Search results for health insurance
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Posted
Sep 28 2009, 01:59 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A new Harvard study estimates that nearly 45,000 Americans die each year because they don't have health insurance -- and that's after other factors like income and unhealthy behaviors are taken into account.
"Deaths associated with lack of health insurance now exceed those caused by many common killers such as kidney disease," an article by the Cambridge Health Alliance reports.
The study says the uninsured have a 40% higher risk of death than people who have private health insurance -- like the insurance you get through your job. Or, to put it another way, a person dies because of a lack of insurance every 12 minutes.
Of course, some people neglect their health. But many, we suspect, don't see a doctor because they're afraid of the cost. Doctor visits and tests can add up to an intimidating amount, even if you're uninsured but have a good income. A CNN story put a human face on some of these avoidable deaths -- a freelance cameraman, a self-employed mother of two, and a 25-year-old woman who worked in a movie theater.
So we had to wonder: Have you put off visits to the doctor because of financial considerations?
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Posted
Sep 21 2009, 06:10 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We knew that health insurance companies refuse to sell individual policies to people who've had cancer or hypertension. But acne or bunions -- or working in a first-responder job?
Insurance company documents obtained and made public by Consumer Watchdog indicate how far some insurers will go to limit individual coverage to only the healthiest people (and those with the safest jobs). A hangnail? You'll get coverage. Toenail fungus? Perhaps not.
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Posted
Aug 05 2009, 05:49 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Until recently, you didn't need to bring a lot of money when you visited the doctor, at least if you had health insurance. That is changing, The Wall Street Journal reports. More doctors are demanding your full co-pay and co-insurance amount up front, which can be hundreds or thousands of dollars under some high-deductible plans.
Insurance policies with increased co-pays and deductibles are making the patient responsible for a larger share of medical bills. In turns, doctors and hospitals, which used to focus on getting their fees from insurance companies, are also focusing on collecting from their patients.
"The days of coming up with just a $10 co-pay -- that ship sailed a long time ago," Jeff Drasnin, a pediatrician in the Cincinnati area, told The Wall Street Journal. Collecting at time of service has "cut out a tremendous amount of bad debt we used to write off," he says.
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Posted
Aug 05 2009, 01:12 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from James Limbach at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
With the battle over health care reform likely to last well into the fall, a new survey suggests that a lot of consumers are ready for some changes.
People who took part in the latest Consumer Reports survey say median annual out-of-pocket costs for premiums increased by 38% in the past two years, and only 64% of those surveyed were "very" or "completely" satisfied with their current health insurance plan.
"That's a lukewarm response and a slight drop from the 67% in our 2007 report," said Mandy Walker, senior project editor for CR. "In terms of services we rate, that puts satisfaction with health insurance above satisfaction with cable TV, a perennial whipping post, but below pharmacies and real estate agents."
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Posted
Aug 03 2009, 04:13 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We often plan ahead for health issues when we travel to exotic places, but we don't think about what we'd do if we needed health care while visiting Grandma two states away.
Lesley Alderman of The New York Times, who jammed her toe tripping over a tree root at Disneyland, reminds us that getting sick or hurt can really cut into your vacation budget, especially if you don't follow your insurance company's rules. Getting treatment for a minor injury out of network can cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars.
She advises travelers to carry their insurance cards with them and to call the insurance company before seeking treatment. The company can tell you which doctors and hospitals are part of the network in the place you're visiting.
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Posted
Aug 03 2009, 01:08 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
In recognition of the national debate over health care reform, which is about to move front and center, here are two brief histories of bloggers without health insurance.
One is about David, who decided to go without. The other is the story of Leanne at Mrs. Bankrupt, who recently penned a three-part series called "Sick? No insurance. No doctor. You're screwed."
We'll start with David at Goliath Debt, David Income, who was so focused on paying down his colossal debt that he skimped when he shouldn't have -- his wife and his newborn baby aren't insured and it's proven to be quite costly.
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Posted
Jul 22 2009, 02:33 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
One objective of health care legislation pushed by President Obama is universal coverage -- providing health insurance options for all Americans. The question, of course, is how to do it.
Backers of the so-called government option, in which a Medicare-like policy competes with private insurers, can point to a new study by The Commonwealth Fund. The study found that 73% of people who tried to buy insurance on their own in the last three years did not purchase a policy, primarily because premiums were too high.
In addition, among adults with individual coverage or those who tried to buy coverage in the past three years:
- 57% said it was very difficult or impossible to find coverage they could afford.
- 47% said it was very difficult or impossible to find a plan with the coverage they needed.
- 36% were denied coverage or charged more because of a pre-existing condition, or the condition was excluded from their coverage.
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Posted
Jul 03 2009, 07:19 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Individual health insurance plans can be costly, complex and downright confusing. Navigating the world of co-insurance, co-pays and deductibles becomes a difficult task when it comes to choosing insurance plans that are not prepackaged and backed by an employer.
Many self-employed individuals and those who work for employers that do not provide health insurance spend hours trying to decipher the language of the industry and find the best coverage for the lowest premiums.
All health insurance plans are not created equal. Health insurance companies use a variety of different approaches when developing products and services for individual buyers. Low premiums might not necessarily mean that individuals are getting the type of coverage they need. The first step in exploring the many different types of individual health insurance plans is to learn all about the basic terminology and common features.
What is co-insurance?
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Posted
Jun 04 2009, 03:43 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
A new study finds that more than 60% of personal bankruptcies in the United States in 2007 were caused by health care costs associated with a major illness. That's a 50% increase in the number of bankruptcies blamed on medical expenses since a similar study in 2001.
In an article to be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine, the results of the first-ever national random-sample survey of bankruptcy filers shows that illnesses and medical bills contribute to a large and increasing share of bankruptcies.
"The U.S. health care financing system is broken, and not only for the poor and uninsured," said Harvard Medical School researcher Dr. David U. Himmelstein. "Middle-class families frequently collapse under the strain of a health care system that treats physical wounds, but often inflicts fiscal ones."
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Posted
May 06 2009, 06:00 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Tisha Tolar at partner blog Wise Bread.
With job loss on the rise, many people cannot afford medical insurance on their own, yet don't qualify for state or federal assistance. As a result, many will skip medical treatment to save money.
Your health is not something you can take lightly. With some planning and research, you can find ways to get more out of health care without spending more money.
Here are five places you can check out when you need medical help but don't have insurance to cover it:
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