0

Does My Insurance Cover Gardasil For Girls?

Does My Insurance Cover Gardasil For Girls?

What is Gardasil?

Gardasil is a vaccine created by Merck and Co. In 2006 it was approved by the FDA for use in women as a vaccination against the HPV (human papillomavirus). HPV can cause cervical cancer in women and it is estimated that more than 6 million Americans are infected with HPV every year. HPV is spread through human sexual contact and causes genital warts and may lead to cervical cancer in womena and in very rare cases, anal or penile cancer in men. Most people who contract HPV experience few or no symptoms at all.

Gardasil is recommended only for girls who have not been sexually active, as it does nothing to help those who have already contracted HPV. Gardasil protects from 4 out of more than 100 different viruses that cause HPV. Out of those 100, only about 12 have the potential to cause cervical cancer and Gardasil protects against 2 of those.

How is Gardasil Administered?

Gardasil is administered as a series of 3 shots over six months. Each shot costs $120 as recommended by Merck and Co., but the actual amount charged by your doctor may include their fees or a markup on the vaccine itself. The vaccine is generally only offered to women between the ages of 9 and 26 because that is the age range it was tested on by Merck and Co. and when the FDA approved the vaccine they stuck with that demogratphic.

So Does My Insurance Cover Gardasil?

It probably does. At this point more than 96% of health plans in the nation have provision to cover Gardasil for girls. You should check with your specific provider, but if it turns out that they do not cover you, and you have a hardship in paying for the vaccine, there are programs available directly through Merck and Co. that can help you get the vaccine for free. There are other programs available as well – some from the government – which can assist with paying for this vaccine.

Continue Reading

0

Fixing health care has giant consequences. Here are the potential economic rewards for getting it right and the perils of getting it wrong.

Subscribe to Economy

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer
Last Updated: June 18, 2009: 4:58 PM ET

chart_health_care.jpg
chart_health_care2.jpg

Photos
Sick pay: 9 stories of health costs

From $10,000 deductibles to no coverage at all, CNNMoney.com readers and viewers reveal their battle with the rising costs of health insurance.

Money Summit 2009
Finally — some rays of hope for the unemployed. Can the recovery last? Most important: Where are the jobs?Get the answers when Anderson Cooper and Ali Velshi host our panel of experts and check in on virtual town halls across the country.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Americans are being told daily that health reform isn’t just the right thing to do — it will also help save the economy.

“Health care reform is not part of the problem when it comes to our fiscal future, it is a fundamental part of the solution,” President Obama said in a recent address.

The crux of the problem: The United States spends far more on health care than do other developed countries, but it often gets far less bang for its buck. Meanwhile, a large number of Americans either can’t afford insurance or have insurance that doesn’t adequately cover their medical costs.

The kicker, of course, is that rising costs are making the country’s long-term fiscal picture very, very ugly.

For many, the Washington debate over the mind-bending details of different options obscures the issue of what’s at stake. What is the threat to the economy if no action is taken? What happens if a health system overhaul succeeds … and what are the economic perils if it fails?

The economy without health reform

For 40 years, health care costs have grown faster than inflation and wages.

Today, the United States — including the government, employers and individuals — spends more than 16% of its gross domestic product on health care, or $7,421 per person, according to the Kaiser Foundation.

If health care costs grow unabated, the country is on track to spend more than 20% of its GDP on health by 2018.

In other words, 20% of the value of goods and services Americans produce will be spent on health care alone.

The more we spend on health, the less we’ll have to spend on other things. That can hamper economic growth and means there will be less and less money available to support education, defense and other priorities.

Meanwhile, the country’s already record high debt is set to swell to unsustainable heights due largely to rising health care costs, which expand federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid.

By 2035, the Government Accountability Office estimates that all federal revenue — taxes and fees paid by individuals and businesses — will be consumed by Medicare, Medicaid and interest on the public debt.

