info@usa-online-health-insurance.com

Get a Quote
.: Individual Health
.: Group Health
.: Dental
.: Medicare/Seniors
.: Life
.: Long Term Care
.: Annuities

.: Short Term Medical

.: Health Insurance Articles


Important Info!

Insurance prices are regulated by law. So, you won't get a lower price for the same insurance product anywhere else.

QUICK QUOTE FINDER
Select One
Our Guarantee
Quality Insurance
We promise to give you quality health insurance at an affordable cost.
Timely Service
USA-Online-Health-Insurance.com is dedicated to a no-nonsense approach to health insurance. We focus on giving you the insurance you need in a timely and cooperative manner.
 
HOME ABOUT US CONTACT US FREE QUOTE FAQs
 

Virginia Health Insurance Articles

Why Use an Agent Or Broker When Purchasing Health Insurance Plans?
By Mark W. Brooks

Have you ever needed the help of a professional for a service in which you have little or no experience? Tasks such as a home or auto repair seem complicated to those who are not experienced in those professions. Shopping for personal health insurance plans can be complicated as well. Consider these reasons for using a professional broker or agent.

Professional service with no fees - Insurance agents and brokers are paid by commissions from insurance companies.

The cost of those commissions is already built into the price of the policy, therefore, you will pay no more than if you had gone directly to the insurance company without the services of an agent. An experienced agent can help you determine which type of coverage will work best for you or your family. The agent can also assist with helping to select a deductible amount, co-pay amounts and whether or not to purchase optional benefits such as maternity or dental insurance. Once a decision regarding the coverage is made, the agent can be a valuable resource in helping complete the application and with the underwriting process. Using the services of a professional comes at no additional cost to the customer.

Service after the sale - Insurance brokers are motivated to provide good service after the sale. Questions may come up regarding your coverage or changes may need to be made to your plan. Having a broker handle those little details for you is a valuable resource. Examples of some simple service issues include answering questions about your policy, adding a dependent to the plan, making changes such as address and telephone number or ordering you a new identification card.

What type of broker should you look for? Here are some important features to consider when searching for a broker:

Experience - The value of experience cannot be purchased. Brokers that have many years of experience will be able to guide you in the proper direction and help you avoid problems. Experienced agents have seen nearly every situation that may come up and can guide the customer so that potential problems will be avoided.

Independent - Look for a broker that represents many competitive companies from which to shop for your coverage. Captive brokers can only use a single insurance company and should be avoided. An independent agent is working for the customer rather than the insurance company.

Professional - While looks can sometimes be deceiving, it is important to locate a broker that runs a professional business. This usually means having an office location in which to do business along with sufficient staff to service their customers.

Reputation-There is nothing wrong with asking for references when looking for an insurance agent. You need to know the reputation that the agent has within the community and the level of satisfaction that customers have with the agent in question.

Local - There is nothing more frustrating than to need service from a large company and having nothing more than a customer service phone number to work with. All of us have experienced the phone maze of recordings and out-sourcing of services departments. Having the services of a local broker that can personally be of help is very valuable. There are times when it's important to sit across the desk and look the person in the eye with whom you are conducting business.

 

Re-Thinking Health Insurance - Using a High Deductible Makes Sense
By Mark W. Brooks

As the cost of health insurance continues to increase, most people have had to come up with ways to curb these increases. The process should begin with giving some thought to the real purpose of health insurance. When premium costs were not the major issue, everyone focused on benefits. For many years, we became accustomed to very low or no deductibles and minimal co-pays for doctor office visits and prescription drugs.

Is insurance supposed to cover these small expenses on a first dollar basis? Would we expect our auto insurance policy to cover oil changes or new tires? Certainly not, but we were all okay with it when premium costs on health insurance were much lower many years ago. Now that cost is the major factor, we must consider the real purpose of insurance being the transfer of a large potential loss to the insurance company. Health insurance was never designed to cover doctor office visits or any other non-catastrophic medical expenses. Our desire for plans that are rich in benefits caused our fall into the mindset of thinking that these plans are the way it's supposed to be. Getting out of this mindset has been painful since no one likes to pay more and get less.

Increasing a deductible on your health insurance policy triggers a question in everyone's mind. Will I ever meet such a high deductible and am I wasting my money? Let's look at an example for a family in Virginia and make some comparisions:

Husband - age 49
Wife - age 49
Child - age 20

Plan Option 1:
$500 deductible per person
Co-pays for doctor visits and prescription drugs
$644 monthly premium

Plan Option 2:
$5000 family deductible
No co-pays
$210 monthly premium

In this actual example using premium rates from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, there is a monthly cost difference of $434 or an annual cost difference of $5208. Common sense tells us that no matter how many doctor visits or prescription drugs are needed, the entire family deductible of $5000 could be fully funded by the annual premium savings of $5208. Since it is not likely that the deductible will be met every year, part of the $5208 would belong to the customer rather than being given to the insurance company in high premiums.

Although we like the thought that our insurance is paying for our expenses, it becomes evident that the customer is actually the one that is paying through higher premium costs. A premium is a "guaranteed loss". The insurance company does not refund any portion of the premium if catastrophic health care is not needed in a particular year. Using the strategy of a high deductible guarantees the customer a profit every year that medical expenses do not exceed the premium savings. The dramatic premium savings between the two plans make it a safe bet for almost everyone.

 

Advantages of Individual Health Insurance Versus Group Health Insurance
By Mark W. Brooks

As employers continue to shift more and more of the cost burden of group health insurance to their employees, personal health insurance plans have become more attractive in recent years. Group health insurance being paid in full by the employer for your family is a thing of the past at most companies.

