Pre-Existing Condition
An illness or condition which was treated or diagnosed before the policy was issued. Many policies will not pay benefits for pre-existing conditions, or will only cover treatment of them after the policy has been in force for a specified period of time. This varies based on whether the policy is group or individual coverage.

Renewal and Premium Increase
Determine the conditions under which your policy may be renewed or the premiums increased. Ask what type of renewal provision applies to your policy.

Waiting Period
The amount of time you must wait after buying a policy before coverage begins.

Fee-for-Service Plans
Fee-for-Service plans often are called traditional or indemnity health insurance. Here, the health insurance company pays all or a portion of the bills after services are received by the insured. Other characteristics of a fee-for-service plan include: 1) no connection between the insurance company and the people who provide health care; 2) no restrictions on the doctors or hospitals you must use to receive health care; 3) a deductible may have to be paid before the policy begins to pay; and 4) co-payments may have to be paid each time you have a claim.

Source: ins.state.pa.us

Effective Period
The date health insurance protection begins.

Elimination Period
Specified number of days that you must be eligible for coverage or disabled before the policy begins to pay benefits.

Exclusions and Limitations
Conditions or circumstances in which benefits are not payable or may be limited. Some examples of exclusions are suicide or self-inflicted injuries, injuries resulting from war, on-the-job accidents covered by workers’ compensation, eye or dental treatment, cosmetic surgery, services for which no charge is made, and services that are not medically necessary. Some policies also may place limitations on or exclude treatment of mental illness or substance abuse.

Source: ins.state.pa.us

Coinsurance
The share of your covered expenses, usually a percentage, you must pay after the deductible is reached. For example, a policy may require you to pay twenty percent of the cost up to a certain dollar amount.

Conversion of Privileges
Allows the participant or beneficiaries to convert coverage to a different plan of insurance without providing evidence of insurability. The privilege granted by a group policy is to convert to an individual policy upon termination of group coverage.

Coordination of Benefits
Provisions in group policies that limit the total benefits payable under two or more group policies so that benefits do not exceed the actual amount of covered expenses incurred. COB is particularly important when a husband and wife each have obtained family coverage under separate group policies. Some policies may reduce the amount of benefits payable if benefits are payable under other insurance coverage.

Co-Payment
A specified dollar amount a subscriber to a managed care plan must pay for covered health care services. It is paid to the provider at the time the service is rendered.

Deductible
The initial amount of covered expenses a policyholder will have to pay before benefits are paid under the policy. Generally, the higher the deductible, the lower your premium. Remember, the deductible should not be so high that you could not afford to pay it should you become ill. Ask your agent or company representative if the deductible is a flat annual amount or if you must pay a deductible for each treatment, or for each family member. Some major medical policies have what is known as a “variable deductible” which means that the deductible will be the greater of a fixed dollar amount or the dollar amount or the total expense coverage.

Source: ins.state.pa.us

by Andrea

If you are trying to obtain or get hold of a self employed medical insurance, you might come across that you’re qualified for COBRA. COBRA health insurance is accessible and on hand to people who had employer-sponsored health insurance coverage but left for their job. You must inform your employer within sixty days of parting your job that you wish for to make use of this type of self employed medical insurance. COBRA is available for you and your family for the period of 18 months after you leave your work However, COBRA is not economical. This type of insurance can really set you back, as you pay for the full cost of insurance. So if you are looking for on sale health insurance, CBRA is not best alternative for you.

Having a Medigap policy ensures that the insurance company pay your provider directly when:

Your provider has signed an agreement with Medicare to accept assignment of all Medicare claims for all their Medicare patients, and
You tell your doctor’s office to put on the Medicare claim form your correct Medigap policy number and company name
Meeting these conditions, the Medicare carrier will process the claim, send you the summary notice, and send it to the Medigap insurance company. In most cases, Medicare claims are sent directly to the insurance company, even if the doctor doesn’t accept assignment on all claims.

This independent guide to buying private medical insurance, published by the Association of British Insurers, has been designed to help you understand more about how private medical insurance works, so that you can make an informed choice before you buy an insurance policy.

The Association of British Insurers are the recognised trade organisation for insurance companies operating in the United Kingdom. In addition to this guide, the literature you receive from companies providing private medical insurance should contain an outline of the products which you are considering buying.

These outlines are meant to help you compare the benefits offered by different health insurance products. They give you a brief overview of what is, and is not, covered when you buy private medical insurance.

Source: medic8.com

by Andrea

Health insurance for pets is popular and reasonably priced. Animal health insurance is a simple and affordable method to pay the health care bills for our pets. Health insurance is now obtainable for dogs, cats, and exotics. Pet health care insurance is comparable to that of human health insurance. The company will pay the pet owner otherwise give the money back for veterinary services that are covered under guiding principle. There are a lot of pet insurance companies and many unusual pet insurance policies. Each document is different from each policies. Other services that are enclosed under most policies are Spay surgery, neuter surgery, annual vaccinations, and annual heartworm test.

by Andrea

Try to find or look for a health insurance tax break before you pay money for employees health insurance plan. The premiums intended for health insurance are fully deductible on your taxes. Shop around before you buy a good deal with a business health insurance. There are so many group health insurance plans that available in the market. All you need to do is determine how much is your budget for each policy. At the same time, always inform your employees with regard to highlighting or giving importance to the benefits of your group health insurance plan on a regular basis.

by Andrea

Before you purchase any business health insurance try to do some research first. Think about the preliminaries that you want your employees to have. Shop more or less for the most excellent group health insurance plan to your company’s list of benefits. For example, do make an appraisal on your employees about small group health insurance needs prior to buying a  business health insurance. Before you buy a group health insurance plan, consult or check with your employees the kind of health plan they will be needing. Don’t forget to search for small group health insurance that are available for your company.

by Andrea

Health care is not inexpensive. In fact, you’ll be shocked with how much a health insurance cost if you get for personal purposes. Once you get hold of the rates, try to review each plans and its conditions and benefits. Find out if there’s any pre-existing circumstances that comprises a pre-existing condition and if they are insured or not. Ask about the deductibles and treatments that needs to be covered. Moreover, discover if there are multi-health discounts or the terms in the mode of payments, is it annually, semi-annually, or quarterly. It’s best to find the best health insurance for your need.