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Pennsylvania Health Insurance

Pennsylvania Insurance — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:17:51 +0000

As a Pennsylvania resident, you should be aware of the different Pennsylvania Health Insurance coverages, so you can find the best policy and get a Pennsylvania Health Insurance Quote at the lowest cost.

Types Of Pennsylvania Health Insurance

PA Health Insurance is available through two types of plans: group or individual. Group plans are offered through an employer or association; individual plans are purchased directly through an insurance company.

If you work for a company that offers a group insurance plan, or even a choice of plans to its employees, obtaining health insurance may not be a problem and you may not need a Pennsylvania Health Insurance Quote. However, if you are not covered by a group plan, or if you want different or additional coverage other than that offered by your employer, you may want to consider buying individual health insurance coverage for yourself or your family, or determine your eligibility for association or government sponsored health insurance.

Employer Sponsored Insurance is group PA Health Insurance coverage offered by your employer. The group health insurance coverage purchased by the employer can be through a private insurance company or coverage that is “self-funded” or "self-insured," meaning that the employer will use its own money to pay for the health care expenses of its employees.

Individual Insurance includes PA Health Insurance coverage you can purchase on your own directly through an insurance company. Many Pennsylvania Health Insurance companies offer individual health coverage to people who either are self-employed or work for a business that does not offer health insurance. All Pennsylvania residents can buy individual Pennsylvania Health Insurance through the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans on a guaranteed issue basis.

Association Sponsored Insurance includes PA Health Insurance coverage that may be offered to you or a member of your family through a fraternal or professional association. Association sponsored insurance usually costs less than individual insurance because, similar to employer sponsored insurance, you may be able to purchase Pennsylvania Health Insurance insurance at a group rate.

Government Sponsored Insurance includes PA Health Insurance coverage that provides medical benefits to senior citizens, disabled persons, and the economically disadvantaged. Examples include Medicare and Medicaid. Government sponsored insurance also may be available to those with conditions related to military service.

Pennsylvania Health Insurance Glossary

Coinsurance - The share of your covered expenses, usually a percentage, you must pay after the deductible is reached. For example, a policy may require you to pay twenty percent of the cost up to a certain dollar amount.

Conversion of Privileges - Allows the participant or beneficiaries to convert coverage to a different plan of insurance without providing evidence of insurability. The privilege granted by a group policy is to convert to an individual policy upon termination of group coverage.

Coordination of Benefits - Provisions in Pennsylvania Health Insurance group policies that limit the total benefits payable under two or more group policies so that benefits do not exceed the actual amount of covered expenses incurred. COB is particularly important when a husband and wife each have obtained family coverage under separate group policies. Some policies may reduce the amount of benefits payable if benefits are payable under other insurance coverage.

Co-payment - A specified dollar amount a subscriber to a managed care plan must pay for covered Pennsylvania Health Insurance care services. It is paid to the provider at the time the service is rendered.

Deductible - The initial amount of covered expenses a policyholder will have to pay before benefits are paid under the Pennsylvania Health Insurance policy. Generally, the higher the deductible, the lower your premium. Remember, the deductible should not be so high that you could not afford to pay it should you become ill.

Effective Date - The date Pennsylvania Health Insurance protection begins.

Elimination Period - Specified number of days that you must be eligible for Pennsylvania Health Insurance coverage or disabled before the policy begins to pay benefits.

Exclusions and Limitations - Conditions or circumstances in which benefits are not payable or may be limited. Some examples of exclusions are suicide or self-inflicted injuries, injuries resulting from war, on-the-job accidents covered by workers’ compensation, eye or dental treatment, cosmetic surgery, services for which no charge is made, and services that are not medically necessary. Some policies also may place limitations on or exclude treatment of mental illness or substance abuse.

Pre-existing Condition - An illness or condition which was treated or diagnosed before the policy was issued. Many policies will not pay benefits for pre-existing conditions, or will only cover treatment of them after the policy has been in force for a specified period of time. This varies based on whether the policy is group or individual coverage.

