When you don't have Dental Health Insurance

There are millions of Americans who live life on the edge with no health insurance. People who think about these numbers often forget though that there is one other thing that they need to take into account when it comes to health coverage - dental health insurance coverage. We live in a time when people who have regular jobs are expected to feel grateful just for the medical insurance they get. In many cases, that includes only very limited dental health insurance or none at all. A full 33% of America has no dental health insurance whatsoever.

Since individual dental health insurance is usually too expensive for most people, the only option they have is hoping that they never wake up one morning and find that they have a toothache - something that can require a root canal and a crown - thousands of dollars worth of expenses. Some people who have tried to head off any such expensive problems by going down the preventive maintenance route have found that simple dental checkups - cleanings and preventive fillings can set them back by hundreds of dollars too. Even people who have dental coverage find that when they have expensive dental problems, there is nothing that their coverage does for them. Almost all dental policies only pay for checkups and cleanings. Root canals end up getting only a small amount of dental coverage with a high deductible and even simple things like tooth-colored fillings can end up being denied.

Right now, about the best piece of advice that anyone without comprehensive dental health insurance can have is usually that they need to pay excessive attention to preventive care. They need to completely cut down on sugar, brush, floss and clean regularly. Those $100 cleaning sessions at the dentists are vital in catching and preventing expensive root canals and fillings later on.  When you don't have dental health insurance, you need to know exactly what you will end up paying for any procedure you check into a dental clinic for. Often, people will just go in for a routine checkup and cleaning. The dentist if he finds a problem, will right away treat it on the spot without asking for further permission. And then, he will present the poor patient with a bill that'll knock his fillings out. The thing is, when the dentist discovers a problem, he needs to just tell you. He mustn't treat you for it. This is because if you shop around, you're easily likely to find other dentists who quote lower prices. The price of a root canal for instance can easily vary by hundreds of dollars from dentist to dentist.

And then finally, a good way to get expensive treatments done would be to work out a payment plan with your dentist. That's a much better idea than paying with your credit card and paying the credit card company some punishing interest.

Surprise your Employees - Offer Dental Health Insurance

If you run a small business with, say, 20 employees, and you are interested in providing complete health coverage to them, you'll find that the market is awash in small business dental health insurance plans. If you have just finished negotiations arranging for general health insurance for your employees though, you'll find that dental health insurance, while it looks like a kind of afterthought, does offer just as much room for complication. Finding a plan that's affordable and that is yet comprehensive enough to satisfy you, you will find, requires just as much research and negotiating as a general medical plan.

Small businesses usually place the most importance on allowing general health coverage to their employees; prescription coverage stands next in importance. Dental health insurance usually comes in last even though everyone can expect to have dental problems from time to time and they can be expensive. The most popular plans for small businesses to offer, understandably enough, are the fully-funded employer plans (even if employees don't generally expect this). This is where you, the business owner, decide absorb the total cost of paying for coverage for your employees. There are partially-funded plans as well. Most businesses offer plans where employees pay 100% of what it costs; the business just offers to cover the administrative costs and so forth.

How you know what kind of plan to take and what to do about all the other details involved? No business owner should ever take a decision of this magnitude up to deal with on his own. There's just too much paperwork involved and there are just too many laws and rules involved that are always in flux. There's no way a businessman could adequately grasp all of this and work things out effectively on his own. You need to choose a third-party consultant who can put in the weeks of work needed set the ball rolling.

Picking a healthcare administrator, make sure that you look for someone who offers simplified claims processing, who has a great panel of dentists and who has a great record with other employers in your region. Most businesses considering offering dental health coverage to their employers often ask about what the standard, average dental plan looks like; they could work off it if they knew, they feel. What the standard plan is supposed to look like, will depend greatly on the kind of economic climate your industry happens to be in. Usually, the cost of a plan is priced by the number of dentists there are in your area, the zip code your business is in and the number of employees you bring coverage to. Most employees are usually happy with a 100% employee-financed plan. You could also join a multi-employer group. With maybe 20 employees, you usually could never find a competitive price with any provider. Get together with other small employers in your area, and you actually could work out a proper plan.

