Access to affordable health insurance is crucial for maintaining the retirement income security of many retirees. Deteriorating health is often a powerful incentive for older workers to retire. However, in recent decades, health care costs have risen two to three times faster than inflation. Inadequate health insurance coverage puts working families at risk of going without the health care they need in retirement. Early retirees do not qualify for Medicare, and because Medicare does not include certain benefits such as prescription drugs, many retirees must turn to private health insurance. Although private health insurance can be accessed either through an employer or by purchasing a non-group plan in the private market, the latter option is likely to be prohibitively expensive or simply not available. This leaves retirees to a large degree dependent on their former employers offering retiree health insurance. Â
Health insurance is a major cost of doing business, especially for small companies and mom-and-pop firms. With premiums soaring, many small business owners are asking their employees to shoulder more of the financial burden or cutting benefits entirely. Those costs have proven too high for many small businesses. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, more than 45 million Americans are uninsured, and approximately 60 percent of the uninsured are employed by small businesses. Small business health insurance may take a huge chunk out of your revenue, but benefits often attract better employees and help retain existing workers. Satisfied, healthy employees are more likely to help your business grow.
The European Health Insurance Card or EHIC is a reduced-cost, sometimes even free, medical treatment that is necessary when in an area covered by the European Economic Area or Switzerland. The EHIC brings important changes to the healthcare coverage in Europe. The EHIC replaced the old health care system on January 2006. The EHIC is valid anywhere from three to five years and offers coverage any medical treatment necessary during your trip either due to illness or accident.
The card allows access to medical treatment provided by the state only and you will receive treatment on an equal basis as an insured person that is residing in that country. It is important to keep in mind that this may not cover everything that you expect to be free from other countries. Chronic diseases or pre-existing conditions are also covered by the treatment.
As the economy slows more and more, so does the ability of people to obtain proper care when needed. Most Americans have no health care insurance/coverage and the alarming thing is that statistics show, almost all have had instances(twice actually) within the past two years without any health care coverage. The incoming administration aims to make health care one of the most pressing issues but as jobs are shed from all levels of the economic machine, this remains to be seen. Private health care is still quite expensive and public sponsored ones quite inadequate.
Just hope that more can be done to remedy the fate of millions of people who do not have proper health care that should follow the path of the proposed SCHIP for children which is to be a very important move towards reforming the industry. Millions of children have no access to proper health care due to unemployed parents or due to having been laid off. Those parents who have managed to stay on the job are facing uncertain futures for as companies aim to trim down on expenses, health care contributions for employee sponsored care are subject to evaluation by management.
The upcoming US Presidential elections has led to a lot of promises and proposals by the two candidates. One of these is their plan to change the way Americans get health insurance. NEWSWEEK’s Mary Carmichael has written a comprehensive article, consulting with Katherine Swartz, a professor of health policy and economics at Harvard. In gist, here’s her take on the two different plans:
McCain’s plan: to take away the tax break workers get on health insurance at their jobs, and give people who buy their own insurance $2,500 ($5,000 for families) in tax credits.
Their prediction: Low-income people would have a hard time getting affordable insurance on their own. In the long run, employers would probably stop offering health insurance, and more people would end up uninsured than there are now.
Obama’s plan: An insurance exchange that looks like the Health Connector used in Massachussets. Every plan would have a minimum set of benefits, and you would get a subsidy if your income is below the threshold.
Their prediction: The total cost will be more than the estimate. His requiring insurers to cover pre-existing conditions would probably raise premiums. Although children and more people would be covered than there is now, some adults will continue to be uninsured.
With the idea of diversifying coming to the forefront, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, an Indian pharma, is thinking of going into the pharmacy retail business and eventually into health services as well. The move to go into the health insurance market is not as original as it might seem since the Apollo Hospital Group of India has already started to tie up with DKV which is a European insurance provider in order to facilitate the inception of a health insurance provider company in the country. The diversification although costly may prove to be profitable for the company in the long run considering only three percent of the Indian population is insured and a pharmacy market worth $5 billion ready to be taken.
Why would you want to get a short-term health insurance?
You just graduated from college and is now looking for a job, in the meantime you’re no longer covered by your college and parent’s health insurance.
You just found a job, but the health insurance benefit kicks in after three months
If you fall somewhere within these types, then you might be interested in looking for a health insurance that will temporarily cover you and/or your family.
Most short-term health insurance has a coverage ranging from 180 days to 12 months tops. It’ll cover accidents or sudden illnesses. You’ll be in charge of picking your own doctor or clinic, and get in and out patient services as well.
The negative side of it all is that it won’t offer all permanent plan benefits. It won’t include pre-existing conditions, routine medical exams, preventive care, optical or dental care, or pregnancy and childbirth expenses.
Source
Having a Health Insurance policy usually made us feel secure for the future health of our family. However, according to a survey, only 7 percent of those who have health insurance say they are prepared for any health concerns in the future.
The main reason is that the remaining 93% feel that they have very limited coverage and are now paying more of their share for medical costs. 158 million people covered by employer health insurance programs are paying higher medical expenses due to various combinations of factors like higher premiums, less extensive coverages, and larger out-of-pocket deductibles and co-payments.
Source