Buying Health Insurance Can Save You Money
Many consumers are quite confused when it comes to health insurance. At times it may be a bit overwhelming. The article below will briefly discuss some common issues regarding health insurance. Read on:
In order to save money on your health insurance plan, pay attention to changes in policy before you renew each year. This can save you from encountering unexpected charges because of a change in benefits. If significant changes have occurred in your plan, it could be more cost effective to switch to a new one.
Consider opening a healthcare savings plan. These plans are typically for people with high deductibles and allow you to deposit funds for later use on prescriptions and other medical costs not covered in your policy. The deposits you make are usually tax-deductible, so take advantage of this offer if your insurance company provides it.
One of the most basic tips about insurance is quite simple: never, ever put yourself in a situation where you have no insurance at all. Even if it means paying extra to your former employer to stay on COBRA, you never want to be without health insurance. Too many contingencies could come up that would very quickly put you in a precarious situation. The same is true for auto insurance: never drive uninsured. It's against the law in many states, so it isn't just a bad idea; in many places it is actually a crime.
When considering a health care insurance plan from your employer, be sure to check if your prescriptions are still covered in the coming year. The supported brands and types of medication can vary from year to year. Also, always choose a generic brand if possible. Also be sure to see if there are any discounts such as having your prescriptions sent via mail.
Make sure that you read the fine print before singing a contract for medical insurance. Otherwise, you may end up agreeing to terms that you do not like. If there are words in the contract that you do not understand, ask a family member or friend to help you or look it up on the internet.
Understand you and your families health status when shopping for insurance. If you are a single healthy person, you can take the risk and go for a low-cost, super-high, deductible plan, as the odds are that you will not need to use it as often. If there is a history of illness or if you have children, you will want to pay a little more per urgent care clinic services month for a lower deductible.
In case you do have an emergency medical situation, you need to know exactly where to go. Check the wording of your insurance policy. They might be charging you exponentially more for visiting a hospital or doctor that's not on their predefined list of approved hospitals and doctors. The insurance company will not make an exception for emergencies.
It's a good idea to supplement your regular health coverage with catastrophic health insurance. In this way, if you experience a dire emergency, severe injury or illness, you will have ample coverage. Catastrophic health insurance will fill in the gap that usually exists in comprehensive insurance when it comes to long-term hospitalization.
If you don't have a large amount of time to call many different agencies and you don't want to work with a brokerage, it is possible to find websites that help to aggregate many different agencies for you. While they can't give a completely accurate price, they will give you many ballpark figures to help get you started.
If you're a man, you won't need maternity coverage. This is just one example of the coverage that may come in a health insurance plan that you DON'T need, but you're paying extra for. Another money saving option to look for is a plan that only covers generic drugs which can save you a ton of money on your premiums.
If you have questions regarding insurance coverage, you may want to seek out an independent insurance agent. An agent can help you with the enrollment process and also answer any questions you have about private insurance coverage. These agents also know the state laws and regulations which can help if you have any questions.
Find out if your health insurance company offers medication assistance for their customers. Some health insurance companies offer a discounted rate for medications or assist with medication costs in some other way. You can call your agent and ask them for the details regarding any medication coverage their company offers.
Having sufficient health insurance will protect you against unexpected events. You could get sick or have an accident. These tips will help you get the most bang for your buck when you're shopping for health insurance for you and your family.
The Real Costs of Seeking Care for COVID-19 Vary Across and Within Major U.S. Cities
Castlight Health's COVID-19 Cost Analysis Finds Outpatient Evaluation Costs Vary Widely Depending on Severity of Symptoms, Geography, and Provider Type"While the test for COVID-19 may be made available at no cost, individuals seeking care for suspected COVID-19 may be faced with other significant out-of-pocket costs for that care. Sadly, those bills may be coming right as many Americans are losing their paychecks, creating real affordability of care issues," said Maeve O'Meara, CEO of Castlight Health. "Costs vary widely across cities in the U.S., within cities, and depending on the site of care. During this public health emergency, it is more important than ever that people have the tools they need to find high quality care in a timely and affordable manner."
