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Tips for Getting Infertility Health Insurance

15 Feb



Health insurance for infertility treatment can be a complicated – and touchy – subject. It affects a lot of people – approximately 6 million women experience the pain of infertility each year in the United States. The health insurance laws in the state you live in may have a lot do with the extent of your coverage; for example whether your employer is required to provide infertility insurance or not.

One reason that infertility insurance is so expensive and hard to come by is because the procedures are so complicated – an in-vitro fertilization procedure can cost $10,000 or more. Not surprisingly, many insurance companies simply don’t provide – or provide very limited – insurance coverage for infertility.

There are some things you can do if you aren’t covered for infertility treatment under your health insurance. Firstly, make sure you read and fully understand your insurance policy – some policies exclude actual treatments only, some exclude diagnosis too.

Determine whether you live in a state that has mandatory infertility insurance coverage – New York, for example is one of several such states. Under the mandate, your state must ensure that insurers provide fertility insurance as part of a standard plan, or as an option to purchase for a reasonable price.

If you are shopping around for health insurance, never mention that you are looking specifically for fertility insurance, or that this may later be a concern. As this coverage is so costly, insurance companies have the right by law to turn down your application for insurance – without giving you a reason.

If you are denied coverage, it is also possible to appeal to your insurance company on the grounds that the fertility coverage is a legitimate and necessary medical procedure. To appeal any decision successfully, always obtain legal advice, and you may need the support of your doctor.

And if your insurance company just won’t cover it, the good news is that infertility treatment, like most medical procedures are tax-deductible. This includes the actual procedures as well as general physician’s visits, drug costs, etc.

 
 

Choosing Health Insurance

29 Jan



Is a good health insurance online or offline company possible to find? Yes there are many good companies out there, providing multiple quotes and comparisons so that you can find the price that fits your budget. There are many companies that have taken their company online to save time and expenses. Also by going online, it has gave the customers more options when it comes to shopping prices to find the best match. Insurance today can have high costs whether online or off, one thing that will remain is that it can more costly to not have any health insurance at all.

There are many employees and self employed workers that go with out health coverage, but yet they don’t know what they would do if something catastrophic happened. Let alone a simple trip to the ER (emergency room). No one wants or can imagine not being able to work, having medical bills, and no insurance. The best way to reduce your insurance premium is to know what you need and what you do not need.

Some factors to think about.

Health insurance is determined by many factors. A few include your health, the coverage you choose and your age, also the area you live in my play in to factor as well. So when you begin to think about what is the best coverage for you, you may want to sit down and do a health evaluation of yourself. Think about things like how many times have you went to too the doctor in the past year, what are some health areas that I know I am effected by? Back, allergies, heart attack, and so on. Once you can determine these things, then you can know what coverage’s you need and which ones you may be able to cut back on to save yourself premium and still have the best coverage that fits you.

Doctor visits are one thing that most people think of with health insurance, but is also one factor that will increase you premium, so when you are deciding on this option, think about how many times you have went to your doctor in the past year, two or three years. Then see what the premium is just to add doctor visits on to your policy. You will see a difference. You can then make an educated decision on whether or not you need this option.

Also you always have a choice on your deductibles, the higher your deductible the lower your premium, but you want to find a happy medium that you can afford out of pocket before your co-pays start. Also look to see what benefits in your policy you can use with out meeting your deductible, most allow some preventive care, such as making a yearly doctor visit for a physical and so on.

H.S.A

Another option is H.S.A’s (health care savings accounts) and what it is, is an account set up by either an employer, employee, or self employed, with a maximum amount allowed, $2,900 single and $5,800 per calendar year. It is basically setting up a savings account just for medical bills, but you can carry over that amount you saved and did not use, up to the limits above. Your contribution to your HSA is tax deductible, it grows tax-free, and when you have meant the deductible amount you have the same benefits as any other health coverage.