“Virtually all of our long-term fiscal challenge is attributable to the rapid growth in health care costs. And unless we get them under control, our budget is doomed,” said Robert Reischauer, former director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) who is now president of the Urban Institute.

Lawmakers note that higher health care costs put U.S. businesses at a competitive disadvantage because they have to pay so much more to insure their employees than do their foreign competitors.

Indeed, among developed countries, the United States is the biggest spender. It spends 52% more on heath per person than the country ranked second, which is Switzerland. Despite that, the United States does not necessarily do better in terms of health care access, quality or outcomes.

0:00 /2:18Boosting health reform

Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Fund estimates that currently 46 million people have no insurance, while another 25 million working-age adults are underinsured.

In a letter to lawmakers, the CBO made plain the consequences of letting health costs grow unrestrained.

“The country faces difficult and fundamental tradeoffs between limiting the growth of Medicare and Medicaid … accepting a continuing increase in taxes … and reducing other spending … possibly to levels not experienced in this country in more than 40 years.”

If health reform works

Arguably, there are three measures by which to judge whether health reform is successful from an economic standpoint. It would have to pay for itself over time; reduce health spending without compromising quality; and provide affordable, accessible care for everyone.

The CBO told lawmakers that a 1% reduction in the growth of federal health care spending each year for the next 20 years would pay for the cost of expanding coverage in the first decade and then provide savings that “exceed that cost in the next decade.”

The desired end result of reform is less money spent for the same or better care and with better outcomes.

“If we do it right, it allows us to have a more efficient health care system … and we can use the additional savings to invest in something, educate someone or pursue some other national goal,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former CBO director.

Obama economic adviser Christina Romer estimates that if the annual growth rate in health care costs slows by 1.5 percentage points a year — which she concedes is a high bar — real GDP could increase by more than 2% in 2020 and by nearly 8% in 2030.

But GDP isn’t the only measure of well-being.

“If people get better access to health care those people are better off,” said Robert Book, a senior research fellow in health economics at the Heritage Foundation.

But the physical dividends pay off economically as well. That’s because it’s easier to generate income when you’re healthy. And it’s easier to stimulate the economy with your income when you’re not bankrupted by a medical crisis.

If health reform fails

One reason health reform hasn’t happened yet: It is painfully hard to figure out how to do it right.

And economically, there are serious risks if health reform is done wrong.

For Book, reform will have failed if everyone gets covered but has to wait for essential care. “People will be sick, less productive and not get what they paid for,” he said.

He believes taxing a portion of workers’ health care benefits could lead to a more efficient use of health services. But, he said, using other tax increases to fund reform could place a drag on GDP.

If that happens, that will “mak[e] it far more difficult to escape the debt trap,” wrote Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff in a Financial Times op-ed.

To Holtz-Eakin, who advised John McCain in last year’s presidential race, failed health reform would mean that “everyone gets coverage but we don’t change the underlying cost dynamics. Health care spending goes up and we haven’t solved our deficit problem.”

In that scenario, health reform would make the deficit worse — which “could prove the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” Rogoff wrote.

And the deficit could get worse even if lawmakers pass measures that can pay for health reform in full.

Here’s why: some of the biggest savings from reform might not be realized for at least a decade because they will require key changes in how medicine works. In the interim, however, there is a risk that lawmakers will undermine those savings by tweaking reform policies — such as succumbing to political pressure to defer scheduled payment cuts for providers.

If lawmakers are really serious about putting the federal budget on a sustainable path, the CBO said, that just won’t do.

Continue Reading

0

Florida health insurance is big business. Unfortunately, sometimes it turns out to be monkey business.

When shopping for health insurance in Florida make sure to be wary of your agent.  Firstly he should or she should be licensed with at least 6 health insurance companies.  Also you should be familiary with all of the names that he mentions that he represents.  So if he says Mega, or American health plan simply hang up the phone.  Make him/her email you quotes to prove that they are actually licensed with these companies.

