truth about health insurance plans

If there’s one truth about health insurance plans it’s this: There is no such thing as a universal health insurance plan. Everyone has very different health needs. So if your health coverage isn’t customized to those needs, then you might want to reconsider your plan.

Luckily, there are plenty of great health insurance options available. When you’re ready to start shopping, it’s always best to compare plans from multiple insurance companies. Consider getting free health insurance quotes from an online service to be connected with a licensed agent as well.

Kinds of Health Insurance
The most common types of health plans are part of the “managed care” family — such as HMO and PPO plans. These kinds of health insurance plans create contracts with “networks” of doctor and hospitals, all of which accept your coverage.

The other type of health insurance is known as indemnity coverage, also called Fee-For-Service health insurance. In this model, plans don’t create any care provider networks. Policyholders are simply reimbursed for their health care costs after they receive a service.

So, Which Plan Should I Choose?
Depending on your needs, not every plan mentioned above will work for you. Here’s a quick overview of each:

HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) plans are best for…

Lower premiums, low or no deductible, low copayments to visit the doctor
Affordable health coverage for your whole family
Minimizing out-of-pocket costs
Stay away from an HMO if…

You don’t want any restrictions on who you can see for health care
You or your family needs frequent specialist care
PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) plans are best for…

Comprehensive coverage for preventive care
Larger and more flexible doctor and hospital networks
Stay away from a PPO if…

You don’t want to meet a high deductible
You want the most affordable coverage possible
Indemnity Fee-For-Service plans are best for…

Avoiding health care provider network restrictions
Getting a wide range of services covered
Stay away from a FFS plan if…

You need preventive care coverage for a family. FFS plans typically don’t cover routine services.
You don’t want to front your own money to be reimbursed later

Mistakes to avoid while buying auto insurance

Are you looking for a suitable auto insurance policy for your teenager? Many of you commit certain mistakes while buying car insurance for your teenager. Read on to know about some common teen auto insurance mistakes to avoid while purchasing a car insurance policy for your teenage daughter or son. It will help you to buy an affordable car insurance policy without compromising on the required coverage.

5 Common teen auto insurance mistakes to avoid

Here are 5 common mistakes that people often commit while purchasing auto insurance for their teenager. Go through the following lines to know how you can avoid making these costly mistakes.

1. Not shopping around for rates

Most of the times, people don’t shop around for rates while purchasing an insurance policy. It is advisable that you shop around for rates and compare them. However, do not go for the lowest quote. You should always weigh the cost of the policy against the coverage offered.

2. Not purchasing adequate coverage

Often people go for less than adequate coverage while buying a car insurance policy.


It is not at all advisable to do so especially when it comes to purchasing liability insurance coverage. As the name suggests, liability coverage protects you against liability claims when your car is responsible for someone’s bodily injury or property damage.

3. Lowering the deductible amount

One of the most common teen auto insurance mistakes to avoid is to lower the deductible amount. Many of you think that the insurance company will pay more for the claim if there’s an accident. However, you can save on premium if you raise the deductible amount.

4. Assuming certain coverage

Do not assume that everything is covered under your auto insurance policy. Instead, get everything in writing and read them carefully before you purchase a policy. It will help you to settle a claim fast, if required.

5. Not informing agent about important changes

Often you forget informing your insurance agent about certain changes that may affect the premium cost of the auto insurance policy. You are eligible to get discounts when you upgrade your car safety features or your teenager takes a defensive driving course.

A knowledge on the above common teen auto insurance mistakes to avoid will help you to save the premium cost to a significant amount without compromising on the coverage.

make smart investments buy corporate bonds and enjoy high returns

If you want to invest a portion of your hard-earned money amid a troubled economic scenario, you must think about investing in corporate bonds. Making investment in corporate bonds is always a smart investment decision. Despite the fact companies are not performing too well at present, you can buy corporate bonds at affordable rates. In addition, these specific bond investments are making around 2%-5% more than other treasuries.

If you want to get a stable income from your investment, then investing in corporate bonds gives you outstanding opportunities to make your dream come true.

Where would you start to search for these investment options? At first, you have to start exploring various companies and see what returns they are offering. You can find information about corporate bonds in money magazines or investment magazines. These magazines list various well-known companies and let you know about their performances. You can use the Internet to look for companies offering corporate bonds. Every time you come across a company, you should see what their investment income is. If you read the Wall Street Journal or the local newspaper, you can get an idea about their performances.

What are the features that you should look for in a company while going to invest in corporate bonds? You should go for companies that have a good rating and sound financial background. Companies with a balanced rating are not bad options either.

If you want to invest in corporate bonds, you can do it yourself or with the help of an investment broker. They can invest your money on your behalf in profitable corporate bonds. If you want to invest a lot of money, then it might be a wise decision to employ a reputable investment broker. On numerous occasions, it has been noticed that they have the access to the insider details of a company.

