Cheap Health Insurance Plan – A Simple Way To Save Money
Is there such a thing as cheap health insurance? It hardly seems possible when you look at the rise in hospital costs and physician services. Insurance companies have the task of underwriting the medical risk for insurance. The insurer then issues and delivers the policy to the insured once they are accepted into the plan. The policyholders then receive the policy declaration pages that list all of the benefits and features.
What are those benefits and features? How do they work after a hospital stay? When you begin to find the answers to those questions then you begin to understand what makes up the total premium. When you receive your first benefit statement after a hospital stay then you will begin to understand how the deductible is applied and how the coinsurance works.
Simple claims analysis
1. Total inpatient expense for 4 days in the hospital including physician services amounts to $4000.
2. Your policy has a $500 deductible with an 80/20 coinsurance clause with a maximum out of pocket $2000.
3. You must pay the first $500 for your stay leaving a balance of $3500.
4. You will pay 20% of that $3500 or $700 and the insurance company will pay $2800.
When your 20% reaches $2000 then the insurance company pays 100% of the remaining costs up to a million dollars (or 2 million etc).
The health insurance buying trends indicate that people are purchasing health insurance with higher deductibles. Deductibles bring down the premium dramatically. There are some plans with deductibles as high as $5000. This is called self-insuring because in essence that is what you are doing for the deductible amount.
Health Savings Accounts are also starting to become very popular. These savings accounts are tax deductible. They are like medical IRA’S. Contact your tax advisor or accountant for more details.
Please see our recommended source for insurance quotes. We have done the research so you don’t have to.
Cheap Home Insurance – A Few Tips To Save Money
Is there such a thing as cheap home insurance? There may be a better question. Is home insurance really that expensive? Homeowner’s insurance may very well be the consumer’s best buy when it comes to insurance. There are multiple benefits and features that make the home policy unique. Most everything that the homeowner owns including the dwelling can be covered in some way by homeowner’s insurance. When you think of the magnitude of the coverage afforded by homeowner’s Cheap Health Insurance Plan versus the premium paid then you would have to agree that homeowner’s insurance is a very good buy. The rates on property insurance in general, have increased over the last ten years. Much of that has to with increased catastrophes like the hurricanes in Florida. The toxic mold problem that originated out west has also caused premiums to increase on a national basis. The home insurance buyer really needs to focus on a few areas to get the most for the premium dollars paid.
Accurate Dwelling Amount – This is the first most critical decision that you will make. The square footage of your dwelling has to be correct in establishing the replacement value of your home. The market value is of little use to you when you purchase insurance to rebuild the structure. Replacement cost is better for homes that have been built within the last 40 years. Check with your insurance company underwriting guidelines.
Replacement Cost or Actual Cash Value – This facet of your home insurance policy should be clearly understood. Replacement cost insurance on both your dwelling and its contents means that the insurance company will rebuild or replace your loss with like kind and quality. Actual Cash Value will calculate the replacement cost and then Cheap Health Insurance Plan subtract for depreciation. The actual cash value policy is cheaper but you will have to come up with the depreciable amount out of your own pocket.
Deductible – Higher deductibles bring your premium down substantially. $500 to $1000 deductibles are common. This is a huge savings to you over the years and is your most valuable tool in lowering the cost.
Cheap Home Owner Insurance – Self Insure And Save Money
The whole concept of insurance revolves around protecting the assets of an individual from financial loss due to an unpredictable event. The reason that we purchase insurance is to protect ourselves from financial disasters. We rely upon the insurance company to take on the risk in exchange for the premiums that we pay. The average consumer spends very little time thinking about insurance purchases. The insurance professional is expected to do most of the thinking for us and advise us on what is best.
There is a simple principle that can be applied to almost all of your property and casualty insurance purchases that will save you premium dollars. Self insuring is that principle. The smart insurance shopper eventually grasps the concept of self insurance. The whole idea around self insurance is using deductible options and eliminating unnecessary coverage. The days of the $100 Collision deductible on auto insurance is fading fast and it should. The higher deductible saves you in premium dollars. That is what we call self insuring. When you change your deductible from $100 to $500 you are taking on the risk for the first $500 of physical damage Cheap Health Insurance Plan. You can do the same on the homeowner’s policy. You will lower your premium and still be covered for any major loss.
You will save a ton of money in the long run. You don’t have enough claims over a lifetime to warrant having a low deductible. You are paying the insurance company money for services they may never perform. You will save thousands of dollars by keeping your deductibles $500 or higher.
There are a lot of optional coverage’s in auto and homeowners insurance that you may want to eliminate to save money. Most states have tort options. Tort is your right to sue. Full tort verses limited tort can sometimes be a difference of 20% in your auto insurance premium. Rental reimbursement and towing benefits are added onto auto insurance all the time. You may want to self insure for these and save premium dollars as well.
The insurance purchase can be easier and more affordable if you can grasp the mindset of self insuring. Your agent will welcome your thinking on this because most agents think self insurance is best for their customers.