These Florida health insurance scams operate in every state and are stealing millions of dollars from innocent victims. And sometimes, you don’t find out until your medical bills go unpaid.

There are a few common warning signs when you are about to get ripped off: 

  • The plan appears to be health insurance, but the agent used words such as “benefits” and “coverage” instead of “insurance.” 
  • You are asked to pay an expensive “application fee” or “association fee” in addition to the premium.  The only companies that have application for health insurance are scams.  Even United Health Care which has a $3 Fact Fee association fee is not necessarily good.
  • The insurance company has no local offices and you have never heard of them, though the broker you are dealing with of course should be independent.
  • The broker using high pressure techniques tells you the rate is changing the next day or something to this effect.  Yes rates do go up quarterly but the chances of it happening on any particular day are 4/365 which is about 1%
  • The plan you are applying for has no underwriting and will 1accept all applicants. Serious medical issues like diabetes do not change the rate (though we are hopeful health reform will fix this)
  • All health insurance plans are within 25% of each other in terms of premium, if you get a very low quote investigate why
  • If the broker claims to send you product materials only if you sign up.

Of course…as the old saying goes…If it sounds too good to be true…it probably is.

echealthinsurance.com, Florida’s premier resource for Florida health insurance plans, never uses any type of “discount plan” or any insurer not rated “A” by A.M. Best Company. To instantly view, compare and apply for high quality health coverage, See some health insurance quotes now!

Continue Reading

0

America’s Best Health Plans

Desperate to control healthcare costs, employers are rolling out wellness programs with teeth

Posted October 25, 2007

Discounted gym memberships. Free cholesterol screening. Movie passes for completing a personal health Q&A. Traditionally, most corporate wellness programs have relied on a variety of small perks like these to nudge employees to pay better attention to their health.

Marsha Vorhis, 55, had no problem with her employer's proposal to set health goals.
Marsha Vorhis, 55, had no problem with her employer’s proposal to set health goals.

Weight Watchers, spinning, and classes in healthful nutrition and cooking led to a 90-pound loss for Betty Gravelle, 54—and a gain of $60 a week in her paycheck.

Weight Watchers, spinning, and classes in healthful nutrition and cooking led to a 90-pound loss for Betty Gravelle, 54—and a gain of $60 a week in her paycheck.

Despite such efforts, healthcare costs continue to rise, and most employees are getting no healthier. Straining to contain costs and looking ahead to worse as the workforce ages, employers are beginning to introduce wellness programs with teeth. Feel-good corporate self-interest is taking a back seat to employee accountability, with heftier rewards for those who toe the line—or painful bites taken from paychecks of workers who don’t. And instead of simply urging workers to exercise and engage in other health-promoting activities, companies are focusing on specific benchmarks for weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol, for example, that they expect employees to meet to get the lowest-priced healthcare coverage.

This bottom-line focus on “workplace wellness” stands to benefit workers as well as employers, of course, and could go some distance toward brightening the nation’s overall health picture, too. A study released by the Milken Institute in early October concluded that reorienting our health system toward preventing rather than treating disease could stave off 40 million cases of cancer, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses during the next 15 years. That would shrink the cost of medical care and lost productivity by $1.1 trillion, an amount equal to half of all healthcare spending in the United States in 2005.

Without some kind of sea change, the bill for treating the chronically ill will inflate even more rapidly. Spending on diabetes and other obesity-related maladies alone drove 34 percent of the increase in U.S. medical spending between 1987 and 2004, according to research by Kenneth Thorpe, professor of health policy at Emory University.

Healthy penalty. But incentive-based programs can be lightning rods. Clarian Health Partners, a large Indianapolis-based healthcare system, earlier this year found itself on the defensive after announcing that starting in 2009, 13,000 employees at five area hospitals would face a surcharge of up to $30 per pay period if they smoked, didn’t fill out a health-risk questionnaire, or fell short of targets for weight, blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure—a $5 penalty for each. Sheriee Ladd, vice president for human resources, says that as a healthcare provider, Clarian wanted to take a leadership role in encouraging healthful behaviors.

