Health

Healthcare in general, and health insurance in particular, are certainly more complicated today than they were a generation or two ago. Making sure that you and your family are adequately covered is no longer simply a matter choosing one of the three or four plans offered by your employer. Today many employers choose not to offer coverage to their employees, but at the same time we have more choices through the various government Health Insurance Marketplaces. But getting this type of coverage is subject to an open enrollment period whereby, in the absence of special circumstances, you must enroll for...

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Having a child represents a significant change to your life in many different ways. You probably anticipate and understand that your life will have a different focus once you’re a parent, though perhaps the full extent of the change can be hard to understand if this is your first child. And chances are you’ll also be making plans to address the financial changes that having a child will bring. One sometimes overlooked financial aspect of these changes is your insurance. In most cases there are at least five basic types of insurance changes you want to consider when you’re getting...

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Millions of people across the country have visited the HealthCare.gov website since the October 1, 2013 launch. That was the day that the federal health insurance program known as “Obama Care” or the “Affordable Care Act” was officially launched. Although many have visited the site to see what it is about, many are still waiting to see what happens to the health care industry and the financial markets once health care insurance evolves to a more competitive market. There were certainly a number of glitches in the launch of the web site. The establishment of this more competitive marketplace will...

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It would be virtually impossible not to notice how much the price of health insurance and medical care has exploded over the last two decades. The situation has gotten so significant for so many people that comprehensive health care reform (including access to health insurance, medical malpractice reform, and a host of related issues) has become one of the most pressing issues facing our nation. On an individual level, it’s reached the point where some people have decided that health insurance is simply too expensive, and they forego coverage altogether. Unfortunately, even though this might save on the monthly...

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The U.S. Medicare program provides guaranteed health insurance to Americans over the age of 65, as well as younger individuals who have certain types of disabilities. Medicare is a defined benefit program that focuses on providing hospital-based care (under “Part A”) as well as outpatient care (under “Part B”). There are also other elements to the program, including having to choose between traditional Medicare and a network plan. But Medicare doesn’t provide full coverage, so many retirees purchase Medicare Supplement Plans (also known as “Medigap” plans) to cover the various types of costs that are not covered by Medicare. Here is...

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Rising health care costs should be a concern of every individual. Even if you’re currently in good health and have an affordable health insurance premium, you know that things can change. As health care becomes more of a politically charged issue, there’s an even greater degree of uncertainty as to how things will be in the future. An insurance policy that was once affordable may quickly become too expensive as laws and regulations change. What follows are some ways to take control of your health care costs – all of them involve doing some research and educating yourself. Use this...

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There are few things that have gotten as much press coverage and generated as much discussion over the past several years as the recent set of federal health care reforms. While you’re probably at least somewhat familiar with the biggest and broadest reaching provisions, there are also a number of other lesser known provisions that are also part of the broad package of health care reforms. Keep in mind that while many of these reforms have been passed into law, the implementation rules and regulations have not yet been finalized. Furthermore, some of these new obligations have a delayed effective...

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The Medicare program was added to the Social Security program in 1965 to ensure that older Americans receive adequate health care services, regardless of whether they are insurable or can even afford their own private insurance. Since the Medicare program came into being there have been a number of different changes and modifications to its scope. One relatively recent change is the Medicare Advantage program, which became part of the Medicare program in 2003. A prior version of Medicare Advantage, previously known as “Medicare+Choice,” actually came into being in 1997. Here’s a basic overview of the terms of the Current Medicare...

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One interesting component of the new health care landscape that’s developed over the past decade is the level of choice individuals now have. Rather than simply take the comprehensive coverage insurance provided by our employers, as we would have done in years past, we can now choose from literally dozens of options. But it might not always feel like having so many choices is a good thing; in fact, sometimes too many choices can feel a little overwhelming. One of these choices – the Health Savings Account – is sufficiently unique that it bears a closer look by many individuals....

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Even as we hear the news reports of inflation numbers being relatively low, most of us are seeing the prices of many things continue to rise. Over the last year, one of the most noticeable increases has been the cost of individual and family health insurance. In just the past year, the annual health insurance premium cost has risen approximately 8-9%. This puts the average total premium cost for family coverage over the $15,000 mark. This year’s increase continues a trend that we’ve been seeing for quite a while, even if the increases of the few years prior were much...

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