Tips to Cut Your Health Care Costs

I recently had an experience that opened my eyes to the healthcare system. I have been fortunate to have good insurance coverage for the last 30 years. I am like many others, when the cost of care doesn't impact my pocketbook; I am not a wise a consumer as I should be.
We recently have had changes in our insurance coverage, as many of you have experienced too. We have had some hefty out-of-pocket costs that has set me on a journey to be a wiser consumer.
I found a report by Kiplinger "50 Ways to Cut Your Health Care Costs." I will share a few of the tips here. I have added it as a link on the website under resources. You may explore it further. I will hit the high points. Some you will know and others I hope you will find new and useful.
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Common Health Insurance Terms Made Easy

Finding health insurance seems like it gets more and more complicated every year. There are many unfamiliar terms that make it hard for the average person to understand what's covered and what's not under the plans they're considering. Much of the time, plans differ by the level of the deductible and the amount of copay or coinsurance that customers have to pay. Here is an explanation of those terms for a better understanding of exactly what you're buying.

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Is Mental Health Covered Under Health Insurance?

For people who depend on any type of private or company insurance to cover the cost of their health needs, the question of whether or not the health insurance policy covers mental health problems is a crucial one for a number of reasons.
The idea of a split between physical health and mental health is an old one, and is a fairly arbitrary decision as to which is which some of the time. From a point of view of health insurance, classifying illnesses or diseases can determine whether or not the insurance company will pay for them, and for many people with mental health issues that can literally be a life or death process.

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Critical Illness Coverage: One of Health Insurance's Best Kept Secrets

Before I jump into explaining what critical illness insurance is, and why I personally believe it's a good investment, let me first confess that before I began working for a health insurance brokerage, I had NO idea what critical illness insurance was.

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Overcoming the Top Healthcare Revenue Cycle Challenges

Three of the top revenue cycle management challenges are Medicare and Medicaid payments, claims denial and value-based payments.
Medicare and Medicaid Payments: Complicated payment reforms, shrinking reimbursements and government mandates contribute to the delay and denial of payments for services covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare and Medicaid represent an ever-increasing segment of the population and timely and adequate payment from these organizations rank as a top issue for healthcare practitioners. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have significantly increased provider education tools including on demand webinars and other resources.

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Critical Illness Coverage: One of Health Insurance's Best Kept Secrets

Before I jump into explaining what critical illness insurance is, and why I personally believe it's a good investment, let me first confess that before I began working for a health insurance brokerage, I had NO idea what critical illness insurance was.

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Getting Health Insurance Outside of Open Enrollment

The Obamacare Open Enrollment Period ended about a month and a half ago, and many people still find themselves without health insurance. Some may not be able to comfortably afford a plan, couldn't make a decision on what to buy, and maybe some just plain forgot. Now many people find themselves wondering how to go about getting health insurance outside of Open Enrollment.

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Be Aware Of Cost Share Health Plans

There are no substitutes for any type of insurance. There are Christian organizations that have totally missed the whole purpose why we all need health insurance, a cost-sharing program among believers to lower premiums is not the right solution. Ask yourself this question; why should you take the risk with your income and assets to save a few dollars on monthly premiums, knowing the fact this is not insurance?

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Men and Medicare: What You Should Know

In the coming year, more than 1.6 million American men will turn 65. Discounts at restaurants, movie theaters and hardware stores await. Awaiting, too, are new options regarding healthcare coverage that their parents and grandparents never had the luxury to consider.
For past generations turning 65 meant obtaining healthcare coverage through Medicare and the only real decisions were whether or not to enroll in supplemental coverage and, if so, with whom? That all changed with the passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which allowed Medicare beneficiaries the option of receiving benefits through Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. (Many seniors had previously doing so via a series of demonstration projects that dated back to the early 1980s.)

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The Taxing of Unaffordable Insurance On Middle-Class America

Are the past due medical bills piling while annoyingly fighting on the phone with the health insurance company about medical coverage? Do you have a strategy or plan to pay the hospital or private physicians for services rendered? Are all these incessant thoughts affecting your relationships and you feel there is no way out of this rut? Welcome to the world of "affordable" insurance, where it has been really affordable for insurance companies to provide low premiums in exchange for high deductibles. These affordable plans are sufficient for the healthy person until life throws the curve ball and the shocking sticker price makes one cringe. The savings at the front end may wither once the realization that deductibles have to be met. Looking to switch to another insurance plan may not be the solution as premiums increase while deductibles decrease, but the loopholes leave wiggle room to pass on the cost-sharing from the health insurance company to the consumer.

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Still Doubtful About Buying Health Insurance?

Health procurement has been a major cause of concern and area of research for every civilization of the past and of the modern world. The evolution of medicines and courses of treatment is very diverse and dramatic. So much money and effort is being spent on research to find cure of diseases every year. So many medical schools are dedicatedly working to bring out quality medical professionals to solve health issues. With continued efforts and resources we have sufficient know how and infrastructure to cure or control many diseases and thus saving many lives or improving life quality in the process.

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Managing High Deductible Health Plans

Who Gets HDHPs?
Health plans with high deductibles can be purchased by anyone, but those who most commonly opt for these plans are people who are generally healthy. Because they're banking on their health and not planning on having numerous prescriptions filled or several trips to the doctor or hospital, they're quite comfortable with HDHPs because they likely won't ever use enough care to even come close to the deductible.

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Buying Health Insurance Through a Broker

In its most simple definition, a health insurance broker (also commonly known as an agent) is someone who is licensed to sell health insurance. However, there are many other services they provide you that fall under the umbrella of selling health insurance. Here are some of the most important:

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