Renewal and Premium Increase Provisions - Determine the conditions under which your Pennsylvania Health Insurance policy may be renewed or the premiums increased.

Waiting Period - The amount of time you must wait after buying a policy before coverage begins.

Tags: pennsylvania health insurance, coverage, Pennsylvania, Health, Insurance, individual health insurance

Obamacare Demise of the Health Insurance Broker

Pennsylvania Insurance — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:16:39 +0000

An article in the Thanksgiving edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows the myriad inconsistencies and irrationalities of the new health insurance overhaul law — dubbed 'health care reform' — and spells out how the federal government is paving the way for the demise of the health insurance broker. Easy To Insure ME has the answers

Some incredible excerpts taken directly from the story, and my highly insightful comments:

'The process of creating this new way to shop for health insurance will be costly and enormously complicated.' — Duh, they want to reinvent the wheel…of course it's going to be expensive and cumbersome! Imagine, if you will, the federal government requiring the states to come up with a plan to create a new distribution system for consumers to buy food products, even though we already have a system called 'the grocery store.' A daunting task? You bet! And frankly, not necessary.

'States that take on the task of running an exchange will have a significant amount of discretion that will determine the level of competition, the amount of choices for consumers and ultimately whether market forces work to help control insurance costs, as the law intends.' — So, the Obama Administration and Congress believe that the states should control competition among privately owned businesses, and also allow them to determine whether or not to allow the market to control costs. Yeah, show me any state or federal agency that allows the American public to determine how much taxes are taken and what is spent by the government, and I will show you a pit bull that prefers bon bons over raw meat. The states will determine whether or not the market should dictate costs? Which way do you think they will go with that…set the costs themselves, or allow the market to do it?

'Anybody who shops on the Web today for products where they can go up there and put in preferences and pull up a set of choices that are relevant to those preferences, for a hotel or an airline or whatever, that is the vision of the exchange for health care,' said Joel Ario, director of the Office of Health Insurance Exchanges at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. — OK, if that isn't seen as an overt indication that the Obama Administration and its operatives consider the broker to be completely irrelevant in the health insurance distribution process, then I don't know what does. It is reminiscent of earlier this year, when a staff blogger at USA Today wrote that the health exchange system originally proposed by the House would imitate Travelocity, since the fed would control the entire thing, which the Senate version (closer to what we now have) would allow the states to manage it. It appears, however, that Mr. Ario, a onetime Pennsylvania insurance commissioner who worked directly with carriers and brokers, has swallowed the Kool-Aid and seems to think that providing health care coverage is as easy as reserving a room at Motel 6.

'Most employees of large companies should expect to continue to get their coverage at work, experts said. But some small and medium-size employers could end up dropping their coverage and shifting their workers to the exchange. How many companies might do that is a big unknown.' — speaking as an experienced journalist who seeks to back up blanket statements with facts, I have to say that this is one of the most irresponsible and egregious acts of unprofessional journalism I have seen in recent memory, and also one of the biggest misconceptions if not outright lies proffered by those in favor of state-run health insurance. What facts does the writer use to back up her assertion that 'most employees of large companies' will continue with employer-sponsored coverage? Did she quote any employers, to at least show anecdotally that employers will keep employees covered? Or is she relying simply on unnamed 'experts,' whose affiliations are conveniently omitted from the story? And 'some' small and mid-size companies could put workers on the exchange? Is this again from the 'experts?' Or is this complete conjecture? It appears to be. At least the writer is being upfront when she states that it is a 'big unknown,' but making such concrete statements such as 'most' and 'some' and then admitting that it is really unknown, is poor form. In reality, we might see a majority of American workers form both large and small firms pushed onto the exchanges, where they will not only have to find their own insurance (required by law), but pay for it out of their own pockets, at rates that will likely be higher than what the employer was paying in the first place. Nice.

