Health Insurance Blog

There is a new state mandate that requires all Massachusetts residents over age 18 to have health insurance. Those still without health insurance coverage at the end of this year today will ring in the New Year with penalties and fines.

Residents who are uninsured will face a $219 penalty when they file their taxes next year, and will accumulate monthly fines if they continue the year without coverage.

Initially many people thought about moving to some other places, instead of being forced to sign up for a plan. State is doing well, wants people to be insured but for that you need to be fined, its not acceptable to many people.

The “young adults plan,” aimed at 18- to 26-year-olds looking for basic coverage, is the cheapest insurance plan the state is offering. Policy prices range from $200 to $400 a month.

This mandate would be hurting for those who are not sound financially.

“I’m worried about the people who don’t have a voice in all this; who don’t have any advocates,” said Ms. Ayala, while having breakfast with friends at the Pickle Barrel Delicatessen on Pleasant Street. “A lot of Spanish-speaking, and low-income people might not know where to turn for help. Dealing with insurance when you actually have it is hard enough; I can’t imagine not being covered and then being punished with fines for it.”

This mandate would again make life difficult for those who cannot afford insurance – low income people, let alone giving fines.

“I think the ultimate goal of the whole thing is to help, not hurt people,” said Princeton resident Alice Swanson, another Pickle Barrel customer. “You’ll end up paying more for care if something happens to you when you’re uninsured, then you’ll pay in fines. We’ll have to see how things go next year.”

The new mandate has been issued by the State to make sure that people should aware of their situations, it has been issued to help those who are not insured and as a result is at a very big risk.

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With nearly 47 million Americans living without health insurance and health care costs rising exponentially, it looks like 2008 will be the year of health care;

“I believe with voters health care is at the top of their minds,” said Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, and spokesperson for Heartland Regional Medical Center. “Some of the candidates have very specific plans and others I would describe as conceptual.”

Under Clinton’s American Health Choices Plan, Americans will be able to keep their existing coverage or access the same private health insurance offered to members of Congress. In addition to these private options, Americans will also be offered the choice of a public plan, similar to Medicare. Under Clinton’s plan, working families will receive a refundable tax credit to help them afford high-quality insurance. Insurance premiums would be limited to a percentage of the family income. The plan also includes a tax credit for small businesses, as an incentive for providing job-based coverage.

Obama plans to create a new national health plan that allows individuals to buy coverage similar to that available to members of Congress. Individuals who do not qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, will be able to apply for a federal subsidy to buy into the new public plan. In addition, Obama will create a National Insurance Exchange to help individuals who seek private insurance. It will act as a watchdog group, ensuring fairness and making individual coverage more affordable and accessible. Employers who do not make a meaningful contribution to their employees health coverage plans will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll to the national plan. Small employers may qualify for exemption.

Under the Edwards plan, all Americans will have health coverage by 2012. His plan requires that business and other employers either cover their employees or help finance their health coverage. He plans to make insurance affordable by creating tax credits and reforming health insurance laws. Edwards also plans to create regional Health Care Markets. These “markets” will create purchasing pools, which will give every American bargaining power. Once these steps have been taken, Edwards will then require all American residents to acquire health insurance.

Huckabee does not propose a universal health care system. Instead, he advocates policies that will encourage the private sector to bring health care costs down and to improve the free market for health care services. He believes that health care will be more affordable if the government reforms medical liability, encourages the adoption electronic record keeping, makes health insurance portable from job to job, expands health saving accounts and provides tax credits for low-income families. According to Huckabee, “costs have skyrocketed because the party paying for the health care — the employer (OOTC:EPLI) — and the party using the health care — the employee — are not the same.”

According to McCain’s Web site, “we can and must provide access to health care for all our citizens.” His health care plan does not include a universal health care system; he does advocate a $2,500 individual and $5,000 family tax credit to increase incentives for insurance coverage. This would allow Americans to seek alternative health insurance, instead of relying on their employers. McCain also believes families should be able to purchase health insurance across state lines, maximizing their choices, and that insurance should move with individuals from job to job and from work to retirement.

Instead of a universal coverage system, Giuliani advocates making the current system more affordable for Americans. Giuliani proposes a health insurance credit to low-income Americans. Giuliani also believes that price transparency and quality health care will expand competition and drive down prices. He plans to encourage these measures offering block grants to states for programs that reduce costs, improve health care quality and encourage transparency. Giuliani also plans to require the availability of low-cost insurance options.

