Personal Finance and Investment

1. DOES YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE COVER YOU ON AND OFF THE JOB?

Many health care policies have certain exclusions that nullify your benefits for everything that could have been protected under Workers Compensation or similar regulations.

Now read the last sentence once more.

COULD HAVE YOU BEEN COVERED!?

That’s right. The majority of self-employed people and even some small company owners do not pay Workers Comp by themselves.

There are specifically tailored insurance plans that will protect you off and on the job, 24-hrs a day, in case when you are not demanded by law to possess Workers Compensation coverage.

2. ARE YOU WRITING IT OFF?

Categories like independent contractors (1099’s), home-based company owners, various professionals and other self-employed persons typically are not taking advantages of the tax regulations readily available to them.

Lots of people who are paying 100% of their own expenses qualify to subtract their monthly insurance costs. Only that alone can decrease your total out-of-pocket expenses for a comprehensive plan by up to 40%. Ask your company accountant whether you are eligible to this and/or search the IRS website for additional information.

3. INTERNAL LIMITS
All proper insurance covers use some kind of internal controls to decide how much they would pay out for a specific service or procedure. There are 2 main methods.

Scheduled Benefits

Mane insurance plans, some of which are particularly targeted at self-employed and independent workers, have an apparent schedule of how much they will pay per visit to doctor’s office, stay in hospital, or even restrictions on what they will reimburse for testing procedure over 24-hours period. This arrangement is generally connected with “Indemnity Plans”. If you are given one of those plans, make sure that you see the list of benefits in writing. It is vital that you comprehend the above type of limits in advance, because as soon as you reach them, the company will not compensate anything above that amount.

Usual and Customary

“Usual and Customary” refers to the amount of pay out for a visit to doctor office, stay in hospital or other procedures, and is based on what most physicians and medical facilities would charge for that specific service in that particular (or similar) geographical area. “Usual and Customary” fees correspond to the highest amount of coverage on most major health care plans.

4.USE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHOP AROUND!

If you are reading this article, you are likely to be shopping for a suitable health insurance plan. From day to day people shop for all kind of stuff, from groceries to a new house. While in the process of shopping, things like price, value, personal requirements and common marketplace get evaluated by the purchaser. Having this in mind, it is quite bewildering that majority of people never inquire what a procedure, test or even a visit to doctor will cost.

In this perpetually changing medical insurance market, it is getting increasingly important to ask those questions of medical professionals that you know. Asking price will serve you as a good guide to get the most out of your health plan and decrease your out-of-pocket costs.

5. MEDICAL NETWORKS AND DISCOUNTS

Nearly all health care insurance plans and benefit programs work in collaboration with medical networks to benefit from discounted rates. Broadly speaking, such networks are composed of health professionals and medical facilities who, by contract, agree to charge discounted fees for the services they render. In a lot of cases, a medical network is one of the key attributes of your benefit program.

Medical network discounts can vary from 10% to 60% or more, but to ensure that you get the best deal, it is crucial that you preview the list of doctors and facilities provided by the network before making commitments. The purpose of this is two-fold. Firstly, to ensure that your local physicians and hospitals are included in the network, and secondly, to find out what options they offer should you need to see a specialist.

Inquire your agent to see what network you belong to, whether it is national or local, and then decide if it meets your own personal needs.