Georgia Health Insurance 411

Archive for February, 2009

Dr. Robert Berry talks about high deductible plans and direct pay.

For more information about Consumers for Health Care Choice visit their site.

John Stossel reports. First of 6 parts on health care in America.

Compare plans, including high deductible, HSA’s by visiting our website and running your own rates. We are always available to answer questions on the phone or by email.

Need to make every penny count? There are lot’s of ways to save money without really trying.

From Dollar Stretcher come these tips.

I liked using the Wrinkle Free spray’s on the market today but didn’t like paying the price. So now I make my own. I bought a bottle of liquid spray starch and mixed it with water (at a ratio of one part starch to three parts water). It works great, and it’s a whole lot cheaper.
Paula B. in Memphis, TN

Don’t have any cash? You don’t need any. Just use your Target$$$ for the purchase!

Almost like magic! a website where you can trade what you have, for what you want!

It’s free to join and by special arrangement … click on this link to get a $1000 line of credit to start . It’s easy just Click, Join & List An Item To Trade !

Saving money on term life insurance is quick and simple. If you have not checked rates in a while, now is a good time to buy. Many carriers will soon increase rates by as much as 40%. Compare rates on multiple plans here by using the Instant Life Quote Link.

If you have serious health issues, it might be impossible to obtain a life insurance policy. The exception is a graded benefit plan that only returns the premium if death occurs in the first 2 – 3 years.

But once the policy is issued, there should not be a problem, right?

Not so fast!

Life insurance policies have a contestable period that usually runs for 2 years after the policy is issued. So . . .

You could be room temp and your beneficiaries get stiffed. That’s what happened to the family of Andrew Kissel. Read the rest of this entry »

The new administration in Washinton seems to think they have a magic wand and can just waive it around and everything will be fixed. Or perhaps they have a Benny Hinn complex and believe they can cure what ails you.

The truth is, they have no clue.

The WSJ is reporting right now that President Obama’s budget will set aside $634 billion over 10 years for health reform, through a combination of tax increases on the wealthy and cuts in health spending.

How do tax increases on the wealthy control the cost of health care?

Truth is, it does nothing.

And just what are “cuts in health spending”? Read the rest of this entry »

With the stroke of a pen, President Obama completely changed the landscape involving employer sponsored group insurance. When you add in proposed changes in the tax laws and the union “card check” revisions, it would appear that Washington is trying to single-handedly dismantle small employers.

COBRA on the federal level applies to employers with 20 or more employees but each state has their own rules which apply to smaller employers. In Georgia, employers who offer group health insurance and have at least 2 employees are required to comply with mini COBRA laws.

When you lose your job, you have a right to continue the group insurance plan under COBRA laws. Until now, you were responsible for paying the COBRA premium.

All that changed with the so-called stimulus bill which includes ARRA . . . the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. ARRA requires employers to subsidize your COBRA premium by paying 65% of the cost for up to 9 months. The employer can apply for a credit against payroll taxes to offset the cost of subsidizing your premiums.

Sounds great to the folks in Washington who have never run a business. The practical side is a nightmare. Read the rest of this entry »

What if you could keep your current dentist, but pay less with each visit? Most dental plans on the market require you to see THEIR dentist, but not PrimeStar. You can see you own dentist and pay less for routine visits, even major work such as crowns and root canals.

No need to have some stranger looking in your mouth.

And there are NO WAITING PERIODS.

Most plans will accept you for immediate benefits, but will make you wait 12 months before you can get a crown.

Not so with PrimeStar. Major services including crowns, bridges, oral surgery and dentures are covered following a $50 deductible.

You can also add vision benefits for a few dollars more.

Review, quote and apply online.

Insurance carriers regularly look in your medicine chest . . . mostly when you apply for life or health insurance. They want to know what medications you have taken over the last few years. This information is used to determine how healthy (or not) you have been and whether (or not) you might be a good risk going forward.

You pay for insurance with your dollars, but you QUALIFY for life and health insurance with your health.

Want to know what the carriers see? Read the rest of this entry »

Not to be confused with the BeeGee’s song from Saturday Night Live, the cost of staying alive can put a major dent in your wallet. Especially if you don’t have health insurance, or have the WRONG POLICY.

All of my clients in Georgia know that there is more to buying health insurance than just getting a low rate. If the plan has holes in it, they know I will not offer it.

So just how much does it cost to stay alive if you have something like . . . cancer?

At $17,000 a month, Erbitux is one of the most expensive cancer drugs ever made. For the record, it is not the most expensive. That distinction is currently held by Read the rest of this entry »

It seems that consumers everywhere are complaining about the cost of health care and health insurance.

At the same time they are throwing away dollars like there was no tomorrow, buying phantom insurance and other ways to waste their money.

Here are a few examples.

A lady called looking for health insurance. Her current plan was increasing to over $600 per month. Among her health issues was high cholesterol. Every year her doctor ordered a lipid panel test as part of her physical exam. He also had her on an expensive cholesterol reducing med.

I suggested a carrier that would insure her but would not cover her cholesterol med or her lipid panel.

The premium was $280 less than her renewal.

The med would run $140 per month. The lipid panel around $80, once a year.

She opted to keep what she had and pay the higher premium.

She believes she has coverage but all she really has is phantom insurance. Read the rest of this entry »