Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
- We have regional offices in London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Miami, Shanghai and Jakarta, with staff speaking several languages. They deliver expert advice and provide an enhanced local policy administration and claims support service using their extensive international medical knowledge
- Our emergency evacuation benefit ensures that if the required treatment is not available at the place of incident you will be immediately transported to an appropriate facility.
- Our online Global Health Data Bank enables you to search for medical and health resources worldwide through access to a comprehensive directory of international medical and hospital facilities.
An international health insurance policy from Goodhealth gives the expatriate total peace of mind through comprehensive medical expenses cover and a wide range of additional supporting services.
International private medical insurance for expatriatesaround the world.
Contact Goodhealth Worldwide now for a comprehensive range of individual, family, group or company international medical insurance plans. Free quotes may be obtained by clicking the link below or you can call one of our experienced consultants. Wherever you are located overseas, we are able to provide a local service and speedy claims settlement backed by a wealth of global healthcare knowledge.
Contact Goodhealth Worldwide now for a comprehensive range of individual, family, group or company international medical insurance plans. Free quotes may be obtained by clicking the link below or you can call one of our experienced consultants. Wherever you are located overseas, we are able to provide a local service and speedy claims settlement backed by a wealth of global healthcare knowledge.
Friday, June 19, 2009
- Get no-obligation health insurance quotes.
- Learn about alternatives to employer-sponsored coverage, including COBRA and high-risk
- Explore our glossary of medical insurance terms.
- Explore our glossary of medical insurance terms.
- Explore our glossary of medical insurance terms.
What can you do to provide low-cost protection for your family's health? Here at the Health Insurance Resource Center, we strive to make you a better-informed consumer to aid you in your quest to secure and keep an adequate health plan for your family, regardless of your individual situation.
Lack of health insurance is an epidemic. What's the cure?
Nearly 16 percent of Americans – 47 million people – are uninsured. According to a story in USAToday, the people without health insurance aren't just the poor – they are all of us. Medical bills are the cause of more than half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States.
Urge Congress to act – now.
The fact that millions lack access to quality, affordable health insurance is easily the biggest domestic crisis facing our nation. Our advocacy page gives you the tools to help convince Congress to support President Obama's call for health care reform. His plans are to ensure health plans do not discriminate on the basis of pre-existing conditions, expand access to the government's own insurance program, lower the cost on existing plans and give you the ability to keep your coverage if you switch jobs or become self-employed. Contact a member of the House of Representatives. Contact a US Senator. Contact the White House
Healthinsurance.org has long-held a well-deserved reputation for promoting health insurance reform, and with President Obama's election we are stepping up our efforts.
State Guides to health plans and health care quality
You'll also find information on the quality of health care in individual states from across the nation, from New Jersey to California. Each page also gives you the opportunity to receive free, no-obligation insurance quotes, complete with pricing and details from competing companies. Many states are seeking ways to tackle the problem of access to affordable health insurance on their own, and we look to health care reform initiatives on our state pages. We also have links to the contact forms for your elected officials, so you can easily lend your support, or offer alternative ideas.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Health Insurance Blog
Twice a year, MedPAC issues recommendations to Congress, detailing exactly what they would do in order to improve the operation of the Medicare program, including updating payment and coverage policies, improving access to care, and improving healthcare quality. Sometimes Congress might take a few of these recommendations into consideration, but most of the items are ignored.
According to the Wall Street Journal, those days may be coming to an end. Senator Rockefeller has introduced legislation that would allow MedPAC to play a larger role in healthcare reform by turning it into an independent executive agency comparable to the Federal Reserve Board. President Obama has indicated that he supports this type of larger role for MedPAC, and would take it a step further by automatically adopting their recommendations absent Congressional action to oppose. He would also limit Congress's ability to break individual recommendations out of their package - they would need to be adopted as a group, or not at all.
Experts hope that this will help contain costs in the Medicare program, which would be a great boon, as their trust fund is rapidly depleting. Medicare often serves as a model for other types of health coverage, so what works for this program may be adopted across the board.
Health insurance
By estimating the overall risk of healthcare expenses, a routine finance structure (such as a monthly premium or annual tax) can be developed, ensuring that money is available to pay for the healthcare benefits specified in the insurance agreement. The benefit is administered by a central organization such as a government agency, private business, or not-for-profit entity.