How to Choose the right Health Insurance Plan

Health insurance (HI) is big deal, so you should make sure you get the best one. Choosing the right HI plan can save you good money in the long run. The most vital thing is to figure out as much as you can about the insurance plan before and make sure the plan you choose fits your needs appropriately , or you may encounter unpleasant surprises later on.
HI Terms
When reviewing health plans always compare premiums. When you review health plans you should compare some basic items like
The monthly premium: the monthly charge for HI
Annual deductible: how much you have to pay before the insurance company starts to pay
Co-pay and co-insurance amounts: It is the portion you have to pay to your doctor for health care services. Co-insurance is the portion you have to pay after your deductible is met. This is usually a 80/20 percentage.
ER and hospital charges: this is defined as inpatient and outpatient co-pays.
Prescription Drug coverage: this states how much you pay for generic, mid tier and brand name drugs.
When considering premiums and deductible, remember to take into account how much the plan will cost for the entire year.
We will consider 3 different kinds of people, and determine what kind of health plan they should choose.
Type 1
Type 1 patient rarely gets sick, rarely sees a doctor. He should choose a plan that has the lowest monthly premium, even if the deductible is higher, his chances of having to use his deductible are less.
Type 2
Type 2 patient occasionally gets sick, has one or two prescription drugs she has to take on a regular basis. She should choose a plan with a mid-range premium and deductible, depending on how much she wants to pay.
Type 3
Type 3 patient has a chronic illness (diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension) and has numerous prescription drugs she has to take on a daily basis. She should pick a plan that has a lower deductible, and a low deductible for prescription drug coverage. Picking the lowest deductible possible means she will have to pay for less out of pocket.
Before picking any health insurance plan, check to make sure they cover outpatient procedures, and if so, at what percentage. In conclusion, find out as much as you can about the various coverage plans from your human resources department so you can make an wise decision you can live with.

Your Health vs Economic Recession - II

In my last post I was discussing with you that what you should do to lower down your medical bills in this time of recession. In this post I would share some steps that you should follow when you are negotiating with doctor or medical staff of any hospital to lower down your medical bill:

• Never feel nervous or shy when talking to doctors about your bad financial condition and inability to pay the whole medical bill. Doctors are common man like us and they do understand the logical and reasonable motive behind your inability to pay whole medical bill. They will give you discount or offer you an easy installment plan with 0% interest.
• Never say to any doctor or billing staff of hospital: “The other doctor (or hospital) is doing the same thing and takes $200 less than you. Why can’t you do this for me?” If you’ll say this sentence, then no doctor or hospital will give you any discount. Never forget that you are trying to lower down payment to a DOCTOR, and not with a car mechanic.
• Most of the doctors loose a large amount of money every year on unpaid bills and on dealing with insurance people over remuneration. You can make them happy by paying them on time. There are many real incidents when a patient gets a small or heavy discount from a doctor because of payments on time.
• In case if you don’t have any insurance and you are going for any operation or any medical treatment which is costly, then request the billing department of hospital or treatment centre for a discount or for an easy monthly installment plan. Never go for such treatments without knowing the whole treatment cost or without discussing the matter with the billing department.
• There are few websites where you can compare the hospitals regarding facility and treatment cost. After making comparison it becomes easy for you to choose the hospital as well as to starting point of negotiation.

I’ll always pray that no one in this beautiful world suffer from any disease but in case if you or any relative of you suffer from any disease, follow these steps to negotiate the medical bills.

Your Health vs Economic Recession - I

I literally apologize for doing so much delay in posting any new informative blog post for all my readers. Actually I was in New York to take care of my Uncle who was admitted in a hospital. Now he is fine but we spent too much money in hospital for him. Even in this time when the whole world is suffering from economic recession, you can’t stop any unexpected expense from occurring especially if it is any health problem. You can’t tell yourself or your family members that this is recession time, so please don’t fall sick and wait till the end of this economic recession. It’s good to have medical insurance for yourself as well as for your family members but still sometimes you find it very difficult to pay some medical bills with the help of your insurance.

In present scenario, lots of people are losing their jobs and many more are losing their health insurance or they are choosing some less valuable health insurance plan because of this economic recession. So in hospitals or clinics, doctors or hospital authority are facing more people who are unable to pay their medical bills or are struggling in paying the bills. You don’t need to feel hesitate to do negotiation with doctors or billing staff of hospitals because they do these things all the time with insurers. So if you think that you can negotiate with doctors, hospital, medical lab or medicine bills, please negotiate and believe me in most of the cases you’ll be successful in negotiating the bills according to your need. There is a lot of thing which I want to discuss regarding this matter but right now I am not getting that much time to share all things with you. So in my next post I’ll share all the steps which you can take regarding negotiating medical bills with doctors or hospital billing staffs.