You will save money on premium and be saving money in your account, this is one option to look in to further. Shopping for the right coverage for the right price can be hard, there are many companies online and off, that offer different plans. With a wide range in prices, the best thing to do is to do a self-evaluation and determine what are your main needs when it comes to what is covered. Look to see if there is someone to speak to if your shopping online and have questions you want answered. No one should be with out coverage, so explore your options; there is a plan out there for everyone,

A tip to think about:

Don’t be scared of the high deductible, and also one way to save money and off set some weak points in coverage like a higher deductible would be to look in to critical illness plans, or accident and sickness plans. What plans like these due (such as critical illness) is pay out a set amount of money if you would have some catastrophic event happen such as cancer, or a heart attack. It puts a check in your hands, for you to use how you see fit. One thing to do if something like that happened would be to use the money towards your deductible and then off set your medical bills. A lot of times selecting a coverage like this with a higher deductible medical plan will still save you money and will also give you additional well rounded coverage.

 
 

Health Insurance Tips Guide

12 Dec



Sound health is an indispensable feature of every individual’s life. No targets and success can be achieved if we are physically unwell. In order to safeguard this central aspect of our life, health insurance is the need of the hour.

Health insurance as we all know is the best way to secure your health against all expected and unexpected problems. Due to this almost every individual seeks to acquire a health insurance policy.

At present there are many companies offering health insurance. While going for a health insurance policy you will confront a choice between private and government insurance. Prior to opting for either policy, you should know that with a private health insurance you would have an access to luxurious private hospitals, wide range of private doctors to choose from and mostly immediate treatment. While in a government health insurance scheme the lifetime health cover penalizes people who take out health insurance later in life with higher premiums. If you take the policy after your 31st birthday you will be required to pay a 2% surcharge annually up to 70%. So for instance if you acquire the policy at the age of 50 you will have to pay 30% more than a person who joined at the age of 30.

Government health insurance policy also comes up with a Medicare levy surcharge according to which unmarried people earning more than $50k and married couples with or without children earning more than $100k will pay an extra 1% Medicare surcharge in addition to 1.5% Medicare levy most people pay. But this extra annual expenditure of $500 to $1000 can be avoided by opting for hospital insurance.

Premium plays a key role in choosing the kind of policy you want. Money can be saved on premium in various ways such as purchasing a policy with ‘excess’ or the money that an individual is required to pay for stay in a hospital before benefits are payable. You can also buy a policy that asks for a co-payment. In case of co-payment if you don’t go into hospital, the member decides to pay usually a fixed amount of money each time he avails the service. Choosing a policy that doesn’t include several treatment facilities is also an option to lower your premium rates. Besides this you can also buy a policy that only covers you as a private patient in a public hospital. However it is better and in the long run beneficial to take a policy that offers a high ‘excess’ in comparison to those that exclude several treatment conditions. Some commonly barred treatments are- cosmetic surgery, cataract surgery, rehabilitation, hip, knee and other joint replacements, obstetrics and birth related care, assisted reproduction and psychiatric care. In case you want coverage for any of these treatments, prior to purchasing make sure your policy includes it.

 
 

Health Insurance When Living Abroad

11 Nov



You may not know this already, but when planning on traveling abroad you cannot take your local insurance with you. You will need to purchase an international insurance plan offered by a multinational insurance company. While they may be hard to track down, it is the best way to assure that in the event of an accident or illness you will be able to acquire medical attention if needed.

Many of these plans will cover you up to six months in another country. When you speak with the insurance company, be prepared to give an extensive list of information to them. This will range from health problems you’ve had in the past ten years, your hereditary conditions to substance abuse, and almost everything else-if it has anything to do with your health be prepared to disclose the information. If you are planning on traveling with more than one family member, then be prepared to give information for each family member as well.

Many times your basic coverage will include emergency treatment regardless of which facility it is administered. This is not the case with minor medical treatment. It is important to know whether you are buying an insurance plan that is an HMO or PPO. If you are under an HMO or health maintenance organization, then you will be limited to receiving care from only the providers who are in their network. You can retrieve a list of all the companies within your insurer’s network upon request. If you are under a PPO, or preferred provider organization, you will have the opportunity to pick the best facility you see fit, but your insurer will only cover a portion of the incurred cost.

If you plan on staying abroad for more than six months then you will need to look into what is called expatriate health insurance. Only larger companies supply this type of insurance, as it is much more extensive with the type of options that can be applied to each policy. The type of treatment options that are covered with expatriate health insurance are those that are labeled as specialty treatments, like chiropractic therapy and acupuncture. There are many options that can be applied to expatriate health insurance depending on your family’s needs and how long you plan on spending abroad.