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It used to be that getting a quote on life insurance felt like you were pre-determining your life expectancy. Sure, they called it a life insurance quote, but it seemed more like a death insurance quote. After answering each question, the insurance salesperson would give you that look that says, How could you do that? Don’t you know it cuts ten years off your life??
Well it’s not that bad today. Life insurance quotes are now easier than ever, thanks to the time saving technology from the online world. You can get a term life insurance quote from several companies and compare them without ever talking to a representative. Get a whole life insurance quote in a matter of seconds instead of days. And you can do it all from the comfort of home.

Some Things to Remember When you Compare Life Insurance Quotes
1. Be Accurate: The more accurate your information is, the more accurate your life quote will be. Never hide information like whether or not you smoke. Remember, this would set life insurance companies free from their obligations in the event of your death, so it wouldn’t even make sense to have insurance if you’re not as accurate as possible.
2. Never Base Your Choices on Price Alone: Low prices are always attractive, but find out for sure that a policy will suit your needs. Ask for the details involved in term life insurance and whole life insurance plans. Don’t take anything for granted. And research the insurance companies. Find out how long they’ve been in business and how fast their usual turn around is for pay-offs.
3. Compare from at Least Three Companies: There’s no reason to limit yourself to one or two quotes, not when obtaining a quote is so easy. Shop around and find out what insurance companies have to offer.
4. To Compare Life Insurance Quotes, Start with the Same Set of Answers: If you’re comparing different quotes, make sure they’re not for different policies. Type of life insurance policy, time periods for term policies, and the insured amount can all have a huge impact on a quote, so make sure the answers to questionnaires are the same from company to company.

The Difference between Whole Life Insurance and Term Life Insurance
For the most part, there are two kinds of life insurance: whole life insurance and term life insurance. While there are variations of both of these, the biggest difference between the two is that one is for long term coverage and one is for short term coverage, and your life insurance quotes will be very different for each one.

Whole Life Insurance (generally for long term coverage) has a set premium and doesn’t change (except for some variations) throughout the policy term. You pay your premiums, and when you die, your beneficiary receives the pay-off. Your whole life insurance quote will specify the premium amount. As you pay into the policy, it builds equity, which you can withdraw or borrow against.

Term Life Insurance (usually used for short term coverage) only lasts for a certain amount of time. That time is defined in the term life insurance quote. At the end of this term, the policy ends and the policy is re-evaluated for a new quote.

Using Online Life Insurance Quotes
Use a website that connects you to several life insurance companies. Add them to your favorites menu so you can find them again. As you receive your quotes, print them out for easy comparison. In no time at all, you’ll find the perfect company for your life insurance needs without ever feeling like you’re the one being examined.

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Term life insurance is similar to renting a home vs. purchasing it. Once the rental period (term) is up, the policyholder has no equity. Term life insurance policies build no cash value and therefore the coverage is relatively inexpensive as compared to permanent insurance policies. Many people purchase term insurance to insure for a specific event such as a mortgage, business buyout or children’s school aged years.

Term insurance can be used as a way to afford some type of protection while saving for a permanent policy. Other people feel it’s a cost effective way to protect them while still being able to keep their other investments.

Term Insurance Coverage Options
The following are a few things offered with most term policies.

Level Premiums: Companies offer level premiums over the term of the policy meaning the premium can never be increased or decreased; it remains the same for the term of the contract.
Convertible policies: Term policies may be converted into permanent insurance prior to the term expiring.
Waiver of premium is one important rider usually offered with Term life insurance. If selected, the insurance company pays the premiums of the policy in the event the insured becomes disabled and can no longer pay the premiums.

5 Things you must know about life insurance

We polled 50 Life Insurance Agents and asked them: ‘What 5 things MUST you know BEFORE buying Life insurance?’ Here is what they said…and more!

5 Things…In no order of importance:

1) Coverage Amounts

Do you know how much coverage you need or are you just rounding and guessing. It seems like the life insurance business has turned into multiples of $100,000. Don’t take the easy way out and just guess at a number.

2) Know the difference between permanent and term life insurance

Term Insurance is temporary insurance and will expire at some point.

Whole Life insurance is for your ‘whole life’ as long as you continue to pay the premium. In addition to the life insurance death benefit, It does have an ‘account’ that earns interest

3) Is It Too Late to buy Life Insurance?
It’s critical to buy life insurance when you can. Depending on how much coverage you want and how old you are, life insurance can be difficult to get.