Personal health insurance plans for an individual or family are attractive for many reasons:

Lower cost: Personal plans for healthy persons can be less expensive than group insurance contrary to what most people think. Years ago, a large group could naturally get better pricing for insurance than one person or family; however, it has done a complete reversal in recent years. Personal plans are individually underwritten, thereby benefiting those in excellent health. Group insurance, on the other hand, has by law become "guarantee issue" in a lot of states, taking away most underwriting and causing the price to skyrocket for nearly everyone. The cost of a personal health plan is a reflection of your individual health condition and the benefits you choose. The cost of a group health insurance plan reflects the overall health conditions of that group and the benefit options selected by someone else.

Tailor made: Personal plans for an individual or family can be purchased specifically designed to meet your needs. Don't want maternity or many of the other government-mandated benefits that group health insurance is laden with? A personal plan may be your answer. You can choose your deductible, co-pay amount if you want one at all, prescription drug benefit, coinsurance percentage and out-of-pocket maximum. These benefits are all pre-selected for you with the employer group "cookie-cutter" plans. Group insurance plans are designed and purchased to meet the needs of a large group of people. Each person in that group may like a different feature of the group insurance. A personal plan can be tailored to your specific needs and not those of anyone else.

Portability: With today's economy and job losses, portability of health insurance has become an important issue. While COBRA (Consolidate Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) provides some protection for employees that are laid off, there are still problems. The length and depth of this recession could cause some to find themselves looking of a new career for years. The COBRA option and current government relief effort will not fulfill this need. A personal plan can move with you from job to job, wherever your career path may lead. Decisions about job changes would no longer be affected by health insurance or pre-existing medical conditions if you had the luxury of taking your plan with you. Personal plans provide that luxury. Having a properly structured personal health insurance plan from a reliable insurer allows you, the consumer, to be in control of your health care and employment decisions. Not only do personal plans move with you from job to job, most plans will even follow you should you need to move to another state.

Summary:
The current trend of this cost shift from employers to employees has necessitated your doing a little work to find the best option for your situation. Ask yourself the following questions:
*Does my employer subsidize part of the "employee only" cost, making it advantageous for me to shop for a personal plan only for my dependents?
*Is there more than one group plan available to me and my spouse whereby each of us could take advantage of an employer contribution?
*Are there any pre-existing medical conditions for anyone in our family that would prohibit that family member from getting a personal plan?
*Does our family need immediate benefits, such as maternity, that may be more attractive under a group insurance plan?

 

Using A Health Savings Account and High Deductible Policy For Personal Health Insurance
By Mark W. Brooks

Using a high deductible on your health insurance plan to help lower the cost is not a new idea. More people would use this strategy if they understood the benefits of using a health savings account (HSA) along side the high deductible health plan (HDHP).

It is important to note that the HDHP and HSA plans need to be "qualified" plans for maximum tax benefits. This means that the HDHP plans meet criteria established by law regarding deductible and out-of-pocket limits as well as limits on the contribution amounts for an HSA. If these criteria are met, contributions to the HSA are deductible for tax purposes and the funds in the account can be used tax free for medical care.

In central Virginia, a 49 year old male with a spouse and child would pay $644 monthly for a benefit-rich health insurance plan that covers doctor office visits and prescription drugs for a co-pay before the deductible. The same family would only pay $210 monthly for a $5,000 HDHP-a monthly difference of $434 or a yearly difference of $5,208. A little simple math reveals why this plan works so effectively.

The yearly premium savings is slightly higher than the annual family deductible on the HDHP. This means that even if this family met the deductible every single year, they are no worse off on the HDHP because of the premium savings. You would also have to consider these advantages of the HSA and HDHP:

*A $5,208 tax-deductible deposit into an HSA would save over $1,200 in federal income taxes considering a 25% tax bracket.

*Insurance company statistics show that premiums increase by a higher percentage on benefit-rich plans versus high-deductible plans. Assuming the premiums on both plans increased by 10%, the premium on the high-dollar plan would go up $64.40 ($644 x .10) while only increasing $21 ($210 x .10) on the HDHP.

Purchasing Individual Health Insurance - Use Caution
By Jared Tozier

Use caution when purchasing your Individual Health Insurance plan in Virginia. In fact, make sure that the plan you are purchasing is actually Health Insurance and not one of the many discount plans which are floating around.

Radio, Television, Newspapers, etc. are plastered with ads appearing to offer you the world regarding individual health insurance at very little cost. As we all should know, you generally get what you pay for. Unfortunately, many unsuspecting persons fall captive to these discount program offers which are nothing more than discount plans. So, if you do purchase a discount plan, there will be many cases where there isn't any form of discount at all. Many healthcare providers and pharmacies won't honor the discount plan at all! Stay as far away from these plans as you can.

Another area which is deserving of your cautious approach, is dealing with High Pressure Insurance agents. Simply put, an agent who uses high pressure tactics does not have your best interests in mind. If the agent really wanted to ensure that you receive the best possible Health Insurance Plan in Virginia, he or she would not be pressuring you. Instead, the agent would be doing everything possible to find you a quality plan at the lowest possible cost. A plan which is structured to meet your individual needs as well as the needs of your family.

In summary, work with a reputable agency and an agent you are comfortable with. An honest and reliable agent will go to great lengths to ensure that you are purchasing a quality plan and a plan which will meet your budget. Visit FindMeAPlan.com for assistance.

  

                             

USA-Online-Health-Insurance.com Copyright 2008 :: Login :: Terms of Use