There are many options for health insurance when you are traveling abroad. While many individuals never consider purchasing insurance when traveling to another country, this should be at the top of your list when planning for a trip. Health insurance should not be taken lightly. Be sure you understand every aspect of your policy before deciding with any one particular company.

 
 

Health Insurance For Preexisting Conditions

11 Oct



So you have a preexisting medical condition? And you are looking for affordable healthcare coverage. Right! These are some of the most common health concerns today.

Or maybe you have just moved from one job to another and your new employer does not offer a healthcare plan. Or possibly you lost your group insurance coverage due to some situation completely outside your control. When someone is confronted with these situations and they also have pre existing conditions, this really makes it tough to find affordable health coverage. The main reason is obvious… the risk you impose to the insurer is just too great.

Preexisting conditions involving health are defined and treated differently from insurance company to insurance company. Generally speaking, a pre existing condition is any medical condition that a policyholder had knowledge of, or was treated for, prior to enrolling in a healthcare plan. This really becomes a problem when individuals with preexisting conditions are forced to seek new health coverage because of a change in employment or other reasons. It may only take what looks like a small reason, but an insurer can deny a policy completely or to maybe refuse coverage of the pre existing conditions.

You can find health insurance for preexisting conditions but this may not be easy. There are some insurance companies who will provide you with health coverage; however, most companies will not. Typically the insurance companies do not wish to provide coverage for circumstances that are already known to exist. Let’s be honest, insurers prefer to insure people who are not likely to NEED health insurance.

One way insurance carriers try to discourage people from waiting until they get sick to purchase a health plan is to impose a pre-existing condition exclusion period. What this means is that if you have a medical condition at the time you enroll into or purchase a health plan, the insurance companies can deny all claims pertaining to that medical condition for a certain period of time. So when looking for an individual healthcare policy, the rules governing the pre-existing condition exclusion period can vary widely from state to state. Usually this is limited to 12 months and applies to health conditions for which you sought treatment in the 6 months leading up to enrollment. If you have a letter of creditable coverage you may be able to reduce or completely offset your pre existing condition exclusion period. For example, if you were covered under an individual or group policy before enrolling, you may be able to subtract the amount of time you were covered from the pre-existing condition exclusion period.

The insurance choices for those with a pre-existing condition are somewhat limited. Hopefully you can enroll with an employer-sponsored group health plan. This is your best choice by far but for many this is not possible. Maybe a professional organization such as the Chamber of Commerce can provide you with some health coverage.

Applying for individual health insurance is still a possibility but you will probably meet with some insurance declines before you can obtain acceptable healthcare. If your state has a risk pool then this is something you definitely investigate. Today, Guaranteed Issue Health Insurance is becoming a great alternative as better health plans exist now than just a few years ago.

It really does not matter if they are covered by insurance or not, the total cost of healthcare for someone with pre existing conditions will be high enough to dramatically impact that persons lifestyle. To get the best possible health insurance for your preexisting conditions, you will need to investigate your choices, do your homework and make wise decisions. Only you can judge what is best for your situation.

 
 

An Overview of Health Insurance

23 Sep



As the political campaigns heat up this summer, health insurance is being discussed more and more. When one looks at the health insurance situation in the country, it is easy to see why this has become a significant issue.

All you need to do is take a quick look at some health insurance statistics to get an idea of why it has been moving more and more to center stage as a political issue. Health care has become a major concern of many Americans. The big problem has been the rising cost. Health care costs are rising at a rate of 6.9% which is double the National inflation rate. Almost $2 Trillion dollars was spent in 2005 on health care, which amounts to almost $6,700 per person. It also accounted for 16% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

It is estimated that by 2015, this will double to $4 trillion dollars and will account for as much as 20% of the GDP. How has this impacted health insurance? The health insurance policy is a basic contract between an individual and an Insurance company. The company receives a premium from a large number of individuals and in return pays the health care costs of those who are sick. In short, the idea is that everyone throws in a little bit of money, and the few that get sick are taken care of by the payments of those who remain healthy.

This system peaked in the 20th Century and at one time, health insurance was something available to most people and at a price they could afford. The Insurance companies invested the premiums wisely and they made a profit. The individual had virtually no worries about health care. They were insured and if they became sick, their medical bills would be paid. The cost of this safety net was reasonable. However, when the health care costs began to raise, this balance changed. The Insurance companies needed to make sure they were solvent enough to meet their obligations, and as health care costs went up, health insurance premiums were forced to follow.