4) Smokers pay higher premiums.
You can’t smoke in buildings anymore, you get naughty looks from people who get the slightest whiff of your smoke, and you generally are looked at as unhealthy. Unfortunately, we don’t have any good news here. Life Insurance companies do not like smokers. Premiums reflect that. You will pay dramatically more for a life insurance policy as a smoker than as a non-smoker

5) Keep up with changes in your life.
Don’t forget to do a review of your life insurance every couple years. At a minimum, review your life insurance program when major changes occur (birth of a child, significant change in household expenses, etc.).

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The rising cost of health insurance has prompted many employers to either drop health coverage as part of their compensation package or to pass most of the cost related to health insurance premiums on to their employees. The result has been a steady increase in the number of workers who do not have or choose not to have medical insurance.

Currently, there are just under 50 million working Americans who do not have medical insurance. Industry studies have shown that, for these individuals, either insurance was not offered or the premium passed onto the employee made health insurance too expensive to retain.

According to the Census Bureau, the number of uninsured Americans continues to grow, and that growth extends well beyond the poverty level into middle class America.

A possible solution for individuals looking to purchase medical insurance may be on the horizon.

Roughly, 7% of Americans with medical insurance are insured privately. That number is expected to grow, as is evident by an increasing number of large medical insurance companies that are positioning themselves to meet the expected need for individual insurance.

To help individuals afford private health coverage, the White House has been promoting tax credits to help offset the cost of medial coverage.

Additionally, more health insurance companies are investigating the possibility of adopting lower cost plans that have higher deductibles coupled with tax deferred medical savings plans.

While this may lower the cost of offering group medical insurance as part of their overall compensation program for employees, the purchase of these policies must still be blanket in nature and benefit the diverse needs of various employees. For the individual seeking medical coverage, this could prove to be an expensive option as the designated plans are also geared toward employees with families.

For many of us, choosing a medical plan is like trying to buy a relative a birthday present. We know that we want to purchase a present, but deciding what kind of gift to get based on what we know about our relative and the budget we have to shop with can be a challenge.

People seeking individual health insurance should consider enlisting the aid of a professional insurance agent. Professional insurance agents are familiar with the health insurance companies and the latest insurance policies that are available from these insurance providers at a variety of budget levels.

When discussing an insurance policy with a qualified agent, they will carefully consider your needs, including:

Budget: A medical insurance policy comes with an annual premium, which will probably be broken down into monthly payments that you must make to retain your health insurance coverage.
Term: Depending on your needs, you may choose to buy short term or long term medical insurance.
General Health: Your general health should be a consideration when discussing medical insurance options. People who are of good health and rarely ever use their insurance will need a different type, and less expensive, policy than those who need frequent medical attention.
Co-payment: Those who are less likely to use their insurance except for emergencies may opt for policies with higher co-pays, which can reduce premium amounts.

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Life insurance may not be a pleasant topic, but it certainly is an important one. It is never too early or too late to begin thinking about purchasing life insurance. Many individuals wait until an event compels them to purchase life insurance, but many questions come with the security.

If you do not know much about life insurance, do not worry; there are plenty of advisors to help you. All you have to do is to find one with reasonable experience and reputation. Even if you have a life insurance done by your employer, just think if that is enough. Getting your life insurance is solely your decision and needs to be handled by you. Think carefully, take a decision and do not worry too much of the consequences. By purchasing life insurance you are assuring your family of a comfortable future. Life insurance is not inspired by melancholy thoughts. Life insurance just reminds that future can be unpredictable and it has to be secured. Do not be like those people who seek life insurance only after seeing other families struggle after the death of their child, relative or guardian.

As a rule, life insurance should cover your income seven to ten times. This formula depends on many factors like debts, assets and other needs. Take into account all your liabilities like your house or car payments, plus college fees, weddings, medical bills and so on. Life insurance should be able to replace your monthly income. But don’t spend all your money in life insurance and allow your loved ones to live in opulence afterwards. Make sure your life insurance is enough to provide a comfortable life to them.

Many individuals incorrectly assume only those with a traditional income should have a life insurance policy. Quite to the contrary, non-working individuals, such as “stay-at-home” moms and dads should have policies that will replace their work. Attempt to place a monetary amount on your daily tasks by pricing meal and laundry services, childcare, and home repair.

Purchasing life insurance is a way of providing economic protection to your loved ones after unfortunate events. In order to make sure your family is taken care of after you are gone, put great thought into the amount of insurance your choose to purchase.

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An antibiotic, which also fights inflammation, may be beneficial when taken within 24 hours.

Administering the antibiotic minocycline within 24 hours after a stroke significantly reduces brain damage and physical impairment, Israeli researchers reported.