'The way the law is written, some employers will be penalized for failing to offer coverage. But paying the penalty might be more cost-effective than providing the coverage.' — Strike the word 'might' and replace it with 'will,' and this statement will be accurate. Employers will drop coverage and the employees will be forced to go onto the exchange. And brokers are out of that mix entirely.

Georgia's governor, governor-elect and attorney general are all against the federal law and trying to thwart it, but are working within the law to ensure that at the state level, at least, it matches to the best of their ability a free market exchange.

Without getting into a big Constitutional question (which, actually, is at the heart of the lawsuits instituted by the states against the law), it is incredible that the top elected officials of our country would enact legislation to force states to do something that they neither want to do nor have the resources to do, and take what some say is a disjointed system of state-based insurance regulation, and turn it into a black hole of regulation and uncertainties that could prove disastrous.

Right now, the broker community is the navigator holding the compass and telescope on the ship, 'USS Purchasing Health Insurance.' The federal government has decided that it can do a better job for the crew and passengers, and is putting the broker on a life raft and pushing it out to sea, while telling the passengers that the ride will now be smoother and easier.

The only thing that is missing is Gilligan and the Skipper.

Easy To Insure ME has the answers health insurance quotes / Health insurance quote / individual health insurance

Tags: egregious acts, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, health care coverage, individual health insurance, myriad inconsistencies, Social Issues

Improved Health Insurance Quotes Makes Shopping Faster

Pennsylvania Insurance — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:17:35 +0000

Involving a health care change that affects all Americans, questions arise about what is going to happen next in America. With the new laws evolving everyday, many changes are occurring. Also, every state now varies on specific changes due to some states denying Obama Care and suing the federal government to protect residents. The states suing the federal government include Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington.

In the midst of confusion, health insurance shoppers need guidance on the recent changes and the medical plans available. The internet is a great source for knowledge and education regarding these issues. One specific site stands out amongst the rest on providing guidance and helping with purchases for individual health insurance.

Shopping online for health insurance quotes is much easier by using the free tools presented at the Easy To Insure ME website.

The National online health insurance brokerage recently improved the free tools available to make it easier for shoppers to compare and purchase health insurance online. In addition to the improvement, Easy To Insure ME offers a toll free hotline for assistance with purchases and questions about health care reform changes.

The site stands out because of the personal assistance offered in an online environment. To compare every plan instantly and decide amongst three hundred different choices a consumer would usually need the expert knowledge and help of a local broker to narrow down the options available. Easy To Insure ME automatically sends out a recommendation through email of four plans with the best benefits and lowest rates. This instantly narrows down three hundred plans down to only four and saves shoppers a car ride to a local broker and a lot of time.

In addition to emailing client specific recommendations, a friendly health expert will call to review the health insurance quotes and explain the benefits in an understandable fashion.

Visit http://www.EasyToInsureME.com/ today to meet a friendly advisor regarding recommended health insurance quotes.

Tags: shopping, health insurance quotes, individual health insurance, guidance, health insurance brokerage

What Individual Health Insurance Is Good but Cheap?

Pennsylvania Insurance — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:17:40 +0000

Hey. Please somebody help me. I am employed but don't get any health insurance. I am 27 and single and need a good health insurance but cheap. I live in Florida. Can somebody can help me with that?

Tags: health insurance, good health, individual health insurance, help, Hey

Can I Reimburse Myself Health Insurance Costs From My Company?

Pennsylvania Insurance — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:21:22 +0000

We used to have individual health insurance, and I would pay for it out of my own company (an S Corp). When we got insurance through my husband's employer, I stopped reimbursing myself.
He is paid for by the company, and then it costs extra to add myself and our child.

I was just going to deduct health insurance premiums on our Sch A, but we don't have enough other medical expenses to meet the limit.

Is it ligit to go ahead and reimburse myself the amount that it cost for the health insurance? Then it would be a business expense. Thanks.

Tags: health insurance premiums, individual health insurance, child, health insurance costs, Insurance, limit

Insurance Pennsylvania | Auto | Disability | Homeowners | Life | Health » individual health insurance

Pennsylvania Health Insurance

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