When you have Health Insurance Coverage that just won't Pay

What would you do if you had health insurance coverage for your wife who had heart disease, but if she felt like she had a heart attack approaching, your hospital denied her treatment because your health insurance company just refused to cover for any of the important tests involved?

The Senate Commerce Committee, investigating shocking behavior by the nation's health insurance coverage providers, has uncovered a pattern of completely egregious denials for test for serious diseases that should have been allowed. The investigation, that ran for six months, looked at nearly 2000 cases where patients with full health coverage were denied important tests to do with coronary artery disease. In all, about one in six Americans suffering from heart disease has been putting up with this kind of cruel denial of health insurance coverage. What exactly is going on here? How could they do this?

They could do this because doing this saves them money. Interestingly enough, the health insurance companies don't do the denying, themselves. They outsource the work of studying requests for tests that come in from doctors and of deciding whether the requests are reasonable. In most of the cases where patients have been illegally denied treatment, this kind of outsourced work was handled by a company called MedSolutions.

So if you were a company that studied doctors requests for tests for a health insurance company, why would you unfairly rule requests for tests as unnecessary? Well, if you were a company that vetted doctors' requests, you would want to appear useful, wouldn't you? The more requests you flagged as unnecessary, the more useful you would show yourself to be and you would stay in business. Perhaps, you even get paid an incentive for finding ways to deny requests. Yes, the rot runs deep.

So, do they really deny tests to patients who really seriously needs them for life-and-death situations? There have been cases that the Senate Committee has uncovered where patients would have died in 2 to 3 days if they had not received the recommended tests. Because their arteries were almost completely blocked. The worst part of it all is that these companies that take on work passing or denying requests for tests do not even employ qualified people. They just employ anyone; because, you know, that would save money.

And insurance companies have felt the need to be strict because left to their own devices, doctors just prescribe expensive tests left and right for no reason. Okay, it's not for no reason; it's because doctors and hospitals often own expensive test equipment and the more they recommend tests, the more money they stand to make. Once profit gets into healthcare, people completely lose their bearing.

State Health Insurance Plans

It use to be a standard occurrence to get healthcare insurance as a benefit with any full time job. Today, getting health insurance with a job is hit or miss at best, and some people have huge deductibles that they have to pay before that insurance kicks in. Getting insurance on your own is an option, but some individuals and families simply can not afford to pay the premiums. Health insurance is important and no one, especially a child, should live without it. If you don't have any, you can't pay for any on your own, or you don't think yours will ever help you, see about state health insurance plans through your state government.

All states are different, but you can inquire about state health insurance plans by visiting your state government official website. These often have a section about healthcare, public services, or state run programs of all types. You should be able to find what you need there. Some states have different levels of what they offer and some just have one program. You are going to have to qualify, and some of it will cost you money, but that depends on how much you make. Overall, if you qualify because of your income, your fee each month for this type of insurance is not going to be that much if anything at all.

Families that qualify for state heath insurance plans usually have working parents. Though there are some welfare programs, these are harder and harder to get if no one is working or attempting to work. You will be asked about your total household income and the amount of people in your home. All of these programs have criteria for who qualifies and who does not. Be honest on your application because not doing so is considered fraud and that can land you in deep water if you are caught.

Some people in certain circumstances can get state health insurance plans automatically. This is because there is no way that they can be covered any other way. For example, if you are caring for a niece or nephew due to the death of their parents, or one of their parents, and you can not adopt them, the state will usually step in and give you insurance for them. It can be hard for these families to care for a child without the benefit of adoption because their health insurance usually will not cover them without it. The state can and usually will step in to help as long as you do what they ask.

There are always rules and regulations in regards to state health insurance plans. You have to make sure your payments are on time, if you have any, and that you follow up when they ask for more information. At times, they want you to reapply each year to make sure that the family or child still qualifies for the program. They also want to make sure the system is not abused and your cooperation means you won't lose your insurance. Something as simple as a mislabeled letter can mean cancellation, so if something does not arrive that should, put a call in to let them know. This insurance is usually pretty good, so don't blow it by ignoring minor details.