Researchers hope the drug, which also combats inflammation, may widen the “golden window” during which strokes can be treated.

Clot-dissolving drugs — the current gold standard for stroke treatment — must be administered in the first three hours to be effective, and many patients do not receive them in time.

If the study can be replicated, “minocycline could be an important means of reducing the disabling effects of stroke,” said Dr. Steven V. Pacia, a neurologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, who was not involved in the study.

The drug’s anti-inflammatory properties may block damage to neurons from toxins released when other brain cells die, said Dr. Raymond A. Swanson of UC San Francisco.

Swanson has previously shown in the test tube that minocycline blocks the activity of an enzyme called poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1, which can trigger inflammation and cell death.

The antibiotic is being studied in a variety of trials to determine whether it can protect brain cells in Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and traumatic brain injury, Swanson said.

Half received minocycline an average of about 12 hours after their strokes and for five days afterward; the rest received a placebo. Doctors and patients knew who had received the drug, but the neurologists evaluating the patients’ conditions did not.

“The improvement was apparent within a week of the stroke,” Lampl said. At the end of three months, those receiving minocycline did four times better on the National Institutes of Health stroke scale, which measures vision, facial palsy, movement and speaking ability.

The minocycline group had a score that indicated little or no disability, and the placebo group was at the high end of mild disability, the team said. Similar results were obtained on two other ratings scales.

That is “a relatively dramatic improvement,” Marler said. “But they knew they were getting the drug, and the people who didn’t get the drug knew that they weren’t getting it.”

Also, he added, “These were relatively mild strokes, and we would have expected [the control group] to get better than they did.”

Researchers are planning a larger blind study in which participants won’t know they are getting the drug, Lampl said. The team would also like to determine whether giving the drug intravenously would be more effective than giving it orally.

None of the researchers reported any conflicts of interest. Minocycline is a generic drug that is widely used to treat acne, and it is generally considered safe.

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The Principal Financial Group®, the nation’s premier provider of employee benefits, introduces an integrated health improvement program designed to reward and encourage good health. The program combines a traditional health insurance policy with a wellness program, creating the potential for significant savings on deductibles and co-payments for employees who participate. Employers benefit from reduced health care coverage costs and a healthier, more productive work force.

“Being healthy should save health care costs.” With this new product we leveled the playing field, giving all employees a chance to improve their health – and reap the financial rewards,” said Jerry Ripperger, director of consumer health for the Principal Financial Group. “Healthy employees are essential in fighting our health crisis. Empowering employees to improve their health is quite simply a smart business decision.”

Savings for employers could reach 6 percent of their total health insurance costs for those implementing the new benefit program. Employees also experience savings and the opportunity to make achievable changes to their health by working with a wellness coach. The standard coverage will be the same for all employees however those who participate in the required wellness program and meet certain criteria will receive a reduction on deductibles and co-payments.

Here’s how the program works:

All employees automatically receive savings on deductibles and co-payments for the first three months of coverage. During that time, each covered employee and his or her covered spouse/partner will be required to complete a health risk assessment and wellness screening in order to continue receiving the savings.
The results will be analyzed by Principal Wellness Company and evaluated according to a standard set of criteria. Individual results will be kept confidential, but employers will receive an aggregate report of all employees.
Employees who meet a minimum score requirement continue to receive the savings.
Those who do not meet this requirement will be given options for making achievable health improvements in order to receive the same savings. They will also have the opportunity for personalized consulting from a health coach.
The plan premium is the same for all participants.
“We know wellness works and now we have a new way to show the value of maintaining good health for employers and their employees,” said Audrey Vaughn, second vice president of wellness and medical management for The Principal. “This is not just a reward for the healthy. Those who are not as healthy really benefit most. Not only do they receive a reduced rate if they’re willing to make health improvements, they also get personalized consulting with one of our health coaches to help them achieve a healthier lifestyle.”

The product is currently being offered to fully insured and self-funded groups in Michigan and Iowa. A Principal Wellness consultant works directly with the employer to develop a program that works best for their specific organization.

“This is an exciting evolution of consumer driven healthcare. We’ve been empowering employees to take an active role in their health and now we have one more way to reward those who keep that promise,” said Ripperger.

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Now that our children have begun another school year, a serious health threat may await them — the school day itself. Increasingly, students are attending schools where less time in physical education and easier access to high-sugar snacks and drinks have become the norm.

