Insurance Information

by Paul Schwarz

All about private health insurance

Why pay for private health insurance? There are a several very good reasons but probably the most important is speed. If you visit your doctor with medical problem he may refer you to a consultant, the waiting time for this can be months. Following the consultation you may need a scan or some other test, again waiting weeks or probably months. Finally you may need an operation which may involve waiting for months.

In comparison, private medical insurance is much quicker. When you are referred by your doctor your consultation will usually take place within a week at a time to suit you. The necessary tests will be done within a few days, and if an operation is needed it will be arranged on a date shortly afterwards to suit you.

The NHS route has been shortened from several months to just a couple of weeks. Very often, depending on the urgency, the whole process can be condensed into just a couple of days.

There have been many instances of people dying whilst waiting on NHS waiting lists. The severity of a condition might not be recognised until the consultation and tests have taken place, and that can take months.

Many people give up waiting and pay for consultations, tests, and operations themselves, the cost of which can run in to tens of thousands of pounds.

What's the best type of medical insurance plan? Medical insurance can be expensive but there are ways of protecting yourself against high costs whilst ensuring that if you need the dreaded triple heart by-pass it will be covered by your insurance.

If you can afford it you can just take out a plan with full inpatient (operations) and outpatient (consultations & tests) cover. It will be expensive but it will provide peace of mind for you and your family. After all, there is nothing more important than your health, without good health it's difficult to enjoy your life no matter how wealthy you might be.

But there are ways of keeping the cost down. Firstly, there are plans available with limited outpatient cover, usually £1000 per person per policy year, this is more than enough in the vast majority of cases. There is a plan on the market which has just £300 of outpatient cover. With this latter plan you might need to be prepared to pay some of the outpatient costs yourself.

My favourite option is a plan that covers inpatient treatment only. These plans usually also cover scans (MRI, PET, & CT) in full, and also cover oncology (cancer treatments) in full as an inpatient, outpatient, or day-patient. If you have this type of plan and need to see a consultant you have a choice, you can wait to see an NHS consultant or pay about £120 to see a private consultant immediately. You might have to pay for minor tests if you have them done privately but a scan will be paid for by the insurer. But if you need an operation it will be covered in full. This type of plan might end up costing you a few hundred pounds if you need treatment but you will save that many times over during the years that you are paying for your insurance.

No claims discounts - A lot of plans include a no claims discount and they are a great idea for keeping premiums down when you are not claiming. However, be prepared for the fact that if you do claim you will lose discount. There are still a few plans around which do not include a no claims discount but they are more expensive.

It's best to avoid a no claims discount for a family, the more of you there are, the more likely you are to claim. For a couple I would recommend that they take out two separate plans, this will keep the increase down in the event of a claim.

Excesses - There is no point have an excess unless having it saves that excess in a single year. For example if the insurance premium without an excess is £120 per year, and £108 per year with a £100 excess you will save £144 per year so the excess is worth having. If you make a claim you will have to pay the first £100 but you will still save £44.

Underwriting - Insurance companies protect themselves against people joining their medical insurance plans and then immediately claiming. Every new member joins via a particular underwriting method. There are thee types of underwriting; moratorium, full medical declaration, and switch.

Moratorium underwriting is the most common, most people join by this method. Moratoriums vary between insurers but generally if you join by this method any condition occurring in the last 5 years will not be covered until you have been a member for 2 years without treatment, consultation, or medication. This does mean that any ongoing condition such as high blood pressure, or anything related to it will never be covered.

Full medical underwriting requires the applicant to complete a medical history questionnaire, any pre-existing conditions may be excluded. This can be useful if you want to be absolutely certain of what is not covered.

Switch underwriting is unusual for individual medical insurance policies but there are some insurers who do it. You can switch insurers with a continuation of cover proving you have not made a claim in the last 12 months and are not aware of any necessary treatment in the next 12 months.

Paul Schwarz has two specialist health insurance sites: http//:www.freehealthinsuranceadvice.co.uk and http://www.vrhealth.co.uk/

About the Author:

Paul has been an independent insurance consultant specialising in private medical insurance since 1999. He has a degree in Materials Technology and worked in the engineering industry before deciding to give up the worldwide travel and spend more time with his family working from his home in Cheshire.

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by Michael Challiner

Are you a smoker? Have you ever tried to give up the habit? The chances are that you have, but like any addiction it can be (and usually is) extremely difficult to stop, and even attempts to cut down rarely last very long. Part of the problem is that smoking can be very enjoyable, but only too often something can turn up which will instantly remove the enjoyment. Unfortunately that 'something' will very often be loss of health.

The insurance industry is well aware of this fact, so not surprisingly they try to ensure that they do not lose money by covering high risk customers at low risk rates. At the same time non-smoking customers for life insurance have been piling on the pressure in their search for lower premiums. This is where the internet comes into the picture.

It used to be the case that at best, anyone looking for competitive quotations for life insurance had to be prepared to spend a lot of time searching adverts and telephone directories for likely companies. They also had to be prepared to spend a lot of time on the telephone collecting information, and then to settle down to long and careful comparisons, covering bits of paper in confusing and often indecipherable notes.

But all that has changed. Now all they have to do is go online and check out as many companies as they wish. They will find information which is very carefully presented for maximum clarity, because a confused enquirer is highly unlikely to become a customer. It is now so easy to reach a decision that a 'price war' has developed and some very competitive quotations are available. This competition has however had an inevitable effect in that insurance companies have had to tighten up their procedures or risk losing money on the narrower margins.

So they have hit the obvious target - smokers. Whilst the life insurance premiums for non-smokers have been steadily reducing, smoker's premiums have moved away in the opposite direction. This has resulted in rates for smokers which are 100% or more above standard rates and still climbing. This, on top of the cost of the cigarettes (currently estimated to be approaching £100,000 in a lifetime and still climbing) means that anyone who still smokes must be very determined not to curtail their enjoyment.

