Do Not Read This Unless You are Making a lot of Money!:
If
you would like to know how you can save up to 47% on your current Health
Insurance Coverage read on… this is going to be one of the most
informative messages you will ever read. After reading this message you
will never going to have words; expensive and health insurance in the
same sentence.
As you already know health insurance costs are at
highest they have ever been and there is no sign of them slowing down.
More and more Americans are forced to cancel their coverage simply just
because they cannot afford it.
Who are the uninsured?
o Approximately 46 million Americans,
or 15.7 percent of the population, were without health insurance in 2004
(the latest government data available).
o The number of uninsured rose 800,000 between 2003 and 2004 and has increased by 6 million since 2000.
o
The increase in the number of uninsured in 2004 was focused among
working age adults. The percentage of working adults (18 to 64) who had
no health coverage climbed from 18.6 percent in 2003 to 19.0 percent in
2004. An increase of over 750,000 in 2004.
o Nearly 82 million
people – about one-third of the population below the age of 65 spent a
portion of either 2002 or 2003 without health coverage.
o The number of uninsured children in 2004 was 8.3 million – or 11.2 percent of all children in the U.S. (1).
You might say that I have great coverage that I am happy with… that’s totally fine.
For
past sever years average rate increase for health insurance was 16.2%
and what if it keeps on going? If you are right now paying $500 per
month for your health insurance in three years from now you would expect
to pay over $780 for the same plan. Wait… we all know that insurance
companies consistently decrease their benefits and increase co-pays and
deductible. Therefore you will pay more for less coverage. By the way
if you keep same plan for over five years you will pay over $1000 a
month just for your medical coverage. What if you use your Health
Insurance?… Chances are if it is not for a regular doctor visits or a
check ups it would be considered pre-existing condition. That means your
chances of changing to a more affordable coverage in the future will be
nearly impossible. That is one of the main reasons people cancel their
health insurance because they were diagnosed with something or taking a
prescription medication and the insurance company kept raising their
rate until they could not qualify for any other coverage and could not
afford the one they had.
Now you are saying I do not need coverage my spouse works for a company and I have group coverage… Great.
What
would happen if your spouse left that job or the company stopped
providing benefits? Probably the most obvious things that you can see
how much that group coverage is really costing you. Next time check how
much is deducted out of the paycheck for health coverage, especially for
dependents. Group plans do cost more money because by law they are what
are called “guaranteed issue”. That means you can have serious medical
conditions and still get coverage. Insurance companies have to follow
the law and they know they have to accept everyone who works for a large
company, therefore they do charge more money for coverage. The biggest
problem is not the cost of group health insurance it is what happens if
some one, while on the group plan, is diagnosed with a condition or
starts to take prescriptions medications. We get back to same issues as
mentioned before, unable to qualify for health insurance in the future.
There are people that want to leave their job but they cannot because
they are going through treatment and cannot to pay for it on their own.
There
is another solution… Some might save, so what is the point of even
having health insurance. Once you diagnosed with something and insurance
company is going to keep raising rates to the point where I am going to
have to cancel it anyway. Especially if something does happen and I
have to use my coverage I might not be working and I might not have
income. Is my insurance company is still going to keep raising my rates?
YES.
Before you think about canceling your coverage consider this. Here are some statistics
o
A recent study by Harvard University researchers found that the average
out-of-pocket medical debt for those who filed for bankruptcy was
$12,000. In addition, the study found that 50 percent of all bankruptcy
filings were partly the result of medical expenses. Every 30 seconds in
the United States someone files for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a
serious health problem.
o Illness and medical bills caused half of the
1,458,000 personal bankruptcies in 2001, according to a study published
by the journal Health Affairs.
o Average day in the hospital is $7500 per day.
How
can you save up to 47% on your health insurance? Simple… You probably
already heard of Health Saving Accounts. They are becoming more and
more popular everyday. With the way health insurance prices are moving
today Health Saving Accounts are the only way to keep your coverage,
save hundreds per month on your health insurance and still have a peace
of mind.
To this day I was not able to hear a good definition that
everyone can understand. I will do everything I can to make it simple
to understand. The easiest way to understand Health Saving Accounts is
to think of them as Roth IRA or your Company’s 401k plan. Instead of
giving your money away to insurance company you get to keep it more of
it for yourself. The way HSA plans work is there health insurance
combined with savings account which works in a similar way to your
retirement account. There tremendous benefits to have HSA qualified
health plan. First all the money that you put in to your HSA account is
100% tax deductible and it is your money that rolls over year after
year. At the age of 65 and up if you have not used up all of your HSA
money you can roll it over in to your retirement account. Second your
health insurance costs are going to be cut almost in half. For example
if you had Health Insurance plan with $2500 deductible now and it is
costing you $300 per month the same plans with HSA qualified plan, now
will cost you only about $160 per month. The reason you save so much
money with HSA qualified health plan is because HSA qualified plans do
not cover anything until the deductible is met. There are exceptions
depending on the Health Insurance Company. Some insurance companies
will pay for your once a year physical before you meet your deductible.
Let
take an example of how HSA qualified plan could benefit you. Let take
some actual numbers from actual health insurance company. In this
example I am going to use HSA plans from company called Assurant Health.
Assurant Health is leader in Health Saving Accounts and they one of the
first companies to implement them. The main reason is that Assurant
Health is part of the world’s largest financial company that sets up
retirement accounts. In this example I am going to use a family of four,
husband 46, wife 42, kids are 12 and 16. On a regular family plan with
$2500 deductible, maximum out of pocket of $5500, co-insurance of 80%
and doctor visits covered with $35 co-pay, they are going to pay
$676.40. Something to keep in mind that all of the regular PPO plans
that are available on the market today have family deductible which is
double of individual deductible. That means that if you have a plan with
$2500 deductible and $5500 maximum out of pocket that means that your
family deductible is $5000 and your family maximum out of pocket is
$11,000. When we are comparing HSA qualified health plans there is only
one deductible, once you meet it you are covered at 100% on the most
plans. There are some companies and plans that you still might be
responsible for the percent age of the bill until you reach your maximum
out of pocket. Most HSA plans do not have maximum out of pocket that
meant once you met your deductible you are covered at 100%, it’s that
simple. The same plan with $5700 deductible for the entire family with
HSA qualified health plans will only be $491.64 per month. For the total
monthly savings of 184.76 per month. Also your maximum out of pocket
will decrease from $11,000 on a regular plan to $5700 with HSA health
plan. That’s yearly savings of $2,217.12 and additional savings of $5300
on the maximum out of pocket. (that’s if you have had to use the plan
for emergencies) The main reason for starting HSA health insurance is
for Saving Account and being able to put money in to account, at your
discretion, tax free. You can put money in to HSA qualified account up
to your deductible and you do not have to put any money in to that
account if you do not want to. Health Saving Accounts are as flexible as
you would want them to be. TO get more information on HSA accounts and
get quotes for HSA qualified health coverage see my bio.