As a result of unhealthy habits, one in four Massachusetts high school students is now considered overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, according to the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Those students are more at risk for heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and other serious diseases later in life. Nationally, obesity kills 100,000 people every year and costs more than $90 billion in medical bills.

Curing childhood obesity will require an approach that is correspondingly broad. Here are some first steps:

- Return to a mandated minimum amount of physical education in the school system. A mandate of at least 90 minutes was eliminated by the Board of Education in 1996 to make way for more academic time. It was a well-intentioned goal, but ultimately a mistake. According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the number of high school students participating in physical education just once a week is now less than 60 percent. Various bills have been introduced to require students of all ages to spend more time in physical education. Passing one of them should be a legislative priority this year.

- Prioritize funding of athletic programs and reduce or even eliminate user fees. This is a tall order given the financial pressures schools already face, but we must look at school sports as not merely an extracurricular activity, but an integral part of the school experience.

- Set uniform nutritional standards for drinks and snacks sold in school vending machines, as has been proposed by Sen. Moore. The bill would limit school vending machine beverages to water, fruit juice, sport drinks, no-calorie beverages and non- and low-fat milk. Snacks could contain no more than 190 calories for elementary schools, 225 calories for middle schools and 250 for high schools.

- Begin factoring financial incentives for “healthy” decisions into health insurance. For example, Fallon Community Health Plan has begun to use tobacco use in setting premiums for its own employees, offering financial rewards to non-tobacco users. Why not similarly reward exercise and healthy eating by using certain factors, such as body mass index. Our experience has shown that having financial “skin in the game” leads health care consumers, both individuals and businesses, to focus on their health care choices. With everyone now required to buy health insurance in Massachusetts, such an option becomes even more important.

- Start modeling better behavior around our kids. Parents cannot rely on the government or the health care system to teach our kids healthy habits. Those systems are already stretched thin, and they are not as effective communicators of values as parents anyway. We can’t expect our kids to choose an apple over a cookie if we don’t. We can’t expect sports and exercise to become their habit if our own idea of a big sports day is watching the Patriots from the sofa.

Much of this will not be easy or cheap. Adding gym teachers and after-school sports is expensive and will ultimately fall on taxpayers. But the financial cost of not acting is more expensive. By some estimates, obesity leads to $93 billion in additional medical costs, including an average annual $180 per taxpayer for higher Medicare and Medicaid costs. It also leads to more missed work days and even the consumption of more fossil fuel.

Not all solutions need to cost money — just a little creative thinking. Many school nurses throughout Massachusetts have begun free walking, yoga and other clubs that meet before or after school.

The lives of our children depend on it.

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Use of cholesterol and blood pressure medicines by young adults appears to be rising rapidly — at a faster pace than among senior citizens, according to an industry report being released Tuesday.

Experts point to higher rates of obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol problems among young people. Also, doctors are getting more aggressive with preventive treatments

Still, he said many more people should be on the drugs that lower cholesterol or blood pressure and which have been shown to reduce risks for heart attack and stroke.

The new data, from prescription benefit manager Medco Health Solutions Inc., indicate use of cholesterol-lowering drugs among people aged 20 to 44, while still low, jumped 68 percent over a six-year period.

Among people 65 and older, use of blood pressure drugs increased only 9. 5 percent and use of cholesterol drugs by 52 percent. That’s because half the seniors were already taking blood pressure drugs and more than one in four were taking cholesterol drugs in 2001.

Jones, dean of the University Of Mississippi School Of Medicine, said he has seen some increase in young adults with blood pressure or cholesterol problems, but not of the magnitude suggested by Medco’s data.

Dr. Howard Weintraub, the heart disease prevention expert at the American College of Cardiology, said he’s “thrilled” by the dramatic increase, which he says is tied to requests from patients with “a brand new sense of urgency” and referrals from other doctors to his private practice.

“If you wait until a heart attack or stroke, it’s a little bit late,” Weintraub said.

He and Epstein both said patients with problems should first work with their doctors on lifestyle changes — more exercise, a better diet and weight loss. But Weintraub said many people need medication to achieve and maintain the ever-lower levels of blood pressure and cholesterol that experts now recommend.

Once patients start taking these medicines, they usually stay with them and there are some side effects, LaRosa said.

“It’s amazing what (losing) five or 10 pounds will do” to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels, he said.

Federal health statistics show that while the percentage of people with high cholesterol has dropped overall in recent years, it has risen among younger people, especially those 20 to 34 years old.

Medco processes prescription claims for about 60 million insured Americans. The report’s findings are based on a representative sample of data from 2. 5 million members.

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