Critical illness insurance is another policy which many people take out, to provide financial security for their families in the event of loss of income due to lengthy illness. It is reasonably self-evident that this too will be a great deal more expensive for smokers, simply due to their greater propensity for such illnesses as a result of their addiction.

So do you dig your heels in and continue to enjoy smoking, or do you give way to the financial pressure (not to mention the widespread anti-smoker climate) and give up the habit. The sad news is that even if you grit your teeth and stop smoking, as far as the insurance companies are concerned you are not out of the woods (or the Woodbines) for at least 12 months or maybe much longer. Some may require complete cessation for at least five years - contact your intended insurers after 12 months completely smoking free and see how the premiums look now. A considerable cost reduction should be evident.

Some folks cheat themselves and their friends by claiming to have stopped smoking when they are still sneaking the odd one in dark corners. This is up to the individual, but don't try it with your insurers; it would not be difficult for a relatively low-key enquiry to expose the lie and your cover (in both meanings of the word!) would be blown. All the effort, the subterfuge, the self-deceiving would have been wasted. You would not be insured.

Right, you have made the praiseworthy and not inconsiderable effort and you are now a non-smoker. You can feel some justifiable pride as you tick the 'NO' box on a form with a smoking query. Now take advantage of your position, get on the internet and shop around for insurance quotes. You may be pleasantly surprised by some of the offers which you get, but don't let your euphoria get the better of you. A move too soon, before everything has been confirmed, could leave you with a cancelled policy with your old company and an oversight leading to rejection by your new company; result no cover. Check the details carefully, finalise all the figures and then change to your new insurer.

Finally, don't let those savings in expenditure just melt away. Add the money saved on cigarette purchases to the money saved on reduced premiums and invest it, and just watch that total climb!

About the Author:

Life insurance quotations provides free and amazing articles based on life insurance quotations to all uk residents.

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by Michael Challiner

Britons are drinking too much, shout the headlines. Out of those who live in Great Britain, two thirds say they drink to excess at least once a week and almost a quarter hurt themselves while they are intoxicated. This is according to a report by the Drink Aware Trust and the British Chiropractic Association.

But binge drinking is not just a health issue, but a financial one as well. It hits you not just in the pocket through the excess weekly spending on alcohol, but it can drive up the cost of your Life Insurance premiums too.

Talk to the Association of British Insurers and they will tell you that in fact yes, years and years of heavy drinking will be taken into account when calculating your premiums on your life insurance policy. On the Life Insurance application form a questions asks about your alcohol and tobacco consumption. And as with all sorts of insurance products, the underwriting is done at the point of your application.

You might think you can get away with not declaring the fact that you have been drinking excessively for a certain period of time. After all, no one is really going to know when you die right? And of course, you plan to cut down your alcohol consumption in the years to come. Yet a spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers says that it is best to tell the truth. If you die, the medical experts can often tell from the post mortem examination if you are someone who has been drinking for a time frame that extends back before you made your life insurance application. They can refuse to pay out if you did not reveal the truth about your drinking at the time. The spokesperson says: "The point here, as with any deliberate non disclosure, is there is a strong chance that if you do put down something that is not accurate on your application form and if you do have to claim on that policy, the insurance company may say that your policy was rendered invalid because you deliberately failed to disclose something."

However, if you develop an alcohol problem after you have made an application for Life Insurance you are most certainly entitled to a policy payment. He adds: "Your death might be related to some sort of alcohol consumption issue, in which case the policy will pay out. It is only things that are such at the time that you apply that are taken into account."

Most insurance firms ask you to disclose your average weekly consumption of alcohol, asking how many units of alcohol you consume each week. But this does depend on the individual company. Most look at the NHS guidelines with respect to deciding what is a normal and safe level of alcohol to consume and what is considered to be potentially dangerous. The firm will weight their premiums accordingly. Direct Line insurance company charges a 30-year old who does not drink monthly Life Insurance premiums of £14.88. For someone who does drink the payment is £15.37. Over the years, this can make quite a difference.

A spokesperson for the ABI says alcohol consumption is one of a number of factors insurers will look at when they are establishing whether or not to take on an insurance risk and what the level of premiums for that person will be.

"From a public health perspective, there will be medical practitioners within insurance companies who will have concerns about this issue," he says. But he goes on to add: "The insurance companies must look at that factor dispassionately as they do with all of the other factors that they look at when they are calculating premiums."

About the Author:

Life insurance shop provides free and amazing articles based on life insurance to all uk residents.

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by Michael Challiner

We're all too used to hearing about rising prices. But there's one thing that now costs less than ever - good life insurance! Intrigued? Read on ...

No-one likes to think about the worst that could happen. But proper life insurance cover could protect your family, providing them with the means to cope financially should you pass on. Life insurance cover is divided into three main types. Here is our jargon-busting guide to de-mystifying what they are, and what they mean:

· First we have the level term policy. This pays a one-off cash payment when you die. The amount is agreed when you take out the policy and does not change. · An increasing term policy is also known as indexed insurance and the amount paid out changes with inflation. Some policies of this type may have premiums that rise with inflation too, but some do not. · Lastly a decreasing term policy pays out an amount on death that decreases through time, getting smaller as the policy progresses. A long-lived customer may even outlive the point where the policy pays anything at all.

These policy types often form part of loan or mortgage deals. There are benefits to each type, depending on the loan or mortgage it is being used to safeguard.

Level term policies are most usually used with interest only mortgages. This type of mortgage does not reduce the capital you borrowed with time - you only pay off the interest. When you die, the capital amount is paid off by the insurance policy payout. Whatever may happen with inflation, it does not change.

