Affordable Health Insurance

Lack of Competition in Health Care Market a Problem

July 18, 2008 – 11:15 am
Lack of real competition in the health insurance market is an issue. A few large insurance companies that control the market have been created by how doctors and hospitals charge for their services. Seriously, try it sometime. Call around and find out how much it costs to have gall bladder surgery. Good luck with that. Or, try finding out what it costs to have a baby at the local hospital. Princeton healthcare economist Uwe Reinhardt tried to call local hospitals and got nowhere. You can't compare cost and quality when you're buying health services if you can't figure out how much care costs. To learn more and get a health insurance quote, visit http://www.benepath.com

Posted in Health Insurance | No Comments »

20 Percent of the People in the Health Care System Chalk Up 80 Percent of the Costs

July 18, 2008 – 11:14 am
It's a fact that 20 percent of the people in the health care system rack up 80 percent of the costs. Such disparity is the bane of insurance carriers existence, and one of the reasons for higher rates of insurance that translates into more uninsured people, unable or unwilling to pay higher premiums. Most of your health insurance premiums pay for actual health care services - not profits, administrative costs, etc. Seriously, it's about 80% of your premium. The 20% of us who have the most health care costs use up about 80% of the amount spent on health services. Six percent of the people are in the 80% every year, and 14% of those could be anyone of us - a birth, a broken leg, an appendectomy all put you in the 20% group. You pay a premium to protect you for the times you are in the 20%. ...

Posted in Health Insurance | No Comments »

Affordable Health Care?

July 18, 2008 – 11:14 am
What does affordable mean? Usually it refers primarily to price, but when it comes to health care insurance, things are about to change in a big way. Watch the industry for big employers dropping insurance coverage for their employees. That will be because of the significant costs of providing it. Each year the Medicare deficit creeps up, more doctors bill outrageous prices and employers (and workers) get further behind on their ability to pay for health care coverage. Health reimbursement accounts will be the watchword of the decade. Small and large business owners who want to provide some health benefits to their employees will start giving deductions to employees to buy what they want in terms of health care coverage. To learn more and get a health insurance quote, visit http://www.benepath.com

Posted in Health Insurance | No Comments »

Beware of Health Care Debates

July 18, 2008 – 11:14 am
Beware of health care debates, especially ones that center around an idea of having health care for all – meaning everyone in the state. While an excellent idea whose time has come (and gone many times) it still gives legislators significant pause for thought. It's no wonder this issue is debated until people run out of breath. There is no middle ground for compromise between either of the parties in the house. Without compromise and without a source of funds to actually bring in health care for all (ironic that the government already covers about 50 percent of the people in the state one way or another) it's just another "flavor of the day" debate with no outcome. To learn more and get a health insurance quote, visit http://www.benepath.com

Posted in Health Insurance | No Comments »

Health Care – Socialized Medicine?

July 18, 2008 – 11:13 am
The irony of the whole debate over the Medicare deficit is that those who demand socialized medicine, and loudly demand health care for everyone, are the very same people who, when asked if they are prepared to PAY for that to happen, say NO. It's this simple, either you pay for it to happen or you live without it. And that's the vicious circle that happens every time health care is debated in the Legislature. No one wants to solve the problem if it is going to cost him or her money. This is one of the major reasons there are so many uninsured people in the US. And the funny thing is, many of these uninsured make good money but still refuse to buy health insurance, as they don't think it's a good buy. To learn more and get a health insurance quote, visit http://www.benepath.com

Posted in Health Insurance | No Comments »

Medicare Deficit Staggering

July 18, 2008 – 11:13 am
Medicare and the staggering deficit that faces this country and each state is the elephant in the living room that everyone is politely trying to ignore. The thing is, it won't go away, not without some major help to move it. The same goes with the Medicare deficit. Unless the political will actually grabs this issue by the tail and DOES something about it, it will languish, doomed to die on the vine every year while the deficit keeps creeping ever upward. The Medicare deficit is such an explosive issue that every time it gets brought up in the legislature there's a rip-roaring debate that rapidly goes nowhere. No one wants to spend the money needed to make any significant changes to the system. To learn more and get a health insurance quote, visit http://www.benepath.com

Posted in Health Insurance | No Comments »

Health Insurance A Vicious Circle

July 18, 2008 – 11:12 am
The more health care for all gets discussed, the less gets done about it. Why? That usually has to do with politicians and the money it would cost people to make the health care system actually work. What you have is a cycle, a circle that continuously goes around like a wheel turning in the mud kicking up all manner of messes. No one seems to want to get pragmatic and do something about health care rather than just talk about it and around it. It's a great election issue, and every year it raises its ugly head, but nothing is ever done about it. To learn more and get a health insurance quote, visit http://www.benepath.com

Posted in Health Insurance | No Comments »

Health Insurance For All Was a Good Idea

July 18, 2008 – 11:12 am
Oh, it was a great idea when it was first launched – health care for everyone in the state of Pennsylvania funded by the tax on tobacco. It could have been the perfect solution for the uninsured and uninsurable. But--and there always seems to be a but – the politicians couldn't agree with one another (no surprise there) and the whole proposal was tanked. So there went a proposal that may have kicked the stuffing out of the $30 TRILLION dollar deficit in Medicare. Not the whole deficit, but it would have made sufficient inroads and set such an example for other states, that the idea could have taken right off. Again, the political side of things got in the way of the practical day-to-day business of trying to stay healthy. How ironic that the business of trying to stay healthy funds the political arena and vice versa. To learn ...

Posted in Health Insurance | No Comments »

Benepath: The Stage of Your Life Should Dictate Your Health Insurance Plan

June 20, 2008 – 7:50 am
It's true, depending on what stage of life a person is at, the health plans and rates offered can be drastically different. Know the basics, and learn to navigate the sometimes-confusing world of health insurance plans. No one is ever alone when choosing a health care plan. Local health insurance agents are there to assist consumers in choosing a plan that works for various situations. Their information and advice is free and may just wind up saving tons of money on health insurance premiums. They're not there to sell anything people don't want. Depending on which stage of life a person is in, health needs will be different, and yet the basics stay remarkably similar. Many people in the younger generations seem to feel they are immortal and often don't think they need health care coverage, or at least they don't need very much. Consider this. A broken leg, which ...

Posted in Benepath Press Releases | No Comments »

Benepath: Heath Insurance Co-Pays Don’t Cover What You Think They Do

June 20, 2008 – 7:50 am
Co-pay coverage isn't what it's cracked up to be. That might seem astonishing, but the bottom line with co-pay coverage is that it only pays for the visit to the doctor's office. Diagnostics are separate and those cost extra. Knowing what a co-pay plan actually offers is better than finding out what it really includes after you use it. There seems to be a psychological component to co-pay plans, in that people feel they are paying less and are covered for everything. That is not the case. Co-pay plans pay about $20.00 for a $30.00 benefit. This is like buying an insurance policy for your car and asking for oil change coverage. It's a small benefit and not worth covering, is what it amounts to. Look at it another way. When ordering food off an a la carte menu, the prices are rarely evident. Ordering is pure guesswork as to ...

Posted in Benepath Press Releases | No Comments »