Purchasing American Health and Life Insurance

American health and life insurance is always a subject of discussion in the public circles. With America being the only developed country that does not offer its citizens universal healthcare cover, it is little wonder that the insurance subject is always on the lips of Americans. But what exactly is the difference between life and health insurance? More so, why do the developed countries in Europe and Asia offer universal health cover and not life insurance cover? Well, to start with, health insurance cover is issued by insurance firms to willing clients (who pay premiums for the services) with an agreement that the firm will settle healthcare bills for the client should he or she fall sick. Life insurance on the other hand is a cover issued to willing clients based on an agreement that on the client’s death, the insurance firm will provide a named beneficiary with money stated in the policy agreement.
      
People who purchase American health and life insurance do so for similar reasons. Pointedly, those who purchase health insurance do so as a way of obtaining a buffer against high medical bills should they fall sick. With healthcare costs being among the highest in the developed world, many Americans fear the prospects of settling such bills straight from their pockets. Those who purchase life insurance on the other hand do so in order to shield their beneficiaries from the financial hardships that may crop up once they die. Most people who purchase life insurance have dependants who benefit from the income give by the insurance on the person’s death.
      
Myriads of companies offer American health and life insurance across the different states in the country. Consumers are however advised to always check the credentials of the insurance firms before purchasing policy covers to avoid losing money to fraudulent providers. More importantly, consumers are advised to check for hidden charges or conditions when purchasing either the life or health insurance. Consumers can also compare the different services and prices offered by competing insurance providers by visiting specific websites, thus allowing them (consumers) to make informed choices.
      
The different service providers of American health and life insurance and their marketing gimmicks should not make consumers lose focus of the fact that purchasing insurance policy is meant to safeguard the buyer’s future. Considering that, most insurance agents market their products without revealing all the details to the consumer; buyers have the overall responsibility to read the policy statement in detail before accepting to purchase it. Consumers should remember the insurance is a business like any other. It is little wonder therefore that some service providers are more interested in making money rather than safeguarding the consumer’s dignity and security as should be the case.   

Does Children's Health Insurance Coverage by Medicaid actually Cover Anything?

Do children deserve special attention when it comes to their health care needs? No, we aren't talking about charitable healthcare at all. How about children who have Medicaid coverage? Does the fact that they have free health insurance change anything about the kind of treatment they are given? Sad as it is, that's exactly what happens all over the country - as if by prearrangement. Anyone who tries to make an appointment for a child has to answer a question on the phone about the kind of coverage the child has. When the receptionist (or whoever) learns that there is no private children's health insurance involved - that it's only Medicaid, they right away schedule the child for an appointment one month away. If they don’t refuse an appointment altogether. There have been reports of how parents who call for an appointment for a child with a broken bone or a dog bite, are still given an appointment a week away.

So why should hospitals care about what kind of children's health insurance a patient comes in with? They still get paid the same whether it's private or Medicaid, don't they?

You'd think that, but as anyone knows about what it is like dealing with the government, hospitals that accept Medicaid patients find it takes them a whole lot longer to get paid (and Medicaid pays 50% less). They get a lot of grief dealing with red tape too. In general, no one is eager to deal with Medicaid. And things are only set to get worse. States all over the country are bankrupt and are planning on cutting down on their Medicaid budgets. And then, the new healthcare reform from President Obama promises to add several million people more to the Medicaid plan, further straining the program's finances.

All of this isn't mere anecdotal evidence, of course. An in-depth study on children's access to medical care published in the New England Journal of Medicine in June has all kinds of horror stories to report. The study sent researchers posing as parents of sick children to hundreds of clinics in Illinois, asking for treatment for broken bones, deep depression, diabetes, epileptic seizures, dog bites and the like. Two out of three times, these people found that they were denied appointments. People who have regular paid insurance will usually be denied treatment more than 10% of the time. In the study, anyone who sought treatment for a child with Medicaid insurance had to wait three weeks longer than any child with private medical insurance.

Most people would react with horror to how unfeeling human nature can be - denying medical care to a child with an animal bite or a seizure for three weeks. But think about it this way for a second - what would you do if you were doctor? If you spent your time treating a patient who had private children's health insurance, you would get $160 for your trouble. If you treated a child who had Medicaid, you would only get $100. You are worried about your student loans and your personal expenses. What would you do?

Do you get Affordable Health Insurance Plans if you are Retiring at 60?

