How to Use Bankruptcy When Selecting Health Insurance!

By insurance in health insurance

Jul 5

Plan On Avoiding The Need To File A Medical Bankruptcy!

The thought of filing for bankruptcy is one position almost everyone will agree they would not want to experience. A bankruptcy can have negative effects on your credit, possible job offers, and living arrangements. To help avoid filing a medical bankruptcy, why not use the thought as a motivation tool when you are selecting a medical health care plan.

For many consumers, life is about the decisions you make and the level of importance they are ranked; unfortunately, many health plan decisions are determined by their cost for most people. It has been widely reported that illnesses and medical costs are highly associated with bankruptcy filings, researcher David U. Himmelstein, MD who was involved with a 2001 Harvard Law & Medical School study, here are some findings:

Medical bankruptcies affect about 2 million annually (including debtors and dependents)
More than three quarters had health insurance at start of the bankrupting illness and 38% lost coverage during the start of bankruptcy filing; Although the survey does not mention which type of coverage the majority of the consumers had purchased
Most were middle class
56% owned a home and had a college degree

According to The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt; written by Elizabeth Warren, Harvard Law School and Smith Business Solutions:

The average age of a bankruptcy filer is 38
Couples filing jointly make-up 44% of all bankruptcy filings, another 30% of the filers are women filing bankruptcy alone
Just 26% of the bankruptcy filers are men who are filing alone
Another statistic says the most bankruptcy filers are slightly better educated than the general population
Two out of three bankruptcy filers have lost a job
Half of all bankruptcy filers have experienced a serious health problem
91% of bankruptcy filers have suffered a job loss, medical event or divorce
The states that have the highest bankruptcy rates are Tennessee, Utah, Georgia, and Alabama
40% of bankruptcies result from medical crises, unemployment or divorces
90% of these filers have two car payments, a house payment, and an average of $2500 in credit card debt
10% of filers were delinquent only 5 to 29 days before bankruptcy

What Is A Common Scenario?

“Most were average Americans who happened to get sick,” says David U. Himmelstein, MD. Health insurance offered little protection. Families with coverage faced unaffordable co-payments, deductibles, and bills for uncovered items like physical therapy, psychiatric care, and prescription drugs. Even the best job-based health insurance often vanished when prolonged illness caused job loss — precisely when families needed it most. Too often, private health insurance is an umbrella that melts in the rain; this quote could be true depending on what benefits came with your selected plan.

How To Protect You and Your Family?

Cost is only one option to consider when selecting individual or family health insurance, you need the right benefits
Are you interested in an Individual, Family, or Group medical plan (there are pros and cons to all options, there is no perfect plan)?
How much of a co-insurance and deductible can you afford?
Does the plan offer any assistance on paying the deductible and co-insurance costs?
Does the plan offer any life insurance coverage?
Does the plan have disability and critical illness coverage?
Are there any coverage limits in paying claims for ICU (Intensive Care Unit)?
Are you more comfortable with a high deductible (low premium) or low deductible (high premium) plan?

In conclusion, when making a decision on choosing health insurance coverage, you must understand the benefits provided before selecting an option. Many insurance carriers specialize in promoting their health care packages, but do not select a plan just because it been widely marketed, take a moment to review all possible options. The goal should be to make sure your family has the most flexible health coverage at an affordable price and if you plan for the worst case scenario you will be better prepared.

Dwight Brisco is an Independent Health Insurance Agent who offers programs for Individuals, Families, Students, Medicare recipients, Short Term coverage, and Guaranteed Issue Health Insurance (HIPPA Certified) visit site http://dwightbrisco.besthealthagent.com

Dwight understands the need to offer a variety of health plans from various carriers, because no one plan will fit everyone. Please note, the Medicare Supplement and Medicare Advantage programs (offered in California, Colorado, and Nevada) and Guarantee Issue Health Insurance (All 50 states) are offered under separate carriers.

Article Author :Dwight_Brisco

Stop Buying Health Plans and Start Buying Health Insurance!: An Easy-To-Understand Guide to the How and Why of Consumer Directed Healthcare (Hsas, Hra

We are all excellent consumers. We collectively have no problem clearly identifying what we want, how we want it and when the price is right. We make our educated presence known in almost every marketplace except one-healthcare. Managed care and its first dollar benefits have created a problem and the solution is . consumer directed healthcare. We can fix our system of healthcare and your second largest business expense, behind payroll, if we stop buying health plans and start buying health insurance.

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