Now, health insurance costs to employers are on the rise. The average is 7.7% increase in the cost of providing health coverage to an employer. Smaller companies have seen rates rise 8.8% while the smallest ones, companies with less than 24 employees, have jumped 10.5%. This has meant that more and more of the cost must be borne by the employee. It now is costing an average of $11,500 per year to provide basic coverage to a family of four. Even a single person must put out around $4,200 a year.

The Health Insurance industry has taken much of the flack for this. They have tried to deal with the problems in many creative ways. Exclusions and limited coverage have become the norm. Also, the basic insurance of our parents and grandparents that cast a complete safety net with few restrictions has become a thing of the past. Yet, still Insurance companies get a bad rap when it is really health care costs that are the culprit.

 
 

Plastic Surgery – Consider Your Insurance Provider For Funding

13 Aug



If your goal is to get plastic surgery sometime soon, you are probably busy saving up money for it. After all, most procedures are not covered by insurance. However, before you put it all on a credit card or take a loan to get work done on your face or body, you should double check with your insurance carrier, as more procedures than you may think are in fact covered.

The main requirement is to be able to prove that it is medically necessary. Breast reductions are one type of plastic surgery that most know are covered. If you are considering this procedure, you just need to prove to your carrier that your overly large chest makes your back hurt. If your bra straps cut into your shoulders and leave indentations, or you have become overweight because you cannot exercise with your oversized breasts, just let your insurance company know. You will likely be able to get the funding so that you do not have to pay to become comfortable.

There are other procedures that are less known about, but are usually covered. For example, if you want an eyelid operation just to look younger, you will have to pay for it. However, if you need this because your brows are now drooping into your eyes, blocking your vision so that you can no longer safely drive, it is a dangerous condition that needs to be taken care of. Therefore, it is likely medically necessary for you to get this type of plastic surgery.

Some children have a condition that they are born with in which one or both ears are smaller than average. It is called microtia, and it often also affects hearing since the inner ear is not usually properly formed. Most children get it corrected with plastic surgery while they are young, but if you still have this issue, it might be covered by insurance. If you cannot hear because it is so oddly formed, you may have a case for getting it paid for, or at least the part that fixes the inner ear.

These are just a few procedures that are often considered necessary and can be funded. Of course, if you have these or other issues, you should call your insurance company to find out who will pay for the plastic surgery. The worst they can say is no, but they may offer you alternatives. For example, sometimes you might not get it fully paid for, but the agency might cover some since part of it would help your health out. It is often worth asking about.

 

Where to Get Affordable Group Health Insurance For Small Companies

01 Jul



Group health insurance for small companies is a benefit that can, unfortunately, cost too much to offer employees. However, it can also help a business attract and retain the best employees.

Is there any way for a small company to offer group health insurance without breaking the budget?

What are Your Options?

Group health insurance is not limited to the traditional model of fee-for-service, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans. Such traditional comprehensive policies are often too expensive for small companies.

Numerous alternative plans are available at much lower costs:

* A Preferred Provider Organization, or PPO, provides comprehensive health services similar to a fee-for-service plan. However, employees must choose a doctor and hospital that is part of the PPO’s network.

* A Health Maintenance Organization, or HMO is even less expensive than a PPO. Like a PPO, employees must choose a doctor and hospital from an approved network. HMOs usually offer fewer choices than PPOs, and employees may need to receive approval before they can visit a specialist.

* Major medical plans provide coverage for major accidents and illnesses. Employees pay for smaller expenses such as routine office visits.

* High-deductible plans cover all your employees’ medical expenses, but only after a high deductible is met. Such plans are often coupled with a Medical Savings Plan, which allows employees to set aside money to use toward their deductible.

By considering one of these options for group health insurance, you may find you can afford to offer this needed benefit to your employees at an affordable cost.

Comparison Shop for the Best Quotes

Whatever type of health insurance plan you decide to offer your employees, you can find the best rates by comparison shopping at an insurance comparison website.

All you do is fill out a simple form online and you’ll receive quotes from multiple insurance companies that you can compare.