11 Tips for People having Pet in Recession

Whenever you buy a pet for yourself or for your family, it becomes a responsibility of everyone in the family. It is always suggested to go for any pet with proper planning and ideation. If you are keeping a pet that can be with you for more than 10 years then I’ll suggest you to make some financial plans for the pet too just like all other members of family. In this time of economic recession when everyone is loosing money, having a pet is an extra expense. Following are some tips to save money on everything from buying to caring of the pet:

• Buy larger packets of food that you feed your pet.
• If you are buying expensive brand of food for your pet then switch to cheaper brand as the quality of food remains same in both. You can check that by comparing the ingredients of both brands (expensive and cheaper).
• Calculate and make a rough amount of money which you spend on your pet’s food. This activity will help you a lot.
• Look for those supermarkets and stores with some offers or have same quality of food at cheap price.
• Group together with your other friends who have pets and buy food in bulk from a food supplier.
• If you have oven at your home, you can bake biscuits for your pet from cheaper brand flours, eggs etc.
• Dog owners can walk with their pet everyday. This will keep dog and owner both healthy and fit and will not cost a single penny for that.
• Sometimes veterinary bills can be too much expensive so it is suggested to have pet insurance.
• Take out some time and find out cheaper insurance for you pets. You can check that also in main supermarkets which have a financial department.
• You need to cover only because of basic veterinary need, so don’t go for any other policy.
• You can ask companies who have covered your house, vehicle and health insurance. May be they can arrange a cheaper insurance policy for your pets.

These are some useful suggestions for the people having pets so that they can keep a pet without spending extra money in this recession time.

Find 15 answers before signing Vehicle Insurance Policy

Driving your first vehicle is a great fun and enjoyment but on the other hand choosing right vehicle insurance policy is not that much enjoyable work. But still it is important to go for vehicle insurance for those people who owns and drives a vehicle and want proper protection for their vehicle. But before going for any vehicle insurance policy, find out answer of these 15 questions which will help you to choose right vehicle insurance policy:

1. Have you researched vehicle insurance on websites in order to compare price of the policy and terms related with it?
2. Do you really understand the policy terms and conditions or going for it blindly because it was the first policy offered to you?
3. Do your vehicle insurance policy covers things like roadside assistance and glass repairs? If yes, then what are the wait times in both cases?
4. What is the claim procedure for the vehicle insurance policy you are going for and how much time it takes?
5. What would happen in case of any disputes?
6. What are the things and cases which your car insurance policy covers? What is not covered by it and why?
7. Is there any term in the policy when the premium are locked in or guaranteed?
8. What is the company’s and insurance provider’s history? Are they in good standing among all other insurance companies?
9. Does the insurance company get good customer review or not?
10. For how much time you are fully covered after signing the vehicle insurance policy? Is there any wait period where you are partly covered?
11. With this vehicle insurance are you getting option to choose your own garage in case of any repairs?
12. In case of claim, do you have to pay first from your pocket with this insurance policy and will be paid later or the insurance company will pay the money at the front end?
13. Does your vehicle insurance provider arrange any loyalty program for long term customers or improvement for number of new customers?
14. Is there anything you can do about your driving record and credit history in order to get a better rate?
15. What are the monthly payments and what are the methods for lowering them?

Getting answers of all the 15 questions will help you to get such insurance policy which will provide the most protection to your vehicle at the least possible cost.

Natural Disasters vs Typical Home Insurance Policy

Whenever we go to buy homeowner insurance policy, the agent would say that their “special” and “different from other” insurance policy would pay for any type of damage that our home will experience. But reality is that many home owners or property owners their homeowners insurance policy will not pay them a single penny if their homes or property are damaged by some common natural disasters like floods, landslides and earthquakes. It’s a general tendency that whenever we buy an insurance policy, we just go by agent’s words but most of us never go through all the policies. You’ll find many people around you who are not able to collect when their homes are damaged by floods, landslides, subsidence and other problems and we think that insurance companies are cheating their customers.

If we’ll spend a little time reading the policies, we’ll clearly come across “Exclusion Statement” of policy. This “Exclusion Statement” of policy clearly states that the insurance company would not pay for any loss (whether it is direct or indirect) due to:

• Any earth movement (natural or man-made), means earthquakes, volcanic eruption, mine subsidence, land slide, mud slide, mud flow, earth sinking, rising or shifting.
• Water damage such as flood, surface water, waves, tides, tidal waves, overflow of a body of water or pressure due water below the surface of the ground.

However, direct losses by fire, explosion, sonic booms, theft or breakage of glass resulting because of any type of earth movement (except volcanic eruption) are covered by policy. So we need to know more about the geological factors before buying any property or house. If we know any geological risk about the house or property, we should not go for it or we should find specific insurance plan for that.