With talk in every personal finance magazine about how lots of people can look forward from this point on to nothing but diminished savings for their old age and working to 80 to make up for it, you’d think that there was practically no one retiring early anymore. That's not true, of course; some people do find that they are lucky to retire even before 62. Anyone planning to do that though, does need to think ahead and do a little extra planning. For instance, if you plan to retire at 60, you know you're not old enough to be eligible for Medicare. But that doesn't mean that the private insurance industry considers you young enough to allow you near their affordable health insurance plans. What do you do?

With the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (otherwise unflatteringly known as Obamacare) coming in to the rescue, affordable health insurance plans do exist now - even if you have pre-existing conditions (you would have to be Superman to be 60 and not have pre-existing conditions).

Certainly, "affordable" health insurance plans for early retirees is not to be taken to mean that they will cost the same as what a 30-year-old would pay. Insurance does cost more as you grow older. But it won't be as bad as it used to be. In addition, anyone who takes a no-coverage early-retirement deal when they retire will have protection too.

But this does come with one big caveat. If you're one of those 60-year-olds who are so healthy you feel no need to pay for insurance just yet, you have to know that the healthcare reform bill makes it mandatory for everyone to have health insurance. If you don't comply by the year 2014, there'll be a penalty - of at least 1% of your income.

But right now, if you're too young to qualify for Medicare, this is what you need to do for affordable health insurance plans. Right now, if you have employer-sponsored health insurance, you can keep it for one and a half years after you retire. That's what COBRA does for you. But you do have to pay the premium. A few months before that plan runs out, you need to start shopping for your own insurance.

How exactly do you do this? Individual policies certainly are expensive; but the health care reform act makes sure that at the most, they can charge you three times what they charge a young and healthy person. And there are subsidies too if you don't make that much (four times over the poverty line is the formula they follow).

If you're finding it hard to get coverage because you have a pre-existing condition that makes your premiums go up too high for you, you can always take advantage of the high insurance pool that the federal government funds. Whatever questions you have in the matter, your state insurance commissioner's office should really be able to guide you.

Affordable Health Care on 50% off Daily Deal Coupons (How Low Can Healthcare Get?)

How do you know that the health care system in this country is broken? You know when people go shopping for affordable health care on daily deal sites like Groupon.

Daily deal sites - the way you get half off hot stone massages, hotel rooms and restaurant meals if you are willing to take advantage of your purchase in the time you're given. How does it sound buying 50%-off coupons for dental checkups or eye care appointments? You'd think that people would be completely put off by such tasteless commercialization when it came to taking care of their health. But apparently, people have long since been numbed to this kind of thing. There have been more than 5000 medical and dental daily deals published this year alone. And that's compared to just a couple of hundred last year.

Not that one doesn't understand the appeal. In a time when affordable health care is extremely difficult to come by and when you can spend thousands of dollars on the most basic kinds of healthcare requirements, 50% off deals can seem like a godsend to many families. One out of two Americans wears prescription glasses for eyesight correction today. Glasses can be terribly expensive - a pair of glasses together with an eye exam can end up costing $400. So when an optician advertises a $50 deal for an eye exam and a couple of hundred dollars off prescription eyeglasses, what is a family that's caught up in this economy supposed to do? Thousands of people are buying into these kinds of deals on GroupOn. Dentists have been announcing 80% off on dental x-rays, examinations and cleaning. In an economy where most people don't have dental insurance, this can seem like a terrific deal.

Medical organizations though are worried about how unhealthy this trend is. When it's your health, you need to be careful and make decisions with your head and not with your wallet. When a healthcare provider announces a big deal, people often just sign up without thinking that much about the kind of quality that's on offer. This isn't just a wasted massage by an incompetent masseur or a poor quality meal at a restaurant. These are procedures that involve vital organs. Why, laser skin or Botox treatments that go with 50% off can easily involve inexperienced technicians who use their lasers or their syringes to dangerous effect.

Then of course, there's the whole danger of being drawn in for the upsell. With many healthcare providers, the whole point of offering an affordable health care coupon is finding a way to scare any patient who comes in into accepting all kinds of expensive treatments. A dentist may make it sound really urgent that a person gets expensive crown work.

At least the American Society of Plastic Surgeons has the class to stay away from daily deal sites through an official policy announcement.