 
 

Health Insurance; COBRA; OBRA; HIPAA; Medicare; Definitions, Relationships

22 Jun



Health Insurance; COBRA; OBRA; HIPAA; Medicare. If asked, could you state that you knew that all 5 of these topics had the same thing in common: medical insurance coverage for you and, perhaps, your family? Would you know the qualifications for each? Well, in this article, we will discuss them. For a timeline that depicts, graphically, the time relationship between them, please see the timeline in http://www.disabilitykey.com.

HEALTH INSURANCE Coverage from Work

If we are lucky, we, and/or our spouse, work for a company that provides, as a benefit, health insurance coverage for us and our family. If so, we are very lucky. Even if that is true, there are some key things that you might want to look at to see if you have ENOUGH coverage.

1) From your Human Resources Department (or wherever else you would go to get information about your health insurance) get what is called a “Summary Plan Description” (SPD). This document should be kept where you can always find it, as it contains all the information you will need about what your insurance covers and what it doesn’t.

2) Look up “Coverage” and “non-coverage” in your SPD.

These will tell you what your plan covers and doesn’t cover. You need to see if, perhaps, you or one of the covered members of your family has a condition or circumstance that might not be covered, where you need additional coverage. For example, let’s say that your family has a history of cancer; perhaps your plan restricts the number of hospitalization days for care; or, restricts the days per condition. In this case, (like my children) you might want to get additional “cancer insurance” (I think that AFLAC might provide this type of coverage).

It would be a good idea to contact a Health Insurance benefit Broker and ask him/her to read your SPD and see if you have any gaps in coverage. They then can help you supplement coverage BEFORE YOU NEED IT!

NO HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE

You might be one of the growing members of our society that, through one circumstance or another, does NOT have health insurance coverage for your family. In this case, I strongly encourage you to contact a Health Insurance Broker and get immediate coverage of what is called “catestrophic” (not sure if I spelled this correctly) coverage. In this type of coverage, you will generally have large deductibles, but will have coverage if, say, one of you has to go into the hospital.

CONTACTING A BENEFITS INSURANCE BROKER

Whenever you call or email a Health Insurance Broker, it is very important to prepare ahead of time. WHAT, specifically are you looking for; how much can you afford to pay every month; what circumstances do you want to make sure that your family is covered for. In this way, you can make sure to focus on your critical needs.

COBRA

COBRA is an acronym ( how can I spell acronym correctly, yet not be sure that I spelled catestrophic correctly?) that stands for: Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. Basically, it is a federal law that allows you to pay for your Company-paid health insurance, as an active member, if you no longer work for that company for, generally 18 additional months.

1) COBRA is “triggered” (that is, you, or a covered member of your family, become eligible for COBRA) by events such as the following: resignation from the company; termination (FOR ANY REASON) from the company; divorce of a spouse; a covered chile’s birthday makes them ineligible for coverage. These are the main “triggering” events for COBRA.

2) Now, when eligible for COBRA, you will be asked to pay for 100% to 105% of the company’s employee/employee and family coverage amount. You should get a letter from your company explaining what that amount will be. BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO TAKE COBRA, there are some important things for you to consider.

What will be your cost, and what will be the coverage for that cost?
Sometimes the cost is too much for the coverage. In these cases, you might want to select HIPAA coverage, instead (see HIPAA below).

Or, you might just want to get catestrophic coverage as was mentioned earlier, and wait for full coverage under your next job.

Part of this decision should be whether or not you or a member of your family has what is called a “pre-exisitng coverage” condition.

Here again, before automatically taking COBRA, it would be wise to contact a Benefits Insurance Broker and give him/her all of your options, and get their input. I have worked extensively with a Benefits Insurance Broker, and he is absolutely fantastic!

OBRA

What, you ask, is OBRA? I’ve never heard of it, you say, and no one I know has heard of it either! Well, that’s because, 99% of Human Resource or Benefit folks that I know have never heard of it! OBRA is a federal law that was passed that extends COBRA for an additional 11 months FOR DISABILITY PURPOSES ONLY!! Why, you ask, is this important? Thanks for asking, let’s see if I can explain.

If you are as nieve (did I spell this wrong too? sorry!) as I was when I first started looking to bridge my health insurance from working to Medicare, I assumed that when I got through all of the hoops to qualify for SSDI (Social Security Disabililty Insurance) I’d IMMEDIATELY be eligible for Medicare, RIGHT??? WRONG!!!!

