Probability of Developing Cancer

According to the American Cancer Society and their studies showcasing the probability of developing invasive cancers over selected age intervals there is a one in 70 chance of developing cancer before the age of 39 for men and a one in 48 chance for women. If we stretch it out even further then over ones entire lifetime there is a one in two chance of developing cancer for a male and a one in three chance for a female.

If the above statistics don’t scare you and shock you to some degree then consider that these are just cancer statistics! There are any other myriad number of different things that can and often do go wrong from a simple broken bone in a sports injury to an illness that you had never even heard of until the doctor sits you down to give you the diagnosis.

I’m not just rattling off these statistics to paint a doom and gloom picture, but to set the stage for three reasons I believe you need adequate health insurance benefits.

My Three Reasons

1. Very bad medical problems can and do happen to many of us—maybe even you.
2. Those very bad medical problems can be very expensive and potentially ruin one’s financial future if they do not have adequate health insurance.
3. It is a smart thing to purchase comprehensive health insurance coverage to protect not only your health but also your financial future.

The Cost of Common Health Procedures

According to ChangeHealthcare.com the cost of these common procedures at Tampa General Hospital close by where I live is somewhere in these ranges (keep in mind that these cost estimates are just for the hospital fees and does not include medications, extra tests, Doctors fees, etc.

I know from personal experience after talking with a friend of mine that after he developed leukemia the cost of his prescriptions alone would have been somewhere in the $3,500/month range without his health insurance. Stories like his are good stories to tell because he actually had health insurance coverage, where as the owner of an agency that sells Florida health insurance I could tell you many other stories from the flip side of people that ran their finances into the ground because they did not have adequate health insurance coverage):

• Heart Attack: $37,650 to $41,17
• Fracture of Upper Leg (Femur): $22,648 to $24,771
• Lung Disease: $49,963 to $51,366

Again, the cost estimates above are just the basic hospital average costs for Tampa General Hospital and do not include many of the associated fees that are involved.

Buy Health Insurance Before You Need It

Many people are of the mistaken belief that they should just wait until they develop a major illness before they buy health insurance. This kind of thinking is akin to someone who totals their car without having any car insurance and then goes to an auto insurance agent and attempts to buy collision coverage for their already totaled vehicle and expects the insurance company to pay for the damages to their car. The most responsible thing that you can do when it comes to caring for you and your family’s health (and securing your financial future) is to make sure that you have adequate health insurance at all times – before you may need it (and hopefully you never even need to use it!)

Compare Health Insurance Providers

If you have financial goals like buying a first home, getting out of debt, or any other number of great things then take the time to do some comparison shopping to find not only a cheap health insurance plan but one that will act as a safety net to protect your financial goals from the financial ruin that a uninsured medical bill could bring. Just like it is common knowledge that you can save money by doing a car insurance comparison every so often it is not as widely known but just as effective to shop around and compare health insurance providers in order to find an affordable plan.

Stick with large and trusted companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Aetna, Humana, etc. and stay away from discount health plans that masquerade as true health insurance but in reality are just hyped up coupon cards that leave you out in the cold with little to no coverage should you ever get hit with a large medical bill.

Do your homework to shop around and then choose a comprehensive major medical health insurance plan from a trusted nationwide company to make sure that your health care and financial future has an adequate safety net should the unfortunate happen.

Joel Ohman is a Certified Financial Planner and President of 360 Quote, LLC. He is a serial entrepreneur and is currently spearheading several successful consumer comparison websites including Credit Card Chaser and Health Insurance Providers.

Photo Credit: The Doctr

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3. How (and Why) to Get Health Insurance When Unemployed

Over 47 million Americans lack health insurance; 39 percent of the uninsured are between the ages of 18 and 34, according to Qvisory.

It makes sense that young people are the least insured. We’re more likely to be in school or working part-time and not have access to employer-sponsored health insurance. We don’t qualify for government programs like Medicaid. Our incomes are low, so we can’t afford even the least expensive policies. Finally, because we’re young and healthy, many of us simply feel invincible and like we don’t need insurance.

Half of the states extend the age that dependents may be covered by their parents’ insurance beyond age 19.

If you live in one of these 25 states, your parents may be able to include you on their health insurance plan.

Medical bills are the leading cause of consumer bankruptcy.