Increasing term policies cost more, but offer protection against inflation.

Decreasing term policies are usually used with repayment mortgages. In this type of mortgage the capital is paid off along with the interest, decreasing the amount you owe. This type of insurance has lower premiums than level term insurance.

Term policy payments can be settled in two ways: either as a single or "lump" sum, or as "family income benefit". This second method means that an agreed amount is paid to your family as an income for the remaining duration of the policy. The method you use affects the cost of the premium you will have to pay. If you consider that the longer a policy holder lives, the fewer family income payments an insurance company will have to make, you can see why this type is cheaper.

So far, we have only discussed insurance for mortgages and loan payments. These are both useful, but there are other things you can do to ensure peace of mind.

A typical, average family, it is estimated, will need insurance for both parents worth at least £150,000 in insurance for each child, in addition to any death-in-service benefits you may expect ( these usually come with your employment). Taking the option of family income benefit, it's recommended that you should allow for an income of £20,000 to £25,000 a year for each child.

There is another alternative form of life insurance. It pays out a guaranteed sum on the death of the policy holder (the sum assured), and is known as whole of life. The terms for this type of insurance vary.

You can also buy life insurance bundled with your pension fund. This gives you the opportunity of getting tax relief on the premiums you pay. A higher rate tax payer can get £100 worth of life insurance for only £60, which makes this an attractive method to some. On the downside, higher administration costs for this type mean higher premiums overall, so basic tax rate payers may prefer to shop around and compare to make sure they get the best deal.

Some couples take out a joint policy covering both at once, but it's better to take out individual insurance. The reason for this is that a joint policy pays out only once, when the first partner dies, but individual policies pay out for each partner.

We've given an overview of the different policies and what might be best for you here, but for more in-depth and up-to-the-minute advice we recommend finding an Internet insurance broker. Surf onto the 'net, and into a great deal - and peace of mind for you and your family, hopefully for many years to come!

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Life Insurance Professionals great articles based around life assurance.

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by Craig Thornburrow

We all have people in our lives that we care deeply for, and if you want to be able to ensure that they are well off even if you were to somehow die tomorrow, then you should seriously consider setting aside some time to find your own best life insurance quotes. Taking the time to find resources and websites full of information about insurance could be one of the most important tasks you do all year and what better motivation to do so than to be able to protect your family after you are gone.

On your quest to find some of the best rate quotes, you can visit the websites of the providers themselves or various sources that are designed to compare different prices for life insurance plans which fit your family's budget. Finding a quote online will only take a few moments, but will provide tremendously important financial stability for your family in a time when they will need it most.

Discovering the perfect life insurance plan can be difficult though, as you are putting your trust in a single company to assist in the task of taking care of your family's finances after you have passed. On the brighter side though, this is why it is such a benefit to use the World Wide Web to receive the best life insurance quotes. Because of websites it is possible to compare prices and reputations every major life insurance company and policy.

With just a couple of quick questions about your life so that a company's actuaries can determine how much of a risk you are, you will be well on your way to receiving rate quotes in no time.

Life insurance provides your family with several key benefits that are necessary for most people after the demise of their loved one. To begin with, a life insurance plan will provide enough monetary support to allow your spouse and kids to stay out of debt upon your demise. When looking for life insurance quotes for a particular plan, you should make sure that your family will be able to continue to live comfortably under the money provided by the life insurance pay out until they can find a means of supporting themselves once again.

A pay out from a life insurance policy will also give your loved ones a way to pay for your funeral. As you may already know, funerals are a costly undertaking, and are increasing in cost by the day. In the time immediately following your death, your family has enough to worry about and should not have to be burdened by the overwhelming costs of a funeral ceremony.

If you want your family to be safe and secure for the future after you are gone, then it is of the utmost importance that you take some time right now and search the web for the best life insurance quotes.

About the Author:

Craig Thornburrow is an acknowledged expert in his field. You can get more free advice on life insurance and a life insurance quote at http://www.bestdeallifeinsurance.com

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by David Yuri

There are various places where you can shop for life insurance policies. The Internet is one of the best alternatives as it offers plenty of information about low-cost insurance plans and their benefits. When you are prepared to purchase a life insurance policy, experts suggest that it is wise to compare life insurance policies from several companies.

If you decide to go online and compare life insurance quotes, then you should know that there are different types of coverage for this kind of insurance policy. There is a short term life insurance and on the other hand a whole life insurance. Each has its advantages and disadvantages but the most important thing to consider is your interests. The first one is for a short period of time and has to be renewed when it expires. The whole life insurance is probably a better choice as it lasts over an indefinite period of time. You do not have to worry about renewal and many other things.

The decision to purchase a life insurance policy is extremely important and it should not be hasty. This is why it is for the best to compare life insurance plans and use a reliable website in order to do that. The monthly premium is an important factor in taking that decision and one should always look for the best offer possible. The premium should be affordable but should not be the primary factor in taking the decision to purchase a life insurance policy.

No matter the kind of life insurance plan you choose, it is vital to understand what each plan has to offer before reaching a final conclusion. Almost every type of life insurance protects the near relatives from having to pay for funeral costs or spectacular medical bills. The life insurance policy is different from the medical type in many terms and it is crucial not to mix those two.

Specialists working in the insurance business indicate that the choice to compare life insurance plans is not only wise but also efficient. There are websites that can do that task for you and you can only benefit from using their services. They do a careful comparison and provide you with the best possible rates available not to mention they can also provide you with amazing tips.

A lot of people are also worried about what medical insurance policy they should purchase. They are not very certain when it comes to what a medical insurance plan should offer and they sometimes wind up taking the wrong choices. The Internet can also help in that matter by providing a great deal of information on the subject of medical insurance and what it should contain.