When you FINALLY qualify for SSDI, you have to wait for 5 months before you get your first check. AND, the rules state that, you are eligible for Medicare 2 years (24 months) FROM THE DATE OF YOUR FIRST SSDI PAYMENT. Well, if you add 24 + 5 you get, 29 months between qualifying for SSDI, and Medicare coverage.

OK, I said earlier that COBRA is for 18 months of coverage. Well guess what 18 months of COBRA + 11 months of OBRA equal – 29 months!

BUT, there are two catches to OBRA; first of all, you have a small window of 30 – 60 days to apply ( this window opens the date of your SSDI approval); and, it can cost up to 150% of your plan coverage amount. BUT, if you have a “previously existing condition” this might be the best way for you to proceed.

Again, it is important to contact a Health Insurance Broker to help you with the risk/cost ratio of all of these situations.

It is also improtant to know all of these deadlines as you plan to ensure that you and your family have important health insurance coverage.

HIPAA

HIPAA is a federal law that is called, briefly, the “portability” law for health insurance. What that means is that when you leave a group (read company-paid plan), the carrier that provided that plan, must offer to you, another plan, different from COBRA, when you leave the group coverage. Generally this will be what is called a “bare bones” plan. Again, the best thing for you to do is to call/email a Health Insurance/Benefits Broker with all of your information: SPD, COBRA info, HIPAA info, needs, cost limits, and let him/her help you find the optimum plan coverage for you.

MEDICARE

OK, now, finally, we’ve reached Medicare! BUT (you really didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?) if you have qualified for Medicare because of disability, there are RESTRICTIONS (of COURSE there are!).

First of all, if you are qualifying for Medicare because of disability, you are probably under the age of 65 – normal retirement age.

Medicare coverage does NOT cover prescription drugs, which, those of us with disabilities probably need, and which cost lots.

But, Congress prescribed that states (all but 11) offer what is called “Medicare supplement” plans, some of which do offer prescription coverages.
BUT, these plans ARE NOT REQUIRED TO, and do not, offer these medicare supplement plans that offer prescription coverages to folks who qualify under age 65! So, if you are qualifying because of disability, your medical insurance plan doesn’t cover one of your primary cost expenditures!

Here again is where you need to contact a health insurance/benefit broker. Again, he/she can work with you, and your specific circumstances, to get you the coverage you need.

Hope that this information was helpful to you. If you have any questions, please feel to ask them by commenting on this blog, and I’ll be happy to get you an answer.

 
 

Health Insurance – Avoid Disaster Painlessly

11 May



You don’t want to end up being one of those people who upon getting ill finds that he can’t afford to pay the medical bills. And you don’t ever want to be the person who first looks for coverage after an illness. Even if you can manage to get adequate treatment, the expenses are all yours and the illness may well, from that point on, be regarded as a preexisting condition, rendering it, and possibly you as uninsurable.

Uninsured and under-insured people are at risk of losing everything. It doesn’t have to be so. With a little research and a bit of discipline, insurance can be affordable.

Stop wasting your hard earned money on ’stuff’ and invest in something that really matters. There’s nothing better than knowing you’ve invested in security for you and your family. It’s not hard, and it doesn’t have to be expensive.

One of the first things you want to do, before even talking to an insurance agent, is go online. You can actually get company premium quotes right online. They’ll simply ask you some basic questions followed by an instant quote.

Make sure you research and get quotes from as many companies as you can, and also make sure you’re getting quotes that are for the same coverage and plan you need.

Answer the questions honestly and be aware that online quotes are generally based on “preferred “rates. Your agent, once you speak with him, can tell you into which category you and your health falls.

After you find the plan most consistent with your needs and budget go ahead and call the agent associated with that quoting engine.. He can point out the specifics of each plan and provide information far beyond that which you can see in an online quote.

If you are in a real financial crunch – as many of us are these days – at least think about getting some form of basic emergency coverage. Most health insurance companies offer inexpensive insurance, with very low premiums and payments that offer you flexibility. Plans with very high deductibles, with no bells and whistles, but with catastrophic coverage can at least protect you and your family from total financial ruin should a medical emergency come your way.

Staying healthy and not smoking is also a big plus when looking for health insurance coverage. Carriers know that people living an unhealthy way of life will need much more medical care than someone who is healthy. They adjust rates accordingly. The healthier you are, and the statistically less likely you are to need the coverage, the lower your premiums.