Although the coronavirus relief measures signed by the President in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act have directed private health plans to waive the cost of the specific coronavirus test and visit associated with it, people who are symptomatic and seek care may be responsible for other costs required for an evaluation for COVID-19. These could include influenza testing, chest x-rays, and bacterial, viral, or blood culture tests. These costs can add up quickly, particularly for the 27.5 million people with no insurance or those who have high-deductible health plans and will pay for services out-of-pocket.
The severity of COVID-19 varies widely, from mild cough and fever, to chest pains and shortness of breath, which can drastically affect the necessary treatment, need for hospitalization, and associated costs.
Most notably, the analysis found that:
Within a given U.S. city, average prices vary greatly for patients exhibiting standard COVID-19 symptoms including fever, cough, and shortness of breath:
In Los Angeles, the cost for a primary care visit and standard lab testing ranges from $304 to $4447—roughly a 14-fold difference.
In Dallas, the cost for the same services ranges from $193 to $4308—a 22-fold difference.
Similarly, in Miami, these services range in cost from $354 to $5729—a 16-fold difference.
Costs also vary widely depending on the provider type or site of care:
Even without symptoms severe enough to warrant further imaging or lab testing, a visit to evaluate respiratory symptoms can cost someone living in the New York metro area an average of $79 for a telehealth visit, $235 for a primary care visit, $352 for an urgent care visit, and $2,321 for an ER visit.
In Miami, patients can expect costs for evaluating symptoms to average $79 for using telehealth as their entry point, $189 for visits through a primary care provider, $483 for visits through an urgent care provider, and $1,524 if they enter the system through the ER.
"During this incredibly stressful pandemic outbreak, it is critical that people have a clear understanding of the care they need, and how much that care is likely to cost," said Dena Bravata, MD, MS, Castlight Advisor and former Senior Scholar at the Stanford Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research. "Castlight's COVID-19 Cost Analysis sheds light on the vastly different costs patients seeking care associated with COVID-19 will see depending on where they live, and where they choose to receive care."
Methodology
The primary source of data used for this analysis is a subset of 2.5 billion de-identified medical claims for primary care, urgent care, emergency room, lab tests, and x-ray supplemented with:
Provider directory data (e.g., which doctors provide which type of care).
Provider rate sheets.
Publicly available data.
The costs provided are for a member in their deductible phase seeing in-network providers. The ranges provided are for the 5th to the 95th percentile of costs in that metropolitan region.
The components of an evaluation for a patient seeking care associated with COVID-19 depend on their symptom severity and site of care. The procedures and services we included are:
Site of care: telehealth visit, primary care visit, urgent care visit, ER visit.
Care for moderate COVID-19 symptoms: initial cost of a provider visit, influenza test, sputum culture and sensitivity, blood culture and sensitivity, complete blood count, and comprehensive metabolic panel.
Care for severe COVID-19 symptoms: initial cost of a provider visit, all lab tests listed above, and a chest x-ray.
Click here to download the full report.
About Castlight Health
Castlight is on a mission to make it as easy as humanly possible for its users to navigate the healthcare system and live happier, healthier, more productive lives. Our health navigation platform connects hundreds of health vendors, benefits resources, and plan designs into one comprehensive health and wellbeing experience. We guide individuals—based on their unique profile—to the best resources available to them, whether they are healthy, chronically ill, or actively seeking medical care. Castlight transforms the employee benefit experience into a deeply personalized, yet simple, guided one, empowering better-informed patient decisions to unlock better healthcare outcomes and maximizing return on healthcare investments.
For more information visit www.castlighthealth.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and Like us on Facebook.
https://edition.cnn.com/business/newsfeeds/prnewswire/202003200600PR_NEWS_USPR_____SF57329.html
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1epF3asROLV-VbQsc3q4D-KoTPNFSY6wW-ygZRY4xrAo/edit#slide=id.gb305dd1d5e_0_6