But employees rebelled, even though the company offered free lifestyle and nutrition coaching, stop-smoking programs, fitness centers, and other wellness activities. “We couldn’t get people to hear the message because they were so stuck on the charges,” says Ladd.

Clarian reversed course. Rather than being penalized for falling short of health targets, employees who meet them will receive up to $30 extra in every paycheck. “Now the package is more tolerable for employees to hear and digest,” says Ladd.

Marsha Vorhis didn’t object when Clarian announced the original wellness penalties. A patient visitor representative in the surgery waiting room at Clarian’s Methodist Hospital, she has shed more than 40 pounds since the beginning of the year with the help of a Weight Watchers program offered at the hospital at a slightly discounted $144 for 12 sessions. She figured she was already on track to meet the proposed BMI target of 30 or below, and as she lost weight, her other health markers were dropping into the normal range as well. Coworkers, however, were less than enthused. “They thought it was very invasive,” says Vorhis; some talked about quitting.

Those charged with overhauling employers’ healthcare policies generally are sensitive to backlash; health policy experts say Clarian’s experiment with “going negative” is an exception. Companies that offer financial inducements generally reward rather than punish, most often by offering a break on healthcare costs. At Johnson & Johnson, employees get $500 off their premium for completing a health risk assessment and working on health problems with a counselor. IBM employees can earn up to $300 in cash by exercising, eating right, not smoking, and filling out a health risk questionnaire.

Continue Reading

0

Best Health Plans 2008 Search: Commercial

The Florida health insurance plans with the lowest ranking this year (2008) based on consumer preference were Vista Health Plan.  Of course, it is with great angst that I even post this as I believe that Vista health plan is actually excellent.  As an HMO they are without equal in Florida.  In Georgia Kaiser HMO is also awesome.  At the end of the day though My Own Wife Has This Plan by Our Choice and We are Florida Health Insurance Agents!

Rankings reflect results of consumer surveys and success in preventing and treating illness compared with average health plan. The highest possible score is 100 points. Click on plan name for full information. Terms are explained in the glossary.

  Sort by Rank | Sort Alphabetically Score  
# 238
Consumer assessment Prevention Treatment
1
2
1
60.8
# 239
Vista Healthplan (HMO/POS)
Florida
Consumer assessment Prevention Treatment
2
2
1
60.5
 
JMH Health Plan (HMO)
Florida
Not reported

Continue Reading

0

Best Health Plans 2008 Search: Commercial

Rankings reflect results of consumer surveys and success in preventing and treating illness compared with average health plan. The highest possible score is 100 points. Click on plan name for full information. Terms are explained in the glossary.

Sort by Rank | Sort Alphabetically Score
# 23
Capital Health Plan (HMO)
Florida
Consumer assessment Prevention Treatment
4
5
4
86.8
# 60
Consumer assessment Prevention Treatment
4
4
4
84.5
# 93
CIGNA HealthCare of Florida (HMO/POS)
Florida
Consumer assessment Prevention Treatment
4
3
3
83.3
# 138
Aetna Health – Florida (HMO/POS)
Florida
Consumer assessment Prevention Treatment
3
3
2
82.0
# 152
UnitedHealthcare of Florida (HMO/POS)
Florida
Consumer assessment Prevention Treatment
3
3
2
81.6
# 161
Health Options (HMO)
Florida
Consumer assessment Prevention Treatment
3
3
2
81.2
# 162
AvMed Health Plans (HMO/POS)
Florida
Consumer assessment Prevention Treatment
3
3
2
81.1
# 196
Consumer assessment Prevention Treatment
3
2
1
79.1
# 197
Consumer assessment Prevention Treatment
3
2
1
78.8
# 225
Consumer assessment Prevention Treatment
3
4
3
67.7

America’s Best Health Insurance Plans

If your company stumbles, what happens to your health coverage?

