Health Insurance Options For Self Employed Individuals
Your health is the first thing that quickly deteriorates due to age or unforeseen circumstances. Purchasing reliable health insurance is always a great way to have help on the way when you need it the most. Doing proper research and reading is always beneficial to aid you in finding the right health insurance company as well as the most reliable one. The article below is filled with tips on health insurance that are sure to point you in the right direction.
When traveling out of the state or out of the country, check with your health insurance company first to make sure you are covered for illness or injury. Especially if you rely on Medicare for health insurance, you may not have to travel far to be outside your insurance company's network.
To save money on health insurance, one strategy is to pool your resources with a group of people. Doing so lets employers offer cheaper insurance to their employees. If you're on your own, you may be able to take advantage of these savings by forming your own group or joining an existing one.
Understand you and your families health status when shopping for insurance. If you are a single healthy person, you can take the risk and go for a low-cost, super-high, deductible plan, as the odds are that you will not need to use it as often. If there is a history of illness or if you have children, you will want to pay a little more per month for a lower deductible.
Consider opening a healthcare savings plan. These plans are typically for people with high deductibles and allow you to deposit funds for later use on prescriptions and other medical costs not covered in your policy. The deposits you make are usually tax-deductible, so take advantage of this offer if your insurance company provides it.
Be sure to get pet health insurance for your pet while he is young. Accidents can happen to pets at any age, and just as with people, insurance is more expensive for older pets. In fact, cats and dogs that are more than ten years old may not be able to get a new pet health insurance policy. Additionally, pets with a pre-existing condition may not be able to get health insurance.
Contact multiple insurers separately when seeking a health insurance policy. Ask them the necessary questions about policy options and always be sure that you're speaking with them in person and not through a computer. Via email or their website is not a good enough option if you really need to know about your coverage.
Consider your current, as well as, your future needs when you are shopping for health insurance. You may find that you will need maternity care or insurance for children down the road. If you can find a policy with a good health insurance coverage when you are starting out, it will be much easier in the future for you.
If you have pre-existing health problems you will need to arm yourself with more information than normal. The laws regarding this vary greatly from state to state, and in some states it is even prohibited to increase prices based on this. Make sure you have a clear understanding of the rules regarding this beforehand.
Consider a Health Spending Account when choosing your health insurance plan. An HSA can cover unexpected health spending that wouldn't normally be covered by your plan, so you can choose a plan that costs less and save money. An HSA gives you more leeway in what is covered and isn't covered as well, so you can use it on treatment such as chiropractic.
When choosing a health insurance policy, look into the quality of the company. The company that holds your policy should be able to back it up. It is good to know if the company you have chosen will be around to take care of any claims you may have.
When and if you get a website follow up call from the insurance company keep your answers simple and to the point. Don't give any additional information unless asked. You aren't protected by privacy rights with the follow up call and your call may be recorded, so think before you speak.
Use a broker to find the plan for you. A broker can help you negotiate policy costs with several different insurance companies. They can also easily explain the pros and cons of each policy. Make sure your broker works with a large number of credible insurance companies and check his credentials as well.
Brush up on your first aid skills. Some injuries and sicknesses do not require a doctor visit if you're knowledgeable and prepared. Reducing the number of doctor visits you have each year will reduce your out of pocket expenses, even with the best insurance plan. Get a simple first aid kit today.
The cost of your health insurance plan greatly varies by state. Some states such as New York, offer some of the most expensive health plans in the country. States such as New York charge a higher rate because by law they are required to insure everyone regardless of their health.
When you are shopping for new health insurance coverage, take a look at your existing policy. You will want to look at the details of your current policy and decide what you like and what you do not like. That way, when you are comparing policies, you will know what to look for.
If you are self employed, you can deduct your health insurance premiums as a business expense! You can deduct premiums you paid for yourself and dependents without itemizing on your federal tax return. As long as your insurance premiums were not more than your income and you were not eligible to be on an employer-sponsored plan, you can deduct those expenses.
One important health insurance habit to cultivate is to always keep your insurance card up-to-date. When your insurance company sends you a new card, replace your old one immediately. An expired insurance card can get you into trouble when you make a claim, possibly even giving your insurer a reason to deny your claim.
As long as you are still breathing, you are at risk of being injured. Whether it be walking in the street or using the stairs in the parking garage, being injured is a costly venture when your health is not insured. It is not worth the risk to save a few dollars by not having health insurance. You will end up paying much more, in the end.
BBC News Cites Telehealth Study with Positive Results, Areas of Improvement
In a recent BBC article Washington correspondent, Silvia Martelli, said that millions of patients across the U.S. have seen a healthcare provider, from across all specialties, “in the comfort of their home.”
The article cited a national survey conducted by Harvard Business Review (HBR) and Press Ganey confirming this. They asked 1.3 million patients about their telehealth experience and the response to telemedicine was overwhelmingly positive.
Telehealth, or virtual care as it’s now more commonly called — a term becoming more entrenched by research firms like Gartner and its recent 2020 Market Guide for Virtual Care Solutions — has been available to healthcare providers for decades. When the pandemic exploded across the world, so did the use of virtual care. The safety and convenience of it became abundantly clear, and patients and providers alike flocked to the technology.
“COVID forced us to recognize telemedicine’s value.”
Dr. Eric Singman, Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, as cited in the recent BBC article.
Prior to the pandemic, BBC’s Martelli reports that virtual care usage was around 1% of all medical encounters. In March 2020, virtual care accounted for 34% of all medical encounters. That was its peak. In July usage dropped to 22%, and since August it has held at about 15% of all medical encounters.
Other than care like procedures, complex surgeries, and anything relying on direct, hands-on patient care, it appears almost any visit can be a virtual one. With the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), and ever-improving technological advancements, even those visits may one day become virtual. Read about the visionary future of virtual care in 2050 where our morning showers-of-the-future aided by VR and AI will be focal to our daily routines, according to eVisit’s CTO and on-staff futurist, Miles Romney.
In the BBC story Dr. Eric Singman, Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, also said, “A patient’s health history is 90% of the diagnosis, and history is something we do verbally.” In fact, in some specialties like behavioral health, virtual care may be the preferred method of the encounter and could be considered better than an in-person visit according to Dr. Joe Kvedar, chair of the board at the American Telehealth Association (ATA) and professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZiSk2MOF17UdugnGNqOAojsLDrM0Qu-pLwshdGqch_M/edit?usp=sharing