History and evolution
The concept of health insurance was proposed in 1694 by Hugh the Elder Chamberlen from the Peter Chamberlen family. In the late 19th century, "accident insurance" began to be available, which operated much like modern disability insurance.[2][3] This payment model continued until the start of the 20th century in some jurisdictions (like California), where all laws regulating health insurance actually referred to disability insurance.[4]
Accident insurance was first offered in the United States by the Franklin Health Assurance Company of Massachusetts. This firm, founded in 1850, offered insurance against injuries arising from railroad and steamboat accidents. Sixty organizations were offering accident insurance in the U.S. by 1866, but the industry consolidated rapidly soon thereafter. While there were earlier experiments, the origins of sickness coverage in the U.S. effectively date from 1890. The first employer-sponsored group disability policy was issued in 1911.[5]
Before the development of medical expense insurance, patients were expected to pay all other health care costs out of their own pockets, under what is known as the fee-for-service business model. During the middle to late 20th century, traditional disability insurance evolved into modern health insurance programs. Today, most comprehensive private health insurance programs cover the cost of routine, preventive, and emergency health care procedures, and also most prescription drugs, but this was not always the case.
Hospital and medical expense policies were introduced during the first half of the 20th century. During the 1920s, individual hospitals began offering services to individuals on a pre-paid basis, eventually leading to the development of Blue Cross organizations.[5] The predecessors of today's Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) originated beginning in 1929, through the 1930s and on during World War II.[6][7]
How it works
A health insurance policy is a contract between an insurance company and an individual or his sponsor (e.g. an employer). The contract can be renewable annually or monthly. The type and amount of health care costs that will be covered by the health insurance company are specified in advance, in the member contract or "Evidence of Coverage" booklet. The individual insurered person's obligations may take several forms:[8]
- Premium:The amount the policy-holder or his sponsor (e.g. an employer) pays to the health plan each month to purchase health coverage.
- Deductible:The amount that the insured must pay out-of-pocket before the health insurer pays its share. For example, a policy-holder might have to pay a $500 deductible per year, before any of their health care is covered by the health insurer. It may take several doctor's visits or prescription refills before the insured person reaches the deductible and the insurance company starts to pay for care.
- Copayment: The amount that the insured must pay out-of-pocket before the health insurer pays its share. For example, a policy-holder might have to pay a $500 deductible per year, before any of their health care is covered by the health insurer. It may take several doctor's visits or prescription refills before the insured person reaches the deductible and the insurance company starts to pay for care.
- Coinsurance: Instead of, or in addition to, paying a fixed amount up front (a copayment), the co-insurance is a percentage of the total cost that insured person may also pay. For example, the member might have to pay 20% of the cost of a surgery over and above a co-payment, while the insurance company pays the other 80%. If there is an upper limit on coinsurance, the policy-holder could end up owing very little, or a great deal, depending on the actual costs of the services they obtain.
- Exclusions:Not all services are covered. The insured person is generally expected to pay the full cost of non-covered services out of their own pocket.
- Coverage limits: Some health insurance policies only pay for health care up to a certain dollar amount. The insured person may be expected to pay any charges in excess of the health plan's maximum payment for a specific service. In addition, some insurance company schemes have annual or lifetime coverage maximums. In these cases, the health plan will stop payment when they reach the benefit maximum, and the policy-holder must pay all remaining costs.
How to find and keep affordable health insurance
Finding individual health insurance for your family can be confusing. We provide several tools to help you make better choices.
- Get no-obligation health insurance quotes.
- Explore our glossary of medical insurance terms.
- Learn about alternatives to employer-sponsored coverage, including COBRA and high-risk insurance pools.
- Peruse Frequently Asked Questions about health care.
- Understand health insurance options for the self-employed.
What can you do to provide low-cost protection for your family's health? Here at the Health Insurance Resource Center, we strive to make you a better-informed consumer to aid you in your quest to secure and keep an adequate health plan for your family, regardless of your individual situation.
Lack of health insurance is an epidemic. What's the cure?
Nearly 16 percent of Americans – 47 million people – are uninsured. According to a story in USAToday, the people without health insurance aren't just the poor – they are all of us. Medical bills are the cause of more than half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States.
Urge Congress to act – now.
The fact that millions lack access to quality, affordable health insurance is easily the biggest domestic crisis facing our nation. Our advocacy page gives you the tools to help convince Congress to support President Obama's call for health care reform. His plans are to ensure health plans do not discriminate on the basis of pre-existing conditions, expand access to the government's own insurance program, lower the cost on existing plans and give you the ability to keep your coverage if you switch jobs or become self-employed. Contact a member of the House of Representatives. Contact a US Senator. Contact the White House
Healthinsurance.org has long-held a well-deserved reputation for promoting health insurance reform, and with President Obama's election we are stepping up our efforts.
International Health Insurance
When you are traveling the world, whether for work or for pleasure, it is important to be protected by a comprehensive insurance plan.
Many employers provide medical cover for their staff at home but this is not always the case overseas and in some cases the cover is not sufficient or is inappropriate for every employee.