Posted November 7, 2008

For years, workers have watched their healthcare outlays rise and benefits shrink, and for some, whether they will have benefits at all suddenly is in doubt. As Wall Street’s turmoil sloshes over Main Street, it seems that every day another trusted company files for bankruptcy, succumbs to a takeover, or shuts its doors. Nearly 34,000 businesses filed for bankruptcy in the 12 months ending in June, 42 percent more than the year before—and the word from on high is that this may be just the beginning. If your company stumbles, your healthcare, along with your job and your 401(k), could suffer as well. Many employees may worry they’re only a couple of bad balance sheets away from joining the ranks of the nearly 46 million Americans without health insurance. Unfortunately, they may be right.

When flight attendant Cameron Lewis's airline shut down, the family lost its health coverage. The Lewises got a catastrophic plan that kicks in only after $8,000 in deductibles.

When flight attendant Cameron Lewis’s airline shut down, the family lost its health coverage. The Lewises got a catastrophic plan that kicks in only after $8,000 in deductibles.

Video: Health Insurance Basics

Video: Health Insurance Basics

Cameron Lewis knows how quickly things can come apart. The 45-year-old ex-flight attendant for ATA Airlines got a 5 a.m. call this spring at his La Grange, Ill., home, just an hour before heading for the airport for a Chicago-Dallas flight. Don’t bother coming in, he was told. ATA had filed for bankruptcy and closed its doors immediately. That was the end of Lewis’s health insurance, too.

Costly COBRA. Lewis could have extended his coverage under COBRA, the federal law that gives employees who lose jobs the right to continue coverage under the company’s health plan for up to 18 months. The law applies only to companies with 20 or more workers, but some states extend the option to workers from smaller companies.

Taking advantage of COBRA can be costly, however. Workers must pay the full premium—their former share and the former employer’s share—plus a 2 percent fee. The monthly tab to cover Lewis, his wife, and their two children would have been over $1,000, far more than they could afford. They enrolled the children at no cost in Illinois’s All Kids health insurance program, which bases premiums on family income and size. As a stopgap, Cameron and his wife signed up for a $150-a-month Humana policy with an $8,000 deductible. “Basically, if something catastrophic were to happen, we wouldn’t be bankrupted,” says Lewis.

When companies shed workers, COBRA can cushion the blow. But with the average total premium for a family health insurance policy approaching $13,000 a year, many families, like Lewis’s, cannot afford the expense in their newly strained circumstances. Only about 27 percent of eligible workers elect COBRA coverage, according to a survey by Spencer’s Benefits Reports. There is another option for two-earner couples: If one partner still has a job and is covered, the newly jobless spouse can join that plan under special enrollment rules that kick in following a bankruptcy or other “qualifying event.” But that was no help to Lewis, whose wife’s part-time job in medical billing doesn’t offer health insurance.

At least COBRA was an option for the Lewises. ATA was a subsidiary of Global Aero Logistics, which continued to operate two other carriers. If a company shuts down entirely, the health plan may be terminated altogether; coverage cannot be extended from a plan that no longer exists.

That’s what happened to Mark Przesmicki and his wife, Jo Ellen Soper-Thompson, of Menomonie, Wis. Just over a year ago, Przesmicki, then a long-haul trucker for Menomonie-based Trac Inc., got a call after delivering a load of paper to the Twin Cities: Come back to the yard. The company was shutting down.

The timing could not have been worse. The month before, Soper-Thompson had racked up some $5,000 of expenses for a colonoscopy during which possibly cancerous polyps were removed. Trac normally would have covered her claims. Its health plan was “self-funded”—a common arrangement in which an employer pays claims directly as opposed to purchasing insurance for that purpose. But with Trac shuttered and in liquidation, Mark and Jo Ellen were stuck with the bills. Their $400 August premium had already been deducted from Przesmicki’s paycheck and was lost. (If the company had purchased coverage from an insurance company and kept its premiums current, the insurer might have covered the colonoscopy expenses.) COBRA wasn’t an option even if the couple had wanted it, because their health insurance had ended.

