Tough economic times... Don't cancel your health insurance

So we are in the "R" word. That's right we are now officially in a recession. Many are out of work. What do you do about your health insurance. Many people try to go without insurance. You are entitled to COBRA, which allows you to keep your corporate benefits at your expense. Where people get confused on this is they are accostomed to their company paying for most of it. Now you assume the entire cost, plus a 4% administrative fee. Now this is an expensive option. If you have some pre-existing conditions it might be your best option. If you do not have and "pre-existings" you have several options.

1) Temporary Insurance- Temporary insurance is good if you are between jobs. They are normally catestrophic in nature so there are no doctor visits, but you are protected against the "big one". They are normally good for six months. They expire at that time so you then either need to look for a new one or some of them can be renewed for an additional six months.

2) Individual Health Plans- These are becoming more common. They were originally designed for the Self-Employed, but now with many companies cutting back on health insurance. More and more people are being attracted to them. Here is the great thing about these plans, you never have to worry about loosing your health insurance if you loose your job. You are not "married to your job" because of the benefits. Now you do have to medically qualify for most of these plans, but they can be taylored often times to meet your needs.

3) Guarantee issue plans. There are some of these out there, but be careful. There are a lot of "discount plans" out there. They are NOT INSURANCE, and are not sold by licensed insurance producers. There is very limited benefits in these types or plans. There are some very good Gurantee issue plans on the market. My favorite is from the American Medical and Life Insurance company (http://www.amlico.com/). They have a plan called AIM Health Plan. You can get details on that plan from my site at www.aimhealthplans.com/ericwilson. I have seen all of those plans, and it is probably the best one on the market.

For free quotes please visit my website at http://www.isellhealth.net/

Eric Wilson can be reached toll free at 888-448-5370

Types of Health Insurance

Before anyone should look for health insurance, we should be familiar with the various types of plans out there. Here are some basics...

1) HMO- Health Maintenence Organization- this type of plan is a form a managed care. It generally cost less, but only allows you to see certain doctors. If you need to see a specialist you need to get a referral from your "Primary Care Doctor". The biggest down side to this is your doctor can drop out of the network and then you need to find a new one.

2) PPO- Preferred Provider Organization- A network of doctors and hospitals that allow you to choose any doctor or hospital. There is the best price, which is in the network. If you choose to go outside the network, you take on a greater financial responsibility.

3) Schedule of Benefit plans- These are very common among the self-employed, the are normally a low cost plan. The downside is like everything else, you get what you pay for. A schedule plan often times covers a maximum of $50,000-$75,000 per claim. Now the majority of claims fall under that amount, but what if you need a transplant or brain surgery that could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

4) Accident only plans- these plans only cover injury or accident. Very common among the younger people just out of college or people between jobs

5) Consumer driven health plans- These plans are becoming more common. These plans cover just about everythinge, but normally have a maxium that they will pay for each procedure. They give the consumer access to what these procedures cost. The consumer can then take an interest his or her own health care, knowing that if they choose a more expensive doctor they will incur more costs.

6) Health Savings Accounts-HSA's- These are normally high deductible health plans with a savings plan attached similar to your IRA. You have insurance and you fund your savings account the same way you would an IRA. Money goes in tax deferred, and goes out tax deferred for medical expenses.

Eric Wilson can be reached at 815-372-1363