Every New Yorker is guaranteed the right to buy health insurance. New Yorkers cannot be discriminated against because of their health status or age. However, a pre-existing condition waiting period may be imposed on you for up to 12 months if you let your insurance lapse for more than 63 days. You should always make sure you have continuous health insurance coverage in order to avoid such a waiting period.
You have three basic options for obtaining health insurance as an individual other than employer or union plans in New York:
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1. Health Saving Accounts
Health Saving Accounts is money that you put into an account for future medical expenses. Not only that you could prepare for an emergency, these accounts also offer tax deductions for medical expenses.
2. Higher Deductible Brings Lower Costs
A deductible is the amount you pay out-of-pocket for medical bills. If you have a high deductible, your premiums will fall. Consider the risks to your lifestyle and your medical history before you opt for a high deductible plan.
3. Protect your Health
The healthier you are, the less you’ll pay for health insurance. Many insurance companies offer lower premiums to people who lead healthy lives. Eat fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly and get proper rest.
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Pre-Existing Condition
An illness or condition which was treated or diagnosed before the policy was issued. Many policies will not pay benefits for pre-existing conditions, or will only cover treatment of them after the policy has been in force for a specified period of time. This varies based on whether the policy is group or individual coverage.
Renewal and Premium Increase
Determine the conditions under which your policy may be renewed or the premiums increased. Ask what type of renewal provision applies to your policy.
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Individual Insuance
Individual insurance includes health insurance coverage you can purchase on your own directly through an insurance company. Many health insurance companies offer individual health coverage to people who either are self-employed or work for a business that does not offer health insurance.
All Pennsylvania residents can buy individual health insurance through the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans on a guaranteed issue basis. However, your choice of health plans may be limited and you may face a pre-existing condition exclusion period.
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Health insurance is available through two types of plans: group or individual. Group plans are offered through an employer or association; individual plans are purchased directly through an insurance company. (For purposes of this brochure, individual refers to you and, where applicable, your dependents).
If you work for a company that offers a group insurance plan, or even a choice of plans to its employees, obtaining health insurance may not be a problem. However, if you are not covered by a group plan, or if you want different or additional coverage other than that offered by your employer, you may want to consider buying individual health insurance coverage for yourself or your family, or determine your eligibility for association or government sponsored health insurance.
Source: ins.state.pa.us
Effective Period
The date health insurance protection begins.
Elimination Period
Specified number of days that you must be eligible for coverage or disabled before the policy begins to pay benefits.
Exclusions and Limitations
Conditions or circumstances in which benefits are not payable or may be limited. Some examples of exclusions are suicide or self-inflicted injuries, injuries resulting from war, on-the-job accidents covered by workers compensation, eye or dental treatment, cosmetic surgery, services for which no charge is made, and services that are not medically necessary. Some policies also may place limitations on or exclude treatment of mental illness or substance abuse.
Source: ins.state.pa.us
Coinsurance
The share of your covered expenses, usually a percentage, you must pay after the deductible is reached. For example, a policy may require you to pay twenty percent of the cost up to a certain dollar amount.
Conversion of Privileges
Allows the participant or beneficiaries to convert coverage to a different plan of insurance without providing evidence of insurability. The privilege granted by a group policy is to convert to an individual policy upon termination of group coverage.
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Health Insurance for children most of the times gets on the second priority list if they’re studying in college. However, this happenstance is just one in over 5 million college students who aren’t covered by their parents’ Health Insurance.
Colleges are now offering health insurance to their students. This is a way to entice the parents to choose them over other colleges. Unfortunately, not all college health insurance are the same and therefore the parents need to read the fine print before signing anything:
- Maximum Benefits vs. Deductibles. Most college plans have a very low benefits ceiling—often $30,000 or less. This won’t cover large medical issues such as cancer or injuries suffered in a car accident.
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Interior Caps. Some college insurance plans are structured so it is nearly impossible to take advantage of all the benefits.
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Prescription Drugs. Most plans put a cap on the coverage for prescription drugs. These caps, however, can vary from $400 to $5,000-plus.
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Exclusions. At the bottom of most insurance plans is a list of exclusions—medical issues or procedures that aren’t covered.
- Loss Ratios. Colleges seldom disclose a key statistic for judging their plans, known as a “loss ratio” or “benefits ratio.”
Source
For many illegal immigrants, the fear of deportation outweighs the pain of illness or injury, so they live with their afflictions until their health problems become critical which makes things worse for them, for hospitals that eventually treat them and for taxpayers who ultimately foot the bill.
The health care costs associated with treating undocumented immigrants are unclear because hospitals and community health centers do not ask patients about their legal status. According to USA Today, a recent Congressional Budget Office report found that at the state and local level, undocumented immigrants cost more in public services such as education and health care than they pay in taxes.
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by: Christine Zafra
A lot of insurance companies have emerged during the past decade. Most of them offer quite a good package when it comes to health insurance but, only a few stand out as premiers of health insurance policies. iii, or the Insurance Information Institute released their share of the top 10 health insurance companies in the United States:
1. UnitedHealth Group
2. Wellpoint Inc. Group
3. Humana Inc.
4. Aetna
5. HCSC Group
6. American Family Group
7. Highmark Inc.
8. Independence Blue Cross
9. CIGNA Health Group
10. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Group
The UnitedHealth Group leads the race with about 12.4% of the market share. The next insurance company, Wellpoint Inc., lie 3 notches lower with a market share of 9.05%. The rest of the companies either got a 4, a 3, a 2 or a 1 percent share in the market.
Photo taken from http://www.farecompare.com
top 10 health insurance companies