Choosing the proper medical insurance policy can help you save important sums of money and not affect your financial situation. You benefit from the medical care you are in need of, you can purchase the medication required at discounted prices and you can afford to pay medical bills. It is important to know you can obtain all that just by selecting the suitable medical insurance.

When you go online to search for medical insurance details and policies, you should always choose an online resource that provides you with accurate information and compares various plans in order to help you decide.

About the Author:

We make our job your problem. We are there to help you compare life insurance policies and provide you with the best solutions. Remember that we are all about serving your needs and caring for your demands. Discover the amazing advantages to choosing the perfect medical insurance by using our website.

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by Clint Jhonson

Not many people understand that purchasing a health insurance policy is a smart thing to do. Insurance companies have extended their business online and they are trying to highlight the advantages of taking such a decision.

The problem for most people is finding a low cost health insurance plan. There are various resources one can use and one of the most accessible is the Internet. Plenty of websites are ready to offer you precious information about low cost health insurance policies and also help you compare health insurance plans. All they are trying to do is to provide their services to you, hoping you will reach a better decision.

Purchasing a low cost health insurance policy doesn't mean you will receive fewer medical services. On the contrary, the idea is to find a policy that can fit your budget but also your needs. Using the Internet to compare health insurance plans can help to make an idea about what an affordable health insurance policy refers to.

Some of the most common low cost health insurance policies cover for emergency situations, dental and eye treatments, medical visits and various medications. The Internet is ready to provide considerable data and can really assist one to compare health insurance policies. There are many reputable insurance companies trying to present their services online and this why it is for the best to do a complete research.

Shopping for health insurance can be sometimes a difficult task. It requires a lot of time and effort, not to mention extreme caution when it comes to picking out the perfect policy for you. There are a lot of factors to consider and before undertaking such a job, any person should do a careful analysis of his/her lifestyle and see what kind of policy is actually suitable.

Every insurance company that provides online various low cost health insurance plans takes into consideration the so called 'risk factors'. They include: the person's habits, health state, age, gender, marital status and the area where one lives. Perhaps the most important is the age as there are different requirements for certain ages.

It is wise to use the Internet in order to compare health insurance plans and choose a suitable low cost health insurance policy. By browsing several websites, you will discover that every company sees the 'risks factors' differently and thus the coverage offered is not the same. Experts working in the insurance industry recommend doing an extensive research for affordable health insurance and considering all the possibilities before selecting any plan.

There are people out there who are in need of constant health care services. For them, having a good health insurance plan is crucial as not all can afford to pay for these services. Still, a health insurance policy is a good idea for a healthy, young person also. No one can predict the future yet and one may find himself in the situation of needing health care and not being able to pay for it. One should try and prevent these situations from happening.

As a conclusion, it is important to understand the need for health insurance. It is some kind of a safety net and though sometimes it may seem totally unnecessary, there is no knowing what may happen. Use the Internet and convince yourself that you are making a smart decision.

About the Author:
To choose the proper low cost health insurance plan suitable to your needs you may have to compare health insurance plans. Let us do that for you and you just try to use our information about the best coverage possible. We can offer you insurance quotes from several companies and help you save some money.

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by David Yuri

Auto insurance and life insurance are two of the most successful categories in the insurance line of business today. Life insurance policies pay a specified sum to beneficiaries if the death of the insured occurs, while auto insurance policies are used to pay for the damages suffered by vehicles in case of an accident.

As an agent, selling life insurance can be easy if you have the knowledge of where to look for potential clients. Most people who are near the age of retirement want to benefit from a good life insurance policy to protect their family in case something happens. On the other hand, there are a lot of young people also who search for life insurance and benefit from lower premiums.

Life insurance leads for agent are not hard to come by, but you have to work for them. Talking to everybody you know and also searching for potential clients in old lead lists can be very helpful in generating life insurance leads for agent. It is not the easiest thing to do and it may take a lot of time, but you might see results afterwards. Signing up with lead generation companies can get life insurance leads for agent, because they collect the information you need leaving you with the only job of calling on the lead and trying to make a sale. If you keep in mind that life insurance is something that everybody wants to have, you will see that life insurance leads for agent are plenty. If the level of coverage you offer is good, life insurance leads for agent can result also in a high number of actual closed deals.

Insurance sales leads are available for every kind of insurance. Using insurance sales leads is better than trying to contacting someone through cold calls: they may not even be interested in your services. Insurance sales leads are not easy to come by, but with the help of the technology available a large number of options are available for insurance agents in order to obtain them.

Calling or asking friends can be useful in getting some insurance sales leads, but not as efficient as using the Internet. Your site and hiring lead generation companies that have their own sites are two of the best sources of insurance sales leads available that can generate a very high number of insurance leads you can use for closing deals.

If you are using the Internet for generating insurance sales leads and selling insurance, you must understand the nature of Internet insurance shoppers and you should adjust your selling techniques accordingly. Most Internet shoppers are looking for comparing quotes in their own homes and decide who to speak to and when to speak about the coverage. You shouldn't push hard for an immediate sale, nor should you also give up if you don't reach them right away. As far as auto insurance goes, all car owners have to have at least auto liability insurance, because it is illegal to drive without one; in addition, all financed and leased vehicles must have comprehensive and collision coverage. That being said, they have to buy insurance, but they also want to compare rates. If you play your cards right and you are still there when they want to buy insurance, providing you have good rates and patience, a sell is almost a sure thing.

Very helpful follow-up software is available for you to use with us, here at quotesauction.com. The software is integrated with your entire insurance leads file in order to update prospects periodically. The system is very helpful, because agents who have used it have reported sales of twice as many insurance policies than the ones who don't use it.

About the Author:

Life insurance leads for agent are very useful because they do most of the job with finding prospects and leave the agents with marketing and selling the insurance. Using a follow-up system can turn insurance sales leads that you couldn't reach in the past into actual sales.