Quick return. About the only thing the couple recouped was $1,400 of the $2,000 they had deposited into their flexible spending account for medical expenses that year, and that was only thanks to a sympathetic benefits administrator. When Trac called eflexgroup.com, which had administered the company’s flexible spending accounts, to ask about the deposits, “We told them, ‘Too late, we already sent them back to the employees,’ ” says eflexgroup.com President Ric Joyner.

Employees aren’t always left so exposed when a company gets into financial trouble. Another company often takes over the ailing firm, as happened with Washington Mutual, Wachovia, and Merrill Lynch, which were acquired by other banks during the financial meltdown. Employees absorbed into the new firm may see no changes in their benefits, at least not initially. “The new employer may continue the existing program for a period of time,” says Jeff Munn, a principal at benefits consultant Hewitt Associates. “It may be a year or more before employees have to think about changes.”

Retiree coverage may be a different matter. “Because they’re not employees, they’re more vulnerable,” says Mary Sullivan, a labor lawyer with Segal Roitman in Boston. Larry Baird experienced this firsthand. The 73-year-old former Monsanto plant manufacturing director thought he could count on zero-premium retiree health coverage once he turned 65. But in 1997, seven years after he retired at age 55, Monsanto spun him and thousands of others off into a new company called Solutia, a chemicals manufacturer based in St. Louis, which declared bankruptcy in 2003. In February of this year, the company emerged from Chapter 11. Baird’s health coverage, which had gradually grown pricier while the company was reorganizing, suddenly became unaffordable. Faced with a $416 monthly premium, plus higher drug costs, deductibles, and copayments, Baird dropped it and signed up with a $98-a-month Medicare Advantage plan

instead. “Big companies make big promises, and then they don’t keep them,” he says.

Stable insurers. A comforting note amid the current economic wreckage is that healthcare insurance providers themselves are unlikely to go under. State regulators keep close tabs on these companies. They must submit quarterly financial statements and annual reports demonstrating sufficient reserves to cover claims. The standard in all states for “sufficient” requires that for every $100 in premiums collected, an insurer must have $250 in reserve. If a company’s reserves drop below that level, regulators can effectively take over management of the company until its reserves are back in line.

Troubled insurers can—and occasionally do—become insolvent. If a company loses liquidity because of underperforming investments, for example, it might be unable to pay claims or continue operations, says Sandy Praeger, Kansas insurance commissioner and president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. But in those relatively rare instances, claims are covered by a guaranty fund into which all insurers must pay. In her four years as an NAIC officer, says Praeger, she is unaware of any instance in which consumers have been left with unpaid claims because of insurer insolvency. “We have so many opportunities to intervene before a company becomes insolvent,” she says.

In these uncertain times, that’s one less thing to worry about.

Continue Reading

1

BEST PRICE HEALTH INSURANCE – TIPS

Firstly make sure to check here that you’ve looked here at all 8 legit florida carriers which only

