Insurance health

Sebelius Releases New Report: Protecting Families and Putting More Money in Your Pocket: How Health Insurance Reform Will Lower Costs and Increase Choices

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released a new report, Protecting Families and Putting More Money in Your Pocket: How Health Insurance Reform Will Lower Costs and Increase Choices.

“Health insurance reform isn’t about politics, it’s about families. Every day, millions of families across the country wonder how they will pay their skyrocketing medical bills or what they will do if their children get sick,” Secretary Sebelius said. “Those families are our priority and we are fighting to give them the affordable, secure, stable coverage they need.”

Under the health care status quo, the average premium for a family plan purchased through an employer is $13,375, more than double the premium in 2000 and premiums have grown more than three times faster than wages. The number of people in working families who spend more than ten percent of their income on health care has more than tripled. Additionally, a recent survey estimated that 72 million non-elderly adults have accumulated medical debt or had difficulty paying medical bills in the past year -- and 61 percent of them had insurance.

Health insurance reform will ensure that every American can find affordable health care coverage, control costs for families and provide Americans with unprecedented stability and security. Reform will also help strengthen the American economy and put more money in the pockets of American families. Lowering health care costs by 1 percent will create 320,000 jobs nationwide and raise median family income by $6,800 by 2030. Reform will also drive down premiums for families and limit out-of-pocket costs that eat into the family budget.

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Insurance health

Florida Health Insurance

and the Internet

by Tom Carolan

in Health

(submitted 2009-11-21)

0

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Medical insurance companies in Florida have begun to see that the Internet has revolutionized medical insurance. Those seeking health coverage no longer have to meet with insurance representatives who can take weeks to provide insurance quotes. In Florida, the quickest and simplest way to get the best insurance rate from the leading medical insurance companies in the state, such as Humana and Aetna, is to force them to compete for your business.

Like many, if you do not feel comfortable having to meet with different insurance agents and having them push their insurance policy on you, then you must learn more about medical insurance shopping on the Internet. Because there are so many Florida health insurance sites online that offer health insurance quotes, you must recognize the differences between each type. The two main types of sites that offer health insurance quotes to Florida shoppers are Insurance Agencies and Marketing Organizations.

Insurance agency websites are managed by an insurance agency. Keep in mind that it is important to use an independent Florida insurance agency that can make health insurance quotes available from the top health insurance companies in Florida. It is not wise to use the health insurance carrier websites because they are extremely time consuming.

Generally, the independent insurance agency sites on the Internet will have a feature that you can use to request an insurance quote. But there is an even better way to request your quote when you look for a site that has instant and LIVE insurance quotes available. This method is an extremely quick way to receive a Florida health insurance quote from top health insurance companies in the state.

The second type of site is run by Marketing Organizations who do not sell insurance. These organizations are not regulated by insurance departments and they usually do not know anything about Florida health insurance. Even though they are not concerned with insurance details, these sites make a very appealing service available.

These organizations work as a middleman between insurance shoppers in Florida and insurance agents in the state as well. When a woman in Miami, FL makes a request for a health insurance quote, the marketing company will then advertise her information to 5 or more Florida insurance agents as a lead.

This leads to at least 5 insurance agents seeking you out for your business with their company. Aside from any privacy issues and the knowledge of the health insurance agents, you will have plenty of contact from the insurance agents who receive your information. You will receive plenty of emails and phone calls!

When you opt for the sites that allow instant and LIVE Florida health insurance quotes, you get the best of both types of insurance sites. First, you can have competitive pricing when you see all the quotes next to each other from top Florida health insurance companies. This is the best quality of the marketing organization sites. Or, you can have personal help from an insurance expert, which is the best quality of the insurance agency sites. When you use the Internet, you can view the best quotes side by side and you can never do that with the traditional methods used for seeking out insurance quotes.

About the Author

http://www.BestHealthcareRates.com has helped thousands of individuals, families & businesses find affordable medical insurance or family medical insurance. BestHealthcareRates.com is Rated A+. For more information visit, http://www.BestHealthcareRates.com today!

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Insurance health

Trauma Deadlier for Kids Without Insurance

Finding emphasizes need to fix U.S. health care, expert says

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_91403.html (*this news item will not be available after 02/04/2010)

HealthDay Robert Preidt Friday, November 6, 2009

TUESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Uninsured children in the United States are three times more likely to die from trauma injuries than children with private insurance, according to a new study.

Children with public insurance, such as Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program, were also slightly more likely to die as those with private insurance, the study found.

"We have this idea that everyone is treated equally, yet the mortality rate after trauma among uninsured children is much higher when compared to children with commercial insurance," Dr. Heather Rosen, a research fellow in plastic surgery at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School and the study's lead researcher, said in a news release from the hospital.

The findings, published in the October issue of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery, stemmed from an analysis of National Trauma Data Bank information on 174,921 trauma patients aged 17 and younger.

The researchers suggested several possible reasons for the disparity they found:

• Trauma patients with no insurance or public insurance might be transferred from one hospital to another, causing a delay in treatment.
• Uninsured patients might be given fewer medical tests, leading to inadequate diagnoses or missed injuries.
• If uninsured patients don't speak English, if it's not their native language, or if their education level is lower overall, they might have trouble talking to health-care providers about their medical history and quality of care after they were injured.

"This study suggests that there may be a direct effect of possessing insurance," Rosen said. "We need to work harder to get to the point where every person has access to health care in this country."

She noted that the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) requires all hospitals to treat patients until they're medically stable, regardless of insurance status.

"This paper provokes more questions than it answers," she said. "Should we be more vigilant about investigating whether EMTALA laws are being violated? Is this happening more often than we care to admit?"

SOURCE: Children's Hospital Boston, news release, Nov. 2, 2009

HealthDay
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insurance health

Rainy Day Coverage

High-deductible medical insurance can lower your premiums, but watch
out for the loopholes
C hoosing insurance coverage is essentially betting on your health,
so I was nervous when my sister told me she might try to save money
by switching to a high-deductible plan. With high-deductible
(aka catastrophic) insurance, you pay low premiums and cover most
of your own routine medical care. If your expenses mount higher than
the deductible ($2,000 to $5,000, on average, depending on the plan),
insurance kicks in to cover either all or a major portion of your
bills. These policies aren't for everyone, but they can be a good
deal for the right consumer.
If you have employer-sponsored health insurance, you're probably
re-evaluating your coverage right now during open enrollment. Take a
good look at a high deductible: In a recent survey, 42 percent of
companies said they plan to increase employee contributions in 2010.
Here's how to figure out if you should go with one of these
increasingly popular plans.
That means less money out of your paycheck, and, if you're worried
about a layoff, a lower COBRA payment. According to comparison site
ehealthinsurance.com, trad­ing a $1,000 deductible for a $2,500
deductible can shave 25 percent off your premiums. A $5,000 deductible
can save another 20 to 25 percent.