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by Erin Ritter

(NEW YORK) February 6, 2007: US NetCare, an online administrator of healthcare and medical insurance plans to non-US citizens living in America, has launched to provide this growing community with affordable, practical insurance coverage. US NetCare offers a variety of plans to help all immigrants and other non-US citizens realize their own "American dream."

US NetCare's medical services are provided by First Health PPO, an extensive, nationwide network of medical professionals that shares US NetCare's commitment to the well-being of the non-citizen population. All non-US Citizens residing in the US are eligible, and there are no long health history forms to submit for enrollment. US NetCare also features multi-lingual customer service representatives to assist individuals during the enrollment process and throughout the duration of their coverage.

There are over 30 million non-citizens currently living in the US, many of whom come seeking employment or other opportunities to better their lives and the lives of their families. The high cost of insurance can prohibit them from achieving success in their new country. US NetCare aims to offer more comprehensive and flexible plans that support the diverse needs of this group and do not hinder their ability to improve their quality of life and reach for their American dream.

Non-citizens residing in the US can include immigrants, foreign workers, exchange scholars, international executives, expatriates, green card holders, international students, undocumented individuals, or diplomats, among others. Through US NetCare, these individuals and their families can obtain coverage for the course of their time in the United States.

About US NetCare

US NetCare is a pioneer health insurance administrator, established with the purpose of improving the well-being of foreigners and immigrants in the USA. By providing innovative medical insurance plans at affordable rates, US NetCare serves the vast population of non-US citizens in America. Through extensive experience serving foreigners of many nationalities, regardless of immigration or visa status and financial capabilities, US NetCare has a broad knowledge of the special needs of this group. With multi-lingual service representatives, convenient enrollment process and commitment to customer care, US NetCare provides a comprehensive solution for the healthcare needs of the non-citizen community. For more information, visit USNetCare.com.

About the Author:

Erin Ritter is the Director of Public Relations at DMi Partners in Philadelphia, PA.

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by Tarun

Life insurance guarantees the financial security of your family and near & dear ones, no matter what happens. Life insurance helps in:

* Paying off any final expenses or personal debts (credit cards, car loans or a mortgage) * Compensating the loss of your earnings for your dependents.

* Contributing to the future education of your children * Protecting your estate by helping to pay the taxes due on an estate upon death * Leaving a legacy to your preferred charitable trust.

Who needs Life Insurance? The association of life insurance has always been with major life events like marriage, purchasing a house, or having kids. However, if these aren't associated with you, then try answering these questions. If YES is the answer to any of them, you'll want to consider life insurance:

* Is anyone financially dependent on you? Whether it's your other half, kids, grandchild, parents or dependent adult, life insurance will help them in protecting their financial well being in case any mishap. * Do you have a mortgage, or are you on any other debts? If yes, a life insurance policy can help you take care of these outstanding bills along with any other expenses, like legal fees and taxes, and medical expenses. * Are you the owner of any business? o For sole proprietors, you're liable for the debts your business owes. Not having enough life insurance to cover these debts, may cost your personal assets to be liquidated to pay them off, possibly leaving little or nothing left for your dependents. o If you're in a partnership, and the other partner is the beneficiary of the life insurance policy then the surviving owner has the cash easily available to buy out your portion of the partnership from the estate. * Do you want to leave a legacy? Life insurance policies can be used to leave money to your favorite charitable trust.

What's the cost of life insurance? There's nothing like a standard cost for the insurance policy. Insurance professionals closely review various factors like your age, gender, whether you're a smoker, and your past and current health record and family history before they come up with a final insurance rate. Then all these are balanced with the amount and type of policy that you're applying for.

Do you know the different types of life insurance available ?

There are two main categories of life insurance:

Level life insurance or term life insurance &

Decreasing life insurance or mortgage life insurance.

Level life insurance, as the name itself says, is a level cover that stays constant during the full term of the insurance and a level lump sum pay out would occur after death. The sum assured is decided from the beginning of the policy.

Decreasing life insurance is used most often to cover a mortgage and works exactly the same as level life insurance, however the sum assured decreases over the term of the policy. This is ideal to cover a mortgage or decrease any debts that maybe paid off over a period of time.

In this era of Internet, life insurance is more accessible than ever. The instant online insurance quotes offered by the best online brokerages avoid any hard sell tactics the industry was associated with in the past.

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Just a Wannabe Author!!!

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by Jimmy Wild

Health insurance coverage and associated costs vary greatly based on whether the insurance is an individual policy (for the self-employed/unemployed), for a small businesses (from 2 to 50 employees), or for a large group. Coverage for group plans is far more comprehensive and considerably less expensive because there are more people paying into the insurance pool making more money available group-wide to cover medical claims.

The presentation of an article on health insurance plays an important role in getting the reader interested in reading it. This is the reason for this presentation, which has gotten you interested in reading it!

Suppressing our knowledge on health insurance is not our intention here. In fact, we mean to let everyone know more about health insurance after reading this!

There are no boundaries on countries for one to access information about health insurance through the Internet. All one has to do is to surf, and then the required matter is availed!

Those who try to get health insurance on their own, either because their employer does not offer this benefit or because they are self-employed or unemployed often have difficulty obtaining health insurance. Many simply cannot find an insurance company in their state that is willing to offer individual plans. Pre-existing conditions complicate this search and put individuals into a 'high-risk' category. It's often the reason coverage is denied.

Do not judge a book by its cover; so don just scan through this matter on health insurance. read it thoroughly to judge its value and importance.

Those who are fortunate enough to find individual coverage don't feel so fortunate once they review the policy details. They typically find that the cost is significant and the coverage less than desirable and loaded with out-of-pocket costs. Those who obtain health insurance on their own can usually purchase a family plan, but then the costs are even higher.