According to a study by The New England Journal of Medicine, “illness or medical bills contributed to nearly two thirds, or 62 percent, of all bankruptcies in 2007—before the major impact of the housing collapse and current economic downturn”. If you get sick or injured and don’t have insurance, there’s a good chance your medical bills will drive you into bankruptcy. But the problem doesn’t stop with the uninsured. According to this related Consumer Reports article,

Just over three-quarters of people who suffered a bankruptcy due to illness were insured at the onset of their health issue. But the total out-of-pocket medical costs for those who had insurance when they became ill was a steep $17,749, on average. For those who didn’t have insurance, the average debt was $26,971.

Young adults may pay for a big part of healthcare reform.

Again, a big reason young people are under-insured is because we can’t afford coverage. The low-cost insurance options Washington is proposing as part of healthcare reform will help, but they don’t solve this problem entirely.

First, since young adults are healthier and less costly to insure, our premiums will subsidize the care of the older and the sicker. But most critically, if the government mandates that Americans have health insurance, we may have to pay a fine if we don’t purchase a policy. According to this Washington Post article:

[One bill] would fine individuals who do not purchase coverage. An early draft of the proposal set the penalty at $750 or $950 per year for single people, depending on income. But according to various insurance experts, even the least expensive plan under the bill could cost more than $100 per month, making it cheaper for people to pay the fine than to buy insurance.

In effect, this may not solve young Americans’ healthcare problem at all: it simply taxes those that continue to go without healthcare while providing less expensive (but potentially still unaffordable) plans.

You can buy health insurance on your own, right now.

Many young people don’t realize that you can buy health insurance even if you don’t get it through your employer, college, or parents. You probably can’t afford “Cadillac” health insurance plans like those offered by some employers, but you may be able to afford what are called “catastrophic” plans that will cover you should you get into an accident or suddenly become sick. Two resources can help:

• Qvisory has partnered with insurers to provide affordable plans specifically for young people. Learn more about Qvisory health insurance plans.
• eHealthInsurance is a Website that lets all consumers shop for and compare hundreds of different plans. Learn more about eHealthInsurance.

What do you think? Do you think the government should require Americans to buy health insurance or pay a fine? What would you do? Are you young and dealing with extraordinary healthcare costs? Were you insured? Please share your story in a comment.

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1. Health Insurance: Understanding Your Deductible, Co-pay, Out-of-Pocket Maximum and More
2. Qvisory Responds to Bleak Financial Picture Facing Young Adults
3. Do You Need Health Insurance in Your Twenties?

Young adults are the “least insured” group in America. We have plenty of excuses: We’re students, we’re either unemployed or employed in jobs that don’t provide health insurance, we’re poor, and, of course, we’re mostly healthy. Unfortunately, we also use that last excuse to justify not using health insurance even when we have it.

And that’s a big mistake. Not only for our health, but also for our wallet.

Under most affordable health insurance plans in America (whether employer sponsored or purchased individually), our out-of-pocket costs for preventative health care are minimal. There might be a $20 copay for a visit to the doctor’s office and another for a prescription.

When it comes to medical emergencies and the treatment of chronic conditions, however, our out-of-pocket costs skyrocket. Under many affordable health insurance plans, for example, ER visits cost us $50, $100, even $150. Many plans will also require an out-of-pocket payment for hospital stays, up to an annual deductible.

Of course, some emergencies and hospitalizations aren’t preventable. But many are. Seeing your doctor regularly—or at the first sign of a potential problem—could at least save you the difference between a $20 office visit and a $150 ER visit.

Plus, there’s another good reason to use your health insurance: The possibility that you’ll become uninsured.

For example, if you rely on your employer’s health insurance plan and suddenly become unemployed, you may not be able to afford continued coverage through COBRA or other affordable health insurance options. Although it’s always best to find carry kind of affordable health insurance (even if it’s just a minimal policy), the more you use your health insurance when you have it, the more secure you’ll be in your health should you face a period without insurance.

So if you’re worried about losing your job (and insurance) or anticipate making a life change that will leave you uninsured, get in to see a doctor while you are still covered. Hopefully, the doc will give you a clean bill of health. In the worst case, he or she will alert you to potential health problems that you can either manage carefully if you have to go without health insurance or make you think twice about going uninsured.

If you are unemployed or anticipate losing your job, read How (and Why) to Get Health Insurance When Unemployed. Looking for an affordable health insurance plan on your own? Check out health insurance quotes from eHealthInsurance.com.