Health insurance prices have been rising rapidly, but a few key strategies can help you get a good deal:
■ Don’t automatically sign up for the same employer health insurance plan you’ve always had. Employers have been making big changes to their health insurance options in attempts to lower their costs, such as raising premiums, cutting back coverage, and boosting deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses. The policy with the lowest premiums may end up costing you the most by the end of the year. You need to run the numbers through your potential expenses for the upcoming year to determine which policy is best for your family.
■ Many employers are offering incentives to encourage you and your family to get your health insurance elsewhere, such as offering bonuses if you don’t sign up for your employer’s plan or surcharges if your family could get coverage somewhere else but signs up for your policy instead. Check out all of your coverage options, such as insuring your whole family on your employer’s policy, switching everyone to your spouse’s employer plan, or staying on your employer’s plan yourself while your spouse and kids go elsewhere. You need to run the numbers for each of your options and can mix and match to get the best deal.
■ You may get an even better deal by foregoing your employer’s plan and buying health insurance on your own, or staying on your employer’s plan yourself but having your spouse and kids sign up for their own policy. If they’re healthy and live in a state with a competitive health insurance marketplace, they could reduce their premiums significantly.
■ Don’t automatically keep COBRA health insurance coverage with your former employer after you leave your job or get divorced. If you’re healthy, you could find a better deal on your own.
■ Raising your deductible to at least $1,050 for singles and $2,100 for family policies can save you a lot of money and help you qualify for a health savings account, which provides big tax benefits. The money you contribute lowers your taxable income, grows tax-deferred, and can be used tax-free for medical expenses at any age. Unlike flexible-spending accounts, which your employer may already offer, you don’t have to use up the money by the end of the year.
■ Maximize the tax benefits of your health savings account by not using the money for your current medical expenses. If you can afford it, pay your medical bills with other cash and leave the HSA money in the account to grow tax-deferred (or tax-free if used for healthcare costs). Shop for an HSA with low fees and good long-term investing options.
■ Because higher deductibles and copayments mean you’ll be paying a larger portion of your healthcare costs yourself, you need to become a smart healthcare shopper. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you can switch to any lower-cost medications, shop for basic medical supplies on your own, make me most of free preventive care, and take advantage of your employer’s tools to help minimize costs.
■ If you don’t have health insurance through an employer, buying an individual policy may cost a lot less than you’d expect, especially if you’re healthy and live in a state with a competitive health insurance marketplace. Shop around online and through an agent, comparing premiums as well as overall costs, and raise your deductible to qualify for an HSA.
■ Recent graduates who are healthy can generally get a much better deal by buying their own health insurance policy, keeping the deductible high, and qualifying for a health savings account, which can help them build a giant tax-free fund for future medical expenses. A short-term policy may be a cost-effective way to find coverage for just a few months. All of these options tend to be less expensive than staying on their parents’ policy through COBRA, unless they’re in poor health.
■ Health insurance prices vary a lot from company to company, especially if you have any medical problems. One insurer may reject you while another offers a great rate. It helps to work with an agent or broker who knows which insurers tend to be most competitive for people with your condition and the best strategies for strengthening your case. Shop around again if your health improves.  But make sure you call us at 888-803-5917 as we know all the florida state, county public and private health coverage plans including how and where to apply for medicaid, the county plans in the metro areas, and the health plans by local hosptials for residents.

 

HOME

Continue Reading

0

Cover Florida Plans

Many of you have been waiting for the release of the promised guaranteed issue plans that were authorized by the Florida legislature. They are finally available. But, there is the proverbial good news and bad news.

Let me begin by explaining that these plans are sold by private health insurance companies. The state of Florida does not have anything to do with the Cover Florida plans. As such, the carriers offering the plans are going to make sure that they make money on them. This leads to a string of bad news items.  Cover Florida is actually underwritten by individual health insurance companies who do so knowing that the state will pay them a subsidy and that the policy have more caps then a Hollywood Actress over 50.

These are not major medical plans. The coverage is very limited. If you have a major medical problem you will be reaching deep into your own pockets to pay for it. One of the plans offered only 10 days of hospital coverage. The other paid a maximum of $25,000. This is fine if you break your toe. But, if you have a heart attack, cancer, etc., these plans are going to fall far short.
The plans do not cover pre-existing conditions for at least 12 months.  
There is no coverage for brand name prescriptions. In most instances you will do better with a $4 prescription from Walmart  
We did not see any coverage for surgical fees.  
It might be buried in some other portion of the plan, but we saw no coverage for chemotherapy, radiation treatment or dialysis.  
The expanded plans are not cheap if you consider what they pay for.

I wish I had better news for you, but the truth is that if you are relatively healthy, you can purchase much better coverage in the form of a major medical plan for less money than any of the Cover Florida plans.

