sonicbozo | Health Insurance

I know the question sounds stupid but, my husband and I just found out that we are having a baby in January. I have medical insurance, which does cover maternal care, with the exception of copay, and deductibles, all that good stuff. Although we have been trying for out lil miracle, it has been so long, that it surprised us when the test came out positive. My husband had some employment struggles and he is in the process of finding full-time employment. Which means for us that we are going to have a lot of medical bills that will be difficult to pay. My original question is can I get medical coupons if I am not making enough to support everything? Even though I have insurance?

Check with your Department of Health. You may be eligible for Medicaid–to cover the rest of your expenses. You may also be eligible for WIC to help with food for you and the baby. My husband and I struggled through the hospital bills with our first, just to find out we probably could have gotten some sort of assistance. Your hospital probably has payment options, as well. With our second child, we were able to pay all of our hospital bills right away–except for the BIG one. We’re making equal monthly payments for a year and not paying any interest.

Another thing you should look into is a Flexible Spending Account. If your company offers this as one of their benefits, sign up for it during the open enrollment period at the end of the year. Since your baby is due in January, this may be a real help. The way it works is: You estimate how much your medical bills come to for the year. You tell the FSA administrator that you want to have that amount in your FSA. You get that amount to spend UP FRONT. Then, you repay the amount out of your paycheck for the rest of the year–and that comes out before taxes. I have 2 kids and a husband that are on my benefits. I estimated that we’ll spend about $1040 on medical expenses. So, $20 a week comes out of my check for that–and since it’s pre-tax, I don’t even miss it. The rules of the account state that I can only use that money for medical, dental, prescriptions, and OTC medications for me and my dependents. And I have to be able to produce receipts for these expenditures when they request them for IRS reporting purposes. It is worth it, though.

Good luck and Congratulations!!

I am researching health insurance plans for my company of 4 employees. However, I am not too sure what to look for. How can I make sure that I get the most beneficial plan?

You should request information from all the major health care providers in your area. Make sure you ask for price sheets that compare all of their plans. Once you have them you can compare all the companies. The best rate will probably be an HMO, but look into others as well. Also ask your employees what they want in health care coverage, or what plans they had with other employers.

I am running into a problem in finding a denstist that will accept this coverage. Especially when my husband has a PPO plan- then they use his coverage as primary and ignore the secondary coverage. They have stated that they do not have to honor the HMO fee structure; but they refuse to drop us the kids and my husband off of the list.

Dental plans like this can be a real problem. The dentists are paid a fixed fee of about $4 to $6 a month for each person who signs up. Hopefully, they never show up in the office, and they keep the money. If they do, the dentist tries to sell additional services that are not on the discounted list.

Any dentist who is contracted is SUPPOSED to honor the fee structure–that’s what the contract is. However, many HMO plans will not pay benefits on a secondary basis.

So, this plan may be a rip-off. Consider dropping it, and work with a specialist health agent to find a PPO plan that works for you.

I am a full time student and I work part time, but I am not eligible for heath coverage throught my employer. Do you know of somewhere I can ger insurance for a reasonable rate? Thanks for your help )

Check with your college. Usually they have student health plans.

What if every state became a co-op? Insurance companies could then bid to join, procedures and rates could be on a sliding scale according to income. these co-ops would be audited quarterly.

healthplans.my-age.net – here is my health insurance plan. As I remember they can provide such a service.

I am considering which group health plan to choose for my company, and have had mixed reviews regarding PacificSource Health Plans and their willingness to cover Behavioral Therapies for children with Autism.

Go to Yahoo Groups autism forums pertaining to behavioral techniques, ABA, etc. and ask them. I recovered my children only on biomedical treatments, which many have complained about not getting insurance coverage for as well. Since individuals with autism have immune dsyfunction, sensory integration disorder, and many pathogens and toxins, the doctors are billing under their medical problems and not saying autism since it is not yet recognized as a medical problem by mainstream. But thousands have been recovered by biomedical, so hopefully it will one day.

If the United States becomes a country that institutes a universal health plan, will it affect the salary of medical professions? Such as pharmacists, doctors, specialists, etc?

Lea is a bit simplistic. Actually some MD salaries would probably rise as they would all be paid for ALL patients as opposed to seeing patients that can’t or won’t pay at all. But if universal healthcare pays POORLY, everyone’s paycheck would adjust accordingly–can’t give employees a salary if you aren’t earing the $ to begin with.

Medical income is a ratio of billable received income (which may NOT be the amount billed) minus expense such as malpractice, operating & capital expense, etc. The backend–malpractice & operating expense are HUGE which is why salaries are not as big as people think they are.

Many things would be impacted positively or negatively (depending on the actual reimbursement)–the type, number & kind of tests & xrays ordered, referrals to allied health such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, etc., home health visits, hospice care, durable eguipment (wheelchairs, walkers, toilets) etc etc …EVERYTHING THAT WILL OR WILL NOT BE PAID FOR under the plan.

AS you can see, this is very complex–part of the reason a universal plan has not yet be implemented.

Dentists are in a separate category (dental insurance is separate from medical) & I think pharmacists salaries would be much less impacted as their salary is not dependent on a billable expense.

I just noticed that not drinking alot of water for the longest time since I can remember has been damaging my health. I think this is why I have so little energy

I plan to start drinking more water, what differences should I see in my health afterward?

Well you’ll be more hydrated and will have more energy. You might also want to start jogging or biking, you’ll see a huge difference in energy levels. =)

I can’t get dental insurance and I was wondering how much it cost’s to pay for it yourself. I need some work done to my teeth and I would figure that it will be expensive. If I just buy it and then go and get like 3000 dollars in work done will it cover the cost’s?

You need to talk to an insurance agent and find out what policies s/he can find you that will cover the work you need to have done at a premium you can afford. No other way to know. until you get some quotes and read the policies. (Read the policy before you sign.)

How is it legal for health insurance companies to discriminate against people with disabilities (I mean, medical disabilities), but other companies are not allowed to, like grocery stores are not allowed to? Or maybe it IS legal for other businesses to discriminate against people I am really just curious, that’s all. About the legal process. Health insurance companies kind of make me mad, because of this issue. I know I am expressing a political opinion, but I ask you not to troll. If you have a different opinnion thatn me, you can argue for it, but please don’t start trollin.’

You mean in writing policies? That’s one of the reasons we need health care reform, the insurance companies exclude people with pre-existing conditions. Which kind of ruins the whole concept of insurance, which is based on pooled risk.