Search Results for: blog free with purchase of health insurance

Some Student Health Plans are Exempt from ACA Requirements

Does the university your child attends have a fully insured student health plan? Or, is the university self-insured? The answer to that question is important. Some plans that are self-insured are exempt from providing the protections that the Affordable Care Act requires. The Affordable Care Act provides consumers will many protections that did not exist previous to the implementation of the health reform law. It prohibits private health insurance companies from denying coverage for people who have a preexisting condition. It prohibits health insurers from creating plans that come with an annual coverage cap, or a lifetime coverage cap. These … Continue reading →

Healthy Montana Kids is a Medicaid Program for Children

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No matter what state you live in, it is supposed to have a Medicaid program. Most, if not all states, also have a Medicaid program that is designed to cover children. It is often called CHIP. In Montana, it is called Healthy Montana Kids. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services administers Montana’s Medicaid program. Medicaid is a public, or government run, form of health insurance for people who are low-income. It is designed to help people who cannot afford to purchase a health plan from a private company to have health insurance coverage. Montana has a program … Continue reading →

Can the Healthy Families Program Help You?

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There are many people who are unable to afford to purchase health insurance coverage. Sadly, this often means that their children are also without coverage. Some state programs are designed to help with this problem. In California, there is a program called Healthy Families that might help you. Healthy Families is a low cost insurance coverage program for children and teens. It provides health, dental, and vision coverage for children who do not have insurance coverage and who do not qualify for free Medi-Cal. This is a public, or government run, form of health insurance. There are several eligibility requirements … Continue reading →

An Affordable Alternative to Pet Insurance

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Pet owners know that there is potential that their dog or cat could become seriously sick or injured. There are pet owners who will purchase pet insurance before buying health insurance for themselves, but not all will go to this extreme. Fortunately, Pet Assure has an affordable alternative to pet insurance. Pet insurance is, in some ways, similar to a health insurance plan for humans. This isn’t a perfect analogy, but it gives you a basic idea of what pet insurance is designed to cover. Each specific policy will vary a bit on exactly what is covered, and how much … Continue reading →

Swiss Required to Buy Health Insurance Since 1996

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The individual mandate is, by far, the most complained about portion of the Affordable Care Act. As I write this blog, we are waiting to hear the Supreme Court’s ruling about it. Conversely, the Swiss government has required people to purchase health insurance since 1996. You probably haven’t heard about that, though, because the Swiss didn’t get outraged about it. In 1996, the Swiss government created federal laws that were designed to control the costs of health insurance and to ensure equitable coverage for everyone. One of the requirements that went into affect made all Swiss residents purchase health insurance … Continue reading →

The HealthCare Blue Book Can Help You Negotiate

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Health care is expensive, especially if you do not have health insurance. There is a growing trend to encourage people, both patients and doctors, to seek out the least expensive form of treatment. If you are going to negotiate with your doctor, it helps to know what a specific treatment or procedure truly costs. The Healthcare Blue Book can help you with that. The phrase “Blue Book” is one that is often used when people are trying to purchase a vehicle. The Blue Book is, literally, a book with a blue cover. Inside, you can find the actual value of … Continue reading →

Examining a Potential Health Insurance Plan

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I have once again begun the quest to find affordable health insurance. This time, I am seeking a health plan that will cover only me. My husband has Medicare Part A, and will have Part B soon. We have no children. I am taking a close look a policy that appears to be one I can afford. Earlier this week, I used HealthCare.gov to try and find an affordable health insurance plan. You can use that website to narrow down a whole bunch of health insurance plans, in order to find one that you can, (hopefully), afford. To be honest, … Continue reading →

Need Health Care? Try Groupon!

Health insurance is expensive. This is the main reason why so many Americans lack health insurance. Some of the social coupon websites have started connecting to dentists, doctors, and health care providers in order to offer people deals on health care services. Groupon is, perhaps, the most easily recognizable social coupon website. Others include: LivingSocial, PeopleDeals, EverSave, SocialBuy, and Tippr. Google might be getting into this market with GoogleOffers soon. In order to get a social coupon, you typically have to subscribe to the service. It isn’t free, but it also isn’t an outrageous price. The company connects with local … Continue reading →

A Review of Health Insurance Changes in 2011

The year 2011 has brought many changes to health insurance. Most, if not all of it, can be attributed to portions of the Affordable Care Act. There are still plenty of things about the American health care system that need to be improved. Even so, 2011 was definitely a year that brought many improvements to health insurance. This year, the Affordable Care Act brought Americans health reform laws that improved people’s ability to find health insurance coverage. It also improved health insurance by limiting some of the things that insurers can do, and changing how they do other things. 2011 … Continue reading →

Free Preventative Care Isn’t Always Free

In 2010, the federal government passed a law under the Affordable Care Act. This law required all health insurance companies to provide everything that was officially considered as preventative care to their customers for free. The problem is, many health insurers have found “loopholes” to avoid having to give away free preventative care. According to HealthCare.gov, all health insurance plans that were purchased after September 23, 2010, are required to offer all preventative services for free to their customers. The insurer is not allowed to charge for those forms of health care, and cannot make their customers pay a co-payment, … Continue reading →