Those individuals who are employed by small businesses, defined as having more than 2 but 50 or fewer employees, also find themselves in a difficult situation when it comes to health insurance. If the employer chooses to, it may offer a group type of health insurance to the employees. When applying for coverage, the overall costs will be based on the number and physical condition of all the employees who wish to participate. High risk individuals and those with pre-existing conditions will bump up the costs for everybody. Even so, the costs for this type of coverage will usually be better than if each employee obtained an individual policy. Employers are not required to cover other family members and can choose the percentage of the employee's costs that they will cover.

There are universal applications on health insurance everywhere. However, it is up to us to decide the way used for these applications to get the best results from them.

Group health insurance generally offers the best coverage at the most affordable price. Group insurance is available to all eligible employees of the company offering the health insurance and generally also to the employee's immediate family members, including spouse and/or children. A group plan must accept every eligible employee even if the person has a known pre-existing condition and even if that person or his/her family members fall into a high-risk category.

Whether you need private health insurance if you participate in a group health plan is not an easy question to answer. To adequately assess this situation, you've got to review your group insurance coverage and compare it to what you need. Some group health insurance plans exclude certain medical services such as dental and vision care, experimental treatments, cosmetic surgery, some mental and substance abuse therapies, and more so you may find you need to complement your group plan with a private health insurance plan. In doing so, you'll incur more costs so you'll have to weight the additional benefits against the additional costs to see what makes sense for you.

About the Author:
To view our recommended sources for health insurance, or to read more articles about health insurance, visit: http://www.insurance-quote-puppy.com/how-to-find-affordable-health-insurance.htm Jimmy Chuang is the publisher of http://insurance-quote-puppy.com. He provides more insurance information and offers free home, life, health and auto insurance quotes on his website.

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by Tim Evans

The cost of medical treatment has really risen over the past several decades. The days when the doctor would come out to your house in order to see how you are doing are long gone, and now it seems to be such a business that there really isn't any treatment on a personal level any longer. That is why the United States Government set up the Medicaid program in 1965 in order to help low income individuals and families to be able to afford proper medical treatment, even when those treatments would be out of their means. The problem is that it is a federal program that is co-funded and administered on the state level. That makes the amount of red tape that you need to jump through quite large. Here are some Medicaid tips to help you with cutting through some of that red tape.

When you are accepted into the Medicaid program (many times there is an online form that you can fill out and submit) you will be given a Medicaid card. It is very important that you carry that card with you at all times and that you show it to the doctor before the do any treatments. If the doctor will not cooperate with the Medicaid program then you need to find another doctor so you do not get stuck paying the bill yourself. Also be aware that Medicaid will not provide 100% of the cost of your medical treatments. It is based on a sliding scale according to your income.

If you have other questions then contact the state office that is in charge of handling the Medicaid program in your state. They should be able to advise you on whatever it is that you need to know to make the most of the medical help that they provide.

About the Author:
For more information about securitycameras, internettv, or jobsintexas visit our website.

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by Jimmy Wild

You now are the proud owner of a health insurance policy through your place of employment, but you have no clue what anything in it means. You start reviewing the policy and it gets more confusing as each word is read. This happens too often to a lot of people and it shouldn't. Insurance policies for the most part are simple to understand if you know the language they speak. Now if you don't that's another story. Let's get started and see if we can help you make sense of your new health insurance policy.

The first things you want to understand are the many terms that are in your policy. One of the common terms that you will see a lot and deal with a lot is a deductible. A deductible is what you would have to pay before any benefits in your health insurance policy would be accessible. Usually this is an annual amount and will vary greatly by the underwriters of the policy. Most of the time there are separate deductibles for an individual account and a family account. Some policies will let you use some of their services with out meeting the deductible. Once you meet your deductible then you're done for that calendar year. The following year though you have to start all over again.

As the information we produce in our writing on health insurance may be utilized by the reader for informative purposes, it is very important that the information we provide be true. We have indeed maintained this.

We have included some fresh and interesting information on health insurance. In this way, you are updated on the developments of health insurance.

Co-insurance, or co-payments which they are sometimes called, are amounts that are paid by the insured before the insurance will pay and this is in addition to the deductibles. Some policies let you pay a co-payment for certain services without meeting the deductible.

Out of Pocket is what you will have to pay out of your own pocket. This could include your deductibles, co-insurance, and your co-payments.

Even if you are a stranger in the world of health insurance, once you are through with this article, you will no longer have to consider yourself to be a stranger in it!

The first impression is the best impression. We have written this article on health insurance in such a way that the first impression you get will definitely make you want to read more about it!
Accept the way things are in life. Only then will you be able to accept these points on health insurance. health insurance can be considered to be part and parcel of life.

Most every policy that you get especially health insurance policies have a lifetime maximum term. What this means that your policy basically has a cap on it. During the lifetime you can't go over a predetermined amount or the health insurance won't pay after the set amount. Now don't get worried it's usually a very high figure but with today's rapid escalating health care costs you can reach it fairly quickly.

Opportunity knocks once. So when we got the opportunity to write on health insurance, we did not let the opportunity slip from our hands, and got down to writing on health insurance.

Exclusions will be one section that you must read very carefully and fully understand in your health insurance policy. Exclusions are things the policy will not cover and this can be a very gray area. The policy could cover operations but not after care or cover after care and not the operation. This is one of the most important sections of your policy so read it and reread it over a lot to make sure you grasp all of the contents and what it covers and what it doesn't cover.

Pre-existing conditions is one of the things you will want to know about. Pre-existing basically means it was a condition you already have and been treated for which the policy will not cover it or pay for any work done for that pre-existing condition. Some health insurance policies will cover pre-existing where others won't which is why knowing what is in your policy is very important.