An Alternative to Cover Florida Plans

There are alternatives to these plans.

  1. If you are healthy (you can have high blood pressure, bad back, etc.), you can purchase a standard major medical plan. We have dozens of them.

  2. We can offer you a guaranteed issue plan with more coverage than a Cover Florida plan.

  3. We can add a supplement to the Cover Florida plans that extend their coverage. For example, we can give you a $25,000 critical illness plan or a $50,000 cancer plan that will help pay for the expenses that the Cover Florida plan does not cover (ironic name).

  4. If you have a small business or are self-employed, ask us about guaranteed issue group health insurance.

I know that I forgot to put in the good news, but there really wasn’t’ any to report. This is an interesting move for Florida to take and it might be a precursor to some sort of federal plan. Considering the fact that both Florida and the federal government is completely broke, we do not expect such a plan any time soon.

Continue Reading

0

Caroline Ehrenthal wrote this piece the other day.  EC Health Insurance supports a single payer system to its own demise.  I can’t take calls anymore from health insurance clients who are literally dying because they can’t get coverage, and I’m no stinking commie but as this country slides into the toilet bowl of financial ruin at least lets keep our citizens fed and healthy so that when we get the courage to kick Wall Street in the butt we are strong and healthy enough to do it.  Lets get some regualtion people, what else is government for anyways?

People are waiting with bated breath while our nation’s leaders struggle to resolve this country’s current health insurance crisis and formulate a plan that would offer coverage to the millions of people without health insurance. When the fact is, the notion of a universal health care system being implemented into this country’s system does not seem feasible nor does it seem monetarily plausible.

The New York Times published an article on June 2, 2009 regarding the meeting President Obama held with senators in which he evidently relayed an overall feeling of urgency that a comprehensive health care bill be created. In addition, he asserted his support for a government sponsored health insurance plan. President Obama believes that making a government run plan option available to individuals would promote competition within the market, in that, the insurance industry as a whole would have no choice but to become more honest and establish some level of transparency which would subsequently reduce health care costs. Here is an excerpt from that article, although you can access the entire article by clicking on the link below.

Obama Urges Quick Action on Insurance

June 2, 2009 The New York Times

In response to a question from Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, Mr. Obama said that it was important to include a public plan option and that such a plan could help control health costs.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, one of two dozen Democratic senators who met with Mr. Obama, said the president “spoke very enthusiastically about a public plan” that would compete directly with private insurers.

But in a report on Tuesday, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning research and advocacy group, said, “Congress is unlikely to be able to finance health reform legislation that includes universal coverage unless it limits the exclusion of employers’ health insurance payments from workers’ income and payroll taxes.”

Home Get A Quote

Continue Reading

0

Florida health insurance is almost always very difficult to understand even for our Florida health insurance brokers that we hire.  Our job is to make you understand how to puchase an affordable health Florida insurance plan. Most importantly, we will get you insurance!! Whether you buy it through us or we get you covered through the state, county, or other agency. If you have been turned down by multiple carriers you can exhale now as we will get you coverage with either a reputable company, set up a small group, or send you to the best possible government agency plan.
ECHealthInsurance is a site to learn about the different types of plans, what questions to ask an agent and how to shop for the most benefits at the lowest rates.
Having health insurance can make a significant difference in the care you receive.
You can call us for advice at 888-803-5917. We are here Mon – Fri, 9 AM – 9 PM EST

We do have guaranteed issue plans for individuals and small groups. You do not have to wait until August for a group of one. Call 888-803-5917 for details.

East Coast Health Insurance is a comprehensive website for your individual and small group health insurance needs. We offer FREE instant online Florida insurance quotes and applications from major health insurance carriers.

Having health insurance can make a significant difference in the care you receive.

For additional information or to speak with an insurance expert, please call 1-888-803-5917 or email us at quotes@eastcoasthealthinsurance.com

Continue Reading