance Coverage for Self employed

Many a time, people are dissatisfied with their job but continue working for their employer because of the fear of losing the employer's health insurance. In the US, more than 60% of the work force obtains medical insurance by enrolling in their employer's group health insurance plan. Group health insurance results in reducing the per head premium because of collective bargaining power. On the other hand, individual health insurance plans result in a higher premium and sometimes even denial of coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. No wonder people think twice before changing employers. In fact, most people prefer working as salaried employees and give up their dream of entrepreneurship because of affordable health care.

Types of Health Insurance Coverage for the Self employed:

Temporary Health Insurance Coverage

COBRA: COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) allows a person to continue on the former employer's group health insurance plan for a period of 18 months after layoff. The former employee is expected to pay 35% of the insurance premium, while the remaining 65% is covered by the Federal government. Prior to March 1, 2009, the employee had to pay the entire premium for the policy. Even then, the policy was preferred to individual health insurance plans because of the lower premium. A person trying to set up his own business can avail health insurance at a reasonable cost for a period of 18 months.

Temporary Health Insurance: This is a good option for people who are on their way to self-employment. Temporary health insurance is an indemnity insurance. Hence, unlike managed care plans that tend to be restrictive, temporary health insurance plans provide the insured person the benefits of traditional health coverage. The procedural formalities are limited and one can get immediate coverage. However, as the name suggests, this insurance is of a temporary nature and a person is covered for a maximum period of 6 months. Moreover, temporary insurance does not allow preventive and routine care. Dental and optical care are not included in this policy. This policy is only meant for illness or injury.

Permanent Health Insurance Protection

Spouse's Health Insurance Policy: In case the spouse is working, he/she may be covered under the employer's group health insurance plan. It is possible to extend this plan to cover the family by paying additional premium. The main advantage of using the spouse's health insurance plan is the low probability of being denied coverage on account of pre-existing conditions. Moreover, the premium cannot be increased based on claims history.

Joining a Group: Joining a group may help in obtaining affordable health insurance. The reason is simple. Distribution of risk results in reduced per head risk and this in turn reduces the premium on the policy. Moreover, a person can get coverage for a pre-existing condition in case of group health insurance.

State Risk Pool: Each state has a risk pool which is run like a non-profit organization. These state pools were created to provide insurance to people ineligible for private insurance due to pre-existing conditions. It was also meant for people who could only access health insurance at exorbitant premiums due to the complexity of their medical condition. There is no waiting period for people who have been continuously covered under any group insurance. A break in coverage for a maximum period of 63 days is allowed. A longer break will result in a waiting period for obtaining coverage. The premium for risk pool insurance is higher than that the premium for regular individual insurance. However, there are caps on the premium to ensure affordable coverage.

The premium paid on the insurance policy by self-employed people is tax deductible. This is a huge advantage of self-employment. A person should plan well in advance and make the necessary arrangements for health insurance before he decides to pursue his dream of entrepreneurship.

0 Best Health Care in the World

Cancer, a deadly disease, can strike anyone, regardless of age, sex, and ethnicity, without any notice. Being diagnosed with cancer can be frightening, not to say devastating, for an individual and his family members. If diagnosed in the early stages, treatment can begin on time and the patient can be successfully treated. Medical science has come a long way and new methods to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer are available to patients at numerous hospitals all over the country. A list of hospitals that are notable in providing exemplary cancer treatment to patients and have made significant breakthroughs in cancer research and treatment is provided below.

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, TX

Founded in 1941, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. It holds the record of the world's largest freestanding cancer center and has consistently maintained its top ranking over a decade and is completely dedicated to the care and treatment of cancer patients. Affiliated to the University of Texas, it treats all complex and rare types of cancers.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

This hospital has dedicated over a hundred years to research and treatment, making it the world's biggest and oldest private cancer care center. It was established in 1884 under the name of New York Cancer Hospital. Having made remarkable contributions for the betterment of cancer patients, today MSKCC is a pioneer in ultramodern outpatient services, with centers spread over New York and New Jersey.

Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD

Opened in 1889, Johns Hopkins is an internationally reputed medical center. Setting excellent standards in cancer education, research, treatment, prevention, and care, it enjoys annual ranking by the U.S. News and World Report. It is also a comprehensive cancer center designated by the National Cancer Institute.

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

It features in the Honor Roll of 2011 as one of America's best hospitals, by the U.S. News and World Report. Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit organization and has invested a fair amount of money in medical research and education. It leads in innovation and research in the fight against cancer. With cancer centers in Arizona and Florida, Mayo Clinic enjoys a high patient satisfaction rate and treats all possible forms of cancer.

Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center, Boston, MA

Providing the latest cancer treatment therapies, this is one of the country's oldest hospitals, dating back to 1832. Featuring on the Honor Roll of U.S. News and World Report for 18 consecutive years, BWC has state-of-the-art inpatient and outpatient facilities, and boasts of ultramodern biomedical research labs and exceptional patient care.

University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA

Founded in 1945, this outstanding hospital provides treatment for all types of cancer. It offers the latest in services to its patients ranging from consultation, treatment, prevention, and after care. It has made significant forays in cancer research. With established programs of oncology, UW Medical Center is totally devoted to the well-being of its patients.

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

This hospital has been providing top-class care to all its patients since 1811. The third oldest hospital in the United States and the largest in New England, it offers advanced medical care for cancer patients, and is at the forefront in treating several rare kinds of cancers. It prides itself in offering the best and safest quality care, and is completely patient-centered in its approach towards treatment and care of cancer.

UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA

Over a century old, UCSF Medical Center has consistently featured among the nation's top ten hospitals. One of the country's leading cancer research centers, it boasts of strict standards of patient satisfaction and safety. It offers treatment and prevention for the most complex forms of cancer, and strives to better the facilities provided to all its patients by setting very high standards for itself.

Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH

Opened in 1921, this hospital is a nonprofit organization. Equipped with the best staff, newest technologies, and backed by comprehensive medical research, Cleveland Clinic offers excellent service and affordable medical care to all patients. It is devoted to the communities it serves, and ensures that all patients receive the best care possible, combined with the best medical practices.

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

With treatment available for almost all forms of cancer, UCLA Medical Center ranks as one of the top hospitals in the area of patient satisfaction. The hospital believes in providing in-depth information to all its patients, so patients can make informed choices. Effective individual patient care, combined with ongoing improvements in medical research, rank this as one of the best hospitals in the nation.

Other Major Cancer Treatment Hospitals

Apart from the ones mentioned above, there are a few others which also provide very good cancer care and treatment:

Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Stanford University Hospital, Stanford, CA

University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, IL

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL

University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA

Ohio State University James Cancer Hospital, Columbus, OH

The hospitals listed above are pioneers in modern medicine and cancer research. So if someone you know has been admitted to any one of these, be assured that the patient is in safe hands and will receive the best treatment and care and will soon be on the road to recovery.