Cheap Insurance Life
Permanent life insurance provides lifetime insurance protection (does not expire), but the premiums must be paid on time. Most permanent policies offer a savings or investment component combined with the insurance coverage. Cheap Health Insurance Plan This component, in turn, causes premiums to be higher than those of term insurance. The investment may offer a fixed interest rate or may be in the form of money market securities, bonds or mutual funds. This savings portion of the policy allows the policy owner to build a cash value within the policy which can be borrowed or distributed at some time in the future.
The characteristics of Permanent Life Insurance are: permanent insurance protection, it is more expensive to own; it builds cash value, loans are permitted against the policy; it has favorable tax treatment of policy earnings and it has
level premiums.
There are three basic types of permanent insurance: whole life, variable life and universal life. The two most common are whole life and universal life. Whole life insurance provides lifetime protection, for which you pay a predetermined premium. Cash values usually have a minimum guaranteed rate of interest and the death benefit is a fixed amount. Whole life insurance is the most expensive life-insurance product available. “Universal life insurance separates the investment and the death benefit portions. The investment choices available usually include some type of equity investments, which may make your cash value accumulate quicker. As the you can usually change your premiums and death benefits to suit your current budget”.
Final Tips
• Consider buying a “break point” level of insurance coverage – better premium rates are given at coverage levels of $100,000, $250,000, $500,000 and $1,000,000.
• Make sure you obtain an illustration for the policy that you have chosen. If the insurer will not provide you with one, look for another insurance company.
• Always shop for a level-premium policy. Nobody likes a surprise increase in their premium payments! So, before you buy term or Cheap Health Insurance Plan permanent insurance make sure your illustration shows that your premium payment is guaranteed not to increase over the duration of your coverage.
• Don’t be sold on permanent insurance for the investment or cash-value feature. For the first two to 10 years, your premiums are paying the agent’s commission anyways. Most policies don’t start to build respectable cash value until their 12th year, so ask yourself if the feature is really worth it.
• Determine your desired duration of coverage so that you purchase the correct type of policy and keep your premium payments affordable. If you only need insurance for 10 years, then buy term. Also, check out multiple-quality insurance companies for their rates.
• Don’t be taken with riders. A very few number of policies ever pay under these riders, so avoid things like the accidental death and waiver of premium riders since they will only jack up your premiums.
• For 24 hours before your medical exam, keep sugar and caffeine out of your system. It’s best to schedule your exam early in the morning, and don’t consume anything but water for at least eight hours beforehand.
• If your premiums are much too high due to medical reasons or you are denied coverage, check if a group plan is available through your company. These group plans require no medical exam or physical.
When seeking insurance, don’t rush into buying expensive permanent life insurance before considering if term life insurance sufficiently meets your needs. Unfortunately, in many cases the fees charged for policies with investment features far outweigh the benefits. When you purchase life insurance, you’re betting that you’ll live, but also securing peace of mind in case you’re wrong. Don’t leave your family unprotected in the sudden event of your death – after all, they are your most important assets.
Cheap Insurance Secrets
Can you find cheap insurance? Yes. You can not only spend less on all types of insurance, but you can get more of the coverages you need for less. Cheap Health Insurance Plan Here are a few insider secrets to help you out.
Cheap Life Insurance
– Purchase multiple policies. Instead of buying one large policy, save money by buying two, or even three, and staggering the terms. Have one run until the kids are out of the house, for example, and the other until your retirement fund kicks in.
– Investigate the company. Visit www.naic.org/cis, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners site. It has links to check out companies, including their financial condition, and the complaints filed against them.
– Ask about rebates. Some states allow agents to rebate a portion of their commission to you. Check online or by phone. You don’t have to be from the state to buy insurance there.
Cheap Auto Insurance
Get several quotes, of course. You probably know that having as high a deductible as you can afford will also reduce the rate. Here are some money-saving tips you may not have known.
– Get the legal minimum for liability coverage if you have few or no assets. Many companies try to sell their “company-recommended minimums” on liability, and even pass them off as the legal minimums. Just get the legal minimums. Cheap Health Insurance Plan If you have no assets, you’re not a target for a lawsuit.
– Once a year, review your policies. Have a policy review and get new quotes every year or so. If the ticket you had is past the three year mark (or whatever the company thinks is important) they will drop the rate, but not automatically, so ask.
– Remove your kids from your policy. If your kids are at a college that’s more than 100 miles away, you can have them taken off the insurance policy and save a lot of money. You can’t let them drive the car when they come home to visit though.
Other Cheap Insurance Secrets
– Health insurance tip: Find a group to join. If you don’t have health insurance through your employer, join a group that enables you to get a better policy rate. A fraternal organization or the chamber of commerce sometimes have arranged for group policies.
– Home owners insurance tip: Consider higher deductibles. Insurance is for disasters, not small stuff. Plan to pay the first $1000 someday when something happens. In the meantime you’ll save money every year on your policy.
– Credit life insurance tip: Just say no. These policies pay the balance of your auto, home or other loan if you die. If you feel you need it, regular life insurance for the same amount is much cheaper.
Whatever type of insurance you Cheap Health Insurance Plan are buying, be sure to get several quotes. Ask questions about every part of the policy, and don’t pay for things you don’t need. Ask about any special discounts you might be eligible for. Asking many questions and really understanding the policy is the key to getting cheap insurance.