Waiting period is usually the time you will have to wait for your health insurance policy to become effective. Most policies do have a waiting period and the benefits aren't available until you have met the waiting period requirements. Different companies have different policies so check with your insurance company so you will know the rules for your policy.

Grace period is the amount of time that is given for one to pay their health insurance premium after the original due date has passed.

There are many things that you should always remember as you look over your health insurance policy. Read each and every paragraph and make sure you understand how the whole policy works so you will never be in the dark or have any questions about what is covered and what isn't. Remember that it is okay to ask questions!

People have an inclination of bragging on the knowledge they have on any particular project. However, we don't want to brag on what we know on health insurance, so long as it proves useful to you, we are happy.

About the Author:
To view our recommended sources for health insurance, or to read more articles about health insurance, visit: http://www.insurance-quote-puppy.com/choose-your-health-insurance.htm Jimmy Chuang is the publisher of http://insurance-quote-puppy.com/. He provides more insurance information and offers free home, life, health and auto insurance quotes on his website.

Learn more about Insurance : http://www.topofbusiness.net

by Shad Woodman

Understanding health insurance and the health industry is much easier if you recognize some of the basic terminology and how it applies to you and your health insurance policy. If you have a health insurance plan and aren't sure how it works or what the terminology means, take a few minutes to read the explanations below. Knowing these terms and what they mean to you can greatly aid you in dealing with your health care providers, insurance company, insurance agent, or during the health benefits shopping process.

Benefit Year This is the 12-month period in which your benefits are calculated. Most insurance companies use a CALENDAR year, which is January 1 to December 31, but a few will use a 12 month period from when your policy goes into effect. For example, if your insurance goes into effect on June 1, the END of your benefit year is May 31. Make sure that you understand how your benefit year will be calculated.

Deductible Deductible means the amount of money you must pay out of your pocket for medical expenses EACH YEAR before your health insurance begins paying out. Deductibles are usually reset to 0 at the beginning of each calendar or benefit year. Many insurance companies offer health plans that have benefits that are not subject to having to meet your deductible each year such as doctors office visits, immunizations, wellness or routine exams, etc. An easy way to remember what this term means and how it works is this:

When you have incurred medical expenses, all bills must be sent to the insurance company. When the insurance company looks at your bills, they then look at your policy and see how things are covered. They will then add up what the combined medical expenses have been for the year to date: determine what your deductible is and how much you have already paid towards meeting your deductible for the year, and pay out according to how your insurance policy says it will.

So in a nutshell, the insurance company is "deducting" your financial responsibility for medical expenses each year from the total combined medical expenses before they have any responsibility to pay out...hence the term "deductible".

Co-Pay A co-pay is an amount that is paid by the patient to a provider at the time of service. It will either be a flat fee (like $15 or $20) or it can be a percentage of the service provided. The percentages or fee may vary depending on the type of service provided. A co-pay is different than "coinsurance" - see next.

Coinsurance Coinsurance is the percentage paid by the insurance company after you pay the deductible. Example: Your health insurance pays 70%, you pay 30%. The insurance company pays 70% coinsurance, you pay 30% coinsurance. Most health insurance policies will have a limit on the amount of coinsurance you have to pay out each year this is known as your "Annual Coinsurance Maximum" or "Stop-loss".

Annual Coinsurance Maximum After paying your deductible and after paying your coinsurance (classically 20% or 30% of medical expenses) to a certain dollar amount, your health insurance will pay 100% for the remaining costs in the calendar year. Example: After you pay your deductible, your health insurance pays 70% of medical expenses and you pay 30%. Once you reach the coinsurance maximum, you no longer pay 30% of the medical expenses because the insurance pays 100%.

Out of Pocket Maximum or Stop Loss Stop Loss is the maximum amount of money you will have to pay out of your pocket in the benefit year.

Lifetime Maximum This is the limit of the money the health insurance will pay out over your lifetime. Most major medical health insurance policies will be a $2 million lifetime maximum, while others will go as high as a $12 million lifetime maximum. In general, it is not recommended to have a policy with less than a $2 million lifetime maximum.

Office Visits When you visit a doctor in their office they normally bill the health insurance company for an "office visit." Most health insurance plans pay office visit expenses at the coinsurance (generally 70% or 80%) after the deductible. Some health insurance plans pay office visit expenses at the coinsurance rate but waive the deductible, which means you don't have to reach the deductible amount before they will cover their portion of the expense. Still other health insurance plans pay office visit expenses in full after a co-pay (usually $25 or $30). It should also be noted that office visits can be classified in two different categories. One category is usually called "Routine Care," "Wellness visits" or "Preventative care" (see definition below). The other type of office visit is deemed as "Medically Necessary" (see definition below). Certain health insurance policies cover each of these types of visits differently and other plans do not cover them at all. If having these types of office visits covered by your health insurance policy is important to you, make sure you let your agent know so that they can help find the right plan for you.

Preventive Care Preventive Care is classically defined as routine exams, immunizations, well child care, and cancer screenings. These include your yearly exams and checkups for things such as physicals, pap smears, mammograms, etc. Not all plans cover preventive care. It may not be a wise use of your money to have preventative care included in your plan if you never go to the doctor. A good health insurance agent can help you determine if this is necessary coverage for you.

Medically Necessary These are the visits utilized for your smaller ailments such as colds, flu, ear infections or minor accidents. Not all plans cover 'medically necessary' visits, so make sure you know if your policy includes these exams if you need them covered. You may consider purchasing accident insurance or adding a rider (explained below) to your policy to cover these types of issues.

Diagnostic Lab and X-Ray These are tests involving laboratory or imaging services (such as x-ray, CAT scan, etc.) to diagnose a health problem. These services are usually paid at the coinsurance (typically 70% or 80%) after the deductible.

Chiropractic Care When you visit a chiropractor for spinal manipulation or other services, these expenses are customarily paid at the coinsurance rate (70% or 80%) either after the deductible is met, or by waiving the deductible. Most health insurance plans limit the number of chiropractic visits/services to 10 or 12 per year - especially if the deductible is waived. After this, additional visits are not paid by the health insurance plan, and you will be responsible for the full amount of the bill.

Inpatient or Outpatient Care When you receive care from a hospital (inpatient or outpatient services), these expenses are customarily paid at the coinsurance rate (70% or 80%) after the deductible has been met.

Emergency Room When you receive care from a hospital emergency room, these expenses are customarily paid at the coinsurance level (70% or 80%) after the deductible. Most health insurance plans also require you to pay an additional co-pay (commonly $75-$100) for each emergency room visit. A number of plans waive this additional co-pay if you are actually admitted to the hospital through the emergency room and the plan will pay as an inpatient service. A plan can sometimes be structured to have separate coverage for accidents as an additional rider (see definition below) to your policy.

Prescription Medications Prescription medications can be classified as generic, brand name, or non-preferred brand name (see below for definitions). Please Note: Not all health insurance plans pay for prescription drugs, so if you already take prescription drugs or think you will need help in the future with prescription drugs, you will want to make sure that you are purchasing a plan that includes this coverage. Prescription drugs may be covered at the coinsurance rate (70-80%) after a deductible specifically for prescription drugs is met, other plans may include Prescription drugs in the total deductible for the plan.

Generic Medications Drug manufacturers are permitted to sell a generic version of a medication after the patent expires for the brand name medication (generally 20 years after the brand name medication was registered). Generic medications are equivalent to the corresponding brand name medication, but are much less expensive than the brand name medication. Health insurance plans frequently provide better payment for generic medications as an incentive for you to ask for the generic version. About half of all prescription medications filled in the United States are filled with generic medications.

Brand Name Medications Brand name medications are more expensive than generic medications. Most health insurance plans create a limited list of brand name medications that they will pay for and many health insurance plans also provide less coverage for brand name medications than for their generic counterparts.

Non-Preferred Brand Name Medications Most health insurance plans create a limited list of brand name medications they will pay for. If your brand name medication is not on this list, it might be paid at a lower level under "Non-Preferred Brand Name Medications."

Maternity Some health insurance plans cover the cost of maternity, which includes doctor and hospital charges for prenatal care as well as labor and delivery. Maternity is expensive to add into a health insurance policy because it is considered a "guaranteed expense" for the insurance company. If a woman becomes pregnant, it is a safe bet that there is going to be medical expenses incurred! If there are no complications and the birth goes well, the insurance company will be out a large monetary portion of the cost of delivery and even more if there are problems with the delivery or the newborn. Insurance companies price maternity so that they can still maintain profits. In some cases it may be best to save your money and pay for the prenatal care and the delivery out of your own pocket (or on a credit card) and let the insurance cover the catastrophic events. The difference you save in the monthly cost of having maternity coverage may be well worth it to you. Remember, once you have a policy that covers maternity, you can't just remove the maternity coverage after the pregnancy is done! You will continue to pay for that maternity coverage for as long as you have that policy.

Mammography Mammography is a specific type of imaging that uses a low-dose x-ray system for the examination of breasts to detect early breast cancer in women experiencing no symptoms and to detect and diagnose breast disease in women experiencing symptoms. Current guidelines from the American Cancer Society (ACS), and the American Medical Association (AMA) recommend a screening mammography every year for women, beginning at age 40. Various plans will have automatic coverage for mammograms but some will not. Several states (like Washington State, for example) have specific guidelines that require companies to have coverage for mammograms in their policies as an automatic benefit.

Mental Health Outpatient mental health services include visits to a licensed counselor, therapist, or psychiatrist. Inpatient mental health services include admission to a psychiatric hospital. Many plans do not cover mental health services.

Rehabilitation Therapy Rehabilitation therapy may include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, message therapy, cardiac rehabilitation, and chronic pain therapy. Most health insurance plans limit rehabilitation therapy to a certain number of visits per calendar year or to a certain dollar amount that they will pay for rehabilitation for either the year or for a lifetime.

Rider Anything that changes the way your policy acts by default is called a "Rider". A rider can be anything from an exclusion of coverage for a medical condition, or additional coverage for potential conditions. (As in an "accident rider" mentioned earlier in this report)

Occupational Coverage/On the job coverage The largest portion of health insurance plans do not cover occupational related medical expenses. This can be a HUGE pitfall for self employed people. Always make sure that if you need to be covered while you are working that your plan will give you "on the job coverage". If you get injured or sick while you are on the job and you do not have Workman's Compensation or Labor and Industries accident coverage, you may have to pay for ALL medical expenses out of your own pocket.

Vision Coverage Vision coverage is usually broken into two parts: vision exam, and vision hardware. Vision exam benefits include the cost of a refractive exam used to test vision acuity (20/20, 20/40, etc.). Vision hardware represents the cost of eye glasses or contact lenses. A number of health insurance plans do not cover vision exams or hardware. However, medical issues relating to the health of the eye (like Glaucoma) are almost always covered under the regular medical portion of the health insurance plan.

Doctor Directory Each insurance company will have a list of doctors that the company has negotiated terms for payment of services with. You can go to the insurance company's website to find a listing of contracted "preferred providers".

This information may help you understand a policy that you already have, or aid you in understanding a policy that you may be thinking about purchasing. The more knowledge you have about what the industry "jargon" means, the more you will be able to make informed decisions about the insurance you choose to use.

About the Author:
Shad Woodman is a licensed health insurance agent and specializes in marketing Affordable Health & Dental Insurance , Health Insurance for Travelers, and Medical insurance for Students online.

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