Related posts:

1. Health Insurance: Understanding Your Deductible, Co-pay, Out-of-Pocket Maximum and More
2. Do You Need Health Insurance in Your Twenties?
3. How (and Why) to Get Health Insurance When Unemployed

When you enroll in a health insurance plan, either for yourself at a site like eHealthInsurance, or through your employer, you pay either monthly or each pay period for your healthcare plan, but you will also owe some money when you use healthcare services. When you’re healthy, it’s easy to simply compare healthcare insurance plans based upon the monthly cost (the premium). But you must understand what the other variables of healthcare policies mean if you want to select the plan that’s going to be most economical for you when you actually start using healthcare.

There are several health insurance terms to understand:

• Premium
• Deductable
• Co-pay
• Co-insurance
• Out-of-pocket maximum

Your premium is the amount you pay into the insurance plan on a regular basis. If you belong to an employer-sponsored plan, the premium is likely deducted from each paycheck as pre-tax dollars. If you purchase your own health insurance plan, you may have the option to pay your premium annually, quarterly, or monthly. Health insurance premiums vary greatly depending on what medical expenses the plan covers, which doctors you can see, and how much you will have to pay in other ways when you use services.

Your health insurance deductible is the amount that you will have to pay for a claim (such as a surgical procedure or hospitalization, but not routine office visits) before the health insurance pays anything. For example, if you have a $100 deductible and undergo a $1,000 procedure, you will have to pay $100 and the insurance company will pay $900. Increasing your deductible is the easiest way to reduce how much you pay for your premium, although you will be responsible for paying more if you use healthcare services.

Your co-pay is the fixed amount you pay for using routine services like visiting your primary care physician or an emergency room or purchasing a prescription drug. In most cases, the payment is the same regardless of the extent of the visit or the cost of the drug. For example, a plan may require co-pays of $20 for office visits, $100 for emergency room visits, and $15 for generic prescriptions or $30 for name-brand drugs.

Co-insurance is similar to a co-pay, although co-insurance generally applies to less routine expenses, and is expressed as a percentage rather than a fixed dollar amount. Co-insurance is in addition to your deductible. So if your plan has a $100 deductible and 30% co-insurance and you use $1,000 in services, you’ll pay the $100 plus 30% of the remaining $900, up to your out-of-pocket maximum. You may find plans with no co-insurance requirements, some with 20/80 or 50/50 coinsurance, or other combinations.

Your out-of-pocket maximum is an important feature of your health plan because it limits the total amount you pay each calendar year for healthcare including co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance. If your policy carries a $2,500 out-of-pocket maximum and you get sick and require a lot of healthcare services, the most you will pay in a year is $2,500. After that, insurance picks up the rest of the tab.

Millions of uninsured Americans declare bankruptcy due to medical expenses every year. That’s why carrying health insurance consistently is one of the most responsible financial decisions you can make. Even if you’re young and healthy, you never know what could happen. If you don’t have health insurance through your employer, consider purchasing your own plan through the online insurance marketplace eHealthInsurance. Many low cost plans exist that will protect you in the event of a catastrophic accident or illness.

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1. COBRA: Continuing Health Insurance After You Leave a Job
2. Use Your Health Insurance!
3. Do You Need Health Insurance in Your Twenties?

For anybody who is laid off or quits a job that provided health insurance, it’s critical to understand how COBRA laws work and allow you to continue health insurance coverage if you need it.

If you’re simply moving from one job with health insurance benefits to the next, you don’t need to worry about COBRA. If, however, you will be unemployed or otherwise without health insurance for a period of time, listen up. COBRA allows you to elect to continue receiving your health insurance benefits for up to 18 months at the same group rate your employer was paying. Your employer should give you a document outlining the monthly costs for your healthcare plan.

COBRA health insurance, although the same as what you were receiving at work, will likely be more expensive. That’s because most employers pay for a substantial percentage of your healthcare premium—deducting only a small amount of the premium from your pay. If you elect COBRA coverage, you’ll pay the full premium.

The good news is COBRA is retroactive within the election period, which may be quite lengthy. That means if you decide not to pay for COBRA health insurance but, a month from now, fall and break your arm, you can sign up for COBRA and the insurance will be good back to the date you left work. And paying for that insurance just might be cheaper than paying for an arm cast.

COBRA provides an important safety net for laid off employees with ongoing medical needs. Healthy individuals, however, may be better served by low-cost health plans they can buy on their own that cover only major medical expenses from an accident or unexpected illness. You can compare health insurance plans at eHealthInsurance or read more about why and how to insure yourself when unemployed.

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1. Use Your Health Insurance!
2. How (and Why) to Get Health Insurance When Unemployed
3. Do You Need Health Insurance in Your Twenties?

If your parents, university, or full-time employer provides health insurance, fortunately you don’t have to spend much time thinking about it. But what if you’re self employed or work only part-time? What if you’re employed today but lose your job tomorrow? Do you know where to turn for health insurance?

Why You Need Health Insurance

In case you don’t think you need health insurance, consider the possibility that you could be hit by a bus on the way home tonight. Next, consider the average costs of some regular medical expenses based on data from ChangeHealthcare.com, a site where consumers can share and compare medical expenses:

• Emergency room visit: $1,200
• MRI: $1,800
• X-Ray: $250–$600
• Fracture: $500–$3,000

Finally, consider that every other test, every follow-up appointment, and every prescription you need will dramatically add to the above costs. Health insurance, even a minimal amount, is one of the smartest financial decisions you can make.

Health Insurance for the Unemployed and Self-Employed

The reason why health insurance is such an important employee benefit is because it’s so expensive, and employers get discounts for buying group policies for all their employees. That said, freelancers, entrepreneurs, part-time workers, and everybody else not working for the man can go out and buy health insurance on their own. It’s just expensive. Comprehensive health insurance plans for a single policyholder can be well above $500 a month.

Of course, these kinds of health insurance policies—HMOs and PPOs—are expensive because they let you see most doctors for a $20 copay and will require very little additional out-of-pocket expenses, no matter what happens to you.

You can, however, get much more affordable plans that may not reimburse your gym fees and acupuncture sessions, but will save you tens of thousands if you wipe out snowboarding this weekend and end up in a body cast. These so-called catastrophic health insurance plans can be yours for much less. Regular checkups and prescriptions may not be covered under these plans, but they’ll kick in to cover the big expenses if you require procedures or a hospital stay.

If you recently left your job—whether you were laid off or quit—you are also eligible for COBRA health insurance. Under federal law, you can continue to subscribe to the health policy you were receiving at work for up to 18 months, but you’ll have to pay the entire premium. (Most employers pay a big percentage of this while you’re on the payroll). Therefore, COBRA coverage will end up being expensive and you might be better off with a cheaper catastrophic plan.

Finding Your Own Health Insurance

There are a number of health insurance comparison Websites out there on which you can search and compare health plans based upon your needs. One site, eHealthInsurance, stands out in part for the sheer number of options it provides—thousands of health plans from hundreds of providers.

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1. COBRA: Continuing Health Insurance After You Leave a Job
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Auto Insurance Coverage Type #1: Bodily Injury Liability

As mentioned in my earlier article, bodily injury liability coverage is required by law in every single state. It protects your assets in the event you cause an accident and injure or kill another person.

Although this type of insurance coverage is required by law everywhere, the legal minimum coverage may not be enough if you serious hurt or kill somebody else in an accident. For example, some states only require your bodily injury liability insurance to cover you for $10,000 in damages per person and $20,000 per accident. Even minor medical expenses that another injured driver may sue you for could easily exceed this small limit.

If you own your home, have money in the bank or investments, own a business, or have any other assets, you want to get enough bodily injury liability insurance to protect them so an injured drive can’t sue you and take your assets.

Auto Insurance Coverage Type #2: Property Damage Liability

This is the insurance coverage that covers you if you cause an accident and damage another vehicle or physical property. If you hit somebody and they need body work, their insurance company will recover the damages from your insurance coverage (if you caused the accident).

Many states require drivers carry this coverage, but the minimum limits may not be enough. Some states require just $5,000 in property damage liability coverage. If you only carry $5,000 of this coverage and cause an accident that totals another driver’s $70,000 Mercedes, however, you could be on the hook for $65,000!

Auto Insurance Coverage Type #3: Medical Payments

This insurance covers the cost of any medical treatments required by you or passengers in your vehicle if you cause an accident. It does not cover other financial damages that result from an accident that you cause, such as lost wages.

Auto Insurance Coverage Type #4: Uninsured and Underinsured Driver Coverage

This coverage protects you when you are hit by a driver without insurance or without sufficient insurance. In most states, uninsured/underinsured driver coverage only covers bodily injury losses, but in a few states it will cover property damage losses as well.

Auto Insurance Coverage Type #5: Physical Damage Coverage

Physical damage auto insurance is divided into two categories: Collision and comprehensive insurance. Collision insurance covers any damage to your vehicle only when you are involved in an accident (including, for example, if you back into a tree). Comprehensive insurance, on the other hand, covers all kinds of damage to your vehicle (including weather damage, windshield damage, theft, fire, or vandalism).

Physical damage coverage is optional unless you lease or finance your vehicle, in which case your auto lender (lien holder) will require you carry this coverage to protect their asset until it is paid off. Carrying comprehensive coverage is smart during the first few years of a vehicle’s life when it is still a valuable asset (holds substantial resale value).

If your car is older, however, consider canceling comprehensive coverage. The less valuable your car on the resale market, the less you can expect to recover from insurance should the car be damaged in an accident. If you drive a really old car, for example, and it sustains even minor damage in an accident, the insurance company may decide the cost of repairing the car is higher than its resale value and decide to give you it’s resale value (maybe $1,500) instead. If your carry a $500 deductible (the amount you agree to pay out-of-pocket in any insurance claim), comprehensive coverage would only pay you $1,000.

Curious how your insurance coverage stacks up to the minimum coverage requirements in your state? Need to get an auto insurance quote to compare annual premium costs? Check out our resource comparing auto insurance minimum coverage laws state-by-state, or get a free online insurance quote from Allstate® in about five minutes

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Bodily injury liability insurance protects you and your assets in the event you cause a car accident and injure or kill somebody else. If the other party sues you for their injuries and wins, your liability insurance will pay the damages up to your coverage limits. If you don’t have liability insurance, or enough, the courts can—and will—seize any assets you own.

Bodily injury liability auto insurance is required by law in virtually every state. The coverage limits required by law, however, may not cover your needs. For example, in Maine, the minimum required bodily injury liability coverage is $50,000/$100,000. What that means is that the policy must cover at least $50,000 in liability for each person injured and at least $100,000 per accident.

But what happens if you own a home worth $200,000 and you are found responsible for injuring somebody in a crash and ordered to pay them $100,000 in damages?

This minimum bodily injury liability insurance only covers you for $50,000 for any one person. You will be responsible for another $50,000 in damages, even if it means the court has to put a lien on your house. Furthermore, you could be responsible for these damages if you lend the car to a friend or family member and he or she causes the accident.

Therefore, it’s important to buy bodily injury liability car insurance that will cover at least the value of your assets. In this case, you should have limits of at least $200,000/$400,000 ($200,000 per person, $400,000 total).

Often, bringing your auto insurance liability coverage limits in line with what you need will only cost you a hundred or so dollars per year—well worth it if the unthinkable happens and you have assets to lose.

Need to revisit your auto insurance? Curious if you’re paying too much? Get a no-obligation quote in just minutes online from Allstate® Insurance Company.

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To start, you need to know a little bit about the different types of auto insurance, what type you need, and what your state law requires you carry.

Look for Discounts

It’s easy to get auto insurance quotes in a few minutes online, and you should certainly do so to compare rates. (For example, try getting a quick quote online from Allstate® Insurance Company).

That said, picking up the yellow pages and calling some local agents may be worthwhile. Local agents may offer “group rates” to employees of local businesses, local students, or even members of community groups. If you qualify for a group rate, find out what the discount is and how it compares to one of the rates from a large national insurer. You may qualify for other discounts on certain kinds of coverage—like a break on theft if you install a car alarm or immobilization device.

Negotiate

While negotiating your car insurance policy may not be as black and white as haggling for your new car, you may have some leverage, especially with smaller, more personal insurance agencies. Combining multiple policies (whether auto, home, or other property) is the easiest way to justify a better rate. Again, it’ll help to have a low quote from one of the online insurance giants in-hand.

Pick and Choose

Just because your car insurance company offers certain coverage options doesn’t mean you need them. If you have an older car that isn’t worth very much, skip the carry comprehensive damage coverage, for example.

Drive Safely, and Pay Your Bills

Clearly, the more accidents and speeding tickets you rack up, the more your insurance will cost you. But insurers are increasingly also relying upon consumer credit reports to set rates. Just one more good reason you should pay those bills on time.

Get an online quote from Allstate® Insurance Company now »

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