Archive for July, 2008

Why Does Health Insurance Cost So Much?
Why does health insurance cost so much? Year after year, many of the articles that appear in print detail the specific factors driving the cost of healthcare.These factors include: general inflation, advances in drugs and other medical devices, rising hospital and doctor expenses, government mandates, increased consumer demand, litigation, fraud, and cost shifting.The basic answer is that a magic bullet to solve the cost of insurance does not exist because the real difficulty is controlling the cost of healthcare. A simple way to dramatically decrease the dollars spent on healthcare is to reduce the demand for healthcare.I have seen estimates that up to 40% of all healthcare related expenses result from preventable conditions. These preventable conditions are caused by lifestyle choices such as tobacco, obesity, stress, lack of exercise and poor diet.Most of us, myself included, make lifestyle choices everyday that eventually increase our demand for healthcare. We are never going to be able to totally eliminate all lifestyle related healthcare costs. However, improved lifestyle choices would cause a dramatic reduction in demand.

This would then result in a similar reduction in the dollars spent on healthcare.Lower demand for healthcare would result in lower health insurance costs, increased productivity, and reduced absenteeism. If your organization has not done so already, your organizational leaders need to seriously consider the benefits of health promotion and disease prevention programs. Your return on investment will most likely be as high as 2:1 in the first year..

Michael Ertel is the founder of http://www.MedicalInsuranceNow.com which is a website that assists individuals and small business owners by providing side by side comparisons of health insurance alternatives.

The Health Insurance Industry’s Dilemma
(ContentDesk) July 30, 2005 — In this day and age, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the American public to find low cost health insurance. Individual health plans require squeaky clean health histories, and rates are increasing at unprecedented percentages annually. In addition, there are many plans and brokers that simply don’t fully disclose plan details to the consumer. This leads to many people listening to what they want to hear and subsequently purchasing health plans without factual knowledge of all benefits and exclusions.How does the public and the broker community combat these obstacles in order to find low cost health insurance? Following are a few ideas that may lead to a better understanding of what’s involved in the research and decision process:•Brokers need to periodically attend training seminars sponsored by their respective health carriers in order to keep abreast of the latest health plans and industry changes.•Brokers should not only focus on the benefits of the plans but also provide understanding of the major coverage exclusions.•The consumer should work with a knowledgeable professional who understands the plans he represents and can guide the consumer to the plan that best suits his or her individual needs and budget.•When researching on the internet, the consumer should be aware that many lead generation sources sell the information to a variety of brokers, and that said consumer may wind up being called by multiple agents selling the same plans.•In most states, it costs the same for a consumer to work with an independent broker as it does if he or she deals directly with a health insurance carrier. Costs of plans are, in the majority of cases, regulated by state law.•The consumer should understand four major coverage areas of his or her policy: major medical deductible, coinsurance percentage and maximum, doctor visit copays, and prescription benefits as well as be aware of major policy exclusions.•Basically, the consumer should discuss his or her needs with a broker or representative with whom they feel comfortable and who will provide coverage details in writing prior to the final decision process.•Finally, the consumer should stay in touch with their broker and periodically evaluate his or her health plan in order to keep costs under control and/or stay aware of any new plan entries in the marketplace.Obtaining low cost health insurance is a challenging but necessary function in today’s society.

By forming the right partnership, the consumer and the broker can work together to overcome the